The peso rate closed at P55.20 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines. The weighted average rate stands at P55.064. Financial markets yesterday closed for a holiday.
Palace names tourism czar
Malacañang’s appointment of a tourism czar has indicated the government’s resolve to fully promote the development of the country’s tourism industry, the business community said. This developed as President Gloria Arroyo has appointed Alfred Yao, a top official of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce Inc., (FFCCCI), the country’s biggest and oldest Filipino-Chinese business organization, as special envoy for tourism. President Arroyo swore in yesterday FFCCCI Executive board member Alfred Yao as Ambassador for Tourism during the 30th celebration of Filipino-Chinese ties on June 9. FFCCCI President Francis Chua hailed Yao’s appointment as acknowledgement of the group’s commitment to the government’s tourism development goals. With Yao designated as one of the government’s tourism leaders, Chua said the FFCCCI would be able to coordinate more smoothly its tourism investment and promotion programs with the government. Yao, who is also the chairman of FFCCCI’s Trade and Industry, is the chairman of one of the country’s biggest juice and beverage firms, Zest-O Corp., and Philippine Business Bank.
Young coco exports still frozen
The country’s export of fresh coconut to Taiwan has remained suspended as the evaluation by the Taiwanese government of measures adopted by the Philippines to control coconut disease called "cadang-cadang" is still ongoing. "As I understand, our government is still in the process of completing the evaluation," said John C.T. Ko, commercial secretary of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines’ economic division. It can be recalled that in 2001, the Philippine government earlier has adopted sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures to control the spread of "cadang-cadang in recent years. Following this, the government was optimistic of gaining back its market access for fresh coconuts in Taiwan. The government expects to earn an average of $1.4 million annually with the resumption of its exports to Taiwan.
PNB to stay as LGU depository
Philippine National Bank will remain the depository bank of local government units or LGUs even after the Department of Finance through the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. sells its equity in the bank in August, officials said. PNB is still the country’s national bank, its president and CEO Omar Byron T. Mier said in a statement. "Whether or not the sale is consummated, we will continue to prime PNB as an even stronger bank that is always ready to serve its customers’ needs." Other than PNB, other government financial institutions that serve as LGUs’ banks are Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.
Alliance expands roaming
SINGAPORE (AP) — A consortium of eight mobile phone operators across Asia Monday began allowing their 64 million subscribers to surf the Internet and send multimedia messages when travelling in the region. Subscribers of phone companies under the Bridge Mobile Alliance can also seek help locally if they’ve lost their cellular phones in a country which is served by one of the member mobile operators. These roaming services were previously unavailable. Bridge Mobile Alliance comprises PT Telkomsel from Indonesia; Singapore Telecommunications Inc.; Taiwan Cellular Corp.; India’s Bharti Televenture Inc.; Optus Inc. of Australia; Globe Telecom Corp. of the Philippines; Malaysia’s Maxis Telecommunications Bhd. and Hong Kong CSL Ltd. State-linked SingTel owns Optus and holds key stakes in Bharti and Globe.
Metalworking survey slated
The Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) will conduct the 2005 Survey of the metalworking industry this month. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said the survey seeks to provide a profile and an assessment of the Philippine heat treatment sector which may be utilized as a guide for recommending, initiating or undertaking necessary research programs, policy reforms or operational upgrading to harmonize the thrusts and directions of the sector. It will cover 51 heat treatment facilities located in Metro Manila and Regions VI, VII and X. Using a 6-page questionnaire, the major data items are general information, employment, equipment, production statistics, production materials, market, forecast, trends, visions, problem areas, and training needs assessment. Expected outputs to be generated from the survey are number of shops by type of organization, type of ownership, size, business type, type of operation, membership to metalworking organization and type of heat treatment; number of administrative and production personnel; number of heat treatment equipment and year of purchase; number of shops with quality and waste water control methods; production statistics and cost of heat treatment operation; raw material consumption and supply sourcing; sector/industry served; prospect and business outlook; and problem areas. The final report is expected to be made available in April 2006.
