MANILA AND CEBU ranked in the lower fourth among 28 cities across the Asia-Pacific region in a study covering 39 indicators that weighed liveability, sustainability and competitiveness. Toronto, Vancouver and Singapore topped the survey.
Nov 172015
Oct 042015
All over the world, people and industries are seeing the dramatic effect of technology. As new innovations are developed, new industries, services and business models are also created. One such area is in financial technology, or FinTech, which was the theme of the keynote address at a recent EY Banking and Capital Markets Symposium held in Singapore. The focus of the speaker was on the evolution of banks in the FinTech space and the view that up to 20% of traditional bank revenue is at peril due to FinTech.
Sep 142015
ECONOMIC GROWTH could slow down to below 6% this year as public expenditure is expected to weigh on the country’s overall output, a Singapore bank said in a new report.
Apr 042014
THE PHILIPPINES and Singapore are looking to enhance trade and investment ties, officials said on Friday.
Apr 032014
A TOAST TO SINGAPORE’S GENEROSITY. President Aquino toasts Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam, thanking him in Malacañang on Thursday for Singapore’s post-“Yolanda” help. Tan, here on a four-day visit, flies to Western Samar on Saturday to deliver medical supplies to Basey District Hospital. EDWIN BACASMAS MANILA, Philippines—Facing an increasingly aggressive China, President Aquino on Thursday proposed a defense dialogue with Singapore to boost the two countries’ military defense ties, during visiting Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s courtesy call at Malacañang. “The Philippines proposed the holding of a defense dialogue to further strengthen our cooperation,” said Aquino at the Palace reception hall. “I believe that strengthening defense and security cooperation between the Philippines and Singapore is key to maintaining regional stability.” 45th anniversary This year marks the 45th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations. In the last few days, the Philippines has had to deal with China’s verbal onslaughts and naval maneuvers in the South China Sea, which the Philippines now calls the West Philippine Sea. After filing a memorandum with a United Nations tribunal challenging China’s “nine-dash line” claim in the international waterway on Sunday, the Philippine government drew a sharp rebuke from Chinese Embassy officials in Manila. Charge d’Affaires Sun Xiangyang said the move “seriously damaged” the bilateral relations between the two countries, and accused the Philippines of unilaterally shutting the door to negotiations and consultations. China, Taiwan and Asean members the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, which Read More …
Mar 042014
Singapore has one of the world’s highest concentrations of millionaires relative to its 5.4 million population.©aimvotalphotos/shutterstock.com (SINGAPORE-AFP) – The soaring cost of cars and utilities as well as a strong currency have made Singapore the world’s most expensive city, toppling Tokyo from the top spot, according to a survey Tuesday. Tokyo’s weakening yen saw it slide to sixth place, the position previously occupied by Singapore, in the 2014 Worldwide Cost of Living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). “Singapore’s rising price prominence has been steady rather than spectacular,” said a report accompanying the survey by the research firm. It said a 40 percent rise in the Singapore dollar along with “solid price inflation” pushed the country to the top of the twice-yearly survey from 18th a decade ago. The survey, which examines prices across 160 products and services in 140 cities, is aimed at helping companies calculate allowances for executives being sent overseas. The report said Singapore’s curbs on car ownership, which include a quota system and high taxes, made it “significantly more expensive than any other location when it comes to running a car”. A new Toyota Corolla Altis costs $110,000 in Singapore compared to around $35,000 in neighbouring Malaysia. Overall transport costs in Singapore are almost three times higher than those in New York, it said. “In addition, as a city-state with very few natural resources to speak of, Singapore is reliant on other countries for energy and water supplies, making it the third most expensive destination Read More …
Feb 112014
The government has recovered the last tranche of Marcos Swiss accounts worth a total of P1.3 billion ($29 million) after a Singapore court ruled that the Philippine National Bank (PNB) had the legal title to the deposits. At a press briefing Wednesday, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairperson Andres Bautista said the amount has been remitted to the National Treasury on February 5. The accounts were worth $23 million in 2003 and have since gained interests. “The recovered amount form part of the Swiss bank accounts of former President Ferdinand Marcos and his family that were ordered forfeited by the Philippine Supreme Court in 2003 but which were held up in litigation in Singapore since then,” said Bautista. In 2003, the Supreme Court granted the forfeiture of the bank deposits, allowing PNB to give most of the money back to the Philippine Treasury under an escrow agreement. But the funds were held up in Singapore after complaints were filed against it by human rights lawyers. Singapore’s high court ruled in favor of PNB in 2012. Singapore’s appeals court affirmed the high court decision on December 30. Marcos signed on Sept. 21, 1972 Proclamation No. 108 that imposed Martial Law in the Philippines, following increasing civil strife and threats of communist takeover. The abuse of authority of the Marcoses and their cronies led to the 1986 People Power Revolution which toppled the regime. — Siegfrid O. Alegado/RSJ/KBK, GMA News
Jan 232014
AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE HEARING. Senator Cynthia Villar, Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, listens to Sen. Ralph Recto as he questions representatives of the Department of Agriculture about the claims made by certain groups and agencies concerning the actual state of rice supply in the country. Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Senators Grace Poe, Nancy Binay and JV Ejercito also attended the hearing.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Businessman Davidson Bangayan on Wednesday remained firm that he is not suspected rice smuggler “David Tan,” despite being confronted at a Senate probe with court documents showing he used the alias. During the Senate agriculture committee’s inquiry on rice smuggling, senators consistently got a negative answer from Bangayan whenever the trader was asked if he and “David Tan” are the same person. “My name is Davidson Bangayan. I’m not David Tan,” Bangayan said at the start of his testimony during the probe. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima however said that her agency already has two witnesses who said that Bangayan used the alias “David Tan.” De Lima even presented before the committee court documents from a libel case Bangayan supposedly filed against Jesus Arranza, chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries, in 2005. In these papers, de Lima said Bangayan admitted to being “David Tan.” “How come in that document, he explicitly admitted that Bangayan aka David Tan? At sa attachment niya, Bangayan aka David Tan? Siya ang nag-attach noon,” de Lima said. The Senate committee Read More …
Jan 142014
THE MONETARY Board is expected to start hiking its record low policy rates in the second semester on projections that inflation will accelerate during the period, Singapore-based DBS Ltd. said in a research note.
Jan 102014
MANILA, Philippines – Net foreign direct investment inflows rose 66 percent to $254 million in October last year from $153 million in the same period in 2012 amid the country’s robust growth and favorable macroeconomic fundamentals, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday. “The notable rise in foreign investments into the country reflects favorable investor sentiment on the back of the country’s macroeconomic stability amid challenging global conditions,” the central bank said. The economy expanded 7.4 percent in the first nine months of last year, faster than the government’s six- to seven-percent target. Inflation stood at an average of three percent in 2013, at the low end of the BSP’s three- to five-percent target range. Central bank data showed net equity capital grew 19 percent to $68 million in October from $57 million in the previous year, while reinvested earnings plunged 44 percent to $50 million from $90 million. Placements in debt instruments or borrowings made by local subsidiaries from the parent companies, meanwhile, surged to $135 million from $6 million. Gross equity placements in October last year came from the US, Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. These funds went into manufacturing, transportation and storage, financial and insurance, real estate, and mining and quarrying. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the first 10 months of 2013, net FDI inflows went up 35 percent to $3.361 billion from $2.485 billion in the same period in 2012. Net equity capital placements slid 48 percent to $658 million Read More …