Local stocks weighed down by PH-Taiwan rift
By Doris C. Dumlao
The local stock barometer slipped for a second straight session on Friday amid a brewing Philippine-Taiwan row alongside some profit-taking and portfolio realignment.
The local stock barometer slipped for a second straight session on Friday amid a brewing Philippine-Taiwan row alongside some profit-taking and portfolio realignment.
South Korean businessmen are keen to invest more in the Philippines in light of the strong economy, the Aquino administration’s anti-corruption campaign and its public-private sector partnership (PPP) program, a South Korean diplomat in Manila said recently.
The Philippines’ burgeoning gaming industry may surpass Singapore’s $5.6-billion gaming market by 2018 on the back of a larger local mass market and likely spillover of foreign high-rollers, foreign bank Credit Suisse said.
The Japanese trading giant Marubeni has finalized a deal to buy a 20 percent stake in Maynilad Water Services Inc., coming in as a strategic partner of the Metro Pacific-DMCI consortium.
Ayala-led Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. has bagged a deal to manufacture HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and blower units for Mazda cars at its plant in Guadalajara, Mexico, starting in the first quarter of 2014.
The cash transfer company i-Remit Inc. has expanded its local remittance business by signing a partnership with pawnshop operator Eight Under Par Inc., more commonly known as Palawan Pawnshop.
The International Monetary Fund has tempered its outlook on the global economy for 2013, which the institution sees as a “make-or-break” year likely fraught with a fragile economic recovery and high uncertainties.
Buoyed by the positive outlook arising from the initial peace agreement signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the government held the first-ever Mindanao Business Networking Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to attract investors to Mindanao and hasten the development of the region.
Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Saturday he saw the Philippines as “an emerging Asian tiger,” echoing the bullish outlook on the country painted by political and business leaders in various parts of the world.
The business sector in Australia is bullish on the Philippine economy, with many shakers and movers in trade and investment looking forward to partnering with the “next tiger economy in Southeast Asia.”
Riots at Japanese factories, stricter customs inspections and other barriers thrown up over a territorial row have reawakened an alarmed Japan Inc. to the risks of doing business with China, analysts say.
The Philippines is looking to send English teachers, fishery experts and geothermal specialists to Chile. In return, one of the world’s biggest mineral producers will teach local taxmen how to squeeze more revenues from mining companies.
