Century Properties eyes higher stake in Pacific Star bldg

 Economy
Mar 092015
 
Century Properties eyes higher stake in Pacific Star bldg

MANILA, Philippines – Upscale developer Century Properties Group Inc. is keen on acquiring more shares in the firm that owns the Pacific Star Building in Makati City, the company’s top official said. In an interview, Century Properties chairman Jose Antonio told The STAR that the company is interested in hiking further its 50 percent stake in the low-rise tower located at the corner of Sen. Gil J. Puyat and Makati Avenue. “Yes we are looking to increase our stake if it is for sale. We are looking at any available units,” Antonio said. He said the company is also keen on even extending its ownership to Pacific Star’s high-rise tower, the structure situated just beside the low-rise building, if it would be offered for sale. The listed property firm controlled by the Antonio family acquired last year a 50-percent stake in the company that owns the low-rise tower of Pacific Star Building in a move to diversify its revenue streams and expand its commercial portfolio. “Right now, we’re redeveloping the low-rise tower,” Antonio said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Pacific Star Building is a 20-year-old office building and a landmark in the Makati central business district. It consists of a 29-story structure and a six-story low-rise building.

DOTC likely to bid out P10.3-B Puerto Princesa airport separately

 Economy
Mar 092015
 
DOTC likely to bid out P10.3-B Puerto Princesa airport separately

Puerto Princesa airport. STAR/File photo  MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is considering excluding the Puerto Princesa airport from the list of six provincial airport projects worth P128 billion that is being offered to investors under the public private partnership (PPP) scheme. A source said the P10.3-billion Puerto Princesa airport would likely be excluded from the list as it is feasible to bid the operation and maintenance (O&M) separately. “Puerto Princesa is likely to be temporarily excluded from the bundled project since it turns out that it may be feasible to bid out its O&M separately,” the source said. Instead, the source pointed out that the Puerto Princesa airport project could be offered to private investors together with the airports in Coron and Busuanga as well as the new airport in San Vicente under a comprehensive airport development plan for the rapidly growing tourism zone of Palawan. The DOTC and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) have decided to split the bidding for the O&M of the six provincial airports with three airports each to help ensure that all airports are awarded to competent players and ensure efficient tender of all airports. Package A consists of the Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, and Bacolod-Silay airports worth P60.93 billion while Package B comprises of the Davao, Laguindingan, and New Bohol (Panglao) airports worth P66.9 billion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The biggest project is the P40.57-billion contract to improve the services and enhance Read More …

Long-term investments tax exempt – BIR

 Economy
Mar 092015
 
Long-term investments tax exempt – BIR

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue reiterated that interest earnings from long-term deposits or investments are exempted from income tax as long as these have a maturity period of not less than five years. The deposits or investments covered by this rule are time deposits or investments in the form of savings, common or individual trust funds, deposit substitutes and investment management accounts. The income tax exemption can only be enjoyed by depositors that are individual citizens or aliens engaged in trade or business in the Philippines. The long-term deposits or investments must be issued by banks only and not by other entities or individuals.  These must also be issued by banks in denominations of P10,000. Moreover, these deposits should not be terminated before end of the fifth year otherwise they shall be subjected to the graduated withholding tax rates based on the age of the deposit –  five percent (four years to less than five years), 12 percent (three years to less than four years) and 20 percent (less than three years). Except those specifically exempted by law, any other income such as gains from trading, foreign exchange gain shall not be covered by income tax exemption. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In order for interest income derived from investments in individual trust funds or investment management accounts to be exempt from income tax, the investment must be managed by the bank for the named individual at least five years without interruption. The Read More …

