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An international civil society network challenged the ADB in its 51st Annual Governors Meeting to address the clear calls for transparency and accountability of its projects and operations amid a looming infrastructure investment collaboration between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its touted rival the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Asian Development Bank (ADB) private sector operations over the past year reached $2.3 billion, growing the bank’s overall portfolio of private sector operations by 17 percent to $10.9 billion, according to ADB Private Sector Operations Department’s (PSOD) Development Effectiveness Report 2017.

The Korean Embassy in Manila said over the weekend the Korean government is funding most of the USD199-million New Cebu International Container Port Project through an official development assistance (ODA) recently clinched with the Philippine government.

The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) joined by China, South Korea and Japan (Asean Plus Three) have agreed to further strengthen the multilateral currency swap arrangement to enable members overcome crisis more speedily and promote sustained economic growth.

Strengthening the education system will help enhance the competitiveness of countries in Asia in the field of information and communications technology (ICT).

Four of the flagship infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program due for completion by 2022 are in the Visayas, in keeping with the Duterte administration’s goal to attack poverty and make growth truly inclusive and equitable across all regions, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Some 3,000 to 4,000 delegates are expected to take part in the 51st Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) scheduled on May 3-6 this year in Manila.

The second phase of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) is legal and there are no vested rights in the grant of tax incentives to certain businesses because these are “mere statutory privileges, and as such, its granting may be modified or withdrawn at the will of the granting authority, that is, the Congress,” Finance Assistant Secretary …

The Naia Consortium will resubmit next month a revised and re-sized proposal to transform the Ninoy Aquino International Airport into a regional hub, spokesman Aboitiz InfraCapital Vice President Jose Emmanuel Reverente told reporters.

An economist of ING Bank Manila forecasts further upgrades by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) of its credit rating on the Philippines after Thursday night’s outlook revision from “Stable” to “Positive.”