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"So much hard work in coming up with books and instructional materials to efficiently teach the language to young minds had to be exerted."
Over the weekend, the Taiwan government itself reported that the Philippines had received the highest growth rate for outbound tourists from Taiwan, at 55.42 percent for the month of June and 30.60 percent for January to June departures compared to the same period last year. With a population of only about 23 million, our own Department of Tourism identified Taiwan as the sixth major source of tourists into the country. In fact, I was told that boat operators and service-oriented workers in El Nido in Palawan already know certain phrases in Mandarin as a result of their close and frequent interaction with Taiwanese tourists. Even airlines are capitalizing on these gains, adding more flights to and from the island. Just this week, AirAsia announced that it is opening routes from the south, in Kaohsiung, flying passengers directly to Clark or Cebu. Just about six months earlier, Tiger Air likewise opened flights to Clark, offering more options for Taiwanese tourists. Read more: Manila Standard MANILA, Philippines–Leading canned food producer Century Pacific Food Inc (CNPF) grew net profit in the first semester by 9 percent year-on-year to P1.7 billion on higher sales and improved margins arising from lower raw material prices and subdued operating expenses.
CNPF — the company behind consumer brands such as Century Tuna, Argentina, Swift and Birch Tree — grew sales revenues in the first six months by 6 percent year-on-year to P19.6 billion. This was mostly driven by the branded business, which grew sales by 12 percent year-on-year to a semestral record-high of P15.3 billion, equivalent to 78 percent of the total topline. The sustained double-digit growth in the branded consumer segment was attributed to stable demand for marine and meat products, as well as the out performance of its burgeoning milk business. Milk, which used to account for just 11 percent of total sales in 2016, now accounted for 22 percent of the business. Read more: Philippine Inquirer  The government has vowed to give local startups the benefits and incentives provided under recently signed Republic Act 11337 or the Innovative Startup Act.
The new law aims to help startups and startup enablers by providing incentives like travel grants, access to a Startup Venture Fund, and assistance in getting visas and business permits. Aside from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) are the host agencies to implement the Philippine Startup Development Program, composed of programs, benefits, and incentives for the startup community. “There is so much entrepreneurial potential, talent, motivation, and optimism of our young population. With the current strong momentum for collaboration between and among government, academe, and industry and the comprehensive fiscal and non-fiscal support of RA 11337, we will be able to grow and develop our startup ecosystem and catch up with our neighbors especially in creating billion-dollar startups,” said DTI undersecretary for competitiveness and innovation Rafaelita Aldaba. To avail of these incentives, startups and startup enablers have to pass an application and selection process to be determined in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The first meeting to craft the IRR was held July 22 at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Present at the meeting were Aldaba, DOST undersecretary Rowena Guevara and DICT director Emmy Lou Delfin, as well as other officials and representatives from each agency. Selected startups and enablers will get subsidies for business registration fees. The host agencies will also endorse their applications to be prioritized or expedited. The three agencies will also provide subsidies for use of office spaces, facilities, equipment, services, and repurposed government spaces. Read more: Newsbytes.ph  Taipei, July 27 (CNA) Four students from the United States, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines won the top prize at a student entrepreneurial pitch competition for tertiary students hosted by National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) on Saturday in the country's capital.
The competition was part of "The 2nd Be Young! Beyond! Startup Bootcamp," hosted by NTUST July 21-28, requiring student teams to make an entrepreneurial pitch in front of a jury, which chooses the best team in terms of innovation, creativity, facilitation and business plan. On this occasion teams were asked to make a pitch on the subject of changing society in order to promote quality of life through innovation and motivating future industrial development through action, according to the event's website. The competition involved an eight minute pitch followed by an 11 minute Q&A session. There were a total of 15 teams comprising 59 students from universities in New Southbound Policy (NSP) target countries, foreign students in Taiwan and Taiwanese students. Read more: Focus Taiwan  MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines jumped 19 places to rank 54th out of 129 countries in this year’s Global Innovation Index (GII) from 73rd last year.
