BusinessWeek Mindanao (December 2, 2013)

MINDANAO DAILY NEWS SECOND SECTION

Monday - December 2, 2013

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Briefly Infra projects COTABATO City – Nine new infrastructure projects worth P 3 6 2 . 8 m i l l o n a r e s e t fo r construction this month in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) of ficial announced Friday as he assured to finish the concreting of the entire 992-kilometer highway network in the region by next year.

A R M M G ove r n o r M u j i v Hataman signed here on Nov. 26 with the four construction firms that won the bidding for the nine projects which amounted P362.8 million, DPWH Regional Secretary Emil Sadain told the Bulletin.

Sadain said FFJJ Construction was awarded the concrete reblocking of segments of the Marbel-Ala-Cotabato and Cotabato-Lanao/Davao highways (P38.7 million); concreting of a portion of Paglas-Columbio (Maguindanao-Sultan Kudarat) r o a d ( P5 2 .1 m i l l i o n); a n d concreting of Maslabeng road in Buluan, Maguindanao (P58.2 million).

Two projects were awarded to the ESR Construction and Supplies, namely: The construction of road from Bato-Bato Port-AlBarka-Haili Ginata-Magkawa [Phase I] and port construction along Bato-Bato, both in Basilan, (P87.3 million), he said.

Livelihood confab THE beneficiaries of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) coming from the five provinces and six cities in Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga region) are set to converge here next week for the 2013 SLP Congress.

With their respective local government unit (LGU) officials, these big number of SLP beneficiaries will bring along with them their respective products from the different livelihood projects funded by the SLP of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-13).

The 2013 SLP Congress on December 9 at Butuan City’s hotel and convention center is initiated by the DSWD-13.

Butuan City officials led by Mayor Ferdinand M. Amante Jr., will also grace the big event.

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Page B1

Yolanda topples power lines

Kids start playing basketball again to lift their spirits

◘ Damage reaches P5 billion DA M AG E t o e l e c t r i c cooperatives operating in areas hardest hit by Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ reached almost

P5 billion, according to the Nationa l Electrif ication Administration (NEA).

In a repor t to t he

Department of Energy (DOE), NEA said Yolanda inflicted P4.92 billion in damage to topples/PAGE B6

By Roel Catoto, MindaNews

TACLOBAN City -- Amid the devastation of super typhoon “Yolanda” here, some youngsters are getting

Some coops prefer generators to IMEM

By CARMELITO Q. FRANCISCO Correspondent

S

E V E R A L electricity cooperatives in Mindanao prefer to buy or rent modular generator sets instead of receiving power from the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. through its Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM). coops/PAGE B6

PH economic managers keep growth targets

BOATING. Two men steer a river boat laden with sand along Tamugan River in Barangay Tamugan, Davao City. mindanews photo by toto lozano

back to their “normal lives” by playing basketball again.

You n g s u r v i vor s i n spirits/PAGE B6

Manufacturing upgrade key to Asean integration

By DANIELLE VENZ Contributor

THE Philippines needs to t ra nsfor m a nd upg rade the local manufacturing sector to take advantage of opportunities from a bigger market in the Asean Economic Community (AEC) come 2015 and to sustain high economic growth.

“One way to accelerate or make the roadmap (for industry) useful is to take advantage of the imminent establishment of the AEC,” Dr. Josef Yap, who served as president of Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said in a panel session during Philippine Economic Society’s meeting.

Yap said the comprehensive roadmap for the industry, which consolidated about 30 roadmaps from different sectors, address bot h upgrade/PAGE B7

Despite t he devastation caused by Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ a n d a 7. 2 m a g n i t u d e ea r t hqu a ke, Ph i l ippi ne economic managers kept their growth targets for this year and in 2014.

In a tex t message, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Baliscan s a i d t h e D e v e l o pm e nt and Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) maintained the 6-7 percent g ross domest ic product (GDP) growth goal for this year and the 6.5-7.5 percent for next year.

