A P600-million regional tobacco leaf warehouse was inaugurated recently by Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMI) at the Subic Techno Park inside the Subic Freeport Zone. The said facility cements the place of the Philippines as tobacco leaf warehouse hub of Philip Morris in the Asia Pacific region.
Armand C. Arreza, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) [...]

Nido Petroleum Ltd. sold its first oil from the Tindalo oil field off Palawan. The Australian firm has sold to a buyer in South Korea some 230,000 barrels for crude oil cargo. Joanne Williams, Nido deputy managing director, said the sale was confirmed by the joint venture’s marketing agent, Trafigura Pte Ltd., with the lifting [...]

It’s called BOSS, short for business one-stop shop, an initiative by the Quezon City Government that aims to lessen the burden of businessmen when securing business permit. Launched last Friday, officer-in-charge for the Business Permit and Licensing Office Pacifico F. Maghacot, Jr. said they are expecting to have at least 12,000 new businesses within the [...]

The real estate subsidiary of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SM) is planning to launch soon, the country’s first “underwater hotel.” The said project is part of the four new developments of San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMP) which will start next year, as the company’s foray into the tourism segment begins.

Cognizant, another world-leading company engaged in the technology, consulting and business process outsourcing (BPO) services is expanding its operations in the Philippines. From its present manpower of approximately 200 employees, the company said its planned expansion will accommodate as much as 600 more personnel.
R Chandrasekaran, president and managing director of Global Delivery, Cognizant said, “Within [...]

JPMorgan Chase & Co. opened two new Global Service Centers (GSC) in the Philippines this year, as part of its expansion in the country. The two new GSC will provide support for the New York listed company’s business lines and customers around the world, bringing to four the company’s GSCs in the Philippines.
The latest GSC, [...]

A recent survey conducted by one of the leading financial publications in Asia showed the Philippines as the third cheapest tourist destination in Southeast Asia. The survey was made by FinanceAsia, one of the leading business publications in the region, which utilized Mandarin Oriental’s rack rates as basis for the reader’s outlook.

Nestlé Philippines Inc., the Philippine unit of Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé, is not going to pull out of the country and relocate in Indonesia as earlier reported. In fact, John Miller, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nestlé Philippines, said they are investing in a new facility south of Manila.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (SEC) has approved and issued the listing rules for real estate investment trusts (REIT), thus giving way for a new investment instruments.  According to the SEC, the rules should spur interest from the investing public. REIT will use pooled capital of investors to buy and manage income-generating property and mortgage loans.

Figaro Coffee Co., a 100-percent Filipino-owned company established in 1993 whose product lines include specialty roasted local coffee varieties and various coffee-related paraphernalia. Currently, the largest Filipino-owned coffee company, with 65 coffee shop outlets nationwide, 35 of which are franchise-owned, and 30 are company-owned.
For 2010, the company plans to increase its 65 outlets by 18 [...]

A P499 seat sale, which it called the “Go Lite” is being offered by the Cebu Pacific (CEB) for select Luzon destination and another “Go Lite” package amounting to P999 is also up for Taipei seat sale. These seat sale promotions of CEB will run from June 22 to 24, 2010.

The senior citizens in the country will enjoy additional discounts starting on July 6, 2010. That is because the Department of Social Works and Development (DSWD) has signed the implementing rules on the law granting senior citizens exemption from the value-added tax (VAT).
The guideline signed by the DSWD is the implementing rules and regulations of [...]

Chana and FAW are Chinese-made car brands which are exclusively distributed in the country by Focus Ventures Inc. Now, the company is mulling the setting up of an assembly plant in the Philippines. President Stephen D. Sy of Focus Ventures said they are looking at a number of factors before they finally decide to proceed [...]

Good news for residential clients of Manila Water Co., Inc. They can expect a lower water bill starting July 1, 2010 and this is mainly due to the appreciation of peso against the US dollar. The company said, it its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), they were able to reduce the foreign currency [...]

Solutions Using Renewable Energy (SURE) Eco Philippines Inc., a renewable energy company, is earmarking $90 million for its investments. SURE Eco spokesman Clarence de Guia said the funds will be used for the construction of several biogas-fed power plants. The funding will be a combination of debt and equity. De Guia said they plan to [...]

Clenergen Philippines Corp. a company who is into renewable energy, is planning to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18 months.
Mark Quinn, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said they are looking at the IPO as an venue to raise funds which it will be using for its renewable energy development projects. [...]

The Gokongwei-led Cebu Air Inc. recently announced its plan to hold an initial public offering (IPO) this year. However, as of date, the airline company is still undecided whether it will push through or not. Chances are it will be deferred.
JG Summit president Lance Gokongwei said that the IPO might need to wait further until [...]

Manulife is expecting its business in the Philippines to grow in 2010 by 30 to 40 percent. The Canadian insurer is basing its projection in terms of premiums and beat industry’s growth forecast.
The said projection was feasible, according to president and chief executive officer of Manulife Philippines Indren Naidoo, saying that they are stepping up [...]

A lower fees in their remittances will be enjoyed by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their beneficiaries starting on the third quarter of the year. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), this will materialize once the the Philippine Payments and Settlements System (Philpass) Remit System becomes fully operational.
Remittances sent through the Philpass Remit [...]

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Chinese businessmen will be arriving in the country later this month to explore trade and investment opportunities here. They will looking into different industries like mining, food and biofuels, according to DTI secretary Jesli Lapus.
The group of Chinese businessmen will stay in Manila and Cebu from May [...]