DAVAO CITY—The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) revealed that latest export data shows that Davao Region is picking up.
Quoting a report from the Bureau of Customs (BoC), DTI 11 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 151.79 billion US dollars.
“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 115.45 billion US dollars for January to February 2009 to 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 96.77 million US dollars last year to 553.61 million this year; plyboard/plywood, from 109.39 million to 512.40 million, up by 368 percent; natural rubber, from 3.09 billion to 8.73 billion US dollars, up by 182 percent; and coconut oil, from 1.13 billion to 2.96 billion US dollars, up by 162 percent.
Furthermore, Loreto said, while there has 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 46.2 million pesos in 2008 to 107.7 million in 2009. The Board of Investments (BOI) registration, on the other hand, posted 35 percent increase, from 3.20 billion in 2008 to 4.33 billion pesos in 2009.
Notably for Davao City, the investments applied with the Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC) were at a record high of 4.8 billion pesos, foremost of which were on real property development. (DTI11)
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