Malaysia: Chance to invest in the Philippines now! US$9.6 Billion 2013 Infra

Eduardo Malaya: 'What we need badly are airports in the remote areas and other tourism support fa cilities.'

Philippine Foreign reserves at US$76 Billion, US$6 Billon in foreign direct investments, a budget deficit of just 1%, Asia's second best performing stock market, 6.4% gross domestic product growth for the first three months of 2012, growing exports and the list goes on.

Philippines has even committed funds to the International Monetary Fund's facility to address the debt crisis in Europe.

Surprise, surprise!!! - this is the Philippines today. And the striking rise of the republic has certainly astounded the critics.

The tributes are certainly pouring in for the once net borrower nation of 98 million people, which is seeing growth accelerating to its highest levels since democracy was restored in 1986.

Morgan Stanley recently listed the Philippines as one of the "breakout nations", with Goldman Sachs proclaiming it among the "Next 11" countries.

HSBC forecast that the country would be the 16th biggest economy in 2050.

Unveiling the latest data on this country's vibrant progress and growth to StarBizWeek, Phillipine ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya says his country had broken free from the shackles of its difficult past.

"There are less young Filipinos looking for jobs overseas because of available good ones at home notably in the Business Process Outsourcing  (BPO),  Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) which currently threaten India's dominance, and related sectors.

"Our perseverance and hardwork has paid off. We are no longer South-East Asia's consistent underperformer," he declared in an interview.

Malaya, who was posted in Malaysia last September 2011, says the economic advancement of the Philippines presented the Malaysian private sector with great opportunities, disclosing that the Government had allocated a record ₱ 404.6 Billion pesos (US$9.6 billion) for infrastructure projects next year 2013.

"What we need badly are airports in the remote areas and other tourism support facilities. We also need to address the energy and electricity shortage issue which is severe in Mindanao," he says.

The envoy said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen's visit to Manila in February had yielded results, with her proposal for joint tourism packages between the two countries to be implemented soon.

"We are going to use our strengths to tap into the European and American markets. Kuala Lumpur has good air connections with Europe, while Manila is well-linked with Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco in the United States.

"So we are going to draw Europeans and Americans to our countries under joint tourism packages. A joint Kota Kinabalu-Boracay island tour package is to be introduced soon," he reveals.

He said AirAsia Philippines, which started this year, was doing very well in the domestic air sector, with AirAsia having daily flights between KL and Kota Kinabalu to Clark Airport in Pampanga.

"AirPhilExpress, a sister company of Philippine Airlines, also commenced flights three times a week to KL from June 21 from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to the LCCT in Sepang and back. We are trying to get it to service the route daily," he adds.

Malaya said Malaysian firms were already carving a reputation in the Philippines, citing AlloyMTD Group's rehabilitation of the South Luzon Expressway and its current involvement in building nine mini-hydroelectric dams in northern Luzon and a government offices complex in Laguna province.

Other notables were CIMB Bank buying into the Philippine Bank of Commerce with investments reaching RM1bil. Genting, after making profits from operating the Resorts World Manila hotel-casino across Manila's international airport, is investing in a second casino complex by the famed Manila Bay (the new "Entertainment City" which aims to rival Macau) to be completed in 2016.

"There has been substantial Malaysian business presence in the Philippines since the 90s with the likes of Maybank, Berjaya and other companies. We like to see more Malaysian companies take up the new opportunities that are being presented," he adds.

He says the Philippines-Malaysia Investment Partnership Forum held in KL on May 29 was significant as it was successful in drawing sizeable investments in the Philippines infrastructure and other sectors.

He says 300 participants, including CEOs of leading Malaysian and Philippine companies, attended the forum which featured presentations on investment climate and opportunities in the Philippines and business matching sessions.

The 35-member Philippine delegation was led by vice-president Jejomar C. Binay, who was the keynote speaker.

Malaya says Binay had a very successful visit, holding discussions with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

"We exchanged ideas on how to further enhance our economic and investment partnership. It is important that we interact frequently," adds Eduardo, who took pride in Najib's tweet after the meeting: "Fruitful discussions that will hopefully strengthen socio-economic ties."

