ECJ in isolation

 Economy
Feb 032014
 
ECJ in isolation

Retired business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. or ECJ is recovering very well from the kidney transplant he underwent, with the procedure performed locally at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City early in December last year. The 78-year-old businessman told us he gained a few pounds but he says he hopes to lose it just as quickly. ECJ has been advised by his doctors to keep himself in isolation for the next six months to avoid getting infected by people with coughs or colds. He has been receiving a steady stream of visitors, mostly close personal friends and relatives who regularly drop by and chat with him through an enclosed glass living room.  Visitors are received in the dining area with a glass divider through which they can see ECJ and talk to him through a microphone. The San Miguel chairman keeps himself busy watching DVDs, getting updated with current events through news reports on television and going over some papers – exactly what a retired business tycoon does. ECJ has left everything including major decisions to his lieutenant (Ramon Ang) who runs San Miguel Corporation and all the other businesses under the SMC Group. Once he is fully recovered, the founder of the Nationalist People’s Coalition party plans to travel around the country to see how and where he can help fellow Filipinos improve their lives. He told us he will also continue providing scholarships to students through the Eduardo Cojuangco Foundation, with scholars provided with Read More …

Biggest PAL booth at Travel Expo 2014

 Economy
Feb 032014
 
Biggest PAL booth at Travel Expo 2014

MANILA, Philippines – This year’s Travel Tour Expo (TTE) of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) will have Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) biggest-ever participation at any trade fair – at 1,100 square meters – to accommodate the volume of customers availing of PAL’s low-priced tickets that can only be bought at the TTE from Feb. 14 to 16, 2014. The huge PAL booth at the second floor of the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, will have more than 50 ticket counters and various amenities to keep customers entertained while waiting to be served. Dedicated counters will also make queuing less stressful for Elite and Premium Elite Mabuhay Miles members. Rock-bottom tickets that entitle passengers to full-service amenities annually attract overflow crowds to the PAL booth that will be manned by more than 50 ticketing agents from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. to handle all types of transactions. PAL is a platinum sponsors and official airline of this year’s 21st TTE, having been a regular participant since its inception by PTAA in 1994. Last year, TTE had approximately 76,000 visitors to the more than 500 booths that were used by 235 exhibitors. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Understanding the oil and gas industry

 Economy
Feb 022014
 

WE LIVE in a world powered, if not driven, by fossil fuels. Until more strides in green energy and technology can be made, fossil fuels will continue to impact every sector of society. Given the importance of oil and gas to our national development, however, care should be taken that they are used and accounted for correctly, to promote transparency, financial accuracy and sustained investor confidence.

DTI to set up assistance centers in areas hit by Yolanda

 Economy
Feb 012014
 
DTI to set up assistance centers in areas hit by Yolanda

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is planning to put up business assistance centers and shared service facilities (SSF) in areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda. “Right now, what we are looking at for Yolanda affected areas is to set up business assistance centers. We are talking with mayors to find out where MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) can go to, to ask for assistance so they can get back on their feet,” Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya told reporters. Aside from having business help desks in the areas damaged by the typhoon, she said the DTI likewise intends to provide SSFs for the use of MSMEs. “We will provide for SSFs for coco lumber and hollow block making,” she said. The SSF involves the setting up of common service facilities or production centers for certain processes to give MSMEs access to better technology and more sophisticated equipment. The program is being undertaken to help MSMEs become competitive and tap a wider market. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Maglaya said the department is studying what other support can be provided to help businesses in the area. “We are really looking at how we can help MSMEs recover from the typhoon,” she added. To encourage companies to set-up operations in the areas damaged by the typhoon, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said earlier the government is looking at crafting a new bill that will give special treatment or duty-free entry for goods such as Read More …

COL Financial ties up with BPI, Sun Life units

 Economy
Feb 012014
 
COL Financial ties up with BPI, Sun Life units

MANILA, Philippines – COL Financial Group Inc. has partnered with two of the largest asset managers in the country, allowing the leading online stockbroker to broaden its lineup of financial products. The move will also help increase the customer base of the online brokerage firm as it offers unit investment trust funds (UITFs) and mutual funds, company officials said. In separate disclosures, COL Financial said it entered into agreement with the asset management arm of Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Sun Life Asset Management Co. Inc. (SLAMCI). COL Financial said it signed a memorandum of agreements with BPI-Asset Management and Trust Group “with respect to the participation of the company in certain funds of BPI for the benefit and account of the company’s clients.” “We will start offering in our online platform the fund of BPI, particularly UITF. This will expand the products we offer to clients,” COL Financial president and CEO Conrado Bate said in a phone interview. COL Financial will be a distributor of BPI’s UITF, an investment scheme that allow the pooling of investors’ funds to achieve a certain objective. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Managed by professional fund managers from a bank’s trust group, UITFs are invested in various financial instruments like money market securities, bonds and equities. “This puts us one step closer to allowing COL Financial clients to purchase funds online. This should benefit clients as it makes it easier to both buy and sell funds,” April Read More …