GDP is the amount of final goods and services produced in the country and as such measures economic performance. growth/PAGE B6

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B2 Mindanao Daily NEWS northmin . westmin . caraga . davao Your Mindanao-wide Community Newspaper

Editor : Cheng Ordoñez , e-mail- cheng.ordonez@gmail.com

Economy

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Gov’t to spend P40.9B to rehab hard-hit areas in Visayas Region MANILA -- President Benigno S. Aquino III and his Cabinet ironed out government programs aimed at immediately rehabilitating typhoon-affected areas in Eastern Visayas, a Palace official said on Saturday.

In a statement S a t u r d a y, P r e s i d e nt i a l Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the government priority

a rea s a re t he loc a l it ies within the 50-k ilometer zone f rom t he eye of Ty pho on Yol a nd a t h at struck Eastern Visayas and nearby regions.

Included in this firstp r i o r i t y z o n e a r e 171 m u n i c i p a l i t i e s i n 14 provinces and six regions, Coloma sa id over dzR B Radyo ng Bayan.

These municipa lities cover 4,971 barangays in an area of 25,000 square kilometers with an estimated total population 6 .6 m i l l ion a s of 2 010, he sa id . He added t hat the DOST is conducting c ont i nu i ng a n a ly si s of satellite images to guide on-ground assessment of actual needs.

The Cabinet discussion

also focused on providing liveli hood to fa mi lies affected by the ty phoon t hat need to be done immediately, he said.

Wit h i n t he pr ior it y areas, the major aspects of rehabi litat ion a nd reconstruction included housing and resettlement, reconstruction of economic and social infrastructure; restoring government and public services as well as focusing on agricu lture and fisheries.

The government thrust is also geared towards reenergizing local economic

development t hroug h livelihood and employment, he reported.

The government also a ssessed t he bud get a r y needs of the rehabilitation process, Coloma said. The President emphasized the importance of fine-tuning budget estimates to ensure that ever y peso is spent w isely, consider i ng t he magnitude of government expenditures not just for post-Yolanda rehabilitation and for other calamities (i nclud i ng Z a mboa nga , Bohol and Central Luzon, post-Santi).

Residents of Tacloban City availed of the cash-for-work program by cleaning and clearing their barangays of debris. Photo shows work being done along Real Street on Wednesday (November 27). Each individual is paid Php 500 a day.

(PNA photo by Ben Briones)

The Cabinet revised its initial estimate of P38.8 bi l l ion to P4 0.9 bi l l ion rehabi litation budget a f ter factoring in t he re qu i re me nt s for lo c a l gover n ment bu i ld i ngs and facilities, police and f ire stations, and public markets.

The sectoral allocations are as follows: shelter and public infrastructure (including roads, bridges, a i r por t, por t a nd ot her f a c i l it i e s), 6 7 p e rc e nt ; livelihood and employment (i n c l u d i n g s u p p o r t t o agriculture and fisheries) 12 percent; local facilities, 11 per cent; social services, including health services, education and training, 9 percent.

These budget estimates will be subjected to further fine-tuning through onground validation of initial rapid assessment findings.

The President emphasized t he need to ensu re t hat basic needs of food a nd shelter a re addressed adequately and in a timely manner, Coloma said.

T he President wa nt s forward-planning to focus on streng t hening t he capabilities of the people, institutions, and structures to deal with the challenge of disasters as a result of climate change, he added.

(PNA)

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B4 Mindanao Daily NEWS northmin . westmin . caraga . davao Your Mindanao-wide Community Newspaper

AggieNews

CONVERGENCE BRIEFING, PLANNING WORKSHOP WITH LGUS HELD. The four implementing agencies of the government – departments of Agriculture (DA), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Interior Local Government (DILG) of the Convergence Initiative (CI) Program have convened with representatives from the local government units (LGUs) to a Regional CI Briefing and Planning Workshop, here in Cagayan de Oro City. Engr. Roxana H. Hojas, Regional Technical Director for Operations of DA-10 (right photo) said that the meeting is primarily intended to brief the LGUs, being the partners in the implementation of the different agencies’ programs and projects; to update the LGUs on the commitments and accomplishments by and of the implementing agencies; and to assess the LGUs’ understanding of the Program.

