Economy – Page 537

Visa sets Phl rollout of EMV chip cards

Economy

Feb 052013

MANILA, Philippines – Visa Inc., a global payments technology company, is preparing to roll out in the Philippines the Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) chip cards, a new tool that would further protect customers against fraud, a top company official said. Iain Jamieson, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam, said they have a timeline to encourage acquirers to upgrade their automated teller machines (ATMs) in Asia Pacific and the US to accept EMV chip cards. “If an EMV chip card is used at an ATM that cannot accept EMV chip-enabled cards, the ATM acquirer will bear the cost for counterfeit fraud. Currently card issuers bear the liability for fraudulent ATM transactions,” he said. “As electronic payments and ATMs become more widely used across the Philippines and abroad, Visa is committed in ensuring the security of cardholders’ transactions,” he added. EMV chip technology, Jamieson said, adds additional security layers, giving cardholders greater peace of mind. “The security benefits of dynamic authentication to the ATM channel will significantly reduce card present fraud,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Since EMV chip payment devices generate dynamic values unique to each transaction and that change with every use, chip technology adds an additional layer of security that helps significantly reduce card fraud. By encouraging investments in EMV chip technology, Visa is encouraging improved international interoperability and security with dynamic authentication as well as helping to build a foundation for mobile payments. At present, Visa connects consumers, businesses, financial Read More …

MPTC mulls expansion in Cebu, Asean countries

Economy

Feb 052013

MPTC mulls expansion in Cebu, Asean countries

SINGAPORE – Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the largest toll road management firm in the Philippines, is settings its sights on Cebu and countries like Vietnam and Indonesia for expansion. The tollway management unit of Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) will pursue almost 120 kilometers of toll roads in the two Southeast Asian countries as it conducts a study for a P26-billion toll bridge in Cebu, company officials said. In a briefing, MPTC executives outlined the company’s expansion plans specifically in emerging Vietnam and Indonesia that, like the Philippines, need more infrastructures to help sustain robust economic growth. MPTC president Ramoncito S. Fernandez said the company has identified the Becakayu toll road project in Indonesia as an investment opportunity. “The project is envisioned to connect Jakarta to the eastern part of Bbekasi City,” he said. It will be divided into two sections: the 10.167-kilometer Casablanca to Jaka Sampura and the 10.875-km Jaka Sampura to Marga segment. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 PT. Kresna Kusuma Dyandra Marga, which holds the 45-year concession of the expressway, earlier discussed the project with Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP) but the latter found the entry at the high side. There are plans to discuss with industrial firm Bouygues Group “for a potential partnership to include CMNP,” MPTC said. In Vietnam, MPTC is looking at the six-lane, 98.7-km Dau Giay Phan Thiet Expressway project. Key bid parameter is the viability gap financing amount requested by the bidder,” MPTC said. The first Read More …

House panel closes Pagcor probe

Economy

Feb 052013

MANILA, Philippines – The good government committee of the House of Representatives closed its investigation yesterday into fund irregularities that the previous administration of Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor) committed. “We have gathered enough material to conclude this inquiry and prepare a report,” Iloilo Rep. Jerry Treñas, committee chairman, told his panel. He said his committee’s evidence includes several complaints filed by incumbent Pagcor officers against their predecessors led by former chairman Efraim Genuino with the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the DOJ resolutions on such complaints. Before Treñas adjourned yesterday’s hearing, Negros Oriental Rep. George Arnaiz called attention to a Pagcor report listing the names of Genuino’s consultants. “There are scores of consultants listed here. They were receiving from P100,000 to P145,000 a month. But I am curious about one name – that of Consuelo Ynares-Santiago. Is she the same person as Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago of the Supreme Court?” he asked. Lawyer Michael Gaspar of Pagcor’s legal department gave an affirmative answer. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Responding to a question from Arnaiz, Gaspar said he did not know why Ynares-Santiago became a Pagcor consultant from February 2010 up to the time the new Pagcor officers assumed office. “We terminated all consultancy contracts entered into by the previous administration,” he said. Ynares-Santiago was appointed to the Supreme Court on April 6, 1999 by then President Estrada. In answer to another question, Gaspar said he did not know how many consultants incumbent Pagcor chairman Cristino Read More …

Australian firm to put up thermal paper plant in Phl

Economy

Feb 052013

Australian firm to put up thermal paper plant in Phl

MANILA, Philippines – Australian thermal paper manufacturer TMA is putting up a multi-billion peso plant in the Philippines, a first in the country, to supply the growing needs of various industries. “TMA Australia Pty. Ltd. is definitely consolidating its manufacturing operations in the Philippines. It has entered into a lease agreement to put up its manufacturing facilities in one the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) zones,” Anthony Karam, TMA chief executive officer said. The multi-billion peso thermal paper plant in Laguna will be the first in the country and will start operations using state-of-the-art equipment and machinery before the second quarter of this year, Karam said. Initial reports have indicated that TMA is pulling out of China and will relocate to the Philippines as its regional hub for Asia and the Pacific. TMA, a leading manufacturer of thermal and other paper products in the Asia Pacific and Australia, is now in the process of making the Philippines as its regional hub in the Asia-Pacific region. It is the only thermal paper plant being set up in the country using high-tech machinery while other local suppliers have to import thermal papers being utilized by government agencies, airlines and other private firms. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 TMA products’ pricing is also competitive since TMA will not have to deal with tariffs and other duties. Full operations are expected early in 2013, the Australia-based company said, with 500 workers to be hired initially. This will grow to about Read More …

Oil companies hike prices anew

Economy

Feb 042013

MANILA, Philippines – Oil companies on Tuesday morning hiked pump prices anew. Shell, Petron and Flying V increased by P1.05 liter the prices of premium and unleaded gasoline. The oil companies also raised the prices of their regular gasoline products by 75 centavos per liter and diesel and kerosene by 54 centavos per liter. The price increases were implemented 6 a.m. Tuesday. The three oil companies said the latest adjustments are based on the prices of petroleum products in the world market.

