MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Aug. 15 (PIA) --- The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has registered a remarkable economic growth of 3.6 percent in 2013 from its 2010 mark of negative 0.3 percent.
According to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the total value of final goods and services produced in the ARMM grew from 1.1 percent in 2012 to 3.6 percent in 2013. The growth is driven by strong performance of the region’s service sector and agriculture.
Agriculture, which included hunting, fishing and forestry, accounted for 61.3 percent of ARMM’s economy followed by services with 33.6 percent and the industry sector with 5.1 percent.
ARMM Governor Mujiv S. Hataman cited the improved confidence of the people in the regional government. Good governance meant that development aid that was meant for the sectors are actually reaching them and are being used for improvement and growth.
“The growth is attributed to the ongoing reform initiatives, the renewed confidence of investors to the region. Also we believe that the sectors have seen with their own eyes the resources that are being poured into their areas. When they realized this was for real, they continued their efforts with renewed energy and trust that the gains to be had will be theirs,” Hataman said.
The regional economy only managed a dismal recovery of 1.1 percent growth from an all-time low of negative 0.3 percent when Hataman took office in 2011. In a period of over a year, the region was brought back on track after series of bureaucratic and leadership reforms introduced by his administration.
In 2013, the region’s agriculture rebounded from negative 1.1 percent a year before to 2.5 percent, buoyed by increased production of major crops like palay, coconut, cassava and other crops and in the production of tilapia, milkfish, tiger prawn, skipjack and yellow fin tuna.
Service sector in ARMM accelerated to 6.6 percent in 2013 from 5.9 percent in 2012 as three of its subsectors posted faster growths. Financial Intermediation grew from 10.7 percent to 18.5 percent while Trade and Repair expanded from 4.0 percent to 5.7 percent. Public Administration and Defense also grew from 5.5 percent in 2012 to 5.9 percent in 2013.
Accelerated growths were observed in Mining and Quarrying as it grew from 2.3 percent to 2.6 percent, Manufacturing from 3.0 percent to 3.9 percent. Meanwhile, Construction rebounded from negative 3.1 percent in 2012 to 1.2 percent in 2013.
Hataman said they expect better economic performance this year given the record breaking investments that have come into the region. Investments in the ARMM soared at 72 percent this year compared to the first half of 2013. The renewable energy sector posted the largest gains.
In the province of Maguindanao, three biomass projects were pledged, with a total worth of P1.773 billion. Mindanao will benefit from the 18-plus megawatts these projects will contribute to the grid.
“We target to hit the P5-billion mark in investments by year end,” he said.
The regional government has also invested heavily on infrastructure projects that included the construction of concrete roads, ports and other public facilities. (Bureau of Public Information-ARMM/PIA-10)
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