AVAO CITY, Philippines (PNA) - A Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded project here ended 2010 with a bang as it received the Official Donor Agency (ODA) Good Practice Award-Strategies for Achieving Outcomes category in 2010. Region 11 office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI 11) Director Marizon S. Loreto said the recognition was given to the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP), spearheaded by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). This was recently awarded by NEDA Deputy Director General Rolando Tungpalan and NEDA Project Monitoring Staff during the ODA Project Implementers Meeting. Trade Undersecretary Merly M. Cruz, JICA Senior Representative Masuda Shinichi, DTI-Office of Operational Planning (DTI-OOP) Director Mary Jean Pacheco, and DICCEP Project Manager Romeo Castanaga received the award. Loreto said such award was the pilot year of implementation after NEDA has been done with the nomination and selection process. It aims to recognize good practices employed in the implementation of Official Development Assistance or ODA-assisted projects. The DICCEP implementation strategy titled ''Industry Clustering Approach with Capacity Enhancement to Achieving Regional Economic Development'' was selected as a good practice based on the criteria: Achievement of results; innovativeness; replicability; sustainability; and, social acceptability, she said.
According to Loreto, DICCEP bested other 10 foreign-assisted projects short-listed by the Screening Committee. On the other hand, Tungpalan said DICCEP stood out among the ODA projects to have achieved more than the expected results. It is a joint project by the JICA, DTI and industry stakeholders in the Davao Region to provide capacity- building for the eight industries via clustering approach, namely, banana, mango, seaweeds, coconut, wood, mining, tourism, and information and communication technology (ICT). Castanaga explained before the Screening Committee the major outcomes of the project which include the establishment of institutional setup for cluster activities and consensus building, collaborative networks among industry-academe and government, impact on industrial development and economic impact on MSMEs, farmers, and fisherfolks. He added that after the successful implementation of the project, it will be replicated nationwide as NICCEP or National Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project.