DOTC taps Japanese group as LRT expansion consultant

 Economy
Mar 082015
 
DOTC taps Japanese group as LRT expansion consultant

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has tapped a group composed of Japanese companies to serve as consultant to enhance mass transit systems in Metro Manila including the P75-billion extension projects for the existing Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya has approved the issuance of a Notice to Proceed to CMX Consortium except Japan Transport Consultants Inc. (JTC) for the implementation of the consulting services for the enhancement of the P65 billion LRT-1 Cavite extension and the P9.6 billion LRT-2 East Masinag extension projects being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The contract is worth P602.7 million as well as provision of P49.9 million for value added tax (VAT) and P8.31 million for withholding tax. The winning consultant is tasked to draw up the technical specifications, bidding assistance, construction supervision, and warranty supervision for the LRT-1 and LRT-2 extension projects. The mass transit system projects include the P65 billion extension of LRT-1 all the way to Bacoor in Cavite from Baclaran in Pasay City that has been awarded to the Light Rail Manila Consortium led by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ayala Corp. as well as the P9.6 billion extension of LRT-2 from Santolan all the way to Masinag. In the notice dated Jan. 23 and sent to CMX Consortium authorized representative Hiroshi Shindo, Abaya said the group has 62 months to complete the project. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The CMX Consortium is led Read More …

Manila ports to handle higher volume

 Economy
Mar 082015
 
Manila ports to handle higher volume

MANILA, Philippines – The government expects Manila’s ports to be able to handle increased transactions this year given measures that have been put in place to address congestion. “I think that during the peak season, we will see an increase (in transactions) but I don’t think we’ll see the same level of problems last year even with a higher volume,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo told reporters. Domingo said various measures have been undertaken to improve the condition at the ports. “The challenge is every year, our transactions are rising so the number of containers that will be processed through the ports will increase again. But there are a number of measures that have been implemented,” he said. Among the measures undertaken is to shorten the period for re-exporting free empty foreign containers to 90 days from 150 days. The enhanced truck ban hours and routes are also seen to have helped improve the flow of cargo at the ports. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “So, hopefully, these things will alleviate it. Also, we’ve seen improvement in port operations…They are able to process faster,” Domingo said. Malacañang announced last week that Manila’s port congestion has been resolved due to measures implemented both by the government and the private sector. Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras said in a statement that while there was a time that the ports and all the container yards were flooded with empty containers, this is no longer the situation as of Read More …

Ayala Land, DoubleDragon installing solar panels in malls

 Economy
Mar 082015
 
Ayala Land, DoubleDragon installing solar panels in malls

MANILA, Philippines – Property developers Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and DoubleDragon Properties Corp. are joining the solar power bandwagon. ALI is installing a 1.5 megawatt (MW) rooftop solar power system in its 9.3-hectare MarQuee mall in Pampanga, while DoubleDragon,  the property joint venture of the founders of grilled chicken chain Mang Inasal and fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp., is embarking on a much bigger solar venture. “We’ve been awarded projects with Ayala Land and DoubleDragon. Solar power is really hot these days, everyone wants one and everyone is trying to see how they can integrate solar into their developments,” said Leandro Leviste, president of Solar Philippines, a leading solar panel provider in the country. ALI’s planned rooftop solar power system is expected to match SM North Edsa’s solar plant in terms of size. In November last year SM became the  largest solar-powered mall after its North Edsa parking building was outfitted with 5,760 solar panels and 60 inverters covering over 12,000 square meters. DoubleDragon, in partnership with the SM Group, meanwhile, is looking to energize all of its planned chain of community malls with solar power. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. (CMCCI) targets to complete 25 CityMalls by end of 2015 and 100 CityMalls by 2020, as it hopes to have the largest branded community mall chain in the Philippines. CMCCI to date has secured 20 sites for its community malls. “All of their branches will be solar-powered-25 this year and 100 Read More …

Asian economies dangle sweeteners for infra

 Economy
Mar 082015
 
Asian economies dangle sweeteners for infra

MANILA, Philippines – Asian economies including the Philippines are working on attracting more investments to address their infrastructure needs, the Financial Stability Board’s regional consultative group for Asia said. Masamichi Kono, co-chairman of the FSB’s RCG for Asia, said the recent meeting of the group in Bohol last week threshed out the different sweeteners governments dangle to investors in order to rake in long-term investments needed for growth. “Our discussion was relatively preliminary in the sense that we have a group of volunteers from the regional group to conduct a survey on what initiatives, incentives, they were providing within their jurisdictions with the angle of long-term investments,” Kono, also the vice minister for international affairs at the Japan Financial Services Agency, said. McKinsey & Company in 2011 projected Asia will need around $8 trillion for infrastructure projects to cover the demand and remedy previous underinvestment. The firm said that about $1 trillion worth of these projects will be opened to investors under various public-private partnership programs. “How to address this issue of promoting long-term investment and also infrastructure investment for growth is very much the subject of global interest particularly in Asia,” Kono said. Kono said the regional consultative group is looking at how to better strengthen bank lending and provide long-term financing to firms including small and medium enterprises and start-ups. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Given the Asian financial system is very much bank-centered particularly within the region, bank lending is predominant in providing Read More …

