ABOUT REGION VII (CENTRAL VISAYAS)

PROFILE OF REGION 7

Central Visayas is composed of CEBU, BOHOL, NEGROS ORIENTAL, and SIQUIJOR.

Central Visayas is the second smallest region in the Philippines with a total land area of 14,923 square kilometers. This constitutes about 5 percent of the country’s land area.

The Central Visayas Region (Region 7) lies at the center of the Philippine archipelago between the major islands of Luzon and Mindanao. It is bounded on the north by the Visayan Sea; on the east by the Camotes Sea; on the south by the Mindanao Sea; and on the west by the province of Negros Occidental. Borders in the regions are based on political boundaries.

Central Visayas is one of the eight anchor tourist destinations in the country and one of the supra-regions in the Visayas which strength is tourism

Region 7 is among the most developed and

the fourth largest regional economy in the country. Central Visayas hosts many industries, including footwear, ICT & IT enabled services, electronics, wearables, food processing, marine, houseware and furniture, among others.

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Central Visayas ranked 4th in terms of regional share to the country’s GDP in 2018. CV’s GRDP growth rate of 7.6% in 2018 was higher than the national growth rate of 6.2%.

Central Visayas’ economy in 2018 accelerated to 7.6 percent, from the 5.2 percent growth in 2017. This was driven by the acceleration in Services and Industry.

Services accelerated to 7.0 percent in 2018, from the growth of 6.5 percent recorded in the previous year. The top contributor to this accelerated growth was Other Services, which grew by 9.0 percent as compared with the 6.6 percent in 2017. Other sub-industries also grew and contributed to the growth of Services: Trade, 5.6 percent from 5.1 percent; Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities, 5.3 percent from 7.9 percent; Financial Intermediation, 7.0 percent from 7.8 percent; and Transport, Storage and Communication, 5.9 percent from 5.2 percent.

Industry also accelerated to 9.5 percent in 2018. The drivers of this accelerated growth were Manufacturing and Construction, which grew by 8.3 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively.

Services sustained its largest share on the region’s economy accounting for 56.0 percent in 2018. Industry followed with a share of 38.8 percent.

CEBU

Cebu is the center of economic activities in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. It is also the second largest central urban economic center in the country. Cebu is base to over 80% of inter-island shipping capacity in the Philippines. Cebu offers a wide range of world class amenities, such as luxury hotels, beach resorts, first class restaurants and golf courses. The latest in sports and recreational facilities are also available in the province.

Cebu island’s unique topography that includes a mountain range running north to south, rising to 3,400 feet at its peak and tapering down on both ends, gives tourists easy access to the mountain as well as the sea and provides a variety of nature sites like rivers, waterfalls, springs, and caves.

BOHOL

Neighboring Cebu is Bohol, the closest province and the 10th largest island in the country. Bohol is taking-off to become the region’s prime eco-cultural tourist destination and agro-industrial center. Investment areas in the identified Special Economic Zone are focused on eco-tourism, light industries and agro-industrial development.

The province of Bohol is a first-class province divided into 3 congressional districts, comprising 1 component city and 47 municipalities. It has 1,109 barangays.

The city of Tagbilaran is the main business capital and center of governance of the province of Bohol aside from being the center of education and transportation.

NEGROS ORIENTAL

In the past few years, Negros Oriental attracted its share of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies. Foreign investors interest in smaller, less congested cities in the country have resulted in the rapid development of BPO Centers in Dumaguete and Tanjay, among others. Companies got to do business for much less cost, while the communities got to benefit from the influx of jobs and investments.

Negros Oriental has a land area of 5,385.53 square kilometers or 2,079.36 square miles. The terrain of Negros Oriental consists of rolling hills, a few plateaus, and mountain ranges.

The province is subdivided into 20 municipalities and 5 cities, which are further subdivided into 557 barangays.

Dumaguete City is the provincial capital and seat of government. It is also the most populous city, despite having the smallest land area.

SIQUIJOR

In the province of Siquijor, trade development is distinctly dominated by small and micro-traders, Trading constitutes the backbone of its commercial activities.

Siquijor is a coastal municipality in the island province of Siquijor. It serves as the provincial capital.

The municipality has a land area of 90.70 square kilometers or 35.02 square miles which constitutes 26.87% of Siquijor’s total area. Siquijor has 42 barangays.