BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The economy of Western Visayas crossed the P1-trillion mark last year, the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) recently announced.
Region 6 was the second fastest-growing regional economy in the country in 2023, which had a total value of P1.024 trillion.
The economy of Western Visayas, which comprised the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental, grew by 7.2 percent in 2023.
Likewise, Western Visayas topped the regional economies with a 6.5 percent per capita growth rate. Central Visayas posted the fastest growth at 7.3 percent in 2023, while the Ilocos Region was third at 7.1 percent. These three regions exhibited higher growths than the national level growth rate.
But how can the region maintain its trillion-mark economy?
Engr. Arecio Casing, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region 6 director, stressed that Western Visayas needs to intensify its efforts for the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) to maintain the trillion marks.
In his speech during a press briefing on the economic performance of Western Visayas for 2023 last week, Casing outlined how the region reached such a momentous economic growth.
Casing noted a significant increase was noted for electricity, steam, water, and waste management from 0.3 in 2022 to 10.1 in 2023.
In 2023, he said the region increased its power capacity to 1, 612.35 megawatts from 1,453MW in 2022. The region installed a capacity target of 2,153.83MW in 2024 and 2,284.83MW in 2025.
But inflation also challenged the construction sector’s growth, which declined from 20.2 percent in 2022 to 15.8 percent in 2023.
“Supply chain disruptions that raised the prices of construction materials also posed challenges in developing the construction sector,” said Casing.
The growth of the manufacturing industry remained at 4.4 percent, the NEDA-6 chief pointed out.
He said the Department of Trade and Industry is pushing to institutionalize the Securing and Manufacturing Revitalization and Transformation (SMaRT) Program to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization through an inclusive innovation industrial strategy.
Likewise, Casing said the region continued its efforts to regain the economy from losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Despite the decline in growth within the industry sector, there was a notable increase in revenue,” he added.
The sector generated P17.28 billion, rising from P202 billion in 2022 to P220.9 billion in 2023.
To help the region maintain its robust economic growth, NEDA-6 has formulated several priority strategies that focus on enhancing connectivity and innovation ecosystem as the region positions itself as an important IT hub in the country.
Casing said they assist the region to intensify infrastructure in digital connectivity as digitalization will play a vital role both in the business, but also in reducing administrative burdens and providing transparent and efficient management of public funds.
It is also taking advantage of research and development and innovation particularly in science and technology to harness the region’s creativity and expertise.
NEDA-6 also stressed it is expediting power and water projects in the region, taking into consideration the lessons of power outages the region experienced in previous months.
Apart from being the second fastest-growing economy in the country, the gross capital formation in Western Visayas posted the fastest growth at 12.9 percent, followed by CALABARZON at 9.65 percent, and Cagayan Valley at 9.58 percent.
Household spending in Western Visayas grew by 5.8 percent in 2023. The 2023 growth, however, was a bit slower compared to the 9.3 percent recorded in 2022.
Exports of goods and services to the rest of the world grew the fastest at 13.2 percent. This was followed by gross capital formation which grew by 12.2 percent.
The region experienced significant growth in various sectors including accommodation and food service, transportation and storage, construction, public administration, and defense, among others./PN
