by anyajulia | Jul 2, 2009 | Foreign Exchange, Headlines
SAMTANG dili pa piho kon malakip ang Bohol sa laraw, gibutyga na nga ang Toyota Tsusho Corporation sa nasud sa Japan misaad ug pag-ugmad sa lima ka pagpatanum sa tubatuba sa tag 20 mil ektaryas ka dako.
Kini nga saad nakuha ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sa iyang pagbisita sa nasud sa Japan dili pa lamang dugay.
Ang gisaad sa Toyota magtanyag usab sa 300 mil ka toneladas nga biodiesel nga fuel sa matag tuig.
Gilantaw usan nga ang lakang magpasugod ug 12,000 ka mga trabaho ug mokita alang sa Pilipinas sa kapin kon kulang $200 milyones sa matag tuig. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Jun 30, 2009 | Foreign Exchange, Headlines
TAKING advantage of the opportunity while on official travel, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo nailed another hopeful chance for investments in the country, this time with Hongkong based Kuok group.
Kuok Group of Companies, owners of the Shangri-la hotel chains committed to expand their business in the Philippines, during a meeting with the president in Hongkong.
According to Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde, officals of Kuok group announced their plans in expanding their hotel and resort business, a big booster helping the tourism industry in Philippines.
Remonde also said that aside from their hotels and resorts, the Kuok group will also invest on the Philippine Palm oil industry. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Jun 26, 2009 | Foreign Exchange, Headlines
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva witnessed the signing of five bilateral agreements aimed at expanding the two countries’ cooperation in several fields, including energy and agricultural development.
One of the agreements was on Bioenergy Cooperation between the Department of Energy and the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Brazil, which was signed by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap. The agreement aims to facilitate technical cooperation in bioenergy, including the production and use of biofuels, particularly ethanol, and promote the expansion of bilateral trade and investment the biofuel.
The Agreement on Remunerated Employment of Dependents of Diplomats, Consular, Administrative and Technical Personnel were signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Romulo and his Brazilian counterpart. The agreement allows dependents of Filipino and Brazilian personnel in the two countries’ diplomatic and consular missions to engage in gainful employment in the host countries.
Also signed was the agreement between the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry that seeks to expand business linkages and promote cooperative activities between their members.
The two MOUs on agricultural cooperation between Brazil and the Philippines were the Cooperation on Agriculture between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply; and between the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC) and the Empresa Brasiliera de Pesquisa Agropecuaria or the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). (PIA-MMIO)
Click here for full article.
by anyajulia | Jun 26, 2009 | Foreign Exchange, Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
The Philippines can tap 1 billion dollars to 1.5 billion dollars in Samurai funds within the year to help finance its projected P50-billion increased 2009 budgetary deficit and other pump-priming projects to sustain modest economic growth.
Samurai funds are proceeds of yen bonds that can be issued by international organizations, foreign corporations and foreign governments with a shorter maturity period and usually with a fixed interest rate.
The Japanese government earlier announced the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will provide a guarantee of up to 500 billion yen to other Asian countries affected by the global crisis if they will issue yen-denominated Samurai bonds.
In a media interview at the Imperial Hotel here, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Margarito Teves said the possibility of floating Samurai bonds will likely be one of the topics President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will discuss with Japan’s Finance Ministry officials and private financial institutions during her June 17-20 working visit here.
Teves said the Philippines can issue Samurai bonds worth 1 billion dollars to 1.5 billion dollars depending on the terms and how much can be availed of from its Official Development Assistance (ODA) package.
“We raised our deficit from P177 billion to P199 billion then to P250 billion, so we need to look for other facilities that will help finance this additional deficit,” Teves explained.
He said the government has lowered this year’s economic growth projection to between 0.8 percent and 1.8 percent from the earlier target of 3.1 to 4.1 percent due to the impact of the global financial crisis.
Presently, Teves said the country’s overall deficit of about 3.2 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is still lower compared to the 4.3 average of other countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
Teves said floating bonds or tapping grants and various loan sources are normal alternatives in managing budgetary deficits particularly during times of global financial crisis.
“So the Samurai bonds can be available to emerging economies or developing countries which are suffering from the effects of the global financial crisis,” Teves said, adding that Japan currently has lots of liquid resources to spare.
Teves, however, said Samurai bonds are a little bit more expensive compared to traditional ODA loans that have longer maturity periods extending up to 30 years with a 10-year grace period.
As it is, Teves said, floating Samurai bonds is an option considering its availability at this time unlike ODAs that sometimes take a lot of time to secure aside from having certain tight conditionalities.
“However, if there are some other types of ODA packages that are relatively cheaper then we can tap them,” Teves said.
He said if reasonable terms and the necessary approval can be acquired, Samurai bonds can be floated between now and the end of the year (PIA Bohol)
by anyajulia | Jun 24, 2009 | Foreign Exchange, Headlines
TABANG pangkalambuan balor ug $500M gikan sa kagamhanan sa Japan ang nakuha sa nasud human sa upat ka adlaw nga pagbisita ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo di pa lamang dugay.
Sumpay ni Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, daghan pang kasabutan ang gilagdaan sa President tali sa pribadong sector sa Japan, sama sa Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
Nabuksan usab ni Mrs. Arroyo ang kahigayunan sa trabaho alang sa nurses, caregivers ug uban pang propesyonal ngadto sa Japan.
Gibutyag usab ni Remonde ang kasabutan sa Philippines ug sa Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) diin nalagdaan ang memorandum of understanding (MOU) sa pagpagawas sa mobalor sa bilyon nga ‘samurai’ bonds.
Ubos sa kasabutan, mogarantiya ang JBIC og $1B nga samurai bonds nga ikagasto sa Pilipinas aron gastohan ang budget deficit ug kalikayan ang epekto sa global crisis. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Jun 23, 2009 | Foreign Exchange, Headlines, National News
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed two Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan packages worth 456 million dollars that creates 53,000 new jobs during her visit to Japan on June 17-20.
In a media interview at the Imperial Hotel here, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Margarito Teves said the new soft loan packages would be sourced from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) as conduits.
Teves said the yen loan packages are the 148-million dollars (Y14.6 billion) Agricultural Credit Support Project (ACSP) to be executed by LandBank, and the 308-million dollars (Y30.38 billion) Logistics Infrastructure Development Project (LIDP) to be executed by DBP.
The two ODA loans to be implemented from 2009-2014 have a maturity of 30 years, inclusive of a 10-year grace period at 1.4 percent interest per annum.
DOF Undersecretary for International Finance Rosalia de Leon said that the said loan agreements were signed on June 18 between Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and his counterpart Japan Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone after the President’s bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso at the Kantei (Prime Minister’s Office) here.
De Leon said the Agricultural Credit Support Project (ACSP) would make available short, medium and long-term funds to address the credit needs of key agribusiness players.
In its first five years of implementation, ACSP is expected to benefit 43,000 farmers and fishers, 220 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and 30 large agribusinesses.
De Leon said ACSP would also help finance some 43,250 sub-projects and create about 53,230 new jobs.
On the other hand, the Logistics Infrastructure Development Project (LIDP) is an investment financing facility that can be accessed by private corporations, government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and local government units (LGUs) to finance infrastructure and support systems for the Strong Republic Nautical Highway, particularly access/toll roads, bulk grains highway, and cold chain highway.
Teves said the soft loan packages come from the multi-billion-dollar facility Japan has committed to help developing countries in Asia cope with the effects of the global financial crisis.
On top of the JICA loan, Teves added, the government will secure a 500-million dollars additional ODA from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help bridge the government’s budget deficit this year. (PIA Bohol)