She added that hopefully the assembly will be able to at-

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tain the Program’s foremost objective that is to implement a ‘seamless convergence’ for all interventions poured out at the local level. RTD Hojas further said she is expectant that there will be no duplication, but complementation in the delivery of services in order to maximize the resources being pooled from the prime movers of the said Program.

Since the year 2011, the Program has showered assistance to agro-enterprise clusters, namely: the Mt. Balatukan Range Cluster in Misamis Oriental and the Royale Cluster and Mt. Inayawan – Illana clusters in Lanao del Norte. The Program is carried out through the synergy of resources and expertise among government agencies, while placing the LGUs at the forefront in identifying interventions that are considered imperatives to be undertaken in their respective areas of responsibility. # (Joanne L. Olson, DA-10)

brand-new aircraft Cebu Pacific offers P8 seat PAL’s flying to Riyadh, Dammam sale to any destination THE operator of Cebu Pacific is offering an P8 seat sale to any of its domestic and international destinations.

In a statement, Gokong wei-owned Cebu Air Inc (CEB) said the seat sale will run from November 29-30 or until seats last, for travel from June 1 to December 11, 2014.

Passengers can book P8 seats to any Cebu Pacific domestic destination, which includes Boracay (Caticlan), Busuanga (Coron), Cagayan de Oro, Camiguin, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Manila, Puerto Princesa and Siargao. cebupac/PAGE B7

EDC recommissions Leyte plants LOPEZ-led Energ y Development Corp. (EDC) informed the stock exchange on Wednesday that it has partially recommissioned some of its power plants in Leyte, following the massive destruction Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) made on its power facilities.

EDC sa id t he Upper Mahiao and Leyte Optimization plants are

“currently on reliability runs and have successfully dispatched 57 megawatts (MW) into the grid.”

The company reported last week that the cooling towers of its 232-MW Malitbog, 112.5-MW Tongonan and 180 -M W Ma ha nagdong power plants were rendered inoperable due to significant damage sustained by the facilities. Also, part of the cooling systems of 130-

MW Upper Mahiao was also damaged. Likewise, the control systems of Tongonan, Mahanagdongand Upper Mahiao also underwent water damage.

E DC s a id it i s st i l l assessing the damages on t he sma l l opt i m i z at ion plants consisting of 15-MW Tongonan Topping Cycle and the 16-MW Malitbog B ot tom i n g C yc le . T he company’s steamfield lines

were also damaged but are still operable.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said EDC’s facilities will be fully restored in one year. “They said that some 120MW will be back on line by December 9. Thereafter, they will be able to restore [operations] in t ra nches u nt i l a l l is completed in a year.”

E D C a l s o d i s c lo s e d edc/PAGE B7

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) said on Saturday it will deploy brand-new Airbus A330-300 aircraft to non-stop flights to Riyadh and Dammam as it re-introduces regular services to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia starting Dec. 1.

The airline said the A330300 is described as most costefficient wide-body aircraft for medium-range routes. It will replace the older A330 models acquired from 1997 to 1998.

PAL said the new A330300 is especially designed for the cost-conscious Filipino market in the Middle East,

but without sacrificing the comfort level.

It ca n accom modate 414 passengers, configured into two classes –- Premium Economy, with 39 seats; and Economy, with 375 seats.

PAL ordered 20 units of A330-300 from Airbus, the first of which arrived last Sept. 26, 2013.

PAL will expand its flights to Riyadh beginning Dec. 1 via flight PR 654, while the flights to Dammam will start on Dec. 3 via flight PR 682.