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Philippine Central Bank curbs gains to decline Peso over Dollars for Exports & OFW

Strong Philippines Peso (₱) over US Dollars ($) will hurt Exports and OFW

As Philippine economy continue its upward trend and Philippines Peso (₱) keeps getting stronger against US Dollars ($), the highly affected industries would be the Philippine Exports and around 11 Million Overseas Filipino Workers.

Recently, Philippine exports hit the high records. Merchandise exports hit a 17-month high in May 2012, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Total earnings from exports soared by 19.7 percent or $4.93 billion in May 2012, higher than the $4.12 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Month-on-month, it increased by 6.4 percent from the $4.64 billion reported in April 2012.

Meanwhile, aggregate exports for the first five months of the year grew by 8.4 percent to $22.44 billion from the $20.71 billion registered in the same period last year.

The projected exports growth in the following quarter of 2012 might also curb in the if the Peso would remain strong compare to the US Dollars and the OFW remittance value would become lower that would affects the domestic spending of the OFW dependents.

The stronger Philippines Peso (₱) is an indicator of well performing Philippines Economy.

Bangko Central ng Pilipinas will curb gains

The Philippine peso completed its first weekly loss in three as the central bank took steps against speculative inflows amid a global slowdown. Bonds gained.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on July 7 that it has tightened rules on capital inflows by limiting where foreign funds can put their money and today cut the rate on one-month special deposit accounts to 4.15625 percent from 4.1875 percent. China said today its economy expanded 7.6 percent in the second quarter, the slowest pace in three years. The peso is still the biggest gainer among the 11 most active currencies in Asia this year, rising 4.4 percent.

"The peso has strengthened a bit too far already," said Tohru Nishihama, an economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. "In addition, China shows signs of slowing and external demand is weakening, which is also negative for the Philippines. The scope for further sharp appreciation for the peso from here is quite limited."

The peso dropped 0.4 percent this week to 41.98 per dollar in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon Plc. The currency reached 42.162 earlier, the weakest level since June 29. It gained 0.2 percent today. One-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, climbed 20 basis points, or 0.20 percentage point, to 6.40 percent and rose 50 basis points this week.

The monetary authority also lowered the one-week rate on its special deposit accounts to 4.03125 percent and the two-week rate to 4.09375 percent.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., the most accurate forecaster of the peso over the past six quarters, according to data compiled Bloomberg, expects a 1.5 percent decline to 42.6 per dollar by the end of December, saying the currency may have strengthened too much.

The yield on the government's 5.875 percent bonds due March 2032 declined five basis points to 5.74 percent this week, according to prices from Tradition Financial Services. The rate slumped nine basis points, or 0.09 percentage point, as of July 13, 2012.

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China navy patrol ship runs aground in shoal off Palawan Island Philippines

A Chinese naval frigate has run aground while patrolling disputed waters in the South China Sea, the defense ministry said Friday, amid tensions with the Philippines over territorial claims.

The ship was on "routine patrol" when it became stranded near Half Moon Shoal in the Spratly Islands on  July 11, 2012 Wednesday evening, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The shoal is off the Philippine island of Palawan.

No one was injured or killed in the accident and the navy was now organizing a rescue, the statement said, but gave no further details.

The Philippines said it was trying to confirm the reports and would offer assistance to any vessel in distress.

"We have to find out why that ship was there, why it ran aground, whether it was an accident or whatever," Defense Secretary Voltaire Gamin told reporters.

"If we have to offer assistance to help them get out of that place, we will assist them," he added.

The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday quoted Western diplomatic sources as saying the frigate, which has been discouraging fishing boats from the Philippines from entering the area, was "thoroughly stuck".

China says it has sovereign rights to all the South China Sea, believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits, including areas close to the coastlines of other countries and hundreds of kilometers (miles) from its own landmass.

But Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines also claim parts of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

The Spratlys are one of the biggest island chains in the area.

The rival claims have long made the South China Sea one of Asia's potential military flashpoints, and tensions have escalated over the past year.

The Philippines and Vietnam have complained China is becoming increasingly aggressive in its actions in the area, such as harassing fishermen, and also through bullying diplomatic tactics.

AFP

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