TACLOBAN CITY-The Regional Development Council of Eastern Visayas has bared its regional development plan for 2023-2028.
Meylene Rosales, the regional director of the National Economic and Development Authority(NEDA which sits as the secretariat of the council, the plan reflects the government’s policies, strategies, programs, and legislative priorities in support on the eight-point economic agenda of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
She said that in the next six years, the development agenda of Eastern Visayas will be guided by headline socioeconomic targets that include elevating economic growth from 6.0 to 7.0 percent in 2023 to 6.5 to 8.5 percent from 2024 to 2028.
They also intend to create more, better, and resilient jobs and hope that by 2028, unemployment in the region will just be between 5.0 and 5.2 percent.
Also, keep food and overall prices low and stable with food and overall inflation will be kept within 2.5 to 4.5 percent in 2023 and within 2.0 to 4.0 percent by 2024 to 2028.
The targets of the plan are intended to significantly improve the welfare of Filipinos. The strategies are expected to reduce the proportion of poor people from 28.9 percent in 2021 to between 15.7 and 17.6 percent by 2028, Rosales said.
The council also formulated key strategies and approaches for the plan.
Under the economic and production sector, the strategies include modernization of agriculture, fisheries, and agribusiness to raise overall productivity, move the region’s products up the value chain, promote diversification, and ensure food security.
To revitalize the industry, the government will pursue business matching and encourage innovation, technology adoption, and servicification or embedding services into manufacturing, to add greater value to local products.
The government will also enable opportunities for collaboration through the co-location of data-based enterprises and academic institutions.
And to reinvigorate services, the region’s services sector will shift from its low level of productivity to become a modern, productive, and resilient provider of higher-value and differentiated services, Rosales said.
The government shall boost the tourism sector as a driver of inclusive growth through strong partnerships with enterprises and local government units, the NEDA regional director added.
Overall the regional economic development plan aims to improve the quality of life and well-being of all and steer the regional economy onto a robust, inclusive, and sustained growth trajectory to effect economic and social transformation for a prosperous inclusive, and resilient society, said Rosales.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
