Davao exports picking up
DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) said latest export data showed that Davao Region is picking up.
Quoting a report from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), DTI-Davao Regional Director Marizon S. Loreto said that while Davao Region had a negative growth rate of more than 10 percent for 2009 as compared to 2008, it is fast closing in on the gap, with only negative one percent of growth in the first two months of 2010 versus 2009.
As of February this year, the region reaped an export value of US$151.79 billion.
"The decrease of fresh banana exports is being covered up by tremendous increases of other products such as banana chips, rubber, and gold with silver. Coconut products topped growth levels among other product groups, with coconut oil, coconut shell charcoal, and copra leading positive trends," she said.
The same data revealed that fresh banana recorded a decrease of 14 percent, from US$115.45 billion for January to February 2009 to US$99.28 billion for the first two months of this year.
However, four export commodities showed a leap of more than a hundred percent. The copra (cake, meal, pellet) posted an overwhelming increase of 472 percent, from US$96.77 million last year to US$553.61 million this year; plyboard/plywood, from US$109.39 million to US$512.40 million, up by 368 percent; natural rubber, from US$3.09 billion to US$8.73 billion, up by 182 percent; and coconut oil, from US$1.13 billion to US$2.96 billion, up by 162 percent.
Furthermore, Loreto said that while there have been slowdowns in investments in other parts of the country, Davao Region continued its rally last year.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enlisted paid up capital escalated by 132 percent, from P46.2 million in 2008 to P107.7 million in 2009.
The Board of Investments (BOI) registration, on the other hand, posted 35 percent increase, from P3.20 billion in 2008 to P4.33 billion in 2009.
Notably for Davao City, the investments applied with the Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC) were at a record high of P4.8 billion, foremost of which were on real property development.