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PH diversifies trade, industry cooperation with Turkey and Hungary
Following President Duterte’s vision to diversify and strengthen the country’s trade and investment relationship with other countries, the Philippines (PH) has revived the Joint Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation with Turkey, followed by a series of fora with ministerial and business chambers in Hungary. The Trade & Investment Mission will be led by DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, from February 5 to 9, 2018, which aims to promote as well the exports of more Philippine products to both markets and attract Turkish and Hungarian investors to do business and establish their operations in the country. Co-organized by the Board of Investments (BOI) through the International Investments Promotion Service, Philippine Trade & Investment Centers (PTICs) in Paris and Berlin (with jurisdiction on Turkey and Hungary, respectively), and the Philippine Embassies in Ankara and Budapest, the Mission is in conjunction with the inaugural Philippine-Turkey Joint Committee for Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation (PH-TR JCTEC) on February 6, 2018 in Ankara, Turkey. The Framework Cooperation agreement with Turkey was signed in 1999, but the talks have not advanced. “The Philippines’ engagement with Turkey and Hungary is in line with the current Administration’s strategy of rebalancing investment and trade relations with non-traditional partners through the pursuit of an independent foreign policy. With the country’s solid economic fundamentals built on the upbeat confidence of investors on the Duterte administration’s reforms and programs to create sustainable growth, we are positive of getting more investments from our foreign economic partner countries such as Turkey and Hungary as we continue to promote the country as a prime investment destination,” said Sec. Lopez. The Trade Secretary is joined by a 6-member delegation... read moreSouth Korea Delegation keen on strengthening ties with the Philippines
Makati City, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines – Philippine Overseas Construction Board (CIAP-POCB), and the Board of Investments, with the Commercial Section of the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, Korea received a delegation of twelve (12) Korean companies on 29 to 30 January 2018. The Business Forum held on 30 January 2018 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza gathered over a hundred distinguished government representatives and movers in the construction, infrastructure, and energy industries, led by DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Ease of Doing Business Rowel S. Barba, Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul Hernandez, ASEAN-Korea Center Secretary General Ambassador Young-sun Kim, and Republic of Korea Ambassador to the Philippines Dong Han Man. Presenting opportunities in the Philippines were Board of Investments Director Angelica Cayas on Investments and Build Build Build Committee Chairman Anna Mae Lamentillo and PPP Director Frances Yani Domingo on the Philippine Government’s infrastructure projects. International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK) Deputy General Tae-wan Kim and counterpart Philippine Overseas Construction Board Member Mr. Michael Robert Reyes were also in attendance. CIAP, though the POCB, endeavors to cultivate strategic ties with South Korea with the end in view of developing the construction industry of both nations. One-on-One Business Meetings between Korean and Filipino companies followed the forum to discuss areas of collaboration on infrastructure, energy, and construction, both in the Philippines and in Korea. Over dinner of Pampango cuisine, the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), one of five implementing boards of the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines, discussed the licensing and accreditation process for... read more
Three days to go before Go Lokal!’s Buyers’ Day
Are your eyes all set for cool, modern and 100% Filipino creations? Join us at a Buyers’ Day on March 08, 2018 at 1:30 pm at the Golokal!ConceptStore@DTI and check out the newest collections for the...GOAB4 Int’l tech &startup conference set in Panglao in August 2016
The “Geeks on a Beach” (GOAB) international tech and startup conference, which has greatly contributed in empowering Philippine startups, will return for the fourth year in the scenic island of Panglao in Bohol this August 25-26, 2016. This was announced by TechTalks.ph and the new Department of Information and Communications Technology (formerly DOST-ICTO) which co-organizes the event since 2013 as well as the MVP companies — PLDT SME Nation, Ideaspace, SmartDevNet, PLDT Innolab, Smart Communications — which are co-presenting the event this year. The 4th GOAB, a unique confab featuring the cutting-edge of the tech world in a laid-back atmosphere, is the first startup event to be held right after President Benigno S. Aquino III signed the bill creating the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) last month. “Even better days are coming. The Philippine startup community is one of the sectors that have lobbied for the creation of the DICT. We hope DICT will continue to work together with various public-private stakeholders to empower startup communities to drive faster economic growth,” said Mon Ibrahim,Deputy Executive Director. With the theme “Empowering startups, leading change”, GOAB4 will once more highlight communities of startups or innovation-driven enterprises based on software or apps, which have seen remarkable growth in the Philippines in the last few years. “We are looking at startups taking the lead in strategically leveraging opportunities offered by a bigger regional market of ten countries with some 617 million people and a combined GDP of US $2.1 trillion opened up by the Asean integration,” added Ibrahim. He said GOAB can be a platform in putting Philippine startups at the...Local News/ Bohol Balita
“APRIL FOOLISHY”