PIDS tops SEA ranking

 Economy
Feb 012014
 
PIDS tops SEA ranking

MANILA, Philippines – State-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) ranked as the top think tank in Southeast Asia and remains one of the best in the world, according to the 2013 Global Go Think Tank Report released by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the University of Pennsylvania. The TTCSP report recently appraised 6,826 think tanks from 182 countries. Based on the report, PIDS was ranked 37th among the top 50 social policy think tanks in the world. It surpassed the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore that was ranked 41st. PIDS also managed to improve its position from 40th place in last year’s report. Only PIDS and ISEAS are the ASEAN think tanks included in the world ranking of top social policy think tanks. On the other hand, PIDS was ranked 70th among 80 top international development think tanks and has moved up from its ranking of 79th in the 2012 report. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Global Go To Think Tank Report is a comprehensive ranking of the world`s top think tanks and acknowledges the important contributions and emerging global trends of think tanks worldwide. As a state-funded think tank, PIDS is devoted to independent research and innovative policy solutions. Since its establishment in 1977, it has been engaged in conducting long-term, policy-oriented studies to assist policymakers and planners in crafting development plans and programs that are based on sound research evidence. It has completed more than Read More …

Gov’t outlines budget priorities for next 3 years

 Economy
Feb 012014
 
Gov’t outlines budget priorities for next 3 years

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino government has put in place a budget priorities framework for the remaining three years of its term aimed at accelerating and sustaining economic growth, eliminating poverty and enhancing transparency and accountability. The national development plan for 2014 to 2016 is designed to address economic constraints and the need for greater state efficiency while building a foundation for faster and inclusive long-term growth. The budget priorities framework prioritizes measures to build a capable, effective state that delivers quality services while reigniting business investment and growth. “How we manage our national budget has a precise and definitive impact on the success of our priority programs and projects. If we ensure enough budgetary support to government initiatives that will bring more Filipinos out of poverty—and if we likewise direct more funds to programs that help drive the economy—we can lay down the foundations for and ultimately catalyze inclusive development in the country,” Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said in a statement. Abad said the plan will guide departments and agencies over the next three years so that the country’s goal of facilitating quick, sustainable development can be fully realized. “The framework is essentially a blueprint of the administration’s broader strategy to eradicate poverty and further stimulate the economy, all while establishing lasting peace, sound climate change programs and policies, and governance reforms that will firmly stay in place even beyond this administration,” he added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The framework is also Read More …

ePLDT unit partners with HK-based Nexusguard

 Economy
Feb 012014
 
ePLDT unit partners with HK-based Nexusguard

MANILA, Philippines – IP Converge Data Services Inc. (IPC), a unit of e-PLDT of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), has tapped Hong Kong-based Nexusguard to provide Internet security for its enterprise customers. Nexusguard vice president for sales and marketing Bill Barry said the partnership would help further strengthen IPC’s product offerings and protect Philippine businesses from what experts consider to be the most costly cybercrime particularly the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. “IPC is a respected technology provider in the Philippines, and it is an honor to partner with such an established organization. This partnership is not only important for our regional efforts, but will serve as a template of success for Nexusguard’s global initiatives,” Barry said. He said the partnership would enable enterprises in the country to avail of world-class and industry-leading anti-DDoS services with truly localized support with Nexusguard’s technologies and IPC’s market leadership in cloud and data center services. “It will also set a standard for ISPs in providing future integrated, holistic solutions for DDoS protection,” he added. Escalating in size and complexity in recent years, he warned that DDoS attacks attempt to prevent a machine or network resource to be accessed by its intended users. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 It is generally comprised of strategies to interrupt services of a host connected to the Internet. DDoS attacks are able to bring down networks and websites for days at a time. Hackers have launched DDoS attacks for various Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries