Exports in Mindanao increased by nearly 23 percent in 2003, according to the office of the Deputy Presidential Assistant for Mindanao.
Deputy Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Affairs Virgilio Leyretana said that last year’s exports reached $700 million (USD 12.6 million) as compared to $570 million (USD 10.2 million) in 2002, or an increase of 22.8 percent, according to Deputy Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Affairs Virgilio Leyretana.
The United States and Japan are the top export destinations of products from Mindanao. Others include Netherlands, Taiwan, and Korea.
Among Mindanao’s top exports last year were tuna, fresh banana, coconut oil, pineapple and iron/nickel/ore agglomerates.
Leyretana said the development in the region’s export industry has also increased labor output, which lightened the unemployment problem. The employed sector in the region totaled to about 6.7 million (USD 120,000) in 2003, 55 percent of which worked full time, 43.3 percent part-time, and 1.7 percent seasonal.
But while exports increased, the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MedCo) reported an increase in the region’s import values by 27 percent last year. From $280 million (USD 5 million) in 2002, it increased to $360 million (USD 6,5 million) in 2003.