Bayawan - Economy

Economy

Bayawan is more of the rural setting than urbanized with only 2.25% of its total land area as urban area. The city is basically agricultural and its economy sits on agricultural platform. Revenues from land farming, livestock production, aqua-culture activities and marine fishing are a major income contribution of the City. In 2000, the assessment of City Agriculture Office (CAO) indicated that agricultural production was valued at Php 2.3 Billion; 91.4% of which came from crop production, 7.9% from livestock production, and 0.7% from fisheries.

On a general scale, the City is not yet self-sufficient since its local revenue is only 12% of the total revenue and 88% comes from its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) (Year 2000 Data).

The City however has several investment opportunities especially in the field of agro-industry and processing as well as in the processing of marine products. The vast agricultural resources and the LGU’s thrust on agricultural development opens avenues on investing on feed mills, palm oil mills, rice mills, corn mills, storage and other farming and post harvest facilities and equipment. Besides agri-industries, the trading and auction markets are already well established in the hinterland barangays especially in Dawis and Kalumboyan. Moreover, the fishery industry and aqua-culture also offers wide business opportunities especially in the establishment of the proposed fish port.

Another window for investors is in the transport system. With the opening of the Bayawan-Kabankalan Road Network, more transport facilities will be required. The City is already recognized as transport hub in South Negros, and will be enhanced further with improvement of the road network. Along with this, various other business opportunities may just come out and be needed in the near future.

Current employment in the City is considered very poor since there are still very limited employment opportunities. Mostly, the people in the city are engaged in self-employment activities such as farming, fishing, trading or buy & sell activities. Resident professionals in the City are in abundance however they are most often forced to migrate seeking employment opportunities. The City of Bayawan however is expected to reduce if not reverse this trend. In the two-year period of City, investor’s influx has been noticeably positive. As investors come in, the employment status should improve.