ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/26 July) – Zamboanga Peninsula has registered the fastest growth in 2012 among the country’s 17 regions as the peninsula’s economy grew to 12.4 percent last year from 0.1 percent in 2011.
Mewchun Pamaran, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) regional chief, attributed the impressive economic performance of Zamboanga Peninsula or Region 9 to the accelerated growths of the industry and services sectors.
The services sector accounted for the largest share of the region’s total economy at 42.7 percent in 2012, followed by the industry sector with 34.8 percentage share and agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (AHFF) with 22.5 percent, according to Pamaran.
The industry sector climbed to 31.6 percent in 2012 from 1.5 percent in 2011 due to the accelerated growths in all its subsectors–manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying, and electricity, gas and water supply (EGWS), Pamaran said.
The industry sector was the largest contributor to the region’s overall economic growth in 2012 with 9.4 percentage points followed by the services sector with 3.7 percentage points, she said.
Pamaran said manufacturing, which accounted for 27.4 percent of the region’s total economy, grew remarkably by 35.2 percent in 2012 from 5.9 percent in 2011.
She said the double-digit growth was attributed to the high increase in production of canned sardines.
Zamboanga City, which hosts at least 10 canneries, is dubbed as the “Sardines Capital” of the country.
Pamaran said that construction rebounded from negative 12.3 percent in 2011 to 28.5 percent in 2012 due to the increase in both public and private construction works.
She said that mining and EGWS, likewise, turned around from negative 14.4 percent in 2011 to 0.6 percent in 2012 and negative 0.3 percent in 2011 to 4.0 percent in 2012, respectively.
Pamaran said the services sector has expanded to 8.3 percent in 2012 from 6.0 percent in 2011. The growth was due to the increase in all its subsectors except the “other services,” which decelerated from 11.0 percent in 2011 to 7.0 percent in 2012.
Public Administration and Defense (PAD) rebounded from negative 0.1 percent in 2011 to 5.6 percent in 2012 while Financial Intermediation grew from 4.4 percent in 2011 to 11.7 percent in 2012, Trade from 3.4 percent to 10.5 percent, Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities (RERBA) from 6.1 percent to 7.0 percent, and Transport Storage and Communication (TSC) from 8.0 percent to 8.2 percent.
Pamaran said the growth in the AHFF sector improved from negative 9.7 percent in 2011 to negative 2.6 percent in 2012.
Fishing, which accounted for 7.8 percent of the region’s domestic output, improved from negative 23.5 percent in 2011 to negative 7.3 in 2012.
Aside from canneries, this city is also a home to 15 fishing firms that supply the needs of the canning companies, the local market and other parts of the country.
Agriculture and Forestry, on the other hand, decelerated to 0.1 percent in 2012 from 0.6 percent in 2011.
The AHFF sector, however, pulled down the region’s growth by 0.7 percentage point. (MindaNews)