DTI-Leyte awarded Best Sub-National Reform in Asia for success in BPLS

The Leyte Provincial Office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been awarded the Best Sub-National Reform in Asia for 2006 by the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) for its involvement in the Streamlining Business Permits and Licensing (BPL) Procedures in Ormoc City under its partnership program with the German Technical Cooperation- Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program (GTZ-SMEDSEP) .

The awards program, known as the "Excellence in Business Environment Reform", aims to highlight excellence in high-impact, sustainable and co-ordinated donor support for business environment reform. For 2006, the award focused on best practices in Asia.

There were only two categories of awards for 2006: the High-Impact, Sustainable and Co-ordinated Reform which is the main award; and the Sub-National which focuses on the reforms within sub-national government authorities such as local municipalities or regional or
provincial government authorities and efforts towards local level implementation of central level reform decrees.

DTI-Leyte beat out best practice entries of other Asian countries in the sub-national category for the impact its reform project on business registration in Ormoc City has had on enterprise development, poverty reduction and economic growth; how it has improved the capability of key agencies to identify reform needs and manage change without future active support by donor agencies; and how coordinated it is to the efforts of other donor agencies as well as aligned to the development goals and strategies of the national government.

With the assistance of DTI-Leyte and GTZ-SMEDSEP, the local government unit (LGU) of Ormoc City was able to simplify the city's business permits and licensing procedures. As a result, an increase of 25% business registrants was realized by year 2006 compared to 2005.

The improved business registration figure was attributed to the reduction of the BPL cycle from 17 to 5 steps; reduction in processing time from 17 days to 2 days; and reduction of required documents from 12 to 6 forms. Moreover, the LGU-Ormoc realized an increase in tax revenues (Php21.16 Million) out of the new improved system. This increase in revenue collection of LGU-Ormoc was then transformed to social services that will uplift the urban poverty
incidence of the City.

The new BPL system adopted by the LGU of Ormoc City is continuously being improved towards installing an on-line business registration in the future. Part of the accrued increase on revenue collection will be utilized for this purpose as part of its sustainability plan. Consequently, the support of donor agencies will no longer be needed to implement the plan.

The experience of LGU-Ormoc is now a documented good practice in streamlining BPL which can be replicated in other LGUs. It will be implemented by DTI Provincial Offices in Visayas or Central Philippines Region hand-in-hand with the various LGUs, both at the provincial and municipal levels.

The reform project of DTI-Leyte complements the efforts of donor agencies as its multiplier effect would ultimately reduce poverty; promote good governance and private sector development which are also the concerns of various donor agencies. It is also aligned with the SME Development Agenda of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which fully supports the promotion and development of small and medium enterprises by providing an enabling business environment. (DTI)

RP's top tourist destination logs 1.25M tourist arrivals last year

Cebu is fast becoming a travel destination among foreigners and locals after the Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 reported a double-digit growth in tourist arrivals last year.

The province registered an 11.57 percent increase in tourist arrivals in 2006. The number grew to 1.25 million from the 1.12 million in the previous year, data from DOT 7 revealed.

“All ingredients needed for an ideal destination is here in Cebu. We have the image, the right perception and accessibility,” said DOT Undersecretary Phineas Alburo.

For accessibility alone, the Mactan Cebu International Airport caters to 51 overseas flights to all major tourist destinations in the world, he said.

In addition, a “well-organized” tourism industry coupled with the Cebuanos’ hospitality led by “active” local leaders makes Cebu a popular tourist hot spot, Alburo told Sun.Star Cebu.

According to DOT 7 data, travelers from East Asian countries like China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan account for 67.10 percent of the total number of tourists or a total of 318,527 visitors.

The Koreans continue to top the list of foreign arrivals in Cebu next to the Japanese and tourists from the United States.

The Korean market, which continues to be the fastest growing market of the country’s tourism industry, numbered 165,309 last year, up by 13 percent from the 146,289 in 2005. This is followed by Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

However, in terms of growth rate, both China and Taiwan have shown significant increases.

Tourist arrivals from Taiwan grew by 46.15 percent, while Chinese visitors increased by 43.73 percent.

Alburo said the province needs to capitalize on the growing Chinese market, described to be the new generation of “sophisticated” travelers.

Meanwhile, tourists from the United States and Canada are also seeing bright prospects in Cebu’s tourism sector, as travelers from the two countries increased by 29.23 percent last year.

From 45,306, the figures grew to 58,551 in 2006.

European tourists to Cebu also grew by 29.75 percent from 34,178 to 44,436 in the same period.

Tourists from the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland were identified as the top three visitors frequenting the province.

