Philippine led ASEAN with 74% Investor's confidence -Frontrunner Foreign Investments

The Philippines seen as ASEAN economic frontrunner by Standard Chartered bank. (Credit: Standard Chartered Bank)

With the improvement of economies affected by the global recession in recent years, world renowned debt watcher Standard & Poor's (S&P's) and British banking giant Standard Chartered Bank recently said in separate reports that the Philippine economy is seen to continue on its upward trend and become the standout economy in Southeast Asia in 2013.

The Asia-Pacific region, which has endured half a decade of economic challenge, is expected to make progress in 2013. External factors affecting the region's economy with the European recession easing. The United States of America is also expected to grow faster. China has avoided an economic slowdown.

According to S&P's, Philippine growth is expected to reach 5.9 percent this year as the recession in Europe and America eases. More investments in tourism and the business process outsourcing industries have spurred economic growth to become more broad-based. These, combined with increased fiscal space, are putting the Philippine economy on a higher growth trajectory. The country holds a BB+ credit rating with S&P, a notch investment grade. It also obtained a positive outlook in 2012, indicating that an upgrade could be announced over the next 12 to 18 months.

According to the Standard Chartered Bank, a recent survey of more than 900 investors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) saw the Philippines emerge as the frontrunner in the region. The survey showed that 74 percent of investor-respondents in Manila expect to see better business prospects in 2013 compared to the year before, dwarfing scores in Jakarta (46%), Bangkok (44%), Singapore (44%), and Kuala Lumpur (41%).

We congratulate the government of the Republic of the Philippines headed by H.E. President Benigno S. Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, in their unrelenting efforts in boosting the Philippines' economic growth.

Further Positive Outlook for Foreign Investments

Ellspermann's sentiments are ones that are shared by an overwhelming number of foreign businesses.

The projections of Standard Chartered Bank for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), drawing from a sample of over 900 investors, indicate the Philippines is in the lead for areas of development—edging out even Singapore and Malaysia, a fact illustrated in the adjacent chart:

"The Philippines was the standout country in terms of the strength of on-the-ground sentiment," Standard Chartered noted. "We expect the Philippines to see stronger investment growth this year, sustaining the strong momentum from 2012."

"The case for investment grade is supported by a number of factors, including a resilient economy, a current account surplus, stable fiscal policy, and the narrowing of the budget deficit," the bank explains, solidifying its outlook.

The study also cited improvements in infrastructure, the peace process with the rebellious Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the increasingly strong peso, and the progressing decreases in the national deficit (aided by the new "Sin Tax") as additional reasons for their report.

"We are optimistic that the Philippines will outperform the region and enjoy another year of strong growth momentum in 2013," Standard Chartered said, adding that they expected that the Philippines will reach investment grade by the end of fiscal year 2014.

Furthermore, the continued strengthening of the stock market has increased confidence in companies seeking to invest in the Philippines. The expansion of BPO offices is ongoing as well, despite the waning of this type of business in other nations in Asia. For the Philippines, the indications are clear.

The international economy continues to recover from far-ranging economic crises, and more and more businesses are veering away from established practices and looking towards a sustainable future.

As an investor favorite, the Philippines is at the forefront of development, ready to lead a region on the cusp of becoming a global economic giant.

With reports from Tempo and the Washington Times

Continue reading

Philippine Gov't DOST developing Filipino 'road train' - September 2013

loQal - The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) announced it will develop a monorail train system that will run on electricity. A 500-meter track will be built at the UP Diliman campus to test this monorail system. (Computer-generated design courtesy of DoST)

Philippines --- A "Road Train" that can transport more commuters than the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) is being developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), with a prototype expected in September, 2013.

The DOST conceived of the Road Train as it continued to test the Automated Guideway System (AGT) on an elevated rail line at the campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City.

Another train in an elevated track is also being pushed by the DOST, starting in front of the DOST head office all the way to Laguna.

Without giving much details, DOST Secretary Mario Montejo revealed the plans for the Road Train at the opening day on Friday of the "Innovation Congress" or ICON at Bonifacio Global City.

DOST and Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID), headed by president Fe Agudo, co-organized ICON until April 7.

Montejo said it is the task of the DOST to leverage science and technology (S&T) to create new and better products, processes, services, and systems" to improve the lives of Filipinos.

Montejo said the planned Road Train will have a dedicated track, but can also travel using vehicles' ordinary wheels in Metro Manila roads.

It will have an average speed of 30 kilometers per hour, and trains coming after each other at every 1.5 minutes, he said.

"There will be four couches in every Road Train, each couch capable of having 120 passengers for a total of 480 people," said Montejo.

"While MRT accommodates about 500,000 passengers a day, the Road Train will have some 652,800 commuters and run 17 hours a day," he said.

Filipinos are behind the making of the Road Train, he added.

He said innovation without action is empty and not capable of addressing the countless challenges that Filipinos face.

Yahoo News!

Continue reading

PF: All Oil and Gas in Paracels and Spratlys West Philippine Sea are LIES

All those oil and gas deposits everyone wants in the South China Sea may not even be there

As it stands, six countries claim conflicting territorial rights in the long-simmering South China Sea dispute. As anyone will tell you, one of the main drivers of this conflict is the "sizable deposits of oil and gas" believed to reside in the area. But what if that's actually a lie? A new report by the U.S. Energy and Information Administration finds that the contested areas of the South China Sea do not have large conventional oil and natural gas resources:

"The Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands are two of the most contested areas (see dark blue islands on map above). However, unlike other parts of the South China Sea, these areas have not been assessed to hold large (conventional) resources of oil and natural gas....

EIA's analysis shows that most fields containing discovered oil and natural gas are clustered in uncontested parts of the South China Sea, close to shorelines of the coastal countries, and not near the contested islands. Industry sources suggest almost no oil and less than 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas in proved and probable reserves exist in fields near the Spratly Islands. The Paracel Island territory has even less natural gas and no oil".

Below is an EIA map of proved and probable oil and gas reserves in the area:

So maybe going to war over the disputed islands isn't such a great idea? Worth considering.

Foreign Policy

Continue reading