December 12, 2013
Iloilo City, Iloilo — The National Competitiveness Council (NCC), the public-private task force under Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), sees the economy of Western Visayas bouncing back sooner than most places in the aftermath of super- typhoon Yolanda.
“Yolanda interrupted the region’s competitiveness, but it can recover faster as compared to Eastern Visayas,” said Guillermo Luz, NCC co-chairman representing the private sector who was in Iloilo recently for the NCC roadshow focused on an awareness campaign on climate change adaptation and disaster resiliency to boost economic competitiveness.
“That’s maybe because the destruction there is larger,” Luz added.
The region’s agriculture and fisheries sectors, especially in badly-hit areas of northern Panay Island, suffered major setbacks.
Luz also noted that in other areas of the region, Yolanda made an indirect negative impact. He cited the case of world famous beach destination Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan.
“Boracay wasn’t hit directly by Yolanda, but one of the major problems on the island was unstable power. For weeks, establishments were using generator sets,” Luz said.
He said that the power problem somewhat had a negative impact on the competitiveness of Boracay as an international destination.
On the other hand, Luz pointed out that key economic areas of Western Visayas were spared. source
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