USAID enters into MOU with Zambo City

ZAMBOANGA CITY — United State Ambassador to the Philippines Phillip Goldberg yesterday underscored Zamboanga City’s potentials as an engine of growth in the country, as he reaffirmed the US government’s strong commitment to assist the city attain its goals.

Goldberg made this assessment when he witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco and USAID Mission Director Gloria Steele that forged five-year partnership towards attaining peace and development in a program dubbed as “Cities Development Initiatives (CDI)”.

“This is a reaffirmation of the US government’s strong commitment to Zamboanga City. We have had a long standing and rich relationship and we look forward to see Zamboanga City realize its potentials,” the ambassador said.

Climaco said the CDI program was one way to accelerate growth in Zamboanga in the light of the challenges besetting the city.

“You don’t know how this means to us,” she told Goldberg and the USAID officials. “I’d like to say thank you to the men and women of USAID. We will continue to rebuild a better Zamboanga.”

Aside from the ambassador, District II Rep. Lilia Nuño also witnessed the signing ceremony held at the Garden Orchid Hotel.

The CDI aims to encourage economic growth in urban areas outside Metro Manila and is intended to improve investment climate in the secondary cities by fostering an open and competitive business climate, facilitating investments in high-value industry clusters, enhancing human capital development and promoting industry-academe linkages, strengthening health services and ensuring urban environmental resiliency.

Other cities that have already become part of CDI are Batangas, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro, which have all made significant progress in fostering and opening competitive progress.