THE Environment department’s decision to shutter and suspend more than three-fifths of the country’s 41 metal mines, which account for half of the country’s nickel supply, is rattling nickel buyers, especially in China and Japan, an industry official said.
THE government will be banking on trade and tourism to drive economic growth in 2017 as ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including China and Russia are expected to be strengthened, especially with the Philippines’ 2017 chairmanship of the ASEAN.
THE CABINET’S economic team, including the Transportation and Public Works Secretaries, is due in Beijing today to bring forward talks on the $15-billion investment deals signed in October during President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s visit to China.
PHILIPPINE infrastructure projects funded by China through the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative are expected to help “normalize” the bilateral relationship, HSBC Ltd.’s Philippine unit said in a statement.
THE Bank of China, Ltd. (BoC), one of the big-four Chinese state banks, will pair Chinese firms with local small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) next year through “matchmaking” events, with a participation target of 1,000 Filipino firms by September 2017.
CHINA is interested in developing at least one industrial economic zone in the Philippines, promising to shoulder most of the expenses as part of the “quick turnaround” of the countries’ bilateral relationship, a trade official said.
THE uncertainty presented by a Trump presidency may require a shift by the Philippines if it intends to grow its foreign trade, siding China because the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be dead in the water, the head of the exporters’ association said.
FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) to the Philippines is expected to keep growing despite unsettling rhetoric from President Rodrigo R. Duterte, but will likely see a shift in the sources of capital to reflect the trade pivot to Asian economies, a public finance expert said.
THE Philippines is seeking to access markets like China, the world’s top importer of sugar, to diversify its trade, which is heavily weighted towards the United States, an official with the sugar regulator said.
THE government announced a P1.03-billion budget for the systems upgrade contract to support the introduction of new light rail carriages from China, to be used on Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3).