Philippine Development Forum opens in Davao today

AFTER the successful staging of Mindanao Development Forum (MDF), which was held in Davao City on Friday, all is set for this year's Philippine Development Forum (PDF) that will also be held in the city starting Monday until Tuesday.

The two-day event, which will be held at the Marco Polo Hotel Davao, is organized by the Philippine Government through the Department of Finance (DOF).

It aims to discuss the progress and challenges in sustaining high growth and promoting good governance that is being considered as one of the flagship program of the present administration in a bid to improve the lives of ordinary Filipinos.

The event will also gather all sectors of the society including high ranking members and officials of the international development community, representatives from civil society, the academe, and the private sector.

Arturo Boncato Jr., chief of the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Davao, said in his official Facebook account that at least 300 development partners and stakeholders from different donor countries all over the world are expected to attend the two-day forum.

Solely for the event, Boncato said the DOT-Davao has converted its booth at the Davao International Airport for arriving delegates of the PDF 2013.

"The government is looking forward to meeting the development partners with other stakeholders on relevant development issues and how they could help. The PDF provides us with a venue to exchange views on accelerating programs and projects and streamline processes so that we achieve results faster," said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who is also the PDF chair.

Among the expected delegates for the event is Motoo Konishi, country director of the World Bank in the Philippines and co-chair of the PDF.

In PDF's official website, Konishi said the event will generate ideas and resolutions that will be important in policy-making and in improving the lives of all Filipinos.

"The Philippines is solidly supported by all its development partners and we want to engage the Government on how we could even do better so that the high growth that we are all excited about could benefit more people, especially those in the rural areas," Konishi said.

The PDF 2013 also allows different working groups, the new cluster groupings of the Cabinet of the government, to come up with recommended policies or programs, especially for recommendations that will benefit war-torn areas in some parts of Mindanao.

Expected clusters of the government that are expected to grace the event include the Good Governance and Anti-Corruption, Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Justice and Peace, Climate Change and Mitigation, and Economic Development as well as the sub-cluster on Infrastructure.