THE JOINT CIRCULAR on the safe handling of genetically modified (GM) crops, due for completion this month, is expected to address the concerns cited by the Supreme Court, which nullified the previous set of regulations from 2002, known as Administrative Orner (AO) No. 08, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
THE CUSTOMS bureau is batting for extended banking hours to specially accommodate importers, as part of efforts to address port congestion.
THE ENERGY department’s 15-year national road map for energy efficiency and conservation will require investments of at least P8.3 trillion to meet its goal of reducing energy demand by 125 million tons of oil equivalent by 2030, an industry association said.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 4-2016 dated Jan. 25, 2016, which provides for additional guidelines on the BIR’s internal processing of applications for compromise settlement, abatement or cancellation of internal revenue tax liabilities provided for under Section 204 of the Tax Code, as amended.
THE GOVERNMENT needs to pursue different avenues for lending to coconut farmers ahead of the planned sale of its stake in the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), a bank official said, with servicing the sector’s needs is not a good fit for a commercial bank.
THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DoE) is to form a technical working group composed of industry participants that will look into setting minimum energy performance standards for cars and light duty vehicles.
(Second of two parts) In the first part of this article, we talked about provisions of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) final report on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan 14, which reflects the commitment of participating countries to implement substantial changes in their approach to dispute resolution in the area of tax treaties.
I have this suspicious feeling that I drive event organizers crazy. They are very polite and smile all the time, but the office tells me they have the tendency to freak out, most especially, just days before the event. They would ask me for my presentation material. But I do not give them anything because I do not want to. I have done this before. I would send my presentation in advance, then would find myself being confined and imprisoned within the contents of my slides and give a talk that frustrates me and makes me feel like I have not done my best. Most of my repeat clients know how I work. They give me the liberty to be extemporaneous, and I would leave the presentation materials to my daughter Rachel who is so intuitive and knows which slide to flash in front split seconds before I even say it. There is a reason for this. Much of what I talk about comes from sensing the audience. I would arrive at the place early, ask a few diagnostic questions, mark the territory and then do my thing. It is not unusual for me to change my material even when my Intro AVP is being shown. Rachel knows this and she can switch materials quickly as well. All these are because of one solid principle for presentation: The speaker should be audience-centered. The more the speaker knows the audience, the better the presentation will be. The worst thing a speaker Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Jetstar, Japan’s biggest low cost carrier, is set to operate direct services from three Japanese cities to Manila starting March as it continues its international expansion. “Manila has great opportunity. There is a big potential for people in Japan to come to the Philippines and there are a lot of Filipinos living in Japan,” Jetstar Japan Co. Ltd chairman and representative director Masaru Kataoka said. Manila will be the third international destination added to Jetstar Japan’s roster after Hong Kong and Taipei last year. The new routes from Narita Airport in Tokyo and Chubu Airport in Nagoya to Manila will offer up to seven direct services a week on March 15 and April 1, respectively. Starting April 7, Jetstar Japan will introduce four new weekly services from Osaka that will complement existing four weekly services schedule provided by its sister airline, Jetstar Asia. With the presence of several LCC carriers, Kataoka said they will keep offering the lowest fares and will set up distribution channels through travel agencies to offer package deals as part of their strategy to handle growing competition among airlines. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Competition is good for customers as well as for us because competing with each other allows customers to have more options on the lowest fares in the market,” he explained. Although no exact plans have been made yet, Kataoka noted that considering new Philippine destinations and secondary hubs is also part of their expansion. “This Read More …
If you have a son or daughter who is thinking of studying in the US, I hope you were able to catch our short interview on our TV show, Business & Leisure with one of the key staff members of the US Embassy. In the last two weeks, we had two officials from the US Embassy talk about their sections’ respective roles and their relevance to Philippine concerns. Mr. Jim McCarthy from the Foreign Commercial Service of the US Embassy graced the show and talked about his section’s crucial role in matching business partnerships between American and Philippine companies. This section was formed back in the ’80s primarily to promote US exports to different countries. Since 2009, according to Jim McCarthy, trade between our two countries has been increasing steadily so that by now, the two-way trail of trade is about $18 billion. The Foreign Commercial Service’s responsibility is to link US companies who come here looking for potential Philippine partners or buyers with the right Philippine parties, form trade missions, and arrange “gold key” appointments which are really one-on-one meetings between key representatives from US and local businesses. They also have what they call single company promotions for companies wanting to launch a new business or just looking to expand their existing business in the Philippines. Part of their mandate is to support the small and medium American companies and to educate them on the market opportunities here in various fields and match them with small and medium Philippine Read More …