Alliance Global unit sets P20-B tourism estate

 Economy
Apr 142013
 
Alliance Global unit sets P20-B tourism estate

MANILA, Philippines – Global Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI), a subsidiary of Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), is spending P20 billion to develop the Twin Lakes tourism estate. “(GERI) is actually infusing about P20 billion for the next five years in the development of Twin Lakes,” Erwin Francis Go, GERI’s vice president for sales and marketing told reporters in a briefing for the launch of the project. The 1,149-hectare Twin Lakes overlooking Taal Lake, will be the first vineyard resort community in the country. The project features a vineyard, commercial and retail hubs, residential villas and condominiums, a nature park as well as a university park. Among the components of the project is the 177-hectare Vineyard community which comprises of an actual vineyard for growing grapes to be used to produce wine. “We are devoting 10 hectares of land to develop purely the grapes which will be used in making wine,” Go said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The production of wine will be handled by Emperador Distilleries Inc., the food and beverage arm of AGI. “That is what makes us stand out among all the developments. We are the only vineyard resort community and we have that vineyard as a take-off for the project,” Go noted. The Vineyard community will also have a winery or chateau, as well as a hotel and resort. Aside from the vineyard, GERI is developing the 1.3-hectare Shopping Village and 24-hectare Laketown Shore Center in Twin Lakes which will have commercial Read More …

Infra lack hinders Mindanao growth

 Economy
Apr 142013
 
Infra lack hinders Mindanao growth

MANILA, Philippines – The government must continue to address nagging issues in Mindanao to spur its economic growth as the  recent upgrade by international credit rating agency Fitch Ratings will not be enough to generate investments in the region, an economist said over the weekend. Economist and University of the Philippines professor Benjamin Diokno said the Fitch Ratings upgrade does not necessarily translate to the influx of investors in Mindanao, where many issues need to be addressed. “Overall, the upgrade is a necessary but not sufficient condition for higher private investment. Much remains to be done by the government,” Diokno said. He said government must provide better public infrastructure, reduce the cost of doing business, improve its revenue generating capacity, ensure policy consistency, and relax some restrictive provisions in the Constitution, among others. “Mindanao as an investment destination has added wrinkles. Power supply adequacy and reliability and peace and order problems are quite severe,” he said. Power outages in Mindanao average eight hours daily as the island suffers from a power shortfall of 294 megawatts with demand at 1,157 megawatts against an actual supply of only 863 megawatts. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Diokno said government should also look into  Mindanao’s “inefficient sea and air transport system.” “Sadly these problems cannot be solved overnight. But they should be addressed with great sense of urgency,” he said.

Attachments to the ITR

 Economy
Apr 102013
 

THE DEADLINE for filing the annual income tax return (ITR) is just around the corner, as they say. Individual taxpayers and non-individual taxpayers adopting the calendar year accounting period are required to file their ITR not later than April 15, 2013. By now, most taxpayers have already filed or are in the process of finalizing their annual ITR for eventual filing.

Vehicle sales jump 29% in 1st qtr

 Economy
Apr 102013
 
Vehicle sales jump 29% in 1st qtr

MANILA, Philippines – Combined sales of local car and truck assemblers reached 41,702 units in the first quarter, the highest posted for the period in history. The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said in a statement yesterday the first quarter sales of the group and the Truck Manufacturers Association Inc. (TMA) were up 29 percent from the 32,240 units sold in the same period last year. The CAMPI noted that traditionally, the first quarter always shows the lowest quarter sales for any given year. “That it has breached the 40,000 mark for the first time is a clear indication that the country is indeed on the path towards motorization,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said. Supporting the higher sales for the period was the strong demand for both passenger cars (PC) and commercial vehicles (CV). PC sales, which accounted for a 33.14 percent share in total sales reached 13,821 units posting a 46-percent increase from last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 CV sales, which had a 67-percent share of total sales meanwhile, reached 27,881 units, 23 percent higher than in the same period last year. Within the CV category, sales of trucks and buses rose by 69 percent to 447 units compared to a year ago. Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. had the biggest contribution to the first quarter sales with its 41-percent share. This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. which had a 24-percent share, and Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with Read More …

