With a Gross Regional Domestic Product of ₱1.14 trillion in 2025, the Davao Region has successfully weathered recent challenges to emerge as a trillion-peso regional economy for the third straight year. This makes it Mindanao’s largest economy and the fifth largest regional economy in the country, behind the ₱1.32 trillion GRDP of Central Visayas.

We have already written in past columns about the Davao regional economy’s innate strengths, such as its being the capital of export agriculture. Companies that send fresh bananas, pineapples, and durian all over the world are all headquartered in the city, with the region being the country’s largest coconut producer.

This shows the know-how to produce high-quality fruits, vegetables, and other commodities for the world- a skill set we need. We have also featured how in recent years, its physical skyline has grown, with commercial buildings going up and township-type mixed-use developments offering investment-ready spaces for investors.

Moreover, it is also well known that regional capital Davao City is a strong business process outsourcing hub employing close to a hundred thousand workers. Its local tourism industry is a major player in the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions space, with the capability to host major conventions and international events with numerous natural attractions and food spots to delight the visitor. It has a manufacturing sector that can make steel products, cement, packaging products, and process agricultural commodities into finished products like activated carbon.

I do not doubt that all these sectors can still grow and add value with innovation and capital. I will explore these potentials in future columns.

Yet to my mind, one of the major keys to unlocking the region's economic potential further is the most recent development, which is the entry of new institutions of higher learning to make the Davao region a hub for higher education. Since 2016, Davao has welcomed Manila-based universities such as the Lyceum of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Mapua, and, most recently, National University, which had its formal launch last week. We have also welcomed the City College of Davao under the Davao City government a few years back.

These new institutions will complement existing schools to not only train Mindanao’s next generation but also to create new knowledge and innovation through research, an endeavor vital to address current and future challenges.

That said, a combined effort of these higher institutes of learning, along with the public and private sector initiatives in the Davao Region, can spur the research collaboration needed to address any long-standing barriers to growth and development and create value in the local economy.

In turn, this can create new enterprises that bring income and job opportunities for residents through new products that can be exported, new services that can be provided. These new opportunities can strengthen the Davao region’s economy, making it rise further. The vital role higher education plays in a growing regional economy like Davao's is clear.

I am confident that these higher institutions of learning and research will go a long way to harness innovation in the business sector and hone leadership in the public and social sphere to build the Davao and Mindanao of the future.

* * *

I would like to congratulate the Knights of Columbus (KofC) on their national convention in Davao. I am sure Blessed Fr. McGiveney is happy to see many of you taking up the challenge of faith, leadership and service in this confusing world.