First Quarter 2001 Regional Economic Situationer

Western Mindanao

2. Export Performance

Exports during the first quarter increased by 28.33 percent from $68.73 million in 2000 to $88.20 million in 2001 (Annex 6 and Table 1).  Major contributors in the export earnings are its traditional exports comprising of coconut by products.

The top ten export products for the first three months are coco oil, octopus, canned tuna, shark meat/skin/fin, processed carageenan chips, dried seaweeds, coco solvents/pellets, cuttlefish/squid other marine products and rubber. The top three markets of these products are Singapore, Korea and Japan. Singapore absorbed $8.96 million worth of coco oil, canned tuna and rubber in the first two months of the year.  Korea followed with a $2.80 million worth of products such as coco oil, seaweeds, abalone sheet, sea cucumber, octopus, shell craft.  Japan’s consumption, placed at $ 2.48 million are marine products, seashells, pet food and seaweeds.

Zamboanga City is becoming an important sardines processing area in the country with five canning factories located in the City.  These are:  Columbus Seafoods Corporation; Universal Canning Corporation; Maxwell Food Corporation; Permex Producers and Exporters Corporation; and the Espa Foods. The region exported mackerel sardines amounting to $6.55 million during the quarter in review.

Meantime, there are seven (7) sardine manufacturers in Dipolog and Dapitan cities, both in Zamboanga del Norte.

Table 1.  LIST OF BOTTLED SARDINES MANUFACTURERS IN ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE

Source of Basic Data: DTI IX

Among the cities and provinces in Region IX, Zamboanga City contributed the bulk or 63 percent of the exported product both traditional and non-traditional products amounting to $ 55.86 million followed by Zamboanga del Norte at $ 31 million with its coco oil and coco solvents/pellets.  Zamboanga del Sur, on the other hand, contributed $1.31 million in exports mostly from rubber, shrimps/prawns and dried seaweeds.

There was an upsurge of export of coco oil, coco solvents/pellets, and cochin oil accounting for about 47.4 percent of the total value of exports ($88.19 million) during the quarter. Other countries of destination for coco oil are Indonesia and Malaysia. Significant volume of rubber (4.63 million kgs) valued at $1.170 million were also exported to Japan, Singapore and Malaysia (Annex 6).

Non-traditional products account for the biggest volume and value in the region’s exports. Marine products and seaweeds are the major exports of the region. These products are shipped to Chile, China, France, Hongkong, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. Octopus and its byproducts are being exported to Germany, Japan, Korea, Spain, Portugal and USA.

3. Investments as Monitored by DTI and SEC

As reflected in the report of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), investments declined by 69.7 percent from P 307.30 million in the first quarter of 2000 to  P93.07 million in 2001 (Annex 7A).

Nonetheless, there was an increase in the number of companies registered under SEC in the first three months. Twenty-three (23) companies in the region registered their businesses with a total paid-in capital amounting to P 21.14 million. Sixteen (16) of these businesses are located in Zamboanga City, three (3) each in Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur and one (1) lending company opened in Basilan.

Top areas of investments recorded by SEC include a cable network service in Zamboanga del Norte, a hospital and a lending company in Zamboanga City.  Lending and credit services, and pawnshops were noted to grow in number during the period.

Despite the political quandary at the time, the region was still able to attract investments. As of the first quarter of the year, seven companies have signified their interest to invest in the Zamboanga City Freeport.  The Freeport received letters of intent from WAE Corp., a dried and preserved fruit manufacturer and exporter; Hampton Manufacturing, a noodle manufacturing and export company currently based in Cebu City; PD Industrial Corp., San West Architecture Plan Company Limited, an eco-panel board manufacturing company; Goldpatch Link International, forwarding and logistics services; Chung Li Motor Co, manufacturing, reconditioning of motorcycles and scooters for export and Maman Unding, an investor who intends to put up a foam and mattress manufacturing firm. 

At present the Freeport has seven registered locators:  Mabuhay Philippines Corporation, Ticom Company Incorporated, Multi-Products Distribution Systems Inc., Peninsula Duty-Free Shop, Han Wook Panel Phils. Corporation, Bendimil International Corporation and Philippines China South Ocean Xing Ye Tobacco Corporation.

4. Tourism

4.1 Tourists Arrivals

Total tourist arrivals decreased by 34.7 percent from 84,452 to 55,162 during the period January to March 2000 compared to the same period in 2001 as  foreign embassies continue to issue travel advisories cautioning their nationals from traveling specifically to Zamboanga City, Basilan, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga del Norte, among other provinces in Mindanao. The development that beset the tourism industry such as the Mindanao conflict, the kidnappings in Basilan and Sulu, the national political crisis, and the devaluation of the Philippine peso all contributed to the continuous decline in the number of foreign and domestic tourists visiting the region.

Domestic tourist arrivals declined by 35.3 percent from 80,686 to 52,178 while foreign visitors decreased by 20.8 percent from 3,766 to 2,984 tourists. It is significant to note that the number of tourists from European countries continued to fall by 60.6 percent from 675 tourists during the first quarter in 2000 compared to 266 during the same period in 2001 (Annex 8and Table 1). Among the five (5) top tourist visitors in the region, which includes, Malaysia, United States, China, Korea, and Japan, only Korea posted a positive growth of 198.2 percent from 57 to 170. Compared to the first quarter in 2000, the number of tourists from the rest of the top five (5) countries dropped from 22.0 to 42.6 percent in 2001.

Table 3.  TOTAL TOURISTS ARRIVALS IN REGION IX

1^ST quarter: 2000-2001

Note:  *March 2001 data are still partial.

Source of Data: DOT  IX, Zamboanga City

4.2 Tourist Expenditures

Total estimated tourist expenditures dropped by 34.3 percent from PhP 707.7 million during the previous year to PhP 464.9 million in 2001 due to the decrease in the total number of tourists. In the first quarter of 2001, domestic tourists spent PhP 427.2 million, which is 35.3 percent lower than the previous year. Foreign tourists expenditures declined by 19.9 percent from PhP 47.2 million to PhP 37.8 million.

Table 4.  TOURIST EXPENDITURES1

1^ST Quarter: 2000 – 2001

(In Pesos)

Note:  March 2001 data are still partial.

Source of Basic Data:  Department of Tourism, Region IX