Southern Philippines Projects 11 Pct Growth In 2005 ff
15 April 2005
Philippines
The economy in Southern Philippines is expected to post strong growth this year due to positive developments in the tuna sector, area of tourism, foreign trade, mining and agricultural sectors, the Mindanao Economic and Development Council (Medco) said.
In a report on Mindanao’s economic outlook for the year, Medco chair Secretary Jesus Dureza said the area's export trade is seen to grow by at least 11.5 per cent due to the rising market demand for various traditional fishing , agricultural and industrial products.
He said export of goods from the area is "expected to grow faster than in 2004," especially for tuna, banana, coconut oil, and pineapple.
Dureza noted a strong market demand for tuna and coconut oil, especially in Singapore, which is considered as among its major export markets.
Last year, Mindanao's export growth reportedly reached 5.9 per cent -from US$1.4 billion in 2003 to US$1.5 billion in 2004.
The area's leading export products were coconut oil, banana, tuna, fresh pineapples and iron ore agglomerates.
The top export destinations were Japan, United States, Netherlands, South Korea and Taiwan. The combined US and Japan markets alone captured at least 71.7 per cent of the total export shares of Mindanao.
For this year, Dureza said the growth in the gross domestic product is seen to be within the 4.4 to 4.5 per cent range.
At the sector level, agriculture was projected to pick up by 3.9 to 4 per cent, industry improving by 3.4 per cent and services sector by 4.5 to 4.6 per cent, he said.