Erratum

Economy

Feb 042013

MANILA, Philippines – On Page B-11 of yesterday’s issue, the main story was erroneously headlined ‘Global Business Power mulls coal plant in Tanay.‘ The correct headline should have been ‘Global Business Power mulls coal plant in Panay.’ Our apologies to all concerned.

MPIC unit in new SCTEx takeover talks

Economy

Feb 042013

SINGAPORE – The tollway management unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is negotiating anew to take over the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). The latest proposal of Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) will allow the government to earn from a clearer revenue sharing system, company officials said. “A third one (proposal) is in order because the government is not convinced that [the second] proposal is acceptable to them on terms that will not require a market challenge,” MPIC president and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim said in a briefing. “We are still tweaking the proposal,” said Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president Ramoncito S. Fernandez. In July 2011, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) signed the SCTEx business and operating agreement with MNTC and holding firms MPTC and MPIC. Under the deal, MNTC will operate and manage the 94-kilometer SCTEx for 33 years while relieving SCTEx builder BCDA of the heavy financial burden of paying the P34-billion debt to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 However, MPIC has yet to secure the final approval from President Aquino. The Department of Finance wants a rebidding of the contract given issues on the revenue sharing. Lim said the new proposal is based on a revenue sharing and a guarantee system. He said MNTC wants to “make it clearer to the government that in the course of taking over the debt service, we will be contributing a specified amount of equity that will be comparable Read More …

Good and bad news on rice in 2012

Economy

Feb 042013

A good summary of the rice and palay situation of the country in 2012 is aptly conveyed by our reader, Manuel Bondad, in the following letter he sent recently. Please read on. “Reports that the 2012 palay production reached 18 million metric tons (MMT) is good news. For the first time, the highest ever attained output of 16.8 MMT in 2008 was bested as well. “The milled rice equivalent of the record palay tonnage is sufficient to cope with the country’s annual consumption of 10.9 MMT and a 21-day buffer stock based on the government’s assumed per capita consumption of two sacks and 15 kilos a year. “The feat may allay critics’ unwavering stand that the road to rice self-sufficiency is a dream never to be attained in our lifetime. On this score, the impact of population growth on rice self-sufficiency was not considered by the critics. “A perusal of the Food and Agriculture (FAO) published statistics shows that while the hike in combined population of the four most populated countries outside the Philippines in the ASEAN, i.e., Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, reached 9.8 percent in 2010 from 2001, the country’s growth of 18 percent – the highest – when halved to nine percent could have made the country self-sufficient with consumption correspondingly reduced to 10 MMT against the milled rice equivalent of 11.5 MMT of the 2012 palay output of 18 MMT. “On palay productivity, the Philippine yield per hectare of 3.62 tons, or equivalent to 80 cavans Read More …

Transfer mis-pricing: Regulations to address

Economy

Feb 042013

Transfer mis-pricing: Regulations to address

Intra-related transactions – transactions between related parties or associated enterprises – are a common practice in the globalization of trade. These transactions apply to a parent company and a subsidiary, or two or more companies controlled by a common parent (directly or indirectly and whether or not legally enforceable). When said parties establish a price for the above transactions, they are engaging in Transfer Pricing (TP). TP can be considered to be the most significant tax issue emerging from globalization confronting tax administrations worldwide. This is because related companies are more concerned in their income as a whole rather than as individual corporations, and as such, there is likelihood of manipulating the transfer price by taking advantage of the loopholes in the tax system. As a result, income reported from intra-related transactions decreases. Hence, revenue collection also decreases. And so transfer pricing may really be called transfer mis-pricing! Please note, however, that decrease in the transfer price should not at all times be attributed to manipulation by the related parties. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Transfer Pricing Guidelines provide that the tax administrators should not automatically assume that associated enterprises have sought to manipulate their profits as they may truly experience difficulty in accurately determining a market price, in the absence of market forces or when adopting a particular commercial strategy. OECD TP Guidelines are the motherhood guidelines after which most, if not all, TP guidelines of different jurisdictions have been patterned. By way of addressing the Read More …

Filipino more money-wise than before – survey

Economy

Feb 042013

Filipino more money-wise than before - survey

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipinos are becoming wiser in their finances, according to a survey commissioned by Citibank Philippines. Results of the annual Citi Fin-Q survey showed that among 500 Filipino respondents, nine out of 10 said they create a budget on a monthly basis, while 65 percent said it is important to stick to their budget. Eight out of 10 also said they own insurance products or own insurance protection, while 63 percent said they are on track with their retirement savings or had already set aside some savings for it. Citi added that among those surveyed, six out of 10 said they are aware of their net worth. The survey said more Filipinos now understand the value of budgeting and planning their finances, as respondents passed the 50-point mark and scored 53 out of 100 in the survey. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Respondent in the survey were scored on 11 questions about financial well-being, with a maximum possible score of 100. “The improved score was driven by increased awareness among respondents of the importance of planning personal finances, ownership of several financial products such as investments and insurance, and a general optimism on their financial future,” Citi said. Meanwhile, across Asia Pacific, the survey noted that the score was above the 50-point mark at 53.2 points. Sixty-seven percent added that they are optimistic about their financial futures. In terms of savings, 44 percent said they set aside or save money every time they Read More …

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