The Philippines has moved up seven
points in the 2014-2015 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) report of the World
Economic Forum (WEF), Malacañang announced on Wednesday.
“This affirms that the Aquino
administration’s good governance programs have established the solid
macroeconomic foundations upon which long-term inclusive growth may be
attained,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio
Coloma, Jr. said during a press briefing at the Palace.
The Philippines has advanced to rank
52nd (out of 140 countries) from the 59th place last year.
“This achievement indicates that the
Philippines is well-poised to attain its objective of being in the top third
(or rank 42nd) by 2016,” Coloma added.
According to the GCI report of the
WEF, “The country’s gain of 33 places since 2010 is the largest over that
period among all countries studied. The results suggest that the reforms of the
past four years have bolstered the country’s economic fundamentals. The trends
across most of the 12 pillars are positive, and in some cases truly
remarkable.”
The GCI measures the competitiveness
of 144 economies based on more than 100 factors grouped into 12 pillars.
Coloma added that the country has a
good ranking in the following pillars: institutions (ranked 67th); business
sophistication (46th); financial market development (49th); innovation (52nd);
and government efficiency (69th).
The other pillars are macroeconomic
environment, health and primary education, higher education and training; goods
market efficiency, labor market efficiency, technological readiness, market
size, and infrastructure.
However, the country’s rating on
infrastructure is considered poor, especially with respect to airport and
seaport infrastructure.
“The government acknowledges that the
biggest area of improvement is still infrastructure and this is being addressed
with the launching of major projects that are being implemented by using the
public-private partnerships mode,” said Coloma. (PCOO/PND (ag
5 reasons to start a
company in the Philippines
The Southeast Asia is a key player
when it comes to startups. It’s a market of 600 million people, a third of
which in one country alone, with 17000 islands. But the Philippines is a stand
out.
It’s a fast-growing middle-class
region, with 24% of the Philippine population in this category as of 2013.
Dubbed as the social media and selfie capital of the world by Times, Philippines
has the fastest smartphone penetration.
You’re not alone to find it difficult
to position this land on a map, as it is still quite unexplored by many. The
opportunity to launch a business in the country is huge. Here are 5 good
reasons to start up a business in the country:
It’s more fun in the
Philippines!
This official campaign of the
tourism board of the Philippines says quite a lot. The entrepreneurial spirit
of Asians is truly infectious.
The Philippines is an amazing
melting-pot of an Asian-Pacific set of islands, which has been conquered by the
Spanish, freed from the Japanese later on by the Americans, and with a huge
diaspora across the world.
The result is a very social and
friendly culture, where karaoke, laughter and time for friends are omnipresent.
As innovation often comes from diversity, you could not dream of a country with
more different faces and cultures and acquiescence to new changes.
Growth is firm in the
Philippines!
With the second best performing
economy of Asia behind China, the Philippines is doing well. Their GDP recorded
6.5% growth in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to 7.7% for China (IBT)
The exports of the country are also
amazing, with the top chunk held by Electronic products, far beyond the bananas
people think too often of.
The stock market also increased its
main index by 61% over the last two years.
It’s archeologically empire-building
in the Philippines!
If the history of the Silicon Valley
or Israel is better known than the one of the Philippines, you can still find a
lot of examples testifying their entrepreneurial spirit:
The country opened its Asia’s first
University back in 1611. The University of Santo Tomas was set up by the
Catholic, and it is still boasting some 42000 students as of 2013.
It carved the first rice terraces some
2000 years ago with an advanced irrigation system to drive water from the
rainforests.
It resisted the Spanish invasion, with
Lapu-Lapu, the omni-present soldier statue you can see in Cebu Island, being
then recognized as “the first Filipino”, back in the 16th century.
It survived wars and typhoons, and has
rebuilt the country after each catastrophe.
It is preparing a Startup Bill which
many compares to a move as bold as the one made by Chile a few years ago (with
Startup Chile being now a world famous program for foreign entrepreneurs).
It’s innovative in the
Philippines!
The local startup scene in the
Philippines is recognized to be leading innovation in two important fields:
Bitcoin and crypto-currencies, as the
regulations are light when it comes to these new virtual currencies, and as
their huge diaspora need a better way to send money back home. A few American
startup-ers came intently to know how the Philippines bitcoin community was
faring.
Social enterprise, as 62% of the
population lives with less than three dollar per day. This population, called
“the bottom of the pyramid”, is often referred to as a market as people there
still have ways to consume goods and services. A social enterprise such as Rags
to Riches in Manila, offers an e-commerce platform for craft made by remote
populations.
These two fields are key innovation
drivers where the Philippines can lead the way.
The startup network is vigorous
in the Philippines!
