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BACOLOD CITY—From 97th place last year, Bacolod City leapt to 89th in the 2018 Tholons Services Globalization Index (TSGI) of the world’s top 100 cities for global outsourcing services.
An official of the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT) considered the ranking a big feat for a mid-size city like Bacolod. “This is a result of our strong government-academe and industry collaboration, constant engagement with schools and talent-development stakeholders, and grit and determination to continuously challenge and redesign our own strategies to adapt to the requirements of global digital services,” BNEFIT Executive Director Jocelle Batapa-Sigue said on Tuesday. Tholons International, the leader in global outsourcing locations rankings, released the research report and ranking of the Top 50 Digital Nations and Top 100 Super Cities for 2018 on Monday. Internet speeds and ping in the Philippines is experiencing a speed spurt. This is welcome news for the country as it tries to make a name for itself in the field of electronic sports or Esports, which merits faster-than-average internet speeds to excel in the emerging sport and is being pushed to be a demonstration sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The increased and improved internet speeds in the country makes us not just Esports ready, but also measure up against the more established and experienced Esports competitors globally.
Based on the Speedtest Global Index Report by leading internet testing and analysis website Ookla released April of 2018, the Philippines is now tagged as the most improved country in Southeast Asia. Internet connection in the country now clocks at a staggering five times faster when it comes to fixed broadband download speeds compared to 2014. This means that the country can no longer be considered a laggard in terms of internet connection speed.  MANILA, Philippines— Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific have announced that they are resuming flights to Caticlan and Kalibo in anticipation of the reopening of world-famous Boracay island on October 26.
In its advisory, PAL said the flights between Manila and Caticlan, Cebu and Caticlan, as well as Cebu and Kalibo will resume for the island’s reopening. Both PAL and Cebu reminded its passengers that those with booked flights for Caticlan and Kalibo are required to show proof of confirmed hotel bookings before entering the island. Declining foreign debt as a share of the growing economy placed the Philippines at a better position than most of its Asean peers, thanks to economic reforms implemented during the past 30 years, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Wednesday.
In an economic bulletin, DOF Undersecretary and chief economist Gil S. Beltran said “the Philippines emerged from being a highly-indebted developing country in the 1980s to become one of the fastest-growing emerging economies with debt ratios lower than its Asian neighbors.” Investment pledges grew to P454.8 billion in the first nine months of the year, the Board of Investments (BOI) reported Thursday.
The increase is a 19-percent jump that recovers the momentum the agency lost in August. The BOI also said in a statement this is higher than the P381.2 billion pledges registered from January to September 2017. The latest pledges were propped up by manufacturing and enerygy investment commitments, which registered a huge turnaround from the 17.3 percent drop in pledges from January to August, according to BOI. “Investor confidence in the country remains high. The Philippines continues to attract more investments because the economy is strong enough to withstand challenges on both the domestic and international fronts,” Trade Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon Lopez said. The Philippines ranked 56th out of 149 countries in the latest Global Competitiveness Report, while also ranking the 5th most competitive economy in Southeast Asia.
This is according to the report made by the World Economic Forum, whose results are not comparable to previous reports after adopting a new competitiveness index. In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Singapore ranked the most competitive and also the second globally. It was followed by Malaysia (25th), Thailand (38th), and Indonesia (45th)—all on the world’s top 50 list. The report looked at 12 pillars, namely: institutions, infrastructure, information and communication technology adoption, macroeconomic stability, health, education and skills, product market, labor market, financial system, market size, business dynamism and innovation capability. MANILA has jumped 12 notches in the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 to 56th among 140 economies on the backbone of a strong labor market and macroeconomic stability.
Among the nine Southeast Asian economies covered by the survey, the Philippines landed as the fifth most competitive in the region. On the other hand, Singapore was second, Malaysia was 25th, Thailand 38th and Indonesia 45th. The Philippines performed best in market size (32nd) and labor market (36th), and also made good strides in terms of financial system (39th) and business dynamism (39th). Its macroeconomic stability was ranked 43rd among the 140 countries covered. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Taiwan was ranked as having the third-fastest internet speed in the world in 2017, according to both Statista and Cable.co.uk.
According to a report by Statista, an online statistical research portal, Taiwan ranked third out of 159 nations tested in terms of broadband download speeds in 2017. Using the time it took to download an HD movie as a reference for comparison, it took 29 minutes and 46 seconds to download the file in Taiwan, the third shortest time in the world last year.  Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) The New Southbound Policy launched by the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) after her inauguration two years ago is bearing fruit with closer ties in terms of trade, economic and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and countries targeted by the policy, Tsai said Thursday.
During her address at the opening of the Yushan Forum, Tsai said since the launch of the policy, which seeks to enhance exchange with neighboring Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, India, Australia and New Zealand, there have been some significant results.  Taiwan is sending its agriculture experts to the Philippines to demonstrate the benefits of its rice variety, which could be propagated in the country, as well as Taiwanese know-how and technology to make rice farming more productive.
“We are sending a four-member delegation to Baguio, Tagaytay and Cebu to demonstrate our rice-farming technology,” said Taiwan Economic Cooperation (Teco) Representative Michael Peiyung Hsu. Speaking at the sidelines of the Republic of Taiwan (ROC) National Day celebration last Tuesday, Hsu said Taiwan “has so much advance technology, that’s why we have to demonstrate and see how Filipinos will be benefited by our know-how.” “Our per-hectare production is twice or three times more than the Philippines’s and the price is very reasonable. We donated 7,000 kilograms to the victims of Typhoon Ompong in Cagayan province,” he added. |
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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
December 2019
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