Flights to Riyadh depart M a n i l a e v e r y S u n d ay, pal/PAGE B7

Semirara Mining starts expansion of Calacal coal plant SEMIRARA Mining Corp has begun the expansion of the Calaca coal plant in Batangas.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, S e m i r a r a M i n i n g s a id construction of another 30 0 -megawat t (M W) generating facility at the Calaca plant is on schedule.

The countr y’s largest coal miner earlier allocated roughly $500 million for the plant’s expansion. The project is the first phase of the 470-MW Calaca plant’s expansion undertaken by

subsidiary Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp.

The second phase of the project entailed the construction of another 300-megawatt generating capacity. Semirara Mining, however, said its board of directors has opted for a 700-MW generating capacity.

“The initial plan is to implement this in phases and the timing of implementation is now being deliberated by management including the type of equipment to be used,” the Consunji-owned company said.

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PHL domestic liquidity continues rise in Oct. EXPANSION of domestic liquidit y further posted an uptick in October 2013 to 32.5 percent year-onyea r f rom mont h-a go’s 31.3 percent partly due to banks’ withdrawal of their deposits in the central bank’s Special Deposit Account (SDA) facility.

Data released by t he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Friday showed that total money supply or “M3” sloshing in the domestic economy as of end-October 2013 reached P6.3 trillion.

Month-on-month, the grow th is steady at two percent, the central bank said.

The central bank has g iven ba n k s’ t r ust u nit until end-November 2013 to withdraw SDA deposits from

investment management accounts (IMA).

IMA funds are money from retail investors pooled t h roug h a ba n k ’s t r ust department.

The central bank’s policymaking Monetary Board (MB) has decided that by

end-July this year, IMA deposits should be reduced by 30 percent based on the end-March 2013 level and fully withdrawn by endNovember this year.

The SDA facility was established in November rise/PAGE B7

Industry, lauded Malaysian companies with international businesses during the book launch of From Zero to Hero on Tuesday.

The Malaysia External Tr a d e D e v e l o pm e nt Corporation has recognized ARSA for “creating waves in the global Islamic financial scene.”

Accord i ng to A rsa’s founder Abdul Raman, the company is expanding its global reach and is looking into potential markets in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Turkey and China.

“We went into these areas of services as there was untapped targets/PAGE B7

Malaysian financial institution targets Manila expansion KUALA Lumpur, Malaysia— Premier Islamic finance company, Abdul Raman Saad & Associates (Arsa), has bared plans to further expand its overseas portfolio and has targeted neighboring countries including the Philippines.

Dato’ Sr i Mu st apa Moha med , m i n ister of International Trade and

Money supply grows faster at the start of 4Q MONEY supply g row t h picked up pace at the start of the fourth quarter, as lending i nc re a s e d w h i le ba n k s reduced their investments in the Bangko Sentral ng Pi lipinas’ (BSP) specia l deposit accounts (SDAs).

In a statement, the BSP said domestic liquidity (M3) increased by 32.5 percent year-on-year to P6.3 trillion in October, faster than the 31.3 percent expansion in September.

“Money supply growth was driven largely by the susta i ned ex pa nsion i n domestic claims or credits to the domestic economy,”

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said.

Tetangco said the BSP’s directive to w ind down invest ments in its SDA facility -- requiring trust entities to reduce placements -- contributed to the growth. “ T he M 3 g row t h i s e x p e c te d to nor ma l i z e over the next few months after these adjustments are completed,” he said.

Domestic credits grew by 11.6 percent in October from 10.9 percent the month before due to increased claims on the private sector, in line with the sustained growth in bank lending.

Net claims on the national government rose by 0.05 percent in October.

Robust foreign exchange inflows, meanwhile, boosted the BSP’s net foreign assets by 10.5 percent in October.

T h is was suppor ted by inf lows of remit ta nces, business process outsourcing (BPO) receipts, and portfolio investments.

The net foreign assets of banks likewise increased mainly due to foreign loans and receivables while foreign liabilities declined due to placements and deposits of foreign banks with their local branches.

B6 Mindanao Daily NEWS

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Topples... from page B1

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34 electric cooperatives operating in 20 provinces.