The Philippines has its own main tech
event and international hackathons and competition such as Seedstars World or
AngelHack, training and mentoring centers. The Digital ICT Congress in
Pangasinan is now on its 4th year tapping huge universities and
institution in the entire province.
It’s definitely vivifying to visit the
tech scenes of the Philippines, both in Cebu, and Pangasinan, an island better
known for its nature spots.
With a unique positioning between
Asia, the Pacific, and the United States, this is a big 100 million people
country not to forget about. (Louie dela Vega/FOCUS)
Henry Sy still Forbes’
Philippines’ richest
Mall magnate Henry Sy remains to be
the wealthiest Filipino, according to Forbes magazine’s The Philippines 50
Richest List for 2014.
With a net worth of US$12.7 billion,
the 89-year-old Sy held the top spot for the 7th straight year. His worth
increased by $700 million from last year, thanks largely to the rising share
prices of his mall and banking businesses.
Following Sy was tobacco tycoon Lucio
Tan, who also retained his place. Tan, 80, has a net worth of $6.1 billion.
Port and casino tycoon Enrique Razon
Jr., 54, climbed one place, making him the third richest, with a net worth of
$5.2 billion.
The aggregate wealth of the 50 richest
people in the Philippines reached $74.2 billion in 2014, up 12% from $65.8
billion in 2013.
Forbes said this year’s list reflected
two driving forces in the Philippine economy: construction and consumption.
Riding on these were former senator Manuel Villar of mall developer Starmalls
and DMCI Holdings’ David Consunji. Villar’s net worth reached $1.46 billion,
making him the 14th richest man in the country, while Consunji grabbed the 6th
spot, with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
New names made it to the list, among
them: Ricardo Po of Century Pacific group, Dean Lao of D&L Industries, the
Concepcion family of RFM Corporation, and pawnshop titan P.J. Lhuillier of
Cebuana Lhuillier.
The minimum amount required to be
included in the list was $170 million, up from $105 million in 2013.
See how the country’s richest grew –
or lost some of – their wealth (in million US dollars) in 2014, and how they
fared since 2006 at forbes.com/philippines-billionaires
Philippine economy picks up in second
quarter
The Philippine economy grew faster
than expected in the three months to June, figures have shown, expanding by
6.4% from a year earlier.
Most analysts had forecast growth for
the period to come in at 6.1%, and the figure was up on the growth of 5.6% seen
in the first quarter of the year.
Growth was boosted by consumer
spending and the manufacturing sector.
Overall, the data showed the nation's
economy growing up at its fastest pace in more than a year.
We just recently approved our
legislation that will now open up the banking sector completely to foreign
investment of up to 100%”, says Cesar Purisima, Philippine Finance Secretary.
\Weaker government spending in the
April-to-June quarter affected the country's important services sector, but an
expansion in exports - together with growth in the nation's agricultural sector
- contributed to the positive economic report.
"We are pleased with the
result," the country's finance secretary, Cesar Purisima, told the BBC,
"even if it is a little bit below our forecast range."
Mr Purisima said he believed the
nation's full-year growth target of between 6.5% and 7.5% was still in range.
The Philippines is a popular
investment destination but it has been criticised over issues including
government corruption and difficulties associated with doing business in the
country.
But Mr Purisima said recent structural
and financial reforms should pave the way for better business confidence and
greater foreign investment.
"We just recently approved our
legislation that will now open up the banking sector completely to foreign
investment of up to 100%," he explained.
The Philippines is one of the
fastest-growing economies in South East Asia together with Malaysia. (Source:
BBC News)
Indian weddings in
Philippines, anyone?
How about an exotic Indian wedding on
the fine white sand beaches in the Philippines with the ocean waves
lapping gently beside? The Philippines is planning to promote its beach resorts
as a wedding destination, complete with all arrangements, including visa
facilitation for guests, in order to boost tourism from India.
"We are keen to promote the
Philippines as a wedding destination, especially Cebu and Boracay. We are
putting together packages for Indian weddings, that would include hotels,
organising the event and facilitating visas for guests," Verna
Covar-Buensuceso, director market development of tourism department, told a
visiting group of Indian journalists here.
In order to promote wedding tourism,
the tourism department is working out packages and is in talks with interested
parties, he said.
The Philippines is also keen to
promote its pretty islands for Bollywood filmmakers to shoot their films in and
hold its glitzy awards functions, he said.
"We want to promote the
Philippines for shoots. We brought a lot of Bollywood producers here for talks.
We are at present in talks with some Indian film producers to hold shootings
here," said Verna.
On promoting the Southeast Asian
island country located in the western Pacific Ocean as a wedding destination,
the official said "we are sitting with a wedding planner for Indian
weddings".
Some Indians have held weddings in
Cebu, an island province in the Philippines comprising several islands. Boracay
is a small island in the Philippines located approximately 315 km south of
Manila.
