MINING will continue to be a major driver of Davao Region’s economy as a result of the recent improvement in the price of gold ore.
NEDA assistant regional director Atty. Bonifacio Uy said that although investments in the mining industry have softened in the meantime, the price of gold has improved and become an alternative investment in some countries.
Based on the region’s development outlook for 2009, the growth target of 5.9 percent is attainable given the resiliency of the regional economy and growth drivers to include mining, Uy said.
He added that development of the mining industry will accelerate this year. “Now is the time to fully develop mineral areas and, at the rate things are going, by next year the prices of products shall have improved.”
He said it is high time to develop mineral areas “so that by the time the economy improves, we will be ready with our products.”
Maria Fe M. Talento, OIC chief of the Production Accounts Division of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Manila, said the price of gold depends on world metal prices and, because of the global financial crisis, the trend towards the fourth quarter of 2008 showed a decline in the prices.
She said that with many seeing good prices for gold they tend to produce more as they take advantage of the high price.
A report of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that 80 percent of the country’s gold production comes from the Davao Region and a high percentage, or about half of this figure, comes from small-scale mining. [PNA]
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