The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) seeks to get more than P100 billion in investment pledges this year, slightly higher than last year. “We don’t want to be promising high figures,” PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. “Instead, we must work hard and build support and partnerships from public […]
Category: Hot News
Philippines, Indonesia eye copper tie-ups
The Philippines and Indonesia have pledged to deepen ties to boost their copper industries, according to the Trade department. Officials from both countries met virtually on Jan. 14 to exchange information, share good practices, and present investment opportunities and areas for collaboration in the sector, the Philippine Trade department said in a statement on Friday. […]
Philippines tightens testing for travelers
The Philippines on Friday tightened testing protocols for foreign travelers to ensure the detection of new coronavirus strains. Passengers from countries where new COVID-19 variants have been detected must undergo a second coronavirus swab test on their fifth day of quarantine, according to an order issued by an inter-agency task force. Co-passengers and the partner […]
Younger kids allowed in malls
Minors as young as 10 years may go out to visit malls in areas under a general lockdown starting Feb. 1 to boost consumer spending, according to the government’s task force against the coronavirus. “Any person below 10 years old, those who are over 65 years of age, those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity, or other health […]
CHEd seeks dialog on academic freedom
The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) will convene a panel to discuss academic freedom and how law enforcers can protect it, according to the agency. This was after the Philippine military unilaterally ended a deal with the University of the Philippines (UP) banning soldiers inside the state institution. “The implementation of the Department of National […]
Megawide, GMR turn over Clark airport’s new terminal building to gov’t
The consortium of listed builder Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore- based airport operator GMR Infrastructure Ltd. officially handed over to the government on Friday the new passenger terminal building of the Clark International Airport. “This handover comes at exactly the right time when our country needs infrastructure projects to help restart our economy in light […]
Premiere Horizon enters agritech sector
Listed holding firm Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. has ventured into agriculture technology (agritech) sector via its subsidiary, PH Agriforest Inc. In a regulatory filing on Friday, Premiere Horizon said that through PH Agriforest, it plans to leverage on the financial technology (fintech) expertise of its parnter SquidPay Technology, Inc. by using technology to increase yield […]
AboitizPower to supply renewable energy anew to Nueva Ecija towns
A subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp. has renewed its power supply agreement with a Nueva Ecija-based electric cooperative for 41 megawatts (MW) of clean energy to 10 municipalities in the area for another five years, the firm said on Friday. In a press release, AboitizPower said that its unit AP Renewables, Inc. closed its partnership […]
Nissan to end car assembly in PHL
Nissan Philippines, Inc. sold 21,751 units in 2020, which represented a 9.72% share of the local market. The company’s logo is seen at Nissan Motor’s global headquarters building in Yokohama, Japan, Dec. 17, 2018. — REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON/FILE PHOTO By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter NISSAN Philippines, Inc. (NPI) will halt its assembly operations in the Philippines […]
BSP sees benign inflation until 2022
Officials have recognized the African Swine Fever continues to push pork prices higher this month. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS INFLATION is expected to stay within the target range over the next two years, despite a recent uptick in global oil prices as well as food prices due to supply disruptions caused by typhoons, the central […]
‘More stable’ global economy under Biden presidency to benefit Philippines
THE PHILIPPINES is likely to benefit from a more stable world economy and subdued geopolitical tensions after United States President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. took office on Wednesday. In his inauguration speech, Mr. Biden offered a message of reconciliation, as the United States looks to restore alliances around the world (Related story on S2/8 ). […]
Warning signs flash as emerging markets rally to new record highs
THE MSCI Emerging Markets Index has now gained more than 9% this year — REUTERS EMERGING-MARKET STOCKS have set a new swath of record highs this week, driven by optimism over additional US stimulus and a dovish Federal Reserve. The rally’s gaining momentum even as some technical indicators are showing a pullback is overdue. The […]
Filinvest Land to transform unit into REIT
FILINVEST Land, Inc. is set to transform its subsidiary Cyberzone Properties, Inc. into a real estate investment trust (REIT) company to fully realize the value of its leasing business. In a statement on Thursday, Filinvest said its board of directors approved the transition of Cyberzone into a REIT company that will be listed on the […]
Discovery World increases stake in four subsidiaries
DISCOVERY WORLD Corp. has increased its subscription in four subsidiaries in a move to create opportunities for the company’s resort business. In four separate disclosures on Thursday, Discovery World announced the decision of its executive committee to increase the company’s subscription in its subsidiaries, namely: Palawan Cove Corp., Lucky Cloud 9 Resort, Inc., Balay Holdings, […]
Netflix ends year with record 200M subscribers, spurred on by new rivals
GLOBAL streaming service Netflix closed 2020 with an additional 37 million paying subscribers above company and analysts forecasts, with its executives reporting in the earnings report that the service is “very close to being sustainably free cash flow positive.” After slowing down in the third quarter of 2020 by adding 2.2 million subscribers, lower than […]
Smaller banks may face threat from new fintech mart entrants
FINANCIAL PLAYERS backed by large firms or with an established presence looking to enter the Philippine market are expected to thrive and could pose a threat to more traditional smaller lenders here, a debt watcher said. “We believe that aspiring entrants that already have extensive customer base or are backed by corporates with strong firepower […]
PCCI sets up venue for teaching robotics, entrepreneurship
THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) on Thursday launched a center for technology education and entrepreneurship. The business chamber partnered with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. for the innovation center, which will be the venue for teaching artificial intelligence, robotics, coding, big data analysis, Internet of Things, satellite internet connectivity, and blockchain. The center […]
TV5 to air ABS-CBN show ASAP Natin ‘To, FPJ movie block
AFTER partnering with Zoe Broadcasting Network to create the A2Z channel to broadcast several of its shows, ABS-CBN is once again branching out and will start showing musical variety show ASAP Natin ‘To and the FPJ: Da King movie block on TV5 starting Jan. 24. The announcement was made on Jan. 21 after months of […]
PHL likely to avoid FATF ‘gray list’
REUTERS/THOMAS WHITE/ILLUSTRATION By Charmaine A. Tadalan, Reporter THE Philippines is likely to avoid being “gray-listed” by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as it is on track to meet the Feb. 1 deadline to implement a stricter law against money laundering. The amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) will immediately take effect once it […]
Trade dep’t revises export targets for 2021, 2022
THE TRADE department revised its export targets for this year and 2022 to reflect the extent of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and sluggish global demand. “In this revised set of targets, we will reach $105 billion by 2022, but still growing from $91.7 billion in 2021,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said in […]