“The Philippine tourism offices in Frankfurt and London are aggressively moving to get the European market,” Alburo said.

He said DOT is also penetrating the Russian market, whose average length of stay in Cebu is from seven to 14 days.

The report also revealed that visitors from South Asian countries like India have more than doubled its growth, showing a 70.75 percent increase last year. From 1,453 tourists in 2005, DOT recorded 2,481 last year.

Owing to Cebu’s “successful” hosting of the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit early this year, even tourist arrivals from neighboring countries grew.

A total of 10,914 Asean tourists traveled to Cebu last year, registering a 14.70 percent increase from the 9,515 visitors in 2005.

In terms of volume, the Singaporeans ranked first with 4,858 tourists but the Indonesians registered the highest growth rate at 83.42 percent.

From 772 Indonesian tourists in 2005, it has increased to 1,416 last year.

In addition, tourist arrivals from Thailand grew to 51.42 percent from 1,060 to 1,605 in the same period.

The province is also a magnet for domestic travelers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Domestic travelers grew to 772,767 last year, an 8.39 percent increase from the 712,938 the year previous.

OFWs registered a 35.69 percent growth rate or from 1,813 to 2,460.

Alburo is optimistic in getting more “promising” results by the end of the year, as the effects of the Asean summit are slowly trickling down to the local tourism and business sectors, which is also anticipating the entry of foreign direct investments.(SS)

CCCI holds microfinancing seminar for SMEs

Recognizing the vital role small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play in the growth of the country's economy, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) will undertake a one-day seminar on micro-financing for SMEs for them to gain easy access and avail of financial programs from government and private financial institutions.

The seminar is aimed at increasing awareness of member SME-entrepreneurs on how to access financing services from banks and other financial institutions and gain more insights on collaterals, collateral substitutes and financial statements. Likewise, the seminar is also a venue for SME entrepreneurs to avail financing programs offered by financial and non-financial institutions.

SMEs are considered the backbone of the country's economy and comprised 99 percent of the total manufacturing establishments and contribute to over 50 percent in employment generation and 28 percent in the value-added in production.

Topics to be discussed during the seminar include: basic loan requirements of financial institutions and the problems encountered by SME entrepreneurs in accessing financing; collaterals (deposit hold-out, real estate mortgage and chattel mortgage and collateral substitutes (guarantee, pledge and assignment, surety bond, standby letter of credit, lodgement of title deed, life insurance policy, listed/unlisted securities and export letter of credit, negative pledge agreement and joint and several signatures); and setting-up of accounting systems for SMEs and preparations of financial statements.

Resource speakers for the seminar are micro-financing experts from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Wealth Development Bank (WealthBank), Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilExim) and Small Business Guarantee Financial Corp. (SBGFC).

CCCI urges its members and even non-member SMEs to avail of this rare opportunity. A minimal registration fee is collected to cover part of the cost for the whole-day activity which is inclusive of meals and snacks as well as seminar kits.

CCCI members are asked to pay P 750 and Php1,000 for non-CCCI members as interested parties may inquire for further details at the CCCI office at tel. no. 232-1423 loc. 109 and look for Jethro/Rhea. (PIA-Cebu/FCR)

BOP posts $1.2B surplus

A strong current account (CA) inflows and remarkable improvement in the country's capital and financial account (CFA) resulted in a $ 1.2 billion balance of payment (BOP) surplus in the last quarter of 2006.

In a press briefing, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Gunigundo said the surplus was a turnaround after posting a $ 303-million deficit in the fourth quarter of 2005.

He stressed the good BOP figure was achieved despite the $ 1.1 billion prepayments made during the last quarter of 2006 by both the national government and the private sector.

Without the prepayment, the BOP surplus for the whole year could have reached $ 6.3 billion.

BOP surplus in the fourth quarter reached $ 1.2 billion, $ 1.7 billion for the CA and $ 800 million for the CFA.

Last year's $ 3.8-billion BOP surplus was the highest since 1999 after the BSP adopted new framework in the compilation of the BOP.

Lou Sicat, BSP Department of Economic Statistics head, in her presentation said exports of goods for the fourth quarter alone reached $ 11.7 billion, boosted by strong sales electronics; minerals and garments; and machinery and transport.

For the whole year, exports of goods reached $ 46.2 billion, higher than previous year’s $ 40.3 billion, up 14.6 percent.

On imports of goods, last quarter’s total imports reached $ 13.5 billion from the $ 12.5 billion during the same quarter the previous year.

Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for last quarter of 2006 reached $ 3.6 billion, higher than the $ 2.9 billion during the same quarter in 2005.