Cooperatives in Leyte suffered the most damage, w it h t he D on O re s t e s Romua ldez Electric Cooperative Inc incurring a loss of P870 million. Other coops that sustained heavy damage and the estimates are as follows: - Ley te V Electric Cooperative Inc, P861.5 million; - Capiz Electric C o op er at ive I nc , P670 million; - Ley te II Electric Cooperative Inc, P660.9 million; and - L e y te I I I E le c t r ic Cooperative Inc, P464.98 million.

To assist in the utilities\’ repair works, NEA said it has made available P371 million in calamity loans to 17 cooperatives.

NEA and 34 cooperatives in Luzon and Mindanao have also deployed 226 engineers and linemen to assist the nine coops in Visayas in their power restoration efforts.

Nine task force teams were sent on November 12 to Capiz, Iloilo, Aklan, Leyte, Biliran and Eastern Samar.

Dispatched NEA engineers and technical staff conducted assessment in all areas affected by Yolanda and assisted in the clearing operation. Power restoration and rehabilitation is being supervised by NEA. NEA and the electric cooperatives aim to rebuild distribution lines simultaneously with the repair of the National Grid Corp of the Philippines’ (NGCP) transmission lines in order to fast track power restoration to consumers.

To date, power has been restored to all towns in the coverage areas of Maselco, Vresco, Boheco I and II, Cebeco II. Soleco, Leyeco IV, Samelco I, and Norsamelco.

Two towns in Bileco, 13 towns in Samelco II, and nine towns in Esamelco are ready to receive power when transmission is restored.

The NGCP earlier repor ted t hat power transmission lines have been restored in Panay Island and in Leyte. However, restoring

electricity at the town, or even barangay level, would depend on repairs being done by electric cooperatives.

The DOE is aiming to complete power restoration at the town level by December 24.

Spirits... from page B1

Barangay 69 Anibong who were playing three-on-three street basketball, apparently as their way to alleviate their burden, have caught my attention.

29basketball1web Youngsters play basketball amid the ruins in Barangay 69 Anibong in Tacloban City on November 25, 2013.

MindaNews photo by Roel Catoto At the sides, some men watched them play the game.

The k ids bui lt t he basketball ring from debris scattered in the village.

“A f ter se ei ng a ba l l floating near the seashore, we took it and we started building this basketball ring for us to have fun,” said a teener who gave his name only as “Junjun” He sa id some of his basketba ll buddies were either dead or missing after Yolanda devastated the city.

It was in their village that four ships were washed ashore, including big cargo cont a i ners , due to t he typhoon’s fury.

“Our house was among the hundreds that were shattered into pieces,” Junjun said.

For him, play ing basketba l l during spare time helps him forget the horrifying and painful event.

His playmate Joebert, 17, said playing basketball lifts their spirits.

Joebert said t y phoon Yola nd a wa s t he worst experience he and his family ever had. They held each other firmly after their house was swept by huge waves, and ran to a nearby hill for safety.

“This makeshift hoop i s t h e f i r s t c e nt e r o f entertainment to basketball fanatics and other typhoon survivors,” Joebert said.

“We designed this hoop for us to make some dunks and fancy moves like what you see NBA (Nat iona l Basketball Association) stars are doing,” Joebert said with a smile.

Thousands of lives were lost to the typhoon, which also left tens of thousands of people here to suffer from hunger, thirst and uncomfortable shelter.

“The day after the typhoon, it was an unimaginable scene unlike today. Back then, you can hear everyone was wailing. You can see lifeless bodies left and right, the destruction of properties far and wide, impassable roads and desperate people who battle to survive,” Joebert said.

At their home, Joebert helped his father fix their makeshift house and make things in order.

“I’ve been doing this for two weeks now, we don’t have classes anymore after

the typhoon,” he said.

“I wish I could read a book or comics that could entertain me. There’s no television or computer that we can enjoy now. I haven’t checked my social network accounts like Facebook and Tweeter,” he said.