GII, which is co-published by Cornell University, graduate business school INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization, measures the innovation performance and progress of countries. The Philippines’ ranking improved as it got a higher overall score of 36.18 this year from 31.56 in 2018. In terms of the GII’s input and output sub-indices, the country’s scores and rankings likewise improved. In the input sub-index that looks at innovative activities, the Philippines’ score rose to 41.68 from 39.14 last year. Its ranking inched up to 76th from 82nd. Read more: The Philippine Star  Taipei, July 26 (CNA)Philippine pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are displaying a series of products in Taipei with the goal of forging partnerships with their counterparts and other enterprises in Taiwan.
At the 2019 BIO Asia-Taiwan Conference and Exhibition, three Philippine companies are among the 600-plus exhibitors from some 25 countries that are seeking to form alliances with biomedical scientists, entrepreneurs and investors to expand business opportunities in the Asia Pacific market, according to the event's website. Michael Alfred V. Ignacio, director of commercial affairs at the Philippine Trade & Investment Center in Taipei, said the Philippine companies can supply products to distributors in Taiwan and help Taiwanese pharmaceutical businesses tap into the market of 104.9 million people in his country. "We're here to forge alliances and strategic partnerships and also to look at the possibility of marketing our own products," he told CNA. "The companies are also open to manufacturing or licensing Taiwanese pharmaceutical products for marketing and distribution in the Philippines." Read more: Focus Taiwan  The Philippine government is crafting an artificial intelligence (AI) road map to improve productivity and economic growth in the country, a trade official bared on Wednesday, July 17.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said an AI task force composed of seven agencies will be drafting the road map, which is expected to make the country more globally competitive. Aside from the DTI, members of AI task force include the Departments of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Information and Communications Technology, Education, the Commission on Higher Education and National Economic and Development Authority. Read more: Newsbytes.ph  MANILA, Philippines – Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) has bagged its biggest multinational acquisition to date with a US$350-million deal to take over American specialty coffee and tea brand The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).
The total consideration for this acquisition is $350 million on a debt-free basis but Jollibee’s net investment is estimated at $100 million, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Jollibee, through Singapore-based subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte Ltd., will initially finance the entire acquisition through a bridge loan. Its investment of $100 million represents 80 percent of the equity of the holding company that will acquire 100 percent of CBTL. The balance of $250 million will be made as advances to the new holding company. Read more: Philippine Inquirer At least 86,000 medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) received P3 billion worth of assistance in the last two years, President Rodrigo Duterte said during his fourth State of the Nation Address.
“86,000 MSMEs have received over P3 billion worth of loans since 2017, thanks to Secretary [Ramon] Lopez and the DTI,” Duterte said. Duterte also cited the passage into law of additional benefits for solo parents, as well as the proposed expansion of the Malasakit Center, which is a one-stop shop for the public who seeks medical aid from government. “‘Yung expansion ng Malasakit centers, that is also what we want to achieve…the original concept of Bong Go, para manalo sa kampanya,” Duterte said. Go served as a longtime aide of Duterte before he won a Senate seat in the May polls. “Totohanin natin ‘yan, Bong, kung hindi, mapapahiya tayo,” Duterte added. —LDF, GMA News Read more: GMA News TAIPEI – Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia announced on Thursday (May 30) the inauguration of a new flight route between Kaohsiung and Clark in the Philippines on Aug. 1, eyeing at the lucrative air travel market in southern Taiwan.
Tickets are now available, with a single journey ticket priced at NT$488 (excluding tax), reports Liberty Times. The Kuala Lumpur-based budget carrier started flying from Taipei to Clark in July 2018. The route has been well-received among business travelers and thrifty consumers. The new route is expected to boost the appeal of the Southeast Asian country as a travel destination for people in Taiwan. Clark serves as an ideal transfer hub for those planning to visit other Philippine attractions, such as Palawan and Iloilo. Clark, also known as the Clark Freeport Zone, is a redeveloped area of what was formerly a U.S. airbase in Pampanga province. The zone has been rejuvenated as a “green city,” only an hour's drive from the country’s capital Manila and tourist attraction Subic Bay. Source: MECO |
ABOUT PTIC TAIPEI
The Philippine Trade & Investment Center in Taipei is the Commercial Affairs Section of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office and the representative office of the Philippine Department of Trade & Industry in Taiwan Archives
December 2019
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