THE GOVERNMENT has signed an agreement with a group of Turkish businesses to boost investment ties between the Philippines and Turkey, a statement from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) yesterday said.
Oct 162013
Aug 212013
MANILA, Philippines – Several Turkish companies have indicated interest to tap local partners for the distribution of their products and for other business opportunities in the Philippines. In an email-message, Turkish Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (TCCP) said the companies are set to meet with Philippine firms through a business matching activity on Aug. 27 at the F1 Hotel in Bonifacio Global City. The visiting group is composed of the following firms: Ezinc Metal (solar water heater and storage tanks); Tuna Steel Doors (steel doors, interior doors and special doors); Envai (spices and condiments); Erkut Holdings (construction); Vendeka Group (information and communication technology products and solutions); S&L Fine Foods (importer of food from Europe and Australia); Altus Qualitas Trading Inc. (import and export of goods); JMJ Auction (household appliances and furniture); Erciyes Construction (construction) and Neva Trade (cosmetics and textiles). The event is seen to present opportunities for companies for business; is likewise expected to help enhance the economic ties between the Philippines and Turkey. The TCCP which is organizing the business matching activity, invites firms from Turkey regularly to come to the Philippines to explore opportunities here. The TCCP also arranges business and leisure trips for Philippine companies to Turkey to allow them to see if there are opportunities for them there. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Total trade between the Philippines and Turkey was valued at $171.37 million last year. Philippine merchandise exports to Turkey reached $42.18 million while imports from Turkey Read More …
Jul 202013
The end will never justify the means. How can some sectors even suggest that the government turn a blind eye on the illegal act of dumping Turkish flour into our territory and then threaten to increase bread prices if anti-dumping duties are imposed on Turkish flour. Two lobby groups of bakers have warned that they will increase the price of pandesal from P3 to P3.50 per piece if government decides to impose a 20 percent dumping duty on Turkish flour, which the bakers apparently have been using. They have in fact already petitioned the Department of Agriculture and the Tariff Commission not to impose the dumping duties. Aside from entering the country at dumped prices, this is the same Turkish flour which in the past has been pestered by health and safety issues. Dumping, a special case of price discrimination, is a situation in which the price a firm charges for its goods in a foreign market is lower than either the price it charges in its home market or the production cost. Dumping thus is the sale of surplus output of a firm on foreign markets at below cost price. Dumping also occurs when a firm sells its products at a higher price in the home market and at a lower price in the foreign market. (http://www.economicsconcepts.com/dumping.htm) In 2012, Turkish flour was sold to the Philippines at $340 per metric ton while their domestic price in Turkey was $470 per ton. In 2011, the export price of Turkish flour Read More …
Jul 162013
MANILA, Philippines – A group of bakery owners and bread producers warned that prices of Pinoy pandesal, other bread products, biscuits and noodles would increase by 10 to 15 percent, if the government gives in to the demand of an influential lobby group to restrict the entry of affordable flour from Turkey. The Filipino-Chinese Bakery Association Inc. (FCBA), the group of bakery owners or producers of bread, noodles, cakes, pastries, pizza, siopao, pandesal, cookies, and biscuits from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, said imposing a higher tariff on flour imported from Turkey would increase the price of Pinoy pandesal by 50 centavos to P3.50 per piece from the current P3 apiece. Pinoy pandesal is the brand of affordable bread products produced by small community bakers. “Because of cheaper Turkish flour, Filipino consumers enjoy lower priced breads and other flour-based products such as dry noodles, biscuits and fishballs,” the FCBA said. The FCBA said flour represents more than 50 percent of the total cost of bread production, and an increase in the price of flour would automatically translate to higher prices of bread. “There are 25,000 bakeries operating in the Philippines and many small and medium-sized bakeries are using lower priced flour for them to offer breads within the reach of the Filipino consumers,” the FCBA said. The FCBA said the Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. (PAFMIL), which has monopoly of the local flour market, is using its influence on the government to push the Turkish flour out of the country Read More …
Jun 072013
THE AGRICULTURE department started Friday a probe on wheat flour imports from Turkey over allegations of dumping.
Jun 042013
By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:37 pm | Tuesday, June 4th, 2013 DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday cautioned Filipinos across Turkey to be careful of large public gatherings as nationwide unrest grew amid widespread demonstrations over the planned construction over a historic park in Istanbul. “Our Embassy in Ankara continues to monitor the situation in Turkey. While there are no specific threats to Filipinos, our Embassy nevertheless advises our kababayans to take extra precaution and stay away from areas where demonstrations are held,” DFA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez said in a press briefing on Tuesday. There are some 5,000 Filipinos in Turkey, according to DFA estimates. Hernandez meanwhile said no Filipinos were among casualties in the flooding in the Czech Republic and fresh tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma over the weekend. He said the Philippine Embassy in Prague has sent out an alert to some 500 Filipinos there about the situation and contact numbers for emergencies. Citing a report from the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago, Hernandez meanwhile said Filipinos were spared from harm when a tornado hit central Oklahoma on May 31, killing at least 18 people. Some 100,000 Filipinos are known to be residing in Oklahoma and surrounding areas in the midwest, which was also hit by a tornado earlier last month. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step Read More …
May 242013
We spent four days in beautiful sun-kissed Greece, toured the Acropolis and Delphi ruins and visited the Delphi Museum with our second tour guide Electra Toya from the Greek Ministry of Culture who guided us through Delphi so knowledgeably and patiently. We also spent about half a day in the quaint island of Hydra where no cars or motorcycles are allowed and the locals and tourists alike still travel only on bicycles, mules and donkeys or taxi boats. Small wonder that close to 17 million tourists descend upon this lovely country every year, with more tourists than locals even, because Greece has so much to offer, from antiquity via their world-famous archaeological sites to leisure through their scenic islands. It was time for our next stop: Istanbul in Turkey. We breezed through the short one hour-20 minute trip comfortably, enjoyed the light meal on board our chosen airline Qatar Airways, and so soon we landed smoothly at the Istanbul Ataturk International Terminal. The airport, vast and modern, was literally a sea of people, the line to the immigration counters snaking several long loops, and we inched our way through like everyone else, sweating from the sheer volume of people in the airport for at least an hour before reaching the counter where several booths were efficiently manned– that is how many tourists arrive daily in Turkey. Airport transfer cost us TL170, and we soon realized why —our hotel, Asia Artemis, was about two hours away from the airport. At $160/night Read More …
Feb 252013
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Stock Exchange ranked third globally among top performing bourses last year in terms of domestic market capitalization, PSE reported on Tuesday. Citing a report from the World Federation of Exchanges, the local bourse said that it was only outpaced by the stock exchanges in Turkey and Thailand after posting a 38.9 percent expansion in 2012. WFE is composed of 50 bourses all over the world. “Ranking among the top markets around the world is a feat which I think all Filipinos can be proud of as we are pitted against the best of the best markets in these global rankings. This is a testament to what we have been saying that the Philippines is now indeed in the global radar for investments and these numbers prove our worth as a viable investment destination,” PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Hans Sicat said. The report likewise noted that the PSE ranked third after the Saudi Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Stock Exchange after posting a 25.3-percent growth in the value trading turnover. It also placed fourth in terms of trades growth and fifth in terms of broad market index growth. In 2011, PSE also ranked first in the growth of its broad market index, third in domestic market capitalization and fourth in trading turnover among 51 stock exchanges. PSE added that among the top performing stock markets in 2011, it was the only one which figured in the best performing markets list by posting growth across Read More …