“I miss the online games, too,” he quickly added.

Another playmate, Kent, said life is like a ball. “If you dribble the ball, it goes down and up.”

“We are down today but we are going to rise,” he said, citing the massive relief assistance that continues to pour from inside and outside the country.

Kent said boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao should serve as their inspiration.

Pacquiao had dedicated his recent f ight against Mexican-American brawler Brandon “Bambam” Rios, whom he defeated, to victims of “Yola nda .” Pacqu iao was set to visit Tacloban tomorrow (see related story).

“He dedicated his fight to us. We should do our share for us to win these tribulations,” Kent said.

In the downtown area, several gasoline stations have opened and there were no long lines unlike the previous week.

Sidewa lk and market vendors, a few hardware stores and some bakeshops have resumed business also.

In Barangay Manlurip, stalls started to sell again lechon or roasted pig.

S of t d r i n k d e l i ve r y trucks can also be seen now negotiating passable roads in the city.

The k ids play ing basketball were thankful to the people around the world who extended help to the residents here.

Coops... from page B1

Sergio C. Dagooc, Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives president, said at least five of the organization’s 33 members have signified plans to buy generator sets for something to rely on in case the baseline load providers reduce their output, or if a power generation facility breaks down. “[Buying generator sets] is now the direction for electric cooperatives,” said Mr. Dagooc, adding that three of the association’s members are also renting generator sets.

The electricity cooperatives get help from the National Electrification Administration (NEA) if they intend to buy generator sets as the agency will tap P4.5 billion of Malampaya funds in buying the sets.

E xecut ive Order 137 specifies that the money for the program will be taken from the Malampaya funds, as these are intended to “prov ide t he needed additional power supply to electricity end-users in Mindanao.”

Among t hose t hat announced their plan to

buy generator sets are the Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperat ive, Misa mis Or ienta l Ru ra l Elec t r ic Cooperative, Agusan del Norte Electric Cooperative, Davao del Norte Electric Cooperat ive a nd Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative.

Those who have opted to rent generator sets are the Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative 1, Zamboanga del Norte Cooperative and the Misamis Oriental Rural Electric Cooperative II. An electricity cooperative can obtain a loan through NEA, which will buy the generator sets, scheduled to be delivered starting early next year.

IMEM, which was scheduled to start commercial operations yesterday, is intended to cushion the impact of the continued lack of power in Mindanao.

The market was designed to tap establishments such as malls and commercial centers with their own generators and excess capacity that could be sold to the Mindanao grid.

Both electricity distributors and t he Mindanao Business Council h ave c l a i me d t h at t he approved offer cap of P36 per kiloWatt-hour is high.

However, regulators have said that the rate will be reduced as the power to be drawn from the market will be blended with the usual output of base-load power sources, like the hydroelectric power plants operated by state-run National Power Corp.

Based on data from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, Mindanao had a 51-megaWatt deficit on Tuesday with supply at 1,287 MW and demand of 1,338 MW.

Growth... from page B1

In the first three quarters of the year, the Philippine economy grew by 7.4 percent after third-quarter expansion came in at seven percent.

DBCC also maintained its exports and imports growth targets of 10 percent and 12 percent, respectively, for this year, but cut next year’s goals.

From the earlier estimate of 11 percent, next year’s exports target was nearly halved to six percent. For imports, the goal was reduced to five percent from the original 13.

“We took into account latest indicators [of demand] and changes in computing the BOP,”Balisacan said, referring to the balance of payments.

The BOP is the summary of a countr y’s economic transactions with the rest of the world, with a surplus i nd ic at i ng t hat foreig n exchange earnings outpaced expenditures.

The DBCC also maintained the two percent def icit-to-GDP rat io or P266.2 billion for 2014. This ratio is a measure of how long the government can sustain its budget deficit, which is the shortfall of revenues vis-a-vis expenditures.

