POLITICS

The Senate has passed on third and final reading a bill granting incentives to the companies that provide “green jobs”, jobs that contribute substantially to the preservation and conservation of the environmental and natural resources. Voting 16-0, the senators approved Senate Bill No. 3092 or the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016 that aims to clean the environment and improve the economy while decreasing the number of unemployed.

Two priority economic measures were ratified by the House of Representatives and the Senate, and are expected to be signed into law by President Aquino. Congressmen unanimously ratified the bicameral committee reports on the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and the Agricultural Smuggling Act. The bill seeks to enact an enabling domestic legislation to make the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines compliant with the Revised Kyoto Convention. The bicameral committee version of House Bill 6368 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act has also been ratified. HB 6368 seeks to declare large-scale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage.

BUSINESS

Investors are bullish on the country’s economic prospects over the next 5 years, according to a survey conducted by Standard Chartered Bank. Based on the survey conducted by the bank among 160 of its top financial institution and corporate clients, more than 80 % of the respondents expect the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow above 5 % over the next 5 years. More than 45 % of the total respondents see the economy expanding between 5 and 5.9 %, while 30 % of the respondents expect the economy growing between 6 and 6.9 %. About 9 % of the total respondents are more bullish and expect the country’s GDP growth exceeding 7 % between 2016 and 2020. However, 15 % of the respondents see the economy growing between 4 and 4.9 %, while 1 % expects the expansion falling below 4 %.

Newly appointed Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. has assured the public that processing time for starting a business will soon be reduced to just three steps within three days. According to Cristobal, this is a goal set by the National Competitiveness Council, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) supports the objective. DTI plans to accelerate the Philippine Business Registry by fully consolidating and processing all transactions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Pag-IBIG in one form and online.
ECONOMY

Nomura Securities Co. Ltd. sees the economic growth of the Philippines picking up to 6.5 % this year after slowing down last year due to weak global demand and lack of government spending. According to Euben Paracuelles, economist at Nomura, the presidential and national elections in May would boost the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth that slowed down to 5.8 % last year from 6.1 % in 2014. Aside from election-related spending boosting private consumption, it was pointed out that investments would pick up with the implementation of infrastructure projects under the public private partnership (PPP) scheme translating to higher foreign direct investments (FDIs).

UK-based investment bank Barclays lowered the inflation forecast for the Philippines as the continued slide in oil prices in the world market is seen to cushion the impact of the El Niño weather disturbance. In its emerging Asia focus entitled “Even lower oil, even more policy easing,” Barclays slashed the inflation forecast of the country to 2.2 % instead of 2.4 % this year. The country’s inflation eased to a 20-year low 1.4 % last year from 4.1 %.

INVESTMENTS

German company STIHL Group has announced the opening of a new production plant in Santo Tomas, Batangas. STIHL Group subsidiary Zama, a manufacturer of carburetors for small off-road engines, held the inauguration of its new production plant on January 20. The new production plant with total investment amounting to US $50 million, covers a total land area of almost 60,000 square meters and offers an estimated 22,000 square meters of production, warehouse and office floor space. The series of production is slated to start in April 2016. It is projected to produce about 2 million carburetors in 2016.

According to an executive from the Indian unit of international property consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the Philippines has the potential to become a global investment destination and the next big information technology hub by liberalizing foreign restrictions on property ownership. Stating that, the Philippines for its part, is a global leader in the call center segment, but has also started to shift to other higher valued services. The BPO industry is projected to breach $25 billion this 2016.

INFRASTRUCTURE

The government is looking into allowing more insurance companies to finance public-private partnerships (PPPs) amid efforts to ramp up investments in public infrastructure. According to Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc, infrastructure projects, including those under the PPP scheme, could provide insurance companies another investment opportunity and better returns, and allowing insurance companies to invest in PPPs, in turn, would help the government bridge the infrastructure financing gap needed to support the economy’s expansion.

Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) operator Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) will start its 29-kilometer track re-railing project this April as part of the ongoing rehabilitation of the 32-year old train line. The re-railing, covering the northbound route from Baclaran to 5th Avenue, will complete the overall renewal of LRT-1’s tracks system.

ENVIRONMENT

Groups that gathered 10 million signatures against mining last year have formed a coalition to push for environment issues that candidates should address in this year’s elections. Composed of local and international NGOs, religious groups and various civil society organizations, the group has eight key issues that they say presidential candidates should focus on. Among there are biodiversity and ecosystem, natural resource and land use management, climate change, mining, energy, and food security. The coalition will have a series of provincial forums to inform voters about these environment issues.

AGRICULTURE

The Philippines is set to pioneer hybrid rice farming in Malaysia in April as the country’s ASEAN neighbour seeks to raise self-sufficiency in rice production amid its limited rice area. Local hybrid rice and seeds producer SL Agritech Corp. will ship out a minimum of 100 kilos of seeds for an initial pilot testing where quarantine processes are already being arranged. The pilot testing will be spearheaded by a private Malaysian company, Titijaya Land Berhad (TLB), in partnership with the Malaysian government through agricultural state research agency Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI).

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has called for continued government support to strengthen the competitiveness of the farm sector. Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano, lauded the government for increased support in terms of agricultural research and development, however noting that there is more to be done especially on the regulatory front to protect Filipino farmers through better education and compliance with standards.

TOURISM

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has approved the P5 billion tourism enterprise project of Manila Jockey Club Investments Corp. (MJCI) to develop its property in San Lazaro, Manila into an integrated tourism facility. According to PEZA Director-General Lilia De Lima, the San Lazaro Business and Tourism Park of MJCI was among the big ticket Filipino-owned investments approved by the PEZA Board in 2015. The tourism enterprise will support the IT Park zone within the facility. As a tourism enterprise, MJCI will build hotels and restaurants and other tourist facilities that will support the development of the Lazaro Business and Tourism Park in Sta. Cruz Manila.