Monday, June 09, 2008 Oil price hikes fail to dampen CV economy; exports increase By Jujemay G. Awit Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE continuing fuel price hikes in the country failed to dampen the economy in Central Visayas.
The Regional Economic Situationer (RES) showed that the sectors that propelled the growth of the region’s economy last year still performed well for the first quarter of this year.
Real estate, information and communication technology (ICT) and tourism are the region’s economic drivers.
“Investor confidence on the regional economy remained strong. Investors were still bullish on the prospects for continued growth of the region’s real estate, ICT and tourism industries,” read the RES for the first quarter of 2008, presented during the recent Regional Development Council-Infrastructure Development Committee meeting.
“Even the export sector, which performed dismally in previous quarters, showed signs of recovery,” the RES also said.
Quoting the Bureau of Customs, total export earnings increased by 74.1 percent and the volume of exports rose to 28.8 percent.
The export industry was previously down due to the appreciation of peso, but it is slowly recovering.
Upbeat
Construction and electricity industries were also considered “upbeat” in the region.
The RES noted ongoing projects such as the Palazzo Uno, a nine-story condominium in Cebu City; the P500-million Metaphil Inc. modular fabrication facility project in Balamban, Cebu; and the P500-million renovation of SM City-Cebu.
Energy sales also increased by 5.48 percent from January to March compared to the same period last year.
“Preliminary economic indicators suggest that the Central Visayas economy remained resilient to pressures brought about by rising fuel prices,” the RES said.
The other real estate projects for the first three months this year include the Riverdale and Woodcrest residences in Cebu City.
Tourism, both domestic and foreign, increased by an average of 9.6 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.
Most tourists flocked to Cebu, which has consistently been the top tourist destination in Central Visayas. But the increase was only recorded at seven percent.
Siquijor showed the biggest increase, almost doubling its tourist arrival figures. It recorded a rise of 95.9 percent in the first three months this year compared to the same period in 2007.
The number of international and domestic flights in the region increased by 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively, as a result of the tourism gain.
More jobs
The expansion of the ICT sector is shown in the setting up of more business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in Cebu that have provided more job opportunities in Region 7.
The RES is prepared by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7.
Apart from the region’s economic drivers, it also reports the progress of other sectors.
Agriculture did not do as well this year, it said.
Almost all of the agricultural sectors—crops, fishery and livestock— declined during the first quarter of this year.
According to the RES, Central Visayas’ agriculture sector saw a dip of 4.3 percent in production compared to the first quarter of 2007.
The production of crops like palay, corn, fruits and vegetables saw a 4.2 percent drop, largely due to “excessive rainfall.”
The raising of livestock, like carabao, cattle, swine and goat, also saw a decrease by at least 11.9 percent.
The growth of the fishery sector, which Neda 7 observed to have performed well in the past, was also cut by 6.7 percent. The agency noted fuel increase as a factor in the decrease of fish catch, both by commercial and municipal fishermen.
Fuel prices
Bogo City was cited as among areas where boat operators were forced to temporarily stop operation because the volume of fish gained was not enough to recover the cost of fishing operations due to the increase in fuel prices.
Only poultry production showed an increase, but not as much.
Poultry production increased from 33,761 metric tons in the first quarter of 2007 to 33,822 metric tons in the same period this year or a rise equivalent to 0.2 percent.
“Chicken production increased as consumers shifted to chicken meat from the more expensive pork meat. Increases in production in commercial farms in Bohol and Cebu were noted during the period,” the RES said.