He said they would provide visa
facilitation for around 500 guests from India for a wedding. Of the
52,000 Indians who visited the Philippines in 2013, just 17,000 of them were
tourists, he said.
The Philippines is deliberating on
providing visa on arrival to Indians, which, if agreed to, would help to boost
tourism.
One major hindrance to increasing
tourism flows between the two countries is the lack of direct flights.
Philippines Airlines discontinued its direct flight programme to India some
years ago after the route failed to prove economically viable.
Now, the Jet Airways and the
Philippines Airlines are in talks to revive direct flights between the two
countries, he said.
Among the countries which send the
largest number of tourists to this former Spanish colony and later American
colony are the US, which sends over 700,000 tourists a year, followed by China,
which sends 500,000 tourists a year. Europeans constitute 11 percent of the
total tourist arrivals, comprising 400,000, he said.
Manila is busy upgrading its
infrastructure in preparation for next year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) Summit. With frequent traffic jams proving a constant irritant to
motorists and tourists alike, the Philippine authorities are "speeding up
the traffic infrastructure", said the official. This would include skyways
on top of main roads and linking of highways and access roads to the airport,
he added. (Source: Business Standard/Photo courtesy of Asleylangford.net)
Breeze pays tribute to
hardworking hero moms with nationwide 1 Laba Day
Celebrating the heroes of the home,
Breeze treated more than 19,000 hardworking moms across the Philippines to a
day of rest, games and exciting surprises at the first-ever 1 Laba Day. The
leading detergent brand took care of their laundry chores, washing a total of
481,536 clothes, in a series of events held simultaneously in multiple
barangays in Metro Manila, Pangasinan, Batangas, Cebu, and Davao.
Celebrity moms and surprise guests,
including Sige Moms Christine Bersola-Babao, Gladys Reyes and Dimples Romana,
headlined the nationwide events. At Barangay Commonwealth in Quezon City, radio
DJ Laila Chikadora also kept the crowd entertained with her witty jokes and led
the fun bingo games where moms won bicycles, skateboards, inflatable swimming
pools and other toys for their children. These prizes were meant to encourage
moms to be Sige Moms who let their kids play and go on exciting
adventures.
While the moms enjoyed their day off
from doing the laundry, Breeze Laba Ladies and Laba Machines, sponsored by
campaign partners Electrolux, LG, Whirlpool and White Westinghouse, took care
of washing their clothes.
“We know how hardworking our mommies
are, spending as much as three to four hours a day doing the laundry. Today,
Breeze is taking care of washing their clothes so they can have some time for
themselves and to have fun, as our way of thanking them and recognizing their
admirable efforts,” said Mara Banson, Breeze brand manager.
“As part of the Circle of Sige Moms,
our job is to encourage mommies to allow their kids to be kids, even if it
means getting dirty or having stained clothes,” said Christine. “When we
say yes to playing and going on adventures, we say yes to our
children’s intellectual, emotional and physical growth.”
“My daughter Callie is very artsy and
likes working with her hands. We love baking and often, we’d be covered in
icing and food color of every hue,” said Sige Mom Dimples. “But I’m glad I
allowed her to do that, because it’s very fulfilling when you see your child
achieve great things because you allow them to do their own thing and pursue
their passions.”
“Being a mom is a 24/7 job,” added
Sige Mom Gladys. “But because we have a dependable partner in Breeze, doing the
laundry becomes easier and effortless. We can spend less time on washing
clothes and have more time for ourselves and our family.”
1 Laba guarantee
Boasting of a revolutionary
formulation, Breeze with ActivBleach empowers mommies everywhere to take on
their endless tasks, removing even the toughest of stains in just one wash.
Safe for both white and colored clothes, Breeze has a four-enzyme technology
that removes more types of stains and a patented whitening technology that
delivers visible whiteness in just one wash.
Breeze with ActivBleach is also the
first and only detergent brand with melamine perfume encapsulation technology
that blooms in wash and bursts in wear, making sure that clothes keep smelling
clean and fresh even when worn. It even has a unique active system for better
foam profile and quicker lather, plus percarbonate TAED bleach that takes out
bleachable stains without harming the environment.
From September 1 to 7, mommies
can also win a washing machine from Breeze in the Breeze 1Laba Challenge promo.
To join, participants simply need to like the official Breeze Facebook
page www.facebook.com/breezephilippines and look for the 1 Laba Day
status update. They should then leave a comment on the post, with a photo of
themselves doing the 1 Laba pose holding a Breeze pack and using the hashtag
#Breeze1Laba.
Take on millions of stains in just one
wash with Breeze with ActivBleach, available in three sizes at supermarkets and
groceries nationwide: 70g, 700g and 1450g packs. (Press Release)