Mindanao Daily B7 NEWS

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Upgrade... from page B1

hor i zonta l a nd ver t ica l constraints and coordination f a i lu re a f fe c t i n g lo c a l businesses.

“You have horizontal constraints -they (sectors) complain about power cost, inadequate infrastructure and smuggling. Smuggling almost always came out as a problem,” he noted.

To improve productivity, Yap said a cluster-based intervention is imperative to increase supply of skilled workers, encourage technology adoption and improve reg u lation a nd infrastructure.

He a l s o pu s he d for the implementation of legislations; strict enforcement of product quality standards; provision of access to raw materials, intermediate inputs and common service facilities and research and development (R&D) facilities to address coordination failure.

Yap said vertical problems are those which are peculiar to different industries like close supply chain gaps and expansion of domestic market and exports.

He underscored the need to implement a vertical program to at t r a c t i nve s t ment s through temporary fiscal incentives particularly to auto-shipbuilding and iron and steel sectors.

The dimension of coordination problems has been added, he said noting “because some sectors cannot progress without the progress in other sectors.”

Ya p s a id it i s t hu s impor tant to create t he proposed industry council t hat w i l l add ress t hese coordination mechanisms.

The council w ill be represented by the academe, industry and government.

He a lso underscored the need to implement a “specific product approach” rather than having blanket r e c o m m e n d a t i on s l i k e lowering of tariffs.

“It is more practical, polic y becomes more tractable if you go to this product specific approach.

So generally, that’s how we tackled this consolidation of the roadmaps,” he reasoned.

Moreover, Yap said the country can capitalize on the positive economic outlook to attract more foreign direct investments (FDIs).

“AEC is an opportunity to attract more FDI,” he said.

“AEC will generate regional public goods, especially in infrastructure.”

CebuPac... from page B4

The same P8 seat sale is available for any CEB international destination, w h ic h i nc lude s D uba i, Nagoya, Narita and Phuket, as well as popular destinations such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Osaka, Kota Kinabalu, Busan and Seoul.

The airline also announced that it will soon provide another direct route

from Bacolod to Mindanao, with plans to launch a thrice we e k l y B a c olo d-D av a o service on January 25, 2014.

T h is new route wa s introduced with a P1 seat sale, for travel from January 25 to May 31, 2014. While the P8 seats are available from June 1 to December 11, 2014.

After the seat sale, lowest year-round fares between Bacolod and Davao start at P1,288.

Cebu Pacific ‘s 47-strong f leet includes 10 Airbus A 319 s , 27 A 32 0 s , t wo A330s and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft. It is one of the most modern f leets in the world.

Between 2013 and 2021, C ebu Pac i f ic w i l l t a ke delivery of 15 more brandnew A320s, 30 A321neos, and four A330s.

PAL...

from page B4

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 8:15 a.m., arriving at King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, at 1:30 p.m.

(Saudi time) of the same day.

Flights to Dammam, on the other hand, leave Manila every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday at 1:35 p.m., arriving at King Fahd International Airport, Dammam, at 6:00 p.m. (Saudi time) of the same day.

The airline first flew to Riyadh on March 1, 1987.

W hen t he s er v ic e w a s suspended two years ago (March 2011), PAL used the B747-400 aircraft.

PAL flights to Dammam started on July 3, 1982, landing at Dhahran International Airport. The service moved to King Fahd International Airport in November 1999 until it was suspended in August 2001.

EDC...

from page B4 that its unit Unified Leyte Geothermal Energ y Inc. (ULGEI) will not accept the award of its winning bids in the recently concluded Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant auction.

ULGEI has w rit ten the Power Sector A s s e t s a n d L i a bi l i t i e s Management Corp. t hat “the physical and economic c on d it i on s u n d e r l y i n g the bidding process and t he i ndependent power producer administrators’ administration agreements have been d ra mat ica l ly altered by the severe and w idespread dest r uc t ion caused by the typhoon in the Eastern and Western Visayas regions.”

Rise...

from page B5

1998 as part of the central bank’s policy toolkit.

