Maniolas

More tariff-free ICT products Philippines sees huge benefits from new WTO deal MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is poised to benefit substantially from a tariff free trade of information and communication (ICT) products following a landmark expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). A group of 53 WTO members, including the Philippines, finalized the agreement to expand the product coverage of the ITA last Dec. 17 during the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the agreement now covers the elimination of tariffs for new generation semi-conductors, global positioning system (GPS) navigation equipment, and medical equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging products and ultra-sonic scanning apparatus.  Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said the ITA expansion represents a huge step forward for innovation and economic growth globally. “It will deliver huge benefits to the Philippines in terms of improved productivity and market access, particularly for the electronics and semiconductor industry. The agreement makes our country more attractive to potential foreign direct investments particularly from key ICT players such as US, Japan, and EU,” Domingo said. The 201 products covered by the expanded ITA have  annual trade worth over $1.3 trillion, and currently account for about 10 percent of total global trade. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Under the terms of the agreement, the DTI said the 53 WTO member-participants agreed to reduce tariffs on covered goods beginning July 1 next year, with around 65 percent of these tariff lines eliminated Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – China is importing $500 million worth of various food snacks from the Philippines for the requirements of one commercial complex alone, according to the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry. CITEM executive director Rosvi C. Gaetos said the order was made by China’s largest global importers association for the requirements of the Emporium City, a 71-hectare, high-end entertainment, residential and commercial complex in Pinghu, Zhejiang. “Headed by Chinese mogul Chen Jian, the association imports products from Europe, America, Australia and Asia,” Gaetos said. “The Filipino food products are very competitive and Filipino exporters are very good and friendly,” Chen told Gaetos after viewing the products at HallONE, the Philippines’ year-round sourcing facility for the global export market. Managed and operated by CITEM, HallONE drew the Chinese association’s interest during a recent business-to-business matching session participated in by 14 Filipino food manufacturers and exporters – Aisha-Fil Food, Inc., Mapagmahal Foods, Green Leaves Company, Gustazo-Alimentos Corp., Andy Albao Corp., Kwality Philfood, Inc., Grand Alphatech International Corp., Fenor Foods, RPM Pili Nuts, Philippine Moringa and More Corp., Magic Melt Foods, Inc., Monde Nissin, Nyogi Pure Coconut Water Philippines, and Big “E” Food Corp. With Chen at the meeting was Chinese businessman Jack Zhang, who also praised the Philippines’ food exports. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Each country has its own special products, and we want to bring those products to China. We are Read More …

“If you don’t give people incentives to come up with solutions, they’re not going to do it,” says Rudi Roeslein, a wealthy entrepreneur who thinks he’s found a fix. AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez/File NEW YORK — The gas produced by hog manure at farms across the country punches holes in the ozone layer, overheats the planet, and angers neighbors with its peculiar odor, a mix of rotten egg and ammonia. All that’s needed to clear the air is to cover the manure with a system of tarps that captures the gas, but many farms don’t do it because it’s too expensive. “If you don’t give people incentives to come up with solutions, they’re not going to do it,” says Rudi Roeslein, a wealthy entrepreneur who thinks he’s found a fix. His plan: Raise money to help pay for the tarp systems through a greenhouse gas trading market in California, where companies can pay others who are helping the environment so that they can continue to pollute. Widely derided by politicians on the left and the right, once thought dead even by its supporters, the idea of allowing companies to buy and sell pollution “rights” like stocks is now at the fore again as 151 heads of state and government at the Paris climate conference grope for ways to avert environmental havoc. Under such “cap-and-trade” systems, polluters are required to keep emissions below a certain level or hand over money to polluters that have managed to fall below theirs and have surplus Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is looking at increasing the share of electronics payments in the country’s total financial transactions to 20 percent over the next five years with the roll out of the National Retail Payment System (NRPS). BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the launch of a safe, efficient, and reliable electronic retail payment system that is interconnected and interoperable would increase the share of electronic payments to 20 percent by 2020 from the current level of only one percent. “With the NRPS we hope to see the one percent share of electronic payments increase to at least 20 percent by 2020. So it is 20 by 2020,” Tetangco said. Tetangco cited a data from the Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) that showed only one percent of about 2.5 billion payment transactions worth $74 billion made by Filipinos per month are electronic despite the high mobile penetration rate in the country. BTCA added that e-commerce makes up less than one percent of total commerce in the Philippines compared to four to five percent in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia as well as the 10 to15 percent in developed countries. The BSP said the NRPS is positioned to facilitate the country’s transition from a cash-heavy to a cash-lite economy, eventually bringing material benefits for governments, the business and private sectors and even regular consumers in terms of speed and efficiency, reduced costs, improved transparency, enhanced security, and expanded access to financial services. Business ( Article MRec Read More …