Gov’t rolls out first LGU-based PPP project

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
Gov’t rolls out first LGU-based PPP project

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration has rolled out the country’s first Public Private Partnership (PPP) project initiated by a local government unit (LGU) via the P400 million Tanauan City public market redevelopment project. The Tanauan City government, through Pre-qualification Bids and Awards Committee chairman Herminigildo Trinidad Jr., said foreign and local companies may bid for the PPP project under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law. Trinidad said the winning bidder would finance the construction of a four-story commercial building with a floor area of 26,000 square meters, comprising of ground and second floor for commercial spaces as well as the third and fourth floor for parking and terminal. He added that the project also covers the construction of a wet and dry market building with a minimum floor area of 10,000 square meters. Interested companies have until April 13 to submit their letters of intent and prequalification documents. The LGU would adopt a two-stage bidding process, including the pre-qualification and shortlisting process, as well as the actual bid proposal submission and opening. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 It would conduct a pre-bid conference on April 27, paving the way for the submission of bids on June 4. The project was given the green light by the National Economic and Development Authority – Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) last January. PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao said the first LGU-PPP project would entice other LGUs in the country to pursue more infrastructure projects in partnership with the private sector. Read More …

Gov’t, private sector draw blueprint for greener Mindanao

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
Gov’t, private sector draw blueprint for greener Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines – Key players from the government and the private sector are drawing up a blueprint to make Mindanao a greener region. During a recent meeting of the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) held at the National Power Corp. (Napocor), officials underscored the importance of advocating renewable energy (RE) as a prominent source of electricity for the island-region. Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said compared to the situation last year and the years before, the state of Mindanao power today had seen significant improvement. She said majority of the region did not have rotating blackouts as reported by the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives.  However, Antonino said the expected entry of more baseload capacities from coal-fired power plants totaling 2,000 megawatts until 2018 should be complemented by accelerated deployment of renewable energy projects such as hydro, biomass, geothermal, and solar, among others. Based on the monitoring of the One-Stop Facilitation and Monitoring of MPMC, there are 231 RE projects in the pipeline spread across Mindanao that could potentially generate at least 2,419 MW of sustainable power for the region between 2020 and 2025. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “A diversified mix of fossil and renewable energy sources is integral to our overall strategy of pursuing balanced and holistic economic growth in Mindanao,” said Romeo Montenegro, MinDA’s director for Investment Promotions and Public Affairs. He added that pursuing RE development is also aligned with the MinDA’s Mindanao 2020 Peace and Read More …

Exports surge seen in January

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
Exports surge seen in January

MANILA, Philippines – Merchandise exports likely increased sharply in January from the same period last year due to a low base and the recovery in export markets, a foreign bank said in a report. “A low base is likely to support a sharp rebound in exports, but the sequential recovery is likely to be more modest,” UK-based investment bank Barclays said in a research note yesterday. The bank has forecast a 16.8-percent growth in outbound shipments in January, a reversal of the 3.2-percent contraction recorded in the same month in 2014. Moreover, this is an improvement from the 3.2-percent drop in merchandise exports in December last year. Official January exports data will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Tuesday, March 10. Last year, Philippine exports went up nine percent to $61.81 billion from $56.698 billion in 2013. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan earlier said the growth rate reflected the resiliency in the country’s exports despite weaker activity in Japan, euro zone, and even in China. The continuing recovery in the US and expected better prospects in Japan should support Philippine exports this year, Balisacan said. Electronic products continued to make up the lion’s share of the Philippines’ outbound shipments last year at $25.88 billion or 42 percent of total value. Japan was the main destination for Philippine exports in 2014, accounting for 22.5 percent of total shipments. This was followed by the US at 14.1 percent, China at 13 Read More …

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