CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, June 29 (PIA) -- Although the economy of region 10 was not spared by the new coronavirus pandemic, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-10 saw its impact on the region's economy as minimal compared to that of other regions.

This was shared by NEDA-10 Regional Director Mylah Faye Aurora B. Carino in a recent interview with CORDS X podcast host, Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar.

The pandemic besetting the country nowadays placed the economy in halt, thus, many establishments have been forced to close or retrench their employees.

Region 10 is not exempt from this economic halt. "As per record, there are almost 37,000 establishments in region 10. But because of COVID-19 around 9,672 establishments with 172,900 employees had been affected," Carino said.

Out of the 9,672 establishments, 118 had retrenched their workers while 49 had permanently closed. Among the affected establishments, Carino said, 94 were from large industries, 49 from medium industries, 5,965 from micro industries, and 3,464 from small industries.

"It is the small and micro industries that were hit more during the pandemic," she said, resulting in the spike of the region's unemployment rate from 3-5 percent in previous years to 11.1 percent now.

From March 15 until the end of May 2020, the economy of the region suffered losses of P17 billion, and it is expected that the economy would continue to incur losses by the end of the year at P40 billion. Despite this computation, economic growth is still expected but a much slower rate compared to previous years, the lady NEDA-10 director explained.

For 2018 and 2019 the region's economy managed to grow by around 10 percent. Because of the the pandemic, the growth forecast for the region is pegged at 3.2 percent.

"Compare to other regions, this [impact on the economy] is minimal. This is because the economic drivers such as power generating companies, manufacturing companies particularly food and agricultural companies have continued their operations despite COVID-19 since they are classified as essentials," she maintained.

On the other hand, Carino also said that tourism and trade industries also suffered losses due to COVID-19.

Based on the average tourist arrival and expenditure per tourist, the estimated loss tallied from March 15 to May 15 had reached around P1.3 billion.

The NEDA head expressed confidence that tourism and trade industries will bounce back, though it will take a while for these to recover as they are adjusting their operations based on the health standards and protocols under the new normal.

Though COVID-19 has greatly affected the economy, there are still those industries that will thrive amid the pandemic. Agriculture, logistics, food manufacturing, PPE manufacturing are the sectors seen to survive during this crisis.

"The beauty in the economy of region 10 is that we have a diversified economy. And that our economic drivers particularly the food manufacturing was boosted during the COVID-19 since it has not stopped its operations," she concluded. (JAKArana/PIA10)