ZAMBOANGA CITY—The review team for the Mindanao 2000 Development Framework Plan is all set for a Mindanao-wide consultation with local government, private sector and civil-society stakeholders starting next month.

Spearheaded by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco), along with counterparts from the Mindanao regional offices of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Mindanao Business Council (MinBC), the regional consultations will be conducted to discuss the framework plan with the stakeholders, generate inputs on the assessment, as well as gather and validate relevant Mindanao data.

Medco chairman Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana Jr. said in a statement that an assessment guideline is already formulated by the team to be used in their rounds of consultation.

Leyretana said the participants are currently doing prefieldwork activities in preparation for the consultations and data gathering activities at the regions.

He said the Mindanao 2000 Deve-lopment Framework Plan is an economic development blueprint that shows the intricate relationship of economic growth and poverty alleviation, as well as peace and security in the island-region.

He said its advent in 1995 initially paved the way for an integrated Mindanao economy.

“Various policy reforms, programs and projects for Mindanao’s development have been implemented because of Mindanao 2000,” Leyretana said.

“In recent years, new challenges and opportunities have been cropping up, leading to the call for an integrated peace and development road map, which is more in tune with the present and future global context of Mindanao,” he added.

He said there is a compelling need to update the said framework plan to address pressing issues on climate change, among others.

The assessment of the Mindanao 2000 will eventually lead to the formulation of the Mindanao 2020 Peace and Development Framework Plan, which is viewed to be a holistic, multidimensional and integrated peace and development framework in sync with the needs and potentials of Mindanao within its historical, social, political, economic and cultural contexts.

The project is being supported by the Philippine-Australia Human Resource Development Facility, in partnership with the Development Academy of the Philippines sa Mindanao.

It is, likewise, conducted in close coordination with offices of Neda, DILG and MinBC.

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