Aboitiz says PPP to reduce risks, drive nuke energy development

By Alena Mae S. Flores

THE Aboitiz Group on Friday said private-public partnerships will reduce risks and drive the growth of of new technologies including nuclear energy in the country.

“We understand that the adoption of advanced technologies like SMRs [small modular reactors] is not without its challenges...This is where the importance of private-public partnerships comes into play,” Aboitiz Group chief executive Sabin Aboitiz said during the APEC Business Advisory Council forum.

“Private sector innovation and capital, coupled with public sector regulatory support and risk management, can drive the growth of nuclear energy,” Aboitiz said.

He said governments can create enabling policies such as regulatory streamlining, transition financing, loan guarantees, and market-based incentives that promote nuclear energy and SMRs.

Aboitiz said businesses can provide technical expertise and ensure project delivery on time and on budget.

“In our path towards sustainability, nuclear energy, particularly through small modular reactors, offers a compelling path forward. SMRs are more flexible, less capital intensive, and can be deployed in a wider range of locations than traditional nuclear power plants. They can be crucial components of a balanced, zero-carbon energy port- folio,” he said.

The company has already started talks with three companies for the possibility of putting up SMR in the Philippines.

“The role of nuclear energy will be pivotal in this journey. It calls for shared learning, private-public partnerships, and an imaginative exploration of new technologies and what they can do,” the executive said.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the Department of Energy aims to complete the nuclear roadmap this year.

“For nuclear, the deliverables of all the efforts shall form part of the finalization of our road map for completion this year,” Lotilla said in the same forum.

He said DOE is committed to work towards a sustainable future through a technology approach, which involves diversification of energy sources to include nuclear power.

“We remain steadfast in taking in calculated and scientific approach, and tapping nuclear energy is a long-term fuel option for power generation, given its technical and economic viability. In developing nuclear power for application, we continue to implement plans and programs to satisfy the competency requirements based on the milestone approach of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the energy chief said.

Meanwhile, Aboitiz said co-firing coal with hydrogen or ammonia can reduce carbon emissions, and in the long term could even replace coal.

RLC president and chief executive officer Frederick Go

RLC said its active participation in the debt capital markets is an integral component of the group’s strategy to diversify its funding sources.

The bond issuance received the highest credit rating of PRS Aaa, with a stable outlook, from the Philippine Rating Services Corp.

The PRS Aaa rating indicates the company’s stability, healthy balance sheet and strong capacity to meet its financial commitments.

The P15 billion billion fixed rate bonds constitutes the second and final tranche of the company’s P30 billion shelf-registered debt securities program approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022.

FAST food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. expects growth rates to narrow down starting in the second quarter of 2023 versus the previous quarters due to the high-base effect. Jollibee chief finance officer Richard Chong Woo Shin said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting that while the company expects the strong momentum posted in the first quarter to continue, the growth rates versus 2022 level will decelerate due to record high base. Shin said revenues growth for 2023 will still be driven by the continued recovery of its Philippine business and the accelerating growth of its international businesses.

“We are confident that JFC group is resilient and well positioned to drive near term growth despite macroeconomic challenges. We have clear priorities on profitability while we continue to invest strategically for long term growth and value for shareholders,” Shin said. JFC earlier projected full year system-wide sales to go up by 15 percent to 20 percent, with same store sales growth of 7 percent to 10 percent. Store network is also expected to increase by not less than 5 percent while operating income growth will be in the range of 20 percent to 25 percent. Jenniffer B. Austria

DTI interested to put up pilot coco peats factory

THE Philippine government, through a trade delegation to Europe led by Department of Trade and Industry secretary Alfredo Pascual, expressed keen interest to set up a pilot factory for coco peats, following a visit to the research & development center of the Van Der Knaap in the Netherlands.

“The Philippines is strategically located and our natural geographic resources are among the competitive advantages we can offer, particularly to investments in the agricultural area. Agriculture remains one of the key priorities of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. as we aim to modernize and innovate agricultural processes in the country,” said Trade secretary Alfredo Pascual.

Van der Knaap Group is a 40-year family owned business supplying substrates and growing media for the worldwide professional horticulture. The company is widely known in processing cocopeat, a substrate raw material that is made from the husk of the coconut.

Pascual said that aside from the huge domestic market of the Philippines, its market also extends to more than 600 million people through the country’s free trade agreements.

The FTA with the European Free Trade Association member states of Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein provides the Philippines duty-free market access to all industrial and fisheries products to the member states. Pascual offered the possibility of a partnership between Van der Knaap and the Philippine Coconut Authority, citing the Coconut Farmers’ Industry Roadmap 2021 to 2040 which identifies seven strategies to achieve the goal of creating a globally competitive coconut industry. Othel V. Campos

GENDER EQUALITY.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures was recognized by the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment for promoting gender equality at the workplace.

(From left): AEV assistant vice president for sustainability Mirabel Perez, LIMA Land human resource officer Myzel Plata, Aboitiz InfraCapital reputation management head Arline Adeva, PBCWE program manager Amor Curaming, AEV sustainability manager Yhol Colegado, AEV learning and development officer Crisia Llante, AEV talent optimization and engagement officer Mabelle Santos, Aboitiz Power reputation governance and optimization sustainability specialist Geena Bania, AboitizPower corporate affairs sustainability Specialist Carleen Olap and AboitizPower governance manager of HR total rewards, systems, and analytics Maharany Carin.

THE Board of Investments said Friday it approved Optum Global Solutions (Philippines) Inc.’s new project in Davao City that would generate 1,500 jobs for Filipinos. It said the investment was a result of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s productive visit to Washington in May this year.

“The government’s aggressive investment promotion strategy has been steadily attracting global industry players. Optum Global Solutions, a big player in the US, has once again chosen the Philippines to expand their enterprise. This development aligns with our mission to generate high-quality job opportunities for Filipinos through strategic investments.” Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said in a statement.

Optum Philippines will open a new site at The Uprise Building-C in Davao City to provide information technology, call center and back-office operations services, primarily targeting the export market, particularly Optum Technology, a US subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group Inc. Its IT-enabled services include coding, testing, maintenance, help desk troubleshooting (hardware and software), transaction processing, clinical processes, analytics and others. Its call center operation will handle health plan enrollment, benefits and insurance claim status queries.

Rodolfo underscore the transformative nature of the healthcare information management services sector in the Philippines.

“This sector’s evolution enables us to expand our capabilities, supporting the entire healthcare journey of patients with complex, digitalized end-to-end customer experience services,” he said.

“This underscores the Philippines’ competence in providing the necessary infrastructure and talents to fulfill Optum Global Solutions’ objectives effectively,” he said. Othel V. Campos and Roderick T. dela Cruz