#MINDANAO
Happy New Year everyone!
As we look ahead to the coming months, we reflect on the strengths and opportunities for Mindanao's economy this year. Growing at 7.2 percent in 2022, I believe the island’s economy of about 26 million will continue to perform well in the coming years, owing to the increased travel to and from the island, new business ties between Mindanao’s business groups and chambers with foreign and local counterparts, and the consumption of its growing, young population. Travel within Mindanao has vastly improved with wide public roads linking urban centers with rising skylines, their ports and airports through which trade can flow. These developments show the island’s strengths and economic power.
The next and more important question is what else can be done to boost this growth further? Here are some recommendations.
The first step is to promote the green lanes under Executive Order 18-2023 for new agro-processing manufacturing and related investments. Mindanao is a net importer of finished goods such as soap, pharmaceuticals, and toothpaste. The ability to produce these on the island for the 26 million consumer market will likely boost growth since imports from outside the island can be substituted with high-value, locally-made items. These activities will also boost employment prospects for local residents.
I believe Mindanao has sufficient human capital to run manufacturing plants, with our various universities being among the country’s top tertiary educational institutions from which engineering and scientific talent emerge. As more innovation is pursued on the island, I expect academic and industry partnerships to flourish and form the scientific and technological base for improved manufacturing.
The second is to boost investment promotion at the regional level. The Regional Development Councils (RDCs) have set their investment promotion priorities. In partnership with local and foreign business groups, these can and must be pursued as investment promotion activities on two levels. The first is by identifying priority sectors for investment and properties where manufacturing and agro-processing investments can be located. The second is by assisting the creation of these areas with the assistance of the different government agencies. The third is assisting prospective locators to set up the business. Investment roadshows can be pursued both here and abroad to attract investments in necessary areas. This whole-of-government approach through the RDCs, with private sector participation in promoting and capturing investments, will boost the growth of the regional economies, creating local wealth and increased local revenue collection.
A third is to export more local food ingredients abroad. With 1.9 million overseas Filipino workers and an estimated 10.2 million overseas Filipinos, many of them foreign citizens of Filipino heritage, the demand for Filipino food is expected to rise. Add to this the growing popularity of Filipino cuisine among foreigners through social and online media channels, and you have a potential demand that can expand as more buyers seek authentic Filipino-made food ingredients. A sustained effort to promote cuisine and locally made ingredients can be a vital source of export earnings, and income for processors and local farms that grow raw materials such as rice and coconut, bananas, durian cacao and coffee.
These recommendations will bear good fruit for Mindanao well into the future.