It has a fixed-term of oneweek, two-weeks and onemonth and a rate previously pegged against the central bank’s overnight borrowing or reverse repurchase (RRP) facility, which is now at 3.5 percent.

The BSP a llowed t he trust entities to park funds in the facility starting in 2007 for the central bank

northmin . westmin . caraga . davao Your Mindanao-wide Community Newspaper

to further manage liquidity in the system following the surge of dollar inf lows in the domestic economy.

However, the MB have put in place several adjustments in the SDA rules this year alone since this is being used as among the central bank’s policy toolkits.

Aside from defining who can tap the facility, the Board also reduced the interest rate of the SDA to record-low of two percent.

Moneta r y of f icia ls believe that although the IM A w it hd rawa l wou ld result to higher growth of domestic liquidity or M3 in the domestic economy this will only be temporary.

“The temporary period of strong M3 growth is not expected to contribute to inf lationary pressures, as latest baseline forecast show that average inf lation will continue to track the lower end of the inflation target in 2013, while the future inf lation patch for 201415 will also remain within the target range,” said BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. Aside from the SDA factor, other reasons for the rise of M3 in the 10th month this year include continued rise in credits to the domestic economy, which grew by 11.6 percent from month-ago’s 10.9 percent.

This was attributed partly to the sustained growth in bank lending last October, which expanded by 13.5 percent including placements in central bank’s overnight bor row i ng or reverse repurchase (RRP) facility and by 13.6 percent net of RRP placements.

Another factor is the higher borrowing of the national government, the central bank said.

Also, net foreign assets grew by 10.5 percent yearon-year last October from mont h-ago’s 7.7 percent on h ig her i n f lows of remittances, receipts from the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, and portfolio investments.

Banks’ NFA position also rose during the same time because of higher foreign loans and drop in foreign debt.

Tetangco said the central ba n k “w i l l cont i nue to monitor the potential impact of strong liquidity growth on the outlook for inflation as well as on financial asset prices.”

“The BSP stands ready to deploy appropriate measures as needed to ensure that liquidity conditions continue to be in line with the BSP’s objective of maintaining price and financial stability conducive to sustainable economic growth,” he added.

(PNA)

is a long-term commitment that demands a lot of time, effort and money. There are many issues which our management team needs to consider and they must be committed to the effort and understand the impact the venture may have on our operations,” he said.

The company is faced with the challenge of finding the right strategy in gaining international clients that includes forming alliances with the companies to cut on ma rket penet rat ion costs. He said the partner’s responsibilities and how the profits will be shared by them must also be defined clearly.

“There are also other factors to be taken into consideration which are important in formulating strategies such as the market, the culture and the law and regulations in the country that Arsa is penetrating,” he said, adding that “strong financial resources are needed to enter the international market.”

“The gestation period is obviously longer with higher financial risk for it takes time for the market to recognize the company’s services,” he added.

Arsa said Malaysia is an ideal location for Islamic finance ventures.

“Malaysia can claim to be the most dynamic country in the world for Islamic finance through the setting up of the Malaysia International Islamic Finance Centre [MIFC],” Arsa said.

Malaysian Trade Minister Mohamed a lso said the financial sector, particularly thrift banks, is ready to support the capital requirements of SMEs in the region.

“We have Malaysian banks in all Asian countries….We have banks in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, and Bangkok helping SMEs to expand in the overseas market.

They are supporting SMEs in those countries as well,” he told the BusinessMirror.

He added that the trade ties between Malaysia and the Philippines have been going on for so long and he still hopes that more and more people in the Philippines will visit Malaysia and Malaysia would, likewise, bring in more visitors to the Philippines and increase trade for both countries.

From January to September 2013, Malaysia’s total exports to the Philippines reached to $2.199 billion.

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from page B5

potential and also as part of my religious obligation as a Muslim,” Raman said.

A r s a ha s c l ient s i n Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Luxembourg.

“Entering foreign markets

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