CV economy accelerates in Q1

CEBU, Philippines - The economic growth of Central Visayas has accelerated for the first quarter of 2012 based on the recent report the National Economic Development Authority – 7.

NEDA Assistant Regional Director Efren Carreon said during the Regional Development Council meeting held in Bohol last June 28 that the improvement in the regional economic situation could be attributed to the good performance of its major industries.

He cited that in the tourism sector, the total number of visitor arrivals in CV increased by 9.7 percent in the first three months of this year.

Although this has been lower than the 11.1 % increase in 2011, he noted that this is still a good indicator that the industry would continuously benefit from the recovery of the international tourism market.

The number of foreign visitor arrivals also grew by 17.2 % in first quarter of 2012 which was higher than the 14.3% increase last year. Moreover, domestic visitor arrivals also posted a 4.8% growth.

“Since 2011, the region has been posting double-digit increases in foreign visitor arrivals. This is reminiscent of the pre-crisis scenario wherein the international market was the main growth driver of the region’s tourism industry. While we recognize the importance of the domestic market in sustaining the growth of the tourism industry, we cannot also deny that we need foreign tourists infuse new money into the local economy,” he stated.

With the provincial level performance, on the other hand, Carreon said that unlike in the previous two years when all provinces in the region reported growth in visitor arrivals, Bohol and Siquijor had posted less number of visitors for this year compared to 2011.

Due to the slowdown in domestic tourism, Bohol’s number of visitor arrivals dropped by 18.3% while Siquijor decreased to 3.1%.

He further clarified that the data for Bohol province is still preliminary and is set to be validated.

Meanwhile, he said that the aviation industry remained upbeat as airline companies such as Mid-Sea Express, Eagle Trans Asia Airways and Cebu Pacific realized their expansion plans to take advantage of the growing market which posted an increase for the number of both the domestic and international passengers in 9.9% and 19.6% respectively.

Foreign container traffic grew by 9.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.

The shipping industry, he added, also sustained its recovery with a noted increase for domestic and foreign shipcalls and vessel traffic.

Carreon said that such recovery could be attributed to both the booming performance in the tourism sector and the export sector that started to revitalize for this year.

He lauded the performance of the export industry which significantly improved in the first three months of 2012, citing that the regional export sales increased by 20.2%.

The electronic product exports of the Philippines also projected recovery as it posted 5.6% growth compared to the 2011 performance.

“The positive performance of the industry in the first quarter of 2012 could be taken as an indication that the export industry is on its way to full recovery,” he said.

The agriculture sector, on the other hand, reported a sustained performance from its recovery last year with a 0.9% production increase this year which is primarily attributed to the good weather condition.

Carreon further noted that prices of commodities in CV in the first three months of 2012 were relatively more stable than in the second half of 2011.

The regional inflation rate for this year averaged only to 2.1% that is lower than the national average of 3.1%, he continued.

Due to the sustained growth of the regional economy, he presented that it created a positive impact on the labor market since the employment rate rose to 92.8% in the April round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) from the 92.5% in the previous survey period.

However, he stated that the region must still strive to generate more job opportunities in the succeeding quarters to reach its 2012 plan target of at least 93.5% employment rate.

He added that even though there is a notable improvement in the employment levels, the underemployment issue remains a challenge for the region.

He cited that the proportion of underemployed workers to the total number of employed workers in CV has exceeded 20% since October 2011. 

In the April 2012 round of the LFS, Central Visayas recorded an underemployment rate of 22.4% which was higher in January 2012 round and October 2011 round of the said survey at 20.5% and 21.4% respectively.

Carreon said that the region remains bullish towards the improvement of these sectors due to the growth prospects of the economy contributed by the top performing industries such as the information technology/business process outsourcing sector, tourism, real estate development and retail trade industry.

He also noted that they are also optimistic with the continuous recovery of the export sector. 

“The export industry used to be one of the growth drivers of the regional economy. It would come out stronger this year as it takes advantage of the expected market recovery and opportunities from new markets in Asia,” he added.  (FREEMAN)