CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Local government units (LGUs) in Northern Mindanao must ensure basic infrastructure to be able to encourage more investors, as creating more jobs and quality jobs for the people is needed to reduce the poverty incidence in the region, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
MYLAH Faye Aurora Cariño, National Economic and Development Authority-Region 10 chief, delivers a presentation during the 2nd Semester 2023 Northern Mindanao Socioeconomic Forum on December 13 in Cagayan de Oro City. (Franck Dick Rosete)
Mylah Faye Aurora Cariño, NEDA-Region 10 director, made the remarks as the region aims to reduce poverty incidence among the population by 15 to 17 percent by 2028.
Apart from basic infrastructures such as electricity, water, internet, and roads, Cariño said business environment of the LGUs should be conducive for investments to come, and they should check their licensing and business registration to make sure that they are business-friendly.
“If you want to invite more investments, you must ensure that there’s a place for these investors in terms of your land use,” Cariño, also vice chairperson of the Regional Development Council-10, said during the 2nd Semester 2023 Northern Mindanao Socioeconomic Forum on December 13.
The region has 12 infrastructure flagship projects, the highest in Mindanao, and she said these are significant in encouraging investments to come.
In 2018, the region had the most substantial poverty reduction, with 684,000 people moving out and 184,000 higher than the 500,000 target.
However, due to pandemic-induced losses and higher inflation rate, poverty incidence in the region among the population rose to 26.1 percent in 2021 from 23.1 percent in 2018 while poverty incidence among families went up to 19.2 percent in 2021 from 17.3 percent in 2018.
These made Northern Mindanao eighth among regions in the country with the highest poverty incidence in 2021, according to NEDA-10.
This also showed in the regional economy, which went down to -5.3 percent in 2020 from 7.1 percent in 2018 and 5.6 percent in 2019.
However, in 2021, the region’s economy grew to 6.3 percent and further increased to 7.2 percent in 2022.
Aside from providing more jobs, the agency also promotes innovation, as it wants people to create employment.
Cariño said hat reducing poverty is a whole-society, whole-government, and multisectoral approach. “All of us should work together,” she added.
Apart from reducing unemployment and underemployment, Northern Mindanao also aims to grow its economy from 6.5 to eight percent from 2025 until 2028 in terms of Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP).