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Emerging trends for
Zamboanga
City
By Rafael Evangelista
Regional Director, NEDA
In one of my
travels, I picked up the 20th anniversary edition
of Asia Today. I found its perceptions of the economic trends
in the region – and I mean the Asian region – intriguing, and
while their ideas may not be necessarily cast in stone, I
found it quite interesting. Very interesting in fact.
The writers
of Asia Today forecasted that in 2020, Asia would be busy and
well-connected, with
China
providing the main heartbeat of economic activity. The
Chinese will dictate world trade, second in economic power
only to the Americans. Chinese Renminbi will be the dominant
currency, outpacing the Japanese yen.
By then,
Thailand, Malaysia and India shall have achieved
developed-nation status, contributing to
East Asia
becoming a “throbbing metropolis… with intra-regional trade
(and) increasing domestic consumption.”
This
promising future is supported by several multi-lateral and
bilateral trade pacts among and between ASEAN plus Three, APEC,
and
India.
Trade
route
One
significant event featured in Asia Today is the mega project
that is expected to be implemented in the coming decade.
Talked about for the past thirty years and now gathering
momentum, the project is being pushed by at least three
powerful countries and may result to Singapore losing its
prominence. This mega project has something to do with trade
routes.
Currently,
there are a lot of goods passing through
Singapore
as these are on its way to the markets of
Japan,
Korea and China. The routes will have some modifications once
the proposed project shall have been completed because the
project
involves the
putting up of a big canal in
Thailand.
To be called
the Kra Canal, it will provide an alternate route to ships
plying the Europe-Middle East-North Asia route by bypassing
the Strait of Malacca, reducing the trip by 1000 kilometers
and saving shipping companies between $37,000 to $120,000 per
voyage in labor and fuel cost.
The United
States of America is interested in the project for security
reasons since it is planning to establish a permanent military
station in Sri Lanka – thus journeys from their current
station in Guam to Sri Lanka would be faster, allowing them to
avoid the predominantly Muslim Strait of Malacca. Japan
will benefit from the reduced cost, not to mention its
involvement in the project itself. China’s interest is in
providing labor for its population.
Singapore
will, of course, have a lesser role but will not totally be
abandoned – it can still become the consolidation and
distribution hub for the area. Zamboanga Peninsula, and
Zamboanga City in particular, must develop trade links with
Singapore
if it seeks to market its good to the world.
Zamboanga’s future
In 2020, the
Zamboanga Economy would still be mainly driven by tapping the
region’s agriculture resources such as coconuts and fresh
fruits (e.g.mangoes), fresh fish, seaweeds and
other marine products. An added strength is the presence of
the processing sector, churning out marine based products such
as sardines and seaweeds
The medium term prospects look good, if we can
convince investors to come in. In agriculture, for example, we
have the goods and the technology for organic rice,
free-ranged (or native) poultry, and new species of seaweeds.
We also have emerging income earners such as coco based
industries (coco-coir, coco fiber) and marine based industries
(medium-end processed seaweeds).
As the
commercial center of Western Mindanao, Zamboanga’s strategic
assets include major base ports of entry and exit, strong
links with urban areas, the presence of educational centers,
and its proximity to plantation crops.
Zamboanga City is actually the hub of products
for nearby areas to/from outside markets. It is in the city
where most of the goods are consolidated or transshipped to
the southern cities of
Davao,
Cotabato, and Gen. Santos.
Threats
But there is a clear and present threat to
Zamboanga
City’s
dominance: the Rail Project between
Davao and
Cagayan De Oro that will negatively impact on Zamboanga’s
domestic trade.
The situation is exacerbated by the weak link of the Triple
S-B (Siocon, Sirawai, Sibuco, and Baliguian) and the Pagadian–Dipolog
links. The Triple SB is the most problematic, yet, in spite
of its weakness, this is where you will find a big plantation
of the Consunji and the gold mine prospects of the TVI.
Another threat is the emerging role of Dapitan’s
Pulawan Port. The Ro-Ro port is near urban Cebu (daily there
is a boat which takes you to Cebu while you sleep); it is
noteworthy that a private group shall construct a large port
facility near Pulawan
Port.
Dapitan has strong links with Zamboanga Sibugay; the
provincial government of Zamboanga del Norte is aggressively
seeking the establishment of an industrial center in Dapitan.
 Third,
government is upgrading the Sergio Osmena –Josefina
Road, strengthening Pagadian’s links to Dipolog, which in turn
will divert some of the goods that are transshipped in
Zamboanga City to Dapitan Port.
Fourth, the current trade links between Siocon
and Zamboanga City may be even further reduced with the
improvement of the
Siocon
Port,
as vessels may now ply routes to bigger cities.
All of these
spell bad news for Zamboanga City. The net effect of all these
improvements in areas around the city is a reduced sphere of
economic influence as good from traditional sources dwindle,
transshipped to other ports.
If
Zamboanga
City
is not to be isolated, she must work to maintain dominance by
considering linkages with the island provinces of Sulu and
Sabah, and the East Asea Growth Area.
Suggestions
Despite the awakening of new key players in the peninsula,
Zamboanga City’s prospects are good, but she needs to take
steps to ensure it. My suggestions are that she must
pursue the
expansion of Zamboanga Port, operationalize the ZamboEcoZone,
and strengthen economic links with
Sabah.
The local
business sector must take advantage of opportunities in
Zamboanga by consolidating, transshipping, and value-adding to
their goods and services.
Zamboanga City’s potential also lies in its Chavacano speaking
populace, now in demand for Spanish call centers, one of core
businesses in information and communication
technology (ICT)
industries. The City must aggressively pursue a role in this
latest industry.
Among other
things needed for Zamboanga’s continued dominance is an
improved image through balanced reporting from local media.
This is crucial because prospects are highly influenced by
perceptions about Zamboanga. If Zamboanga is perceived to be a
good area for investment, then investors will come. If
perceived negatively, investors would not come, tourists would
avoid us; thus investments would not come, no new jobs will be
created or, worst, jobs may be lost and transferred to a
better area.
Potentials
Zamboanga
City can be likened to a runner, a participant in the global
economic race. She could either be a lone runner… left behind
by other runners who are better than our Zamboanga. But we can
also liken Zamboanga City to someone whose legs are firm and
strong, left behind but determined to catch up with the rest
of the pack. She had merely let the others have an early
start because she knows she can not only easily catch up, but
would overtake them if she just uses her potentials.
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