The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

Canberra, Australia—Australia announced on Wednesday it will become a founding member of a Chinese-led Asian regional bank and its sixth-largest shareholder. Joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) presented Australia with great opportunities to work with its neighbors and largest export market, China, to drive economic growth and jobs, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Treasurer Joe Hockey said in a …

By Alvin I. Dacanay Several Philippine entertainment personalities, including Tony-winning actress and The Voice of the Philippines coach Lea Salonga, have joined the growing chorus of international celebrities who are elated by the United States Supreme Court’s declaration last Friday that same-sex marriage is constitutional and, therefore, legal in all of that country’s 50 states.

Below is The Association Press’ collection of celebrity responses to the United States Supreme Court’s decision that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the country: “Love is bigger than anything we can say.”—Diana Ross, via Twitter. “What a great decision the Supreme Court came to today. It’s a wonderful day to celebrate. It’s extraordinary. I couldn’t be …

Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), will open its 29th season with Nicanor Tiongson’s Mabining Mandirigma, described by its creators as a “steampunk musical” that chronicles the last eventful years of Philippine revolutionary hero Apolinario Mabini’s life and features a young cast, led by an actress who plays the accomplished and brilliant …

The richness and wonders of Japanese cuisine are set to be celebrated at Eiga Sai 2015, the latest edition of the annual Japanese film festival organized by The Japan Foundation Manila that will be held from July 9 to 19 at Shangri-La Plaza’s Shang Cineplex in Mandaluyong City.

Review by Douglass K. Daniel / The Associated Press A theater up the street asks its employees to include the title of a favorite movie on their nametags. The choices of these teenagers and twentysomethings can be anything from Fast and Furious 5 or The Hunger Games to the occasional retro pick, like The Sound of Music.

By Riza Lozada President Aquino’s allies are prodding him to set aside his obsession with the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and attend to measures considered urgent by the business sector, such as the Freedom of Information Act and the Philippine Competition Act, which are merely awaiting his signature to become a law. Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said signing …

By Luis Leoncio Export receipts have declined heightening fears the country would not be able to achieve its target growth rate of between 7 percent and 8 percent this year. The government reported that exports remained weak, with the April figures showing that export receipts shrank 4.1 percent following a modest rebound of 2.1 percent the month before.

Hundreds of business leaders and investors gathered in Manila in a recent public consultation on Mindanao and urged President Aquino to be “pragmatic” and stop insisting on the approval of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in its present form.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the country’s state-gaming operator and regulator, has won the prestigious Excellence Award at the 2015 International Gold Quill competition.