DAVAO CITY — This city ranked first in economic dynamism and infrastructure among highly urbanized cities in Visayas and Mindanao in the recent Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) ranking.

Among highly urbanized cities in Visayas and Mindanao, CMCI results showed that the city is the most competitive in economic dynamism earning the highest score of 7.5468 while 8.4445 in infrastructure.

The CMCI is an annual competition conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) wherein cities and municipalities competitiveness is measured through five indicators including economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, resilience and innovation.

In a statement, Christian Cambaya, Davao City Investment Promotions Center’s (DCIPC) Investors Assistance and Servicing Unit head, said the city has consistently been in the top 10 of the most competitive highly urbanized cities since 2015.

This year, he added the city ranked 7th out of 33 highly urbanized cities with a significant increase in its score from 49.08 in 2023 to 49.83 in 2024.

“The increase of the number of business establishments in the city from 2023 to 2024 contributed significantly in the city’s performance in terms of economic dynamism,” he said, adding that, the increase of business establishments can be attributed to the initiatives of the city government to simplify the business process in the city including the application of permits which are automated.