Mindanao urged to focus on higher-value industries

Mindanao must move beyond raw commodity production and accelerate investments in processing, manufacturing and technology-enabled services to secure a larger role in the Philippines’ next phase of economic growth, economic officials said.

Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos said the region remained well positioned to benefit from stronger national growth expected from 2027 onward despite a softer 2026 outlook.

“The issue is not whether Mindanao can grow. It can. The issue is whether we can change the composition and quality of that growth, from producing more commodities to producing more value, from raw production to processing and manufacturing, and from traditional services to higher-value technology-enabled services.”

Mindanao’s economy grew 4.7 percent in 2025, ahead of the national growth rate of 4.4 percent. The region accounted for 17.2 percent of national gross domestic product (GDP) and 37.4 percent of the country’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries output.

Davao posted 5.15-percent growth in 2025, with its economy reaching P1.137 trillion.

Abad Santos identified agribusiness, logistics, digital services, manufacturing, energy and the green transition as key opportunities, with better connectivity needed to link producers to larger markets.

“The opportunity is not simply to grow more. It is to create more value from what Mindanao does very well,” Abad Santos said.

Meanwhile, Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon said stronger governance and faster infrastructure spending would be critical to supporting economic activity. He noted that infrastructure projects were only around 20 to 30 percent obligated nationwide by midyear, against the roughly 50 percent expected under a linear spending schedule.

De Leon said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) was facilitating the timely but accountable release of infrastructure funds while strengthening transparency through the DBM Compass online monitoring platform.

For 2027, he said projects proposed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were being required to have complete documentation early, allowing government to begin procurement ahead of budget approval and speed up implementation.