Turning hanapbuhay into hanep-buhay

 Economy
Apr 102013
 
Turning hanapbuhay into hanep-buhay

For eight years now, Go Negosyo has been helping Filipinos succeed from poverty through entrepreneurship. We are happy because we are seeing significant progress throughout the years, but our journey of transforming the nation was not easy. Changing the Filipino’s mindset about negosyo an keeping an enterprising attitude has been a constant challenge, but along the way we have met people and institutions who also believe in the advocacy and are willing to help us out. What started as a simple meeting with Cynthia Villar more than four years ago led to a discovery that Go Negosyo and her Villar Foundation have a common purpose: to help uplift the lives of Filipinos. We thought that it is best for our organizations to work together on projects that would directly inspire and empower our countrymen. It resulted in a number of collaborations which eventually led to the OFW and Family Summit, a one-day activity that teaches OFWs and their family members to invest their hard-earned money in a business of their own. I can still remember our amazement at the turnout of the participants, as more than 7,000 people showed up and filled the World Trade Center during our first summit in 2011. Of course, this was a signal for both Cynthia and I to continue what we are doing, and right now we are working on mounting the third summit in November. Now that Cynthia is running in the coming elections, her main platform is to continue encouraging the nation to embrace Read More …

Exports down 15.6% to $3.741 B in February

 Economy
Apr 102013
 
Exports down 15.6% to $3.741 B in February

MANILA, Philippines – Merchandise exports continued to decline in February amid weak performance of shipments of electronic products, machinery and transport equipment, special transactions and apparel, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said. Data released by the NSO yesterday showed the value of merchandise exports fell by 15.6 percent to $3.741 billion in February from $4.430 billion in February last year. Compared to the $4.011 billion in January, export earnings in February were down 6.7 percent. For the first two months of the year, the value of merchandise exports reached $7.752 billion, 9.4 percent lower from a year ago. Electronic products, the country’s top export, were valued at $1.483 billion in February, a 36.5-percent decrease from a year ago. Earnings from shipments of machinery and transport equipment which amounted to $131.50 million in February, slumped 63.6 percent from the same month last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Special transactions, which include replacements and goods returned to the country, which were exported were valued at $90.37 million, 38.4 percent lower year-on-year. The value or articles of apparel and clothing accessories shipped overseas dipped slightly to $144.70 million from $146.17 million a year ago. Japan was the top destination of Philippine merchandise exports in February, with its 18.9-percent share amounting to $705.93 million, down by 11.4 percent from a year ago. University of the Philippines economist Benjamin Diokno said in an email yesterday that given the latest exports data, economic managers will have to go back to the Read More …

Ratings upgrade not enough

 Economy
Apr 102013
 

After the country got its investment grade rating, what’s next? Simply put, rating upgrade is not enough, its means more work. Of course, congratulations are in order for the whole P-Noy team, especially Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, for keeping their focus and steadfast efforts in steering the economy forward. For the uninitiated, Fitch Ratings last month issued an upgrade of the Philippines’ position from BB+ to BBB-, the three letters signifying investment grade status. Fitch is a global rating company that keeps tabs of a company’s or country’s credit standing. The Philippines relies on three agencies for these periodic ratings, and Fitch is considered to be the least tough. The other two agencies are Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, both of which have marked the country just a notch below investment grade. Often, it just takes a bit more time before Moody’s and S&P  echo what Fitch had earlier announced. Yet this should not detract our bureaucracy from continuing to get the house in order for that time when investors start pouring in. And there is so much to do. Higher trust Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 This latest investment upgrade, for example, will persuade investors to take a more serious look at the many business opportunities that the government is offering, something that was not given much attention because of a perceived general weakness in the state’s ability to guarantee robust returns. But since P-Noy took over the state leadership in 2010, his Read More …

USTR ties trade benefits to labor issues

 Economy
Apr 102013
 
USTR ties trade benefits to labor issues

Phl asked to provide plans for labor legislation MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) is asking the Philippine government to provide plans regarding passage of legislation concerning union registration as well as cases when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) were involved in labor disputes as part of its review on whether the country should continue to enjoy trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. A copy of post-hearing questions of the USTR following a hearing held on March 28, showed that it wants the Aquino administration to describe plans for seeking passage of remaining labor legislation involving assumption of jurisdiction and union registration. The USTR also said it wants to know whether there have been cases in which the AFP or PNP were involved in labor disputes as well as whether guidelines have been followed. “The government of the Philippines is receiving support from the International Labor Organization (ILO) through December 2013, funded by the US Department of State, to train personnel on the PNP and AFP guidelines,” it noted. The USTR likewise wants to know what work the Department of Labor and Employment is undertaking in conjunction with the ILO or otherwise, to enable inspectors to identify potential issues with compliance, including anti-union discrimination and intimidation or harassment. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The government, it said, must also respond to a concern raised by the International Labor Rights Forum Read More …

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