The United States government announced the increase in its law enforcement aid to the Philippines. From nearly P495 million in 2010, the country will be getting close to P630 million in 2011, according to the US Embassy in Manila. This support will come in the form of “technical assistance, training, facilities, and supply of equipment.”

The Philippine Development Foundation-USA (PDF), newly formed US-based Filipino development group is pushing for Philippine government to grant incentives for the creation of technology business incubators and business parks in order to nurture start-up investments in commercially-viable research and development fields in drug-making, food production and software.

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.

The cost of having a house constructed these days are worth a fortune that it is almost impossible for an ordinary breadwinner to have one constructed. There are however available alternatives and solutions for him for such a problem. Manufactured homes are just one of them. I do not know whether these are already available [...]

The country’s biggest oil refiner and retailer, recently disclosed that for the first half of 2010, it has already spent more than P6 billion for its capital expenditure projects and debt repayments. Petron Corp., in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), said it used the proceed from its preferred share issuance early this [...]

Convergys Corp., the largest private employer in the Philippines, is planning to hire additional 3,600 new employees as it expands its five existing sites in the country to bring their total number of workforce to 25,000 by the end of 2010. Marife Zamora, country manager of Convergys Philippines, said the expansion is meant to meet [...]

The country’s power sector, including renewable energy projects, is likely to get a big boos from the World Bank (WB). WB’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corp. (IFC), is looking at pouring in more than $300 million in investment to the said industry in the Philippines.
IFC resident representatives to the Philippines, Jesse Ang, said [...]

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.

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 [...]

The United Kingdom government plans to beef up its investment in Asia by promoting business opportunities in the region, particularly in the Philippines. UK Secretary of State for Business Vince Cable said it noted the importance of these business opportunities to the British businesses’ emerging markets. “If we were looking for growth, we should be [...]

The country’s biggest homegrown fastfood company, Jollibee Foods Corp., is expanding its operations in China this year as it plans to open 60 more new stores, which accounts for the bulk of its international expansion program. Jollibee Foods Chairman and Chief Executive Tony Tan Caktiong said during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting, “Our foregoing expansion [...]

Texas Instruments (TI), one of the world’s leader in the semiconductor industry, has been doing business in the Philippines for more than 30 years, and the company plans to stay longer in the country. In fact, TI has earmarked $1 billion in new investments for its planned expansion of its operation in the country for [...]

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 [...]

Not too long ago, an entrepreneur friend of mine  was inviting me to be his partner for the new business that he is planning. My friend wants to sell truck accessories and believes that the business is very feasible and was really enthusiastic when he was presenting the idea to me. I, being the skeptic [...]

Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is insistent about staying in his Time Street residence and not reside in Malacañang palace, once he is finally proclaimed as the country’s next president. This in spite of his neighbors’ and close-in security’s fears of added security risks, and of course, the additional traffic and noise that his continued [...]

One of the leading manufacturer of batteries in the Philippines is considering of putting up its own business process outsourcing facility in the Philippines. The Energizer Philippines Inc., maker of the Eveready and Energizer batteries, plans to put up a call center facilities because according to company president and managing direct Esteban Vorbeck, support for [...]

Smart Communications launched recently a new service which was aimed to provide mobile communications to Filipinos who still do not have cellular phone. The new service called the Talk ‘N Text Barangay Phone, is being offered through a wireless telephone set powered by a Talk ‘N Text SIM card. It allows users to call any [...]

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 [...]

The plan of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) of naming the top taxpayers in the country makes foreign business leaders worried that it could threaten people’s safety and privacy. The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) is urging the BIR to nix the said plan.
JFC said that publishing the names of the top taxpayers may also [...]