WHILE the country’s economy is slowing down, economists and businessmen in Central Visayas are optimistic the region will fare better based on strong performances by exporters and an ever-expanding tourism industry.

Efren Carreon, National Economic and Development Authority assistant regional director, said tourism is one of the sectors least affected by the worldwide slowdown, while the region’s exports have continued to find niche high-end markets abroad.

University of San Carlos economics professor Fernando Fajardo agrees, but said the benefits of the vibrant Cebu economy should be spread to Bohol and Negros Oriental.

“Cebu will always survive no matter what the problem is. The challenge now is how to bring these developments to the countryside,” Fajardo said.

“Based on the numbers, the future is bright. The drivers of the Cebu economy, ICT [information and communications technology] and tourism, are still doing very good,” Carreon said.

First-quarter figures for the region are indeed very promising: Foreign tourism arrivals are up by 11 percent, and the export sector surprisingly expanded by a whopping 74.1 percent to P1.429 billion.

Mandaue City Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Eric Ng Mendoza said the stabilizing peso has helped exporters in competing abroad.

“The rising cost of production is affecting everybody, including our competitors in China. With the peso stabilizing, we are now standing on the same level,” he said.

Mendoza said the more “competitive level” for the peso would be around P48 to $1—a level many exporters can accept.

Carreon said real estate, tourism and information technology remain the biggest drivers of the region as investments in these sectors remain consistent.

He said the growth in construction and real estate can be reflected by the huge growth in  power demand, which posted an almost 5-percent growth to 497 megawatts for the region.

The Board of Investments has also approved six new projects worth P700 million—mostly on real estate, tourism, transportation and manufacturing.

Investments at the Mactan Export Zone also showed no slowing, summing up to P1.35 billion in the first three months of the year alone.

Though livestock production posted negative growth, palay and corn showed a 60-percent and 1-percent growth, respectively.

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