NEWS SNIPPETS & MORE

By: Rosalie O. Abatayo - CDN Digital
Published: September 24,2020 - 12:11 PM
Full Article: Metro Cebu office space market draws interest from Manila occupiers
Snippets: CEBU CITY, Philippines — Interests for office spaces in Metro Cebu have notably increased in the third quarter of 2020, despite the challenges faced by the real property sector amid the pandemic.

This development was noted by top professional services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) in its market overview for the period.

According to JLL Philippines, Metro Cebu’s shares of the total office space inquiries in the third quarter climbed to 28.6 percent from previously at only 4 percent. These inquiries come from occupiers from Metro Manila and some local-based businesses.

Those interested in the Metro Cebu office space market are mainly from firms engaged in offshoring and outsourcing (O&O) at 95.2 percent while the remaining 4.8 percent are inquiries from traditional office occupiers.

By: Sunstar Cebu Business
Published: September 23, 2020
Full Article: Boracay Island to welcome tourists on Oct. 1
Snippets: BORACAY Island will further open its doors to more local tourists on Oct. 1, thus signaling the continued resurgence of domestic tourism nationwide.

This development came as a result of a special meeting convened by the principals of the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force (BIATF) led by its chairperson Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and co-vice chairpersons, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, with the Province of Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores on Sept. 22.

“The reopening of Boracay to new market sources signals a gathering momentum for domestic tourism all over the country. We are pleased that the BIATF and the local government units of the Province of Aklan and Municipality of Malay have agreed to put health and safety as the priority as we carefully and safely welcome more guests to the island,” Puyat said.

By: Daxim L. Lucas - Reporter / @daxinq - Inquirer.net
Published: September 21,2020 - 04:37 PM
Full Article: cebudailynews.inquirer.net/341237/strong-peso-foreshadows-bad-economic-news-says-ing-economistStrong peso foreshadows bad economic news, says ING economist
Snippets: MANILA, Philippines — The strong peso may be a portent of bad economic news because it is being caused primarily by a steep drop in imports that were needed for the Philippines to maintain its growth trajectory, according to an economist.

At the same time, ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa warned that a rebound in the country’s gross domestic product next year will be aided in no small measure by the so-called base effect — the phenomenon where even a slight increase in absolute terms will reflect as a large percentage hike when coming from a low number.

“The peso remains the best performing currency in the region in 2020 but the relative strength may actually reflect a fast-fading investment boom with the economic outlook turning even darker on the horizon,” he said in a note to reporters.

He explained that the country’s high growth rate in recent years was attributable to the resurgence in capital formation with the economy hitting a high gear, as both corporates and households doubled down on investing in the then bright economic future.

By: Cathrine Gonzales - Inquirer.net
Published: September 04,2020 - 12:49 PM
Full Article: Inflation eases to 2.4 percent in August
Snippets: MANILA, Philippines — The country’s headline inflation eased to 2.4 percent in August from 2.7 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday, September 4, 2020.

The latest figure brings the year-to-date inflation for 2020 at 2.5 percent, according to PSA’s report released Friday.

In August 2019, inflation was lower at 1.7 percent.

“The slowdown in inflation in August 2020 was primarily due to the deceleration in the inflation for the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages which slid at an annual rate of 1.8 percent during the period, from 2.4 percent in the previous month,” PSA said.

The actual inflation reported by PSA was slightly lower than the forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for August. BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said the agency’s Department of Economic Research projects the inflation rate to settle within the 2.5 to 3.3 percent range for the month.

The central bank earlier projected a slight increase in inflation mainly due to recovering petroleum prices after a sharp decline due to low demand during community quarantines.

According to the PSA, the indices of the following commodity groups also posted lower inflation during the month: alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 17.7 percent; clothing and footwear at 1.9 percent, furnishing, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house at 3.9 percent; education at 0.1 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services at 2.3 percent.

“Contributing also to the deceleration in the overall inflation was recreation and culture whose index exhibited an annual decline of -0.1 percent during the period, from an annual gain of 1.1 percent in the previous month,” PSA noted.

By: KATLENE O. CACHO - Sunstar Cebu
Published: September 4, 2020
Full Article: Cebu City falls to 15th spot in 2020 Tholons ranking
Snippets: FROM its 12th ranking in 2019, Cebu City fell to the 15th spot in the 2020 Tholons Services Globalