DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/27 March) –The city government here is finalizing the proposal to host some of the meetings of the 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 2015 for submission to organizers not later this month, an official said.
Jason Magnaye, Davao City Investment and Promotion Center (DCIPC) chief, told MindaNews that acting Mayor Rodrigo Duterte signed last Friday the bid letter to be submitted, along with the proposal, to the APEC-National Organizing Committee (APEC-NOC).
Magnaye said that Roberto Alabado, head of the Davao City Planning and Development Office (DCPDO), is in charge of preparing the documents
Alabado earlier said that APEC-NOC required the city to submit a letter of proposal, which shall contain information of the city’s accommodation, transportation, air connectivity, safety and security capacities, among others.
To be attended by 21 countries, the APEC summit will have five senior official meetings (SOMs) with up to 1,400 delegates, and eight sectoral ministerial meetings (SMMs) with up to 500 delegates from different countries in the Asia Pacific region, according to Alabado.
Both SOMs and SMMs will be held for two to three days, he said, adding the cities that will host the meetings will be known in June.
The city was reportedly shortlisted as possible venue for the SOMs and SSMs events along with Metro Manila, Tagaytay, Clark, Subic, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod and Boracay.
Magnaye initially said the city will propose to host the SOMs, SMMs and some working group meetings, but the DCIPC, DCPDO and the Department of Tourism- Region 11 will still have to finalize the proposal next week.
Noting that Davao City is one of the “most livable cities in Asia,” he said the locality has a total of 7,000 rooms in about 196 hotels.
Alabado earlier said the host cities will be chosen according to the availability of power, water, infrastructure and facilities, including hotels and areas for conventions, public safety and security, disaster risk assessment and preparedness, and medical services. (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro/MindaNews)
