 (CNN)The trade fight between the United States and China intensified Monday as the two economic superpowers hit each other with their biggest round of tariffs yet.
The Trump administration imposed new 10% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods just after midnight ET (noon in Beijing), spanning thousands of products, including food seasonings, baseball gloves, network routers and industrial machinery parts. China retaliated immediately with new taxes of 5% to 10% on $60 billion of US goods such as meat, chemicals, clothes and auto parts. The moves are a significant escalation in the growing conflict between the world's top two economies."We are squarely in the midst of the 'it'll get worse before it gets better' phase," Aninda Mitra, senior sovereign analyst at BNY Mellon Investment Management, said in a note after the latest tariffs were announced last week.  MANILA, Philippines – Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia asserted that the Philippines is poised to climb to a higher income band despite headwinds in the economy.
In an economic briefing on Tuesday, September 18, Pernia said the Philippines will be an upper-middle income country by 2019. According to the World Bank, upper middle-income economies are countries that have a gross national income (GNI) per capita between $3,956 and $12,235. GNI is a measurement of a country's income, which takes into account the income of residents and businesses. "Now we are just below $3,900. Even if we just grow 4.4% (gross domestic product), we are going to hit over $4,000 in 2019," Pernia said. The Philippines is currently under the lower-middle income band along with Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Should Pernia's statement be realized, the country would join the ranks of China, Thailand, and Malaysia. Pernia made the pronouncement amid high inflation, a wide fiscal and current account deficit, and an eroded Philippine peso.  THE Clark area has become the top choice for office space outside Metro Manila this year, as more developers build there to take advantage of the region’s projected growth, according to Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC).
LPC said in a real estate market report that the net office take-up in Clark hit 111,000 square meters (sq.m.) in the year to date, making it the second largest market for office take-up after Metro Manila. The company noted that Clark has overtaken Cebu in terms of net take-up. “Clark is the biggest recipient of demand after Metro Manila… this is because of the improved investor sentiment in Clark, and the BPOs (business process outsourcing) have developed the labor market already, which made it easier for other developers to enter Clark,” LPC President David Leechiu said in a press briefing in Makati yesterday.  The amount of dollars sent home by millions of Filipinos overseas continued its unbroken uptrend in July due to an increase in remittances from both sea- and land-based Filipino workers, the central bank said on Monday.
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached $2.7 billion in July 2018, higher by 4.5 percent compared to the level posted in the same month in 2017.  Darren Lee, Regional Director (Manila) of Enterprise Singapore, sheds some light on doing business in the Philippines.
1. What are some of the latest developments in the Philippines right now? In Q1 2018, the Philippines reported a GDP growth of 6.8%. The latest growth rates show that the country has enjoyed 6 consecutive years of growth above 6%, bolstered by overseas remittances, tourism and business process outsourcing. As the economy develops, infrastructure gaps remain a major bottleneck for the country’s growth. Congested airports are hampering the growth of tourism whereas congested roads remain a drag for its export industries and standard of living. The current Duterte administration recognised that the country had underinvested in infrastructure and launched the ‘Build! Build! Build!’ programme, an aggressive campaign to accelerate infrastructure development in the country. With the promise to usher the Philippines into a ‘golden age of infrastructure.’ the administration targeted to spend approximately S$234 billion (PHP9 trillion) by the end of Duterte’s term in 2022. Plans are underway to complete more than half of the 75 planned infrastructure projects by 2022. These projects span across railways, toll roads, airports, utilities, power, water treatment and telecommunications.  The additional 25 percent tariff imposed by the Trump administration on about $50 billion worth of Chinese products, as reported by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, is causing a shakeup in the Mainland’s semiconductor supply chain amidst fears of future export restrictions from the US.
This may soon push China to turn its gaze to more viable sources of much-needed manufacturing components—an opportunity the Philippines could take advantage of to bolster its own semiconductor industry. In a 2016 report by the International Trade Administration, China was the top export destination for semiconductors, while the US held the majority of production at almost 50 percent. The report identified the market share of manufacturers and importers in the global semiconductor industry. The ongoing Sino-US trade war is already disrupting the supply chain to the Mainland. Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE was among the casualties after being banned from purchasing Qualcomm chips due to what the US deemed as trade violations. Possible future trade barriers may worsen the outlook for China’s information technology and manufacturing sectors that rely heavily on imports. On the other hand, the Philippines continues to be a ready source of electronic parts for the expanding Asian market, with semiconductors accounting for 39 percent of its total exports in mid-2016 according to the Philippine Statistical Authority. According to Ernesto Pernia, Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority, electronic products accounted for about 50 percent of the country’s exports to China in 2017. “The Philippines has been a valuable trade partner of China, and the warmer relations are opening many doors for both countries to contribute to each other’s economic development,” Deng Jun, Country Head of Bank of China Manila, said. “By nurturing this partnership, local enterprises can further expand their market as part of the global value chain.” Creating a more favorable environment for trade may encourage Chinese importers to do more business with local chip manufacturers. One key to realizing this is by settling cross-border trade using the Chinese currency—the renminbi.  TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Tigerair Taiwan announced today that the airline will begin direct flights between Taoyuan Airport and Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Philippines on Dec. 1.
The new Cebu route is Tigerair Taiwan's first service to the Philippines, and second to Southeast Asia.  TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) recently announced the winners of photo contest held to promote the Philippines and celebrate Filipino workers in Taiwan.
The first place winner was a photo taken on a beach where Typhoon Yolanda struck the Philippines in 2013. Captured by 55-year-old photographer Antonio Corado, the beautiful view from inside the cave offers a strong contrast with the devastation seen in the area when Yolanda struck. The cave is in the Eastern Samar area which faces the Pacific Ocean. Corado also took third place for his photograph of a blooming rose cabbage garden in the mountains of Atok in Benguet Province.  MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the go-signal for Cal-Comp Technology (Philippines) Inc. to go public.
The SEC approved the application of the unit of Taiwanese conglomerate New Kinpo Group for a planned listing tentatively on Oct. 2. The company recently filed for a P6.77 billion initial public offering (IPO) application with the SEC. Proceeds would be used for facilities expansion, acquisition of new equipment, and research and development. Under the plan, the company will sell up to 378 million primary common shares, with a target listing date before the end of the year. “We believe in the Philippine economy and we leverage on the current local and global market conditions, instead of running away from them,” New Kinpo Group (NKG) and Cal-Comp Technology CEO Simon Shen said.  NEW DELHI — From Xi’s China to Duterte’s Philippines, Asian economies have risen as the world’s best countries in terms of GDP.
China, world’s second-largest economy stands tall with US$ 25.3 trillion and is up by 9% from 2017 followed by India at 10.38 trillion which is up by 9.8% showing growth over the preceding year. |
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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
February 2019
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