three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee 2006, 2010, 2012
U.N. Media Award 2008
BusinessMirror
www.businessmirror.com.ph
A broader look at today’s business
n Sunday, June 21, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 255
Govt seen to bid out five regional airport deals piecemeal By Lorenz S. Marasigan
T
HE government is not keen on bidding all five of the regional airport contracts into one multibillion-peso deal, an official from the transport department said. Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Rene K. Limcaoco said the government is sticking with its terms for the auction for the the regional airports under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program. In saying this, the depart-
ment effectively denied the request of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) of bundling the two-package deal into one, as it will be more attractive to foreign investors. The Department of Transportation and Communications has also revised the
guidelines of the bidding, allowing a group to win the two bundles. It also allowed the winning groups to participate in the bidding for other airportdevelopment projects, such as the redevelopment of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) and the Clark International Airport. “Participants or winning bidders in the regional airports projects will not be disqualified from participating in the Naia and Clark airports projects on the ground of such participation in or winning in the regional airports projects,” Limcaoco said. There are six groups interested to vie for the two-package deal. They are San Miguel Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures See “Airport Deals,” A2
Study: Retailers must adapt to changes By Roderick L. Abad
T
HE global retail scene is forecast to be different in the next 10 years, and brands need to adapt to business changes and the digital ecosystem to survive the competition, according to a study. TNS and Kantar Retail conducted a research to better understand the buying habits, behavior and decision-making process of shoppers the world over.
Their work indicates that retailers and brands need to start preparing for massive technology, demography and urbanization-led disruption to know how shoppers purchase and the business of retailing. “The future of retailing and shopping is going to change in 2015. There are six areas in which retailers and manufacturers need to build competencies,” said Tara Prabhakar, managing director for Retail & Shopper at TNS and Kantar Retail Asia Pacific, while citing these to include gathering, connecting, delivering, paying, trading and helping.
PESO exchange rates n US 45.0170
In addition, she noted the three key elements of the business of retailing that must be considered: the “who,” or the people doing the shopping; the “how,” or the activities involved in reaching and connecting with them; and the “what,” or the actual transaction that takes place. “These elements will evolve dramatically in the future, so brands need to make sure they are on the front foot to avoid extinction,” she explained. To become more successful in the new retail environment, Kantar Retail has developed See “Retailers,” A2
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Economists: China killing U.S. factory jobs
week ahead
ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW n Previous week: The peso continued to depreciate on average for the week, putting a positive sentiment on the US dollar. The peso hit 45.2 to a dollar on Monday, to slightly strengthen on Tuesday at 45.14 to a dollar. The peso then reverted back to 45.18 to a dollar on Wednesday—moved by market sentiment over the then upcoming Federal Reserve meeting. The peso regained value and went back to trading in the 44 territory on Thursday at 44.95 to a dollar, but slumped back to 45.11 to a dollar at week’s close. The average value of the peso is at 45.116 to a dollar, weaker than the average in the previous week at 45.019 to a dollar. The total traded volume is also larger at $3.119 billion compared to the previous week’s $2.595 billion. n Week ahead: The local currency is expected to be affected by developments abroad next week. A trader told the BusinessMirror that the peso is bound to range at 45.3 to 44.85 to a dollar in the coming week.
June 25 Thursday
Monetary-policy stance
n Previous monetary-policy decision: In its third monetary-policy meeting, the Monetary Board decided to retain interest rates and the settings of its other monetary-policy tools for the fifth consecutive meeting this May. In particular, interest rates were unchanged at 4 percent for the overnight borrowing, or reverse repurchase facility, and 6 percent for the overnight lending, or repurchase facility. The rates on the Bangko Sentral’s reserve requirement ratios and special deposits account interest rate were also kept steady in May’s meeting. This move, which was widely anticipated by the markets, is amid the changing economic landscape both in
See “Outlook,” A8
W
ASHINGTON—A generation of economists trained to believe that trade had little to do with the long decline in high-paying US factory jobs is changing its mind.
Their findings are likely to fuel the opposition within President Barack Obama’s own Democratic Party to his proposed 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and similar pacts lowering barriers to international commerce. Because manufacturing employment as a share of the work force has been dropping for more than 40 years and the same trend has affected other developed nations, including Japan, with far less liberal trade policies than the US, many economists had concluded that automation was the primary culprit. But studies examining the effect of China’s entry to the World Trade Organization in late 2001 have made the case that between 1 million and more
than 2 million of the 5 million American factory jobs lost since 2000 are traceable to low-cost imports. “The ‘aha’ moment,” said Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist David Autor, “was when we traced through the industries in which China had surging exports to the local addresses of their US competitors and saw the powerful correspondence between where China had surged and where US manufacturing employment had collapsed.” Democrats earlier blocked fasttrack trade-negotiating authority for Obama, though House Republicans passed alternative legislation to try to revive it. Continued on A2
n japan 0.3662 n UK 71.5140 n HK 5.8070 n CHINA 7.2520 n singapore 33.7459 n australia 35.2853 n EU 51.1888 n SAUDI arabia 12.0049 Source: BSP (19 June 2015)