The BLISTT Development Authority project is a door to new opportunities and possibly a new era of prosperity. In an interview with Baguio Midland Courier, Baguio Country Club General Manager Anthony de Leon said that the BLISTT project “unlocks the wealth of regions” and allows it to become a prime source of development and renewal. Individually, each area would be able to maximize the use of their resources and welcome new opportunities for their communities. But, as a whole region, the BLISTT project entails so much more.
1. Under one umbrella, the BLISTT project allows the region to create, develop, and implement a vision that benefits everybody equally with the full involvement of all communities concerned such as the government, its citizens, and the business sector
2. The BLISTT project provides generous and much-needed support for small businesses and local industries in the region. It creates numerous avenues, opportunities, and jobs in industries such as agriculture, trade, education, and other small business. In the long run, the prosperity of these industries can allow the region to enjoy self-sustaining growth.
Photo by Fups/Flickr
3. It also unifies and strengthens the region in facing the challenges that currently plague it by allowing the region to create and implement policies that address these issues. Such challenges include concerns geared towards the general public such as public safety, disaster preparedness, food security, health and sanitation, and peace and order. With regards to the whole region, pressing matters include resource management, urban development, environmental protection, zoning, and land use planning, traffic management, and waste disposal and management.
4. The BLISTT project ushers in better development planning for the region. It entails the proper assessment and prioritization of development plans for the region, quick investment coordination, and intense planning for short term and long term development projects.
5. In addition to economic development from its local industries, the BLISTT project also allows the different parts of the region individually and as a whole to open themselves up to bigger opportunities from local and foreign investors. As De Leon said, “the region needs a strong strategic development framework. It is time to move past prejudices and think regional. Think global. Regional policies, without doubt, help [the] regional economy and the stakeholders.”