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The International Chamber of Com­merce, Philippines (ICCP) has wel­comed the entry into force of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)—a landmark global trade agreement which could provide a boost to global trade flows of over US$1trillion.

Global publication Reader’s Digest (RD) revealed the winners of the prestigious Readers Digest Trusted Brands 2017 Awards during a ceremony at the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig recently.

State grid operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) plans to undertake several major facility improvement programs this year in its continuing pursuit of upgrading and strengthening the country’s power transmission network.

By Riza Lozada Local thrift banks are optimistic on growth in lending busi­ness despite the impact of the proposed hike in automobile excise tax.

The government has realized huge returns for every centavo it spent on the foreign trips of President Duterte last year, according to computa­tions by the Department of Finance (DOF).

The Philippines has among the most developed private-public -partnership (PPP) programs for the Asia-Pacific region, if not the world, an Asian De­velopment Bank (ADB) report said.

By Riza Lozada The fiscal balance for 2016 reflected the ramped-up spending of the Duterte administration in its effort to catch up with the huge underspending during the previous administration that limited the economy’s growth potential.

Trade groups cannot seem to stress enough to the government the need to start right away the construction of sev­eral international airports to replace the ageing Ninoy Aquino International Air­port (Naia) as they aired dire warnings that the current congestion at the sole in­ternational airport in Manila was a grave threat to tourism and trade.

Public support is high on the tax-reform proposals of the De­partment of Finance (DOF) pend­ing before Congress, as shown by the outcome of roadshows that trade groups held recently in a tie-up with the government.

A non-government coalition advocating tax and fiscal reforms has expressed its full support for the proposed ad­justments in automobile excise taxes as a way to help raise revenues that would fund the improvements in the country’s mass transport system. Jo-Ann Diosana of the Action for Economic Reforms (AER) has told lawmakers that the proposed increases in the automobile excise tax …