For the whole 2006, OFW remittances reached $ 12.5 billion, up by 17 percent from previous year’s $ 10.7 billion.

Gross international reserves (GIR) stood at $ 22.967 billion as of end-December 2006 from previous year’s $ 18.49 billion and currently is the all-time high.

As of end-February 2007, GIR stood at 24.542 billion US dollars.

Peso in the last quarter stood at 49.77 to a dollar in the fourth quarter, stronger than the 54.63 to a dollar same quarter in 2005. (PNA)

Cebu's tourism to grow with more international flights

Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano said Cebu’s tourism development got a boost with the decision of three airlines to open more flights to the central Philippine island.

Durano said airline company China Southern will launch its Shanghai-Cebu flights that will fly three times weekly starting this May.

”That first flight is going to be fully booked,” he said during his speech at the opening last Friday of the 3rd Tourism and Lifestyle Expo at SM City Cebu.

He said Cathay Pacific will also increase its United Kingdom-Hong Kong-Cebu flights to four times a week at the end of this month, bringing more tourists not only from Hong Kong but from Europe as well.

National flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) will also start its Osaka, Japan-Cebu flights within the year.

Durano said Shanghai, which is the second biggest outbound market in China, will be a “very promising” market for Cebu since tourists from Shanghai are one of the “most cosmopolitan.”

”Most tourists flying Shanghai-Manila, most of them are business travelers. But the tourists we get from the Shanghai-Cebu route, mostly are leisure travelers,” he said.

It means they visit Cebu to shop, eat and go to the beaches, he added.

Although the volume of Chinese tourists to the Philippines only average about 200,000 annually, the growth rate is at 60 percent per year.

There is only one flight daily to and from Beijing, which Durano said, is the top outbound market from China.

PAL can only allocate 20 seats per flight, to the dismay of tour operators.

PAL’s Osaka-Cebu flights will bring in tourists from Japan’s second fastest growing outbound market, Durano said.

Although the growth rate of Japanese tourists is only at two to three percent a year, they average at 500,000 and are known to be heavy spenders.

”They always stay at five-star hotels and spend for the finer things in life, like the most expensive wine in a hotel,” he said.

”But as far as industry is concerned, any of them is good for us. The more, the merrier,” he said.

Koreans remain the number one tourists in the country, with arrivals reaching 590,000 last year and recording a 20 percent growth for the first two months of the year.

The Department of Tourism projects Korean tourists to reach 760,000 this year.

Cebu accounts for 30 percent of the foreign tourists in the country.

Durano said tourist arrivals in the country last month grew 10.6 percent over those in February 2005.

”As long as we stay the course, it’s going to be another good year,” he said.

Durano also commended Cebu City and provincial government officials for being real allies of tourism (PNA).

Singaporeans to invest US$ 400-M US in Cebu shipbuilding industry

Cebu’s shipbuilding industry has attracted two Singaporean firms which are planning to invest about US$ 400 million or roughly P19 billion in the fast-growing industry, a Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) official said.

Marina Administrator Vicente Suazo said he will facilitate the meetings between the Singaporean investors and the National Maritime Leasing Corp. (NMLC) and the Philippine Import-Export Credit Agency (Philexim).

He said the NMLC, a subsidiary of the National Development Council, a Philexim can give sovereign guarantee to assure the Singaporean investors that their investments are safe in the Philippines.

”I will facilitate meetings for these sovereign guarantors and investors to fast-track the placing of investments for shipyard, shipbuilding and ship repair that will not only provide revenues for the government but create employment,” Suazo said.

Suazo declined to name the two Singaporean firms, but said one firm, will invest US$ 300 million and the other US$ 100 million.

He said he recently went to Singapore to conduct a campaign to attract foreign investments in the country’s shipping industry.

He said the campaign is in line with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s directive, as provided under Executive Order 588, to invite foreign investments to modernize the industry, and eradicate second-hand and dilapidated vessels plying various routes in the country.

He said dilapidated vessels endanger the lives of the passengers.

The shipping and repair industries in Cebu are dominated by Keppel Cebu Shipyard and Engineering Works Inc., a Singaporean company; and Tsuneishi Heavy Industries, a Filipino-Japanese joint venture.

Keppel Cebu Shipyard and Engineering Works Inc. is into ship repair and shipbuilding. Last Sept. 29, 2006, it conducted keel laying for the building of two giant tug boats. (PNA)

Tourist arrivals in Bacolod reach peak

Around 250,134 tourists visited the city in 2006 which significantly marked the peak of tourist arrival in the city.

The number reflects the registered visitors in 53 establishments in the city last year.