Finally, authorities from the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) are implementing the “no-plate-no-travel” policy across the country starting April 1. The policy is pitifully belated, some PR hungry wise guys already jumped the gun when this was reported for implementation last year. Now, if this is supposed to be a cure to the country’s traffic maladies, it is also supposed to traffic something into somewhere. After all those years, we delight at the pronouncement. Delight is exactly the term. No, it is not because it should lessen accidents as the move clearly intends to wipe out illegal and unregistered cars off the roads. This should significantly enhance the flow of traffic because the big boys who do not mind dis-obeying rules if only to show how they rule the streets, are now to be flagged down, fined and their big toys face impounding. We delight because this would be perfect chance for the government to finally cash in on the new standardized car plates, which would soon be sported in all vehicles. Good it it’s the government. Without the use of technology or massive manpower augmentation in the streets, imagine how the LTO could handle that? Now this itself, again presents another equally enriching opportunity for wise guys in uniform who make the streets their ATM dispensers. Talk of mulcting traffic lieutenants, or hulidaps and goons on the streets, talk of fixers at LTO clearly fixing themselves, among other things. What the DOTC is doing is classic “bringing out the big guns and hoping that everyone would just lie there and die there.” From the start, this has...4.7 magnitude nga linog, mitay-og sa Bohol
BOHOL, Mar. 30 (PIA)–Gitay-og og magnitude 4.7 nga linog ang lalawigan sa Bohol karong Lunes sa buntag. Natala sa Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) ang sentro sa linog sa walo ka kilometro sa habagatang sidlakan sa Buenavista, Bohol sa alas 9:47 sa buntag. May gilawmon nga tulo ka kilometro ang linog nga tectonic ang gigikanan. Nabati ang Intensity 5 sa lungsod sa San Miguel, samtang Intensity 4 usab sa Lapu-Lapu City sa Cebu ug sa Buenavista. Intensity 3 usab ang nabati sa syudad sa Tagbilaran sa Bohol, Iloilo City, Bogo City sa Cebu, ug Bacolod City, samtang Intensity 1 sa President Roxas, Capiz. Wala hinuo`y nataho nga naangol sa maong linog, samtang wala usab gipaabot nga aftershocks ang Phivolcs....Tagbilaran City, nanghawod sa collection efficiency
TAGBILARAN CITY, Mar. 30 (PIA)–Sa 16 ka syudad sa Rehiyon 7, ikaduha ang syudad sa Tagbilaran sa collection efficiency nga may 112.59% rating nga nanghawod sa mga highly urbanized cities sama sa Cebu City, Lapu-lapu City ug Mandaue City. Ang collection efficiency gi-base sa tinuig nga target nga gisaka sa usa ka local government unit gikan sa lokal income sources sama sa Business Tax, Fees and Charges ug Economic Enterprise. Ang koleksiyon gikan sa Economic Enterprise nakatala og 125.67% efficiency rating nga may aktuwal koleksiyon nga P40,791,605.00 batok sa tinuig nga target nga P32,460,515.00 nga maoy hinungdan nga nakuha sa syudad ang No. 1 rank sa tibuok Rehiyon 7. Sa kinatibuk-ang ranking diin gi-kumbinar ang total collections sa Economic Enterprise, Fees ug Charges ug Business Taxes, misobra ang syudad sa Tagbilaran sa tinuig nga target niini nga P185,335.922.00 alang sa 2014, nga may actual collection nga P208,666,070.00, milabaw sa 2014 annual target ug nakatala og collection efficiency rating nga 112.59% nga nagbutang sa syudad sa Tagbilaran sa ikaduhang puwesto sa 16 ka syudad sa Rehiyon 7....GUV IN JOINT DIALOGUE FOR GAA 2016 NEXT WEEK Endorses 7 Projects for Bohol
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (RDC) Chair for Central Visayas Gov. Edgar M. Chatto will be in Manila next week to attend the joint RDC dialogues for the whole Visayas Region. All RDC Chairs for regions 6, 7 and 8 will then be joining line agency representatives and cabinet secretaries during deliberations of the Proposed Programs, Activities and Projects (PAPs) for 2016 which they would want to favorably endorse for the General Appropriations Act (GAA) scheduled for Tuesday, March 31. Slated to join said combined dialogue with the RDCs will be the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and other national offices which would be directly involved in bringing together the 2016 GAA. The purpose is to promote the “One Visayas, One Region, One People” policy to signify unity for the whole Visayas Region. Aiming to strike two birds with one stone, Gov. Edgar convened the Provincial Development Council (PDC) Thursday so that proposals which still need proper endorsement for incorporation in the 2016 budget be included during Tuesday’s deliberations. As a result, seven new endorsements were able to make it aboard the proposal folder to be personally submitted by Gov. Chatto at the deliberation table on Tuesday. The following PAPs were deemed urgent and necessary to be included for GAA 2016: the construction of a new Hall of Justice, which was strongly endorsed by both Judges Suceso Arcamo and Leo Lison; the proposed 2016 projects for the Bohol Island State University by Dr. Elpidio Magante; the proposed use of land at Ubay stock farm to support Bohol’s power generation; construction of the Philippine...SEED sets environment walk pools flipflops for poor kids
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, March 25, (PIA)–Over 70 slippers for deprived children, this sums up the slipper pool which a Holy Name University (HNU) club and class intends to hand over within the next few days to beneficiaries they could identify. HNUs Students for the Environment, Education and Development (SEED) members had to save a few from their meager allowance to buy an extra pair of slippers, while the school’s class on tourism impacts and sustainability also pitched in to make the life of a kid more memorable, even if for a bit. In its annual activity to cap a semester, SEED members and tourism students put on their slippers and joined in a “walk to remember,” a walk for a cause which they hold regularly. It’s a commitment to the environment, to the community and to ourselves, a SEED member said when asked what he intends to get in joining the Saturday afternoon event March 14. What is not regular during the recent activity was that the students had to ascend Banat-i Hill and in portions of the climb, take off their slippers in an attempt to reconnect with the earth. The initiative to reconnect with the earth is consistent with a healthy lifestyle trend called “earthing,” where man attempts to reestablish his body’s balance which has been disconnected from the earth and ground it back. An earlier lecture sharing on Earthing happened at the HNU AV Hall where speakers impress the disconnection. “Throughout time, humans have sat, stood, strolled, and slept on the ground – the skin of their bodies touching the skin of the Earth,” a sharer...National News
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