‘Yolanda’ recovery gets Canada boost

Canadian Ambassador to Manila Neil Reeder: Helping attract investments and create jobs. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Tourist destinations damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda will receive support in their efforts at recovery through a three-year Canadian government program that seeks to boost local economic activity.

Five provinces that suffered setbacks following the Nov. 8 super typhoon are among 10 target areas of the third phase of Canada’s Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED), the Canadian Embassy in Manila announced over the weekend.

The local tourism support program, to be implemented from this year until 2016, is the third phase of an $18-million, eight-year bilateral project undertaken together with the Department of Interior and Local Government. It includes technical advice and training on how to make the local business environment more competitive, attractive to investments and conducive to jobs creation.

Recipient areas 

Among the recipients are: Palawan, where a tourism development program will be implemented in the Coron-Busuanga-Culion area; Northern Panay, including Aklan and Antique, where the project will support grassroots ecotourism development; the towns of Banate, Barotac Viejo, Ajuy, Concepcion, Estancia and Carles in Iloilo, where the project will support micro- and small-to-medium enterprises; and Cebu, where an ecotourism recovery program will be implemented in the northern towns of Daanbantayan, Bantayan, Santa Fe, Medellin and Bogo City.

LGSP-LED will also support ecotourism, heritage tourism and enterprise development projects in six other areas: Batangas, the Albay-Sorsogon tourism link, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor and Davao del Norte.

Strong business climate 

The 10 initiatives are expected to serve as models for other local government units to “showcase how a stronger business climate and investments in tourism-related infrastructure are key factors in attracting other investments and creating jobs,” Canadian Ambassador to Manila Neil Reeder said in a statement.

The first two batches of LGSP-LED’s local government beneficiaries yielded clear gains, said Reeder, as they altogether attracted P6 billion in investments and created some 2,200 new jobs over two years.

President Aquino emphasized the need for sustainable tourism across the Philippines at the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s international conference on Tourism and Climate Change held in Legazpi City on May 19.