Wednesday, March 21, 2007 Business upbeat in Cordi: agency
THE business climate in the region, specifically in Baguio, is in a positive mode with the tourism and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors as leading contributors to the region's improving economy.
While no new investments came in at the Baguio Export Processing Zone (Bepz) for the past year, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Assistant Regional Director Leon Dacanay said the BPO industry continues to boom with the establishment of the cyber building at SM Fiesta Strip, which would house a branch of the largest call center in the US.
In terms of tourism, Dacanay said Baguio registered the highest number of tourist arrivals in 2006, with Benguet, Ifugao and Kalinga as the leading choice provincial destinations. The region had close to one million visitors last year.
The industry sector also continues to contribute to the bulk of regional gross output pegged at P18 billion, Dacanay said as exports reached US$3.6 billion or 20 percent higher in value than in 2005.
"The information technology (IT) sector was especially notable with output from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza)-based IT companies doubling value from just under US$8 billion in 2005 to over US$13 billion in 2006. IT companies alone generated 375 new jobs last year, second to the 389 new jobs created by the electronics sector," said the Neda official.
This year, Dacanay said the government is targeting a 6.5-percent regional growth in gross output, which is in line with the national gross domestic product target of 6.1 to 6.7 percent and a 10-percent increase in regional exports to reach US$4 billion, which is close to the national export target of 11 percent. (RO)
