Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry is amenable to the creation of a potential China industrial economic zone in the country as part of government’s effort to strengthen relations with China. “Definitely there are many areas of cooperation, including the establishment of industrial economic zones. That’s on the table,” Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said yesterday. Rodolfo said a China industrial economic zone would likely require some 300 hectares of land and would open up plenty of job and investment opportunities for Filipinos. “Under the models they’ve had in other countries, they will develop it and they will also be the ones to get investors, but not limited to Chinese investors. The land, of course, will be ours and of course that would create jobs so we want that. That is a big thing for us especially if they will be the ones spending the bigger part,” he said. Rodolfo said the plan is expected be threshed out in a joint committee on economic and trade cooperation meeting scheduled early next year. President Duterte’s state visit to China last month led to the signing of several agreements covering a wide range of areas such as trade, tourism, agriculture, security, health, and infrastructure.

The stock market recovered yesterday on the back of better-than-expected performance of the economy in the third quarter. File photo MANILA, Philippines – The stock market recovered yesterday on the back of better-than-expected performance of the economy in the third quarter. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 83.84 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 7,050.12, while the broader All Shares index edged higher by 30.95 points or 0.73 percent to close at 4,242.40. All counters closed in positive territory led by the property sector which rose 2.01 percent. Total value turnover reached P8.14 billion as advancing stocks outnumbered decliners, 91 to 78. Fifty three stocks were left unchanged. Analysts said the market reacted positively to the strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the quarter. Socioeconomic Planning director Reynaldo Cancio yesterday said the economy grew strongly by 7.1 percent in the third quarter. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “This cements our chance of achieving our target of six to seven percent for the whole of 2016. This growth is above the median market expectation of 6.8 percent. And we are the fastest-growing among major Asian emerging economies that have already released data for the quarter,” Cancio said. The Philippine economy’s growth is higher than China’s 6.7 percent, Vietnam’s 6.4 percent, Indonesia’s five percent, and Malaysia’s 4.3 percent. India’s has not yet released their data. For the fourth quarter, the country only needs to attain at least 3.4 percent growth to attain the low-end Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ goal of becoming a rice-exporting country by the end of the Duterte administration seems like a long shot, an official of the  Department of Agriculture (DA) said. Leo Cañeda, director of the Office of the Undersecretary for Operations at DA, said the possibility of the Philippines exporting rice appears to be out of the radar as of the moment. “Not that we are talking about it already. It’s enough that we work hard to hit our rice self-sufficiency target first by 2019,” Cañeda told The STAR on the sidelines of a forum organized by the Philippine Agricultural Journalists Inc. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has made public its goal of becoming a rice-exporting country, saying rice could be a potential export commodity that could allow the country to compete in the global market. “That is if we lower cost of production and increase productivity to make us competitive in the rice market,” he said. Cañeda emphasized that the DA is taking one step at a time and is focused on the goal of increasing the sector’s efficiency. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The goal is how we can increase our efficiency in the entire value chain so that the Philippine rice industry can be competitive and that we can support our own local needs,” he said. “It (exporting) hasn’t figured yet in our discussions but if we get there why not? Whatever dual effects it will have, like being able to export, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) will bring the first ever tourism career fair to Visayas and Mindanao this November. TCP executive vice president Aileen Clemente said job opportunities in the tourism industry are already extending outside Metro Manila as the bulk of tourism development projects are moving to the southern part of the country.                                                                Clemente said some hotel chains and resorts have already entered the market, or are expanding their operations in the country to take advantage of the growing domestic and foreign arrivals in the Philippines. “The country has a growing middle class. And beyond our top markets abroad, the country is welcoming tourists from more European countries, the Middle East and India,” she said. “This is the best time for Filipinos to become part of the country’s tourism industry.  Instead of going abroad, we are seeing competitive career opportunities locally,” she added. With this, the TCP will bring about 30 tourism-related companies to participate in the Visayas and Mindanao leg of the Tourism Career and Hospitality Fair. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The jobs fair, which will take place at the Cebu Trade Hall on Nov. 22 and at the SMX Convention Center Davao on Nov. 28, will bring together tourism companies, employment agencies, and schools looking for potential Read More …