PIA Press Release
2008/09/10
by Prix D Banzon
Davao City (10 September) -- The island of Mindanao registered improvements in its performance as reported by the Mindanao Economic and Development Council (Medco).
The Medco report indicated that growth in the economy of Mindanao posted acceleration in 2007 with a 7.2 growth percent in 2006. Same performance is expected in 2008, it said.
In last year's performance Caraga was the best performer as its economy propelled with the entry of mining investors.
Its economy soared to an 8.6 percent growth in 2007 from 6.0 percent in 2006 due to the outstanding performance of the industry sector, particularly mining.
A hefty 76.1 percent growth was posted in mining and quarrying as a result of the continuing increase in nickel production.
A downtrend was reported in manufacturing in the Caraga region as its performance worsened with a reversal from a positive 6.4 percent growth in 2006 to negatrive 4.6 percent in 2007.
Meanwhile construction accelerated by 15.2 percent in 2007 from 7.0 percent in 2006. The growth of electricity and water decelerated from 0.9 percent to 0.5 percent.
On the other hand, the Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry (AFF) sector in Mindanao contributed 34.5 percent to the total output of the country's AFF sector, the second highest share among the island groups, next to Luzon.
The AFF in Caraga which accounted for 35.2 percent of the regional economy, increased by 3.8 percent last year from a negative growth of 1.4 percent. This was brought about by a 7.3 percent increase in agriculture and fishery subsector in 2007, compared to a 1.2 percent increase in 2006.
The other driver of the Mindanao economy was the industry sector where it exhibited a very impressive performance as it posted a double-digit growth of 10.3 percent in 2007 from 7.1 percent in 2006. It comprised 15.3 percent of the total gross value added (GVA) of the industry sector in 2007. Mindanao contributed 1.5 percentage points to the 7.1 percent growth of the sector.
The Medco report however indicated that despite the upward trend in growth, the share in Mindanao to the country's total Growth Domestic Product (GDP) remained fixed at 17.7 percent over the period 2005 to 2007.
Northern Mindanao and the Davao Region registered minimal changes in their shares, from 4.8 percent in 2005 to 4.9 percent in 2007, and from 4.6 to 4.5 percent, respectively. The shares of the other four Mindanao regions remain unchanged. (PIA)
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