Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The joint venture undertaking the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) project has secured through debt more than half of the financing required for the airport’s rehabilitation and expansion. In a statement, the tandem of Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure said it has bagged 70 percent of the amount needed to finance the MCIA project through an omnibus loan and security agreement with a syndicate of six local banks. BDO Capital and Investment Corp. has been the lead arranger while the Bank of the Philippine Islands, Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., and Philippine National Bank are the participants in the lending consortium. With the transaction, the joint venture called GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) said it has tied-in the required funding for delivering the improvements in Terminal 1 as well as the construction of a new Terminal 2. “Hence, this is an important milestone in GMCAC’s journey in turning MCIA into an airport of international standards and one that all Filipinos will be proud of,” GMCAC said. “This transaction, and the wide participation in it, is also a validation by the banking industry of the financial sustainability of the project as well as the value it creates for the local and national economy,” the Megawide and GMR team added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The joint venture that is 60 percent owned by Megawide and 40 percent owned by the Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Local oil industry players are studying their options on how to deal with declining oil prices and the eventual renewed spike in the global crude market. Fernando Martinez, president of the Independent Philippines Petroleum Companies Association and Eastern Petroleum Corp., said oil players are continuously studying the trend of the industry and where prices would go. He said oil players are working on various strategies including stockpiling in preparation for an eventual increase in prices. However, he said this would be a matter of timing. “That would be part of my strategy but at the right timing. Analysis and information that’s what we have to do… You do it at the right price. We may think that prices are now very low but what if it will still go down. It’s market risk appetite,” Martinez said. While lower oil prices threaten oil companies’ revenues, he said it has also lowered their costs. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The positive thing is the cost of doing business now is lower. This is the right time to maximize to either save or take advantage of the lower cost,” Martinez said. Oil prices have gone down at least 25 times since the start of the year for gasoline, equivalent to P18.30 per liter, while diesel prices have gone down 31 times, equivalent to P18.85. The latest cut was last weekend’s hefty price cut of P1.75 per liter for gasoline and P1.55 per liter for diesel. Based Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines can start enjoying its European Union (EU) Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status by Dec. 25. “The publication (of approval of Philippines’ application) on the EU official journal is on the 24th of December. It takes effect one day after the publication,” EU Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux said in a press conference yesterday. “This is quite a nice Christmas gift for the Philippines,” he added. The EU Parliament approved the Philippines’ application to qualify for EU GSP+ status during its plenary meeting on Dec. 18. By being qualified for the GSP+ scheme, the Philippines can enjoy zero duty for 6,274 products exported to the EU for a period of 10 years. Before the approval of its application for EU GSP+ status, the Philippines was a beneficiary of the regular GSP program which covers 6,209 products, with 2,442 products subject to zero duty and the rest subject with lower tariffs. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said yesterday the EU GSP+ would allow the country to increase its exports to the EU by 611.8 million euros and create more than 200,000 new jobs in the first three years of implementation of the program. “It (increase in exports) really depends on how fast we can train people,” he said. The Philippines’ approved application, he added, also strengthens the country’s aim to become a manufacturing base in Southeast Asia as it is the only country in the region Read More …

Dr. Daniel Yergin MANILA, Philippines – Global and local energy experts provided different perspectives on addressing the issue of energy shortage in the country as part of energy security in the ASEAN region, during the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) conference held recently in Makati City. The discussion was led by distinguished thought leaders including Dr. Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize winner and vice chairman of global information company IHS Inc.; and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg. For its part, energy and gas technology leader Shell highlighted a crucial factor in the energy mix in Asia, which is natural gas.  “When we talk about energy, people normally discuss issues about price and access. But equally important are issues relating to supply security and on externalities like health and environment. Balancing all these issues is where we believe natural gas can play a crucial role,” said forum participant Edgar Chua, country chairman of Shell companies in the Philippines. Chua noted that there is an increasing demand for renewable energy sources due to its lower environmental impact. However, one factor that is deterrent to the complete reliance on renewable energy is its intermittency. Given the benefits from natural gas such as better air quality, low carbon emissions, and faster gas plant construction, Chua said natural gas can be the ideal complement to renewable energy.  Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Although the Philippines had a 60-percent energy self-sufficiency rate in 2011 and is currently Read More …