Maniolas

President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping greet each during a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Lima, Peru on November 19. REY BANIQUET/ Presidential Photo MANILA, Philippines – Credit Suisse said President Duterte’s pivot to China would bring in more investments as well as tourists and is positive for the sustained economic growth of the Philippines. In a report, Michael Wan, economist at Credit Suisse, said the country’s pivot toward China is net positive for the gross domestic product (GDP) growth as well as balance of payments (BOP) position for next year.  Wan explained the strategy of the Duterte administration would bring in more foreign direct investments and tourism from China next year and outweigh the potential decline in flows from the US in the near term.  Credit Suisse sees the country’s GDP expanding 6.4 percent next year.  The report said around $1-to $4-billion or 0.3 to 1.2 percent of GDP of the $15 billion investment pledges made during Duterte’s visit to China have the potential to start in 2017.  Likewise, Credit Suisse said it does not expect a sharp slowdown in US investments due to the pivot toward China strategy as well as the shocking victory of Republican Donald Trump. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “This implies a two-to six-fold increase in current investments from China, and compares with the Philippines’ typical annual total FDI inflows of $6-to $8-billion. While the US is still the Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The positive second half for the agriculture sector may not be able to pull off the output for the rest of the year as palay (unhusked rice) and corn production may suffer setbacks due to the recent dry spell, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. Palay production is expected to reach 17.91 million metric tons (MT) this year, down 1.3 percent from the 18.15 million MT output last year. Harvest area may also decline by almost two percent to 4.58 million hectares in 2016 from 4.66 million hectares last year. Production for the last quarter is expected to increase a measly 0.33  percent from 7.28 million MT last year to 7.3 million MT this year coming from Central Luzon, Mimaropa and ARMM. But the PSA said the increase in production would not likely offset the decline in output in the early part of the year. Palay output for the first semester was already lower by 8.13 percent mainly due to the contraction of harvest areas and lower yields due to the El Niño phenomenon. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Possible decrements in production are also perceived in Cagayan Valley and Zamboanga Peninsula due to unrealized plantings and movement of cropping in the Visayas regions and Zamboanga Peninsula as an effect of dry spell and drought in the past quarters,” the agency said. Furthermore, corn production is also expected to post a 3.4 percent decrease, from 7.52 million MT last year to 7.26 million MT this year Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) plans to come up with a database, which will list all destinations in the country in response to the ever-changing preferences of tourists and tourism investors. “We are starting with an extensive inventory of our destinations so we will know who offers what and what are the capabilities of each destination to deliver on expectations,” Tourism Undersecretary for regulation, coordination and resource generation Alma Jimenez said.  Jimenez said the initiative would pave the  way for more innovative tourism products and guide tourism development programs. “The more important priorities we are addressing include establishing the database and doing the required analytics to make sure we have all the information about every destination at our fingertips,” she said. “This will allow us to quickly react to inquiries and even tourism investments,” she added. According to Jimenez, the DOT’s direction is currently centered on customized and niche-specific marketing and promotion campaigns. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The agency has organized special project development teams who would create niche products to introduce more tourism segments to the traveling market. Jimenez said the DOT was developing tourism offerings focused on various thematic clusters, such as fitness, fun, family, farm and faith tourism. “The overall direction is to create a country tourism program and enable the regions to cross-sell, promote each other and get real tourism numbers up,” she said.

MANILA, Philippines – PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC) reported a net income of $1.13 million in the nine months to September this year on the back of higher energy sales. This was a reversal of the $537,576 loss incurred in the same period a year earlier. Consolidated revenues rose 38.64 percent to $25.01 million mainly on higher electricity sales. Electricity sales, which refer to the electricity power generated by Maibarara Geothermal power plant (MGPP) and PetroSolar Corp., amounted to $21.06 million, up 63.49 percent year on year. The increase was mainly due to the start of commercial operations of PetroSolar last Feb. 10. MGPP, located in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, is 65 percent owned by PERC through its wholly-owned subsidiary PetroGreen Energy Corp. in joint venture firm Maibarara Geothermal Inc. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 PERC — through its subsidiary PetroGreen Energy Corp. — owns 56 percent of PetroSolar, which owns and operates the 50-megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Tarlac. Improvement in energy sales more than offset the 23.36 percent drop in oil revenues to $3.96 million.  PERC said the decrease was mainly due to lower average crude oil price from $51.73 per barrel to $38.02 per barrel.  In terms of expenses, the company saw a 10 percent decline in oil production expenses because of lower royalty (Gabon) and other operating expenses brought about by the decline in average crude oil price.  Costs of electricity sales soared by 125.87 percent mainly due to maintenance of the solar Read More …

In a nine-page joint statement on their meeting on Nov. 17 and 18, the APEC ministers said open trade policies “are essential for sustained recovery and boosting growth for coming years.” File photo LIMA – Ministers of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies have vowed to promote free trade and small businesses in the face of growing skepticism over economic integration and renewed concerns over protectionist policies.  In a nine-page joint statement on their meeting on Nov. 17 and 18, the APEC ministers said open trade policies “are essential for sustained recovery and boosting growth for coming years.”  “Faced with rising skepticism over trade and stagnated trade growth, we reiterate our commitment to build an open economy in the Asia-Pacific featuring innovative development, interconnected growth and shared interests,” the APEC ministers said.   “We also believe that the benefits of trade and open markets need to be communicated to the wider public more effectively, emphasizing how trade promotes innovation, employment and higher living standards, and creates opportunities for our citizens that can support inclusive growth,” they added.  The ministers also promised to use policy tools namely monetary, fiscal and structural to strengthen global demand and address supply constraints. “We reaffirm our commitment to strengthen the multilateral trading system and recognize the important role of international trade to job creation, and sustained economic recovery, development and prosperity,” they said.  “We underline our confidence in the value and centrality of the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open, and inclusive multilateral trading system embodied in Read More …