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia said that this would translate roughly to a gross income of P767,685,520 for Bacolod ’s tourism industry.

Figures are based on a tourist’s estimated Daily Average Expenditure of P2,995/day for locals and P3,660/day for a foreign tourists and overseas Filipino workers. The P767.6M estimated figure is only for an average one-day stay and could be higher as tourists usually spend 2-3 days in the city.

OFW’s arrival for 2006 is 7,192 posting a 7% increase compared to 5,642 in 2005. Domestic arrivals are also 9.8% higher, from 202,337 in 2005 to 222,268 in 2006.

With more tourism programs and developments in place, Bacolod City should expect higher tourist arrivals this year. The institutionalization of the BACOLAODIAT celebration of the Chinese New Year as an official festival of the city has become an added tourism event to the already internationally famous MassKara Festival held every October.

Tourism-related sports and athletic events are also another factor in the thriving tourism economy of Bacolod and Mayor Leonardia has already pledged more support and assistance to be given to these tourism programs.

Just recently, the city is also host to the first National Arts Fair in celebration of the National Arts Month. Artists and art enthusiasts from all over the country came to the city to showcase their crafts and witness the series of art activities organized by the National Commission on Culture and Arts.

In related developments, the creation of Information Technology Zones in some areas of the city have already attracted four call centers to invest here, making Bacolod the city with the most number of call centers outside Manila and Cebu boosting the local economy as well as the tourism industry. (PIA)

RP's economic managers assure continuing major investments in Western Visayas

Members of the country's economic team looked forward to making this region more competitive by investing on major infrastructure projects.

This was made apparent during the regional economic briefing attended by representatives of the business community, academe, local government units, national government agencies and other stakeholders at the Iloilo Business Hotel Monday.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves reiterated that with the big surplus the government incurred in 2006 as a result of the efficient collection of the Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT) and other fiscal reforms, some P22 billion would be earmarked for infrastructure projects.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, for his part, announced that they were carefully considering a number of proposed infrastructure projects for Western Visayas.

At present, this region has ongoing projects worth P17.2 billion. These include the construction of two airports with international standards - the Northern Negros Geothermal Project (NNGP), Bago River Irrigation Project and the Iloilo Flood Control Project.

Economic and Development Authority OIC Regional Director Arturo Valero noted that Western Visayas is a significant contributor in sustaining the country's economic momentum this year.

He expressed hopes that with the power supply relief brought about by the 40-49 mw capacity of the NNGP and the positive performance of the region's agriculture sector, Western Visayas will remain a major player as far as enhancing and sustaining the country's economy are concerned. (PNA)

Eastern Visayas ports included in 17 priority port projects set for completion in 2007

Three Eastern Visayas ports are included in the 17 priority port projects in the various parts of the country which are set for completion in 2007.

Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Director General and Intrastructure Monitoring Task Force Chief Cerge Remonde said that the Liloan Ferry Terminal Port at Liloan, Southern Leyte; the Limasawa Port in Southern Leyte and the Naval Port in Naval, Biliran are included in the 17 priority infrastructure projects which upon the directive of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the government is set to complete this year.

The three ports are included in the Medium Term Plan Development and Investment Plan of Eastern Visayas which form part of the country’s Medium Term Development and Investment Plan under President Arroyo’s Super Region concept.

When completed the 17 ports are expected to reduce the travel time and cargo transport costs from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao and vice versa. Secretary Remonde said. He pointed out that due to the SRNH, travel time from Mindanao through the Visayas region to Luzon and vice versa has been cut by 10 hours.

Aside from this, Remonde said transport costs for passengers were cut by 40 percent while cargo costs were cut by 30 percent.

Secretary Remonde said the 17 priority port projects form part of the 28 port projects the President identified in her Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) program at the beginning of her administration and the Roro Nautical Highway under the Super Region concept.

At an aggregate cost of P23.5 billion spread until 2010, the SRNH aims to facilitate the end-to-end transport of passengers, goods and services from production to population centers to boost and maximize the economic potentials of the country's five Super Regions.

The other ports that are scheduled to be finished within this year are the Dingalan Port in Aurora Province; Batangas Port, Batangas; Cawit Port, Boac, Marinduque; Cawayan Port, Masbate; Pantao Port, Libon, Albay; Siquijor Port, Siquijor; Jagna Port, Bohol; Ubay Port, Bohol; Guisiliban Port, Camiguin; Cagayan de Oro Port, Misamis Oriental; Davao (Sasa) Port, Davao City; Balbagon (Mambajao) Port, Mambajao, Camiguin; Subic Bay Port Development Project; and Lucena Port Passenger Terminal Building in Quezon. (PIA)