Central Visayas posts rosy numbers

International trading activities in Central Visayas showed growth in the first seven months of the year, figures released by the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) regional office show.

According to the report, exporters turned in an impressive performance with sales growing by 84 percent.

“This raised hopes that the export sector was finally on the road to recovery. The later part of the year however was slower,” said NEDA assistant regional director Efren B. Carreon.

Furniture and furnishings were among the products that showed recovery. However, the industry was also challenged by the growing competition from neighboring countries and slow recovery of the US market.

As of July last year, exports grew by 83.7 percent with $2.2 billion compared to only $1.2 billion in 2011. Volume likewise increased by 7.4 percent. Imports registered 62.9 percent growth with $1.6 billion compared to only $1.1 billion in the same period in 2011.

“Given a higher export receipt, the region realized a trade surplus of $556.4 million from January to July last year,” said Carreon.

Other key industries in Central Visayas, including IT/BPO, tourism, construction and real estate, also registered growth.

Construction

Construction remains upbeat with Negros Oriental having the most number of construction projects last year with 227. The National Statistics Office attributed the upsurge to the numerous reconstruction projects in the province following the devastation wrought by an earthquake last year.

Cebu registered the second highest construction activities with 153 projects.

Majority or 87 percent of the private sector projects were for residential purposes as supported by data from the Board of Investments.

Real Estate

Running parallel to increased construction activities is the surge in sales of real properties. Cebu alone posted an 18.8 percent growth.

“Data from HLURB (Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board) showed that in 2012, 14 residential condominium projects involving 5,212 units valued at P5.17 billion were issued licenses to sell. All these units are located in Cebu,” the report said.

The market for residential condominium is targeted to expand further in the next few years as additional 100 condominium buildings are projected to be completed by 2015 and another 170 to 200 buildings by 2017.

Tourism

Tourist arrivals posted a 14.6 percent growth.

“Central Visayas benefited from sustained growth of international tourism. After recovering in 2010, international tourism gained momentum in the succeeding years, allowing the region to post accelerated growth in foreign visitor arrivals in 2012.”