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Staff Reporter

PALMA
THE Majorcan Chamber of Commerce says that the Balearic Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 2.9 percent in 2007.
This is based on their forecast that the Balearic economy would grow by around 2.7 percent in 2006.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Joan Gual, confirmed, at the presentation of their economic report, that the Balearic economy is on the path to sustainable development.

However, he said that to maintain competitivity, “companies should be more innovative and improve their management. They need to be proactive so that they do not lose the competitive edge”.

The report, presented by the Director of the Chamber of Commerce's Studies Department, Catalina Barcelo, and the economist Esteve Bardolet, concludes that the Balearic economy will maintain its levels of dynamic growth in employment and profits seen during the last economic years. But, there are still structural problems which need to be solved.

With an increase in all productive sectors in 2006, the Chamber of Commerce predicted that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) generated by the services sector will increase by 3 percent this year, construction will increase by 3.5 percent, industry by between 1.5 and 1.7 percent, and the tourism sector could increase by 2.7 percent, although this sector is subject to a rather unpredictable variation: the weather.

With regard to 2006, the sector which grew most was construction, with a 3.3 percent increase, followed by the services sector with 2.7 percent, agriculture with 2.5 percent and industry with 1.5 percent.

In the breakdown by sectors, construction, as in past years, was the most dynamic sectorfor the Balearic economy in 2006 and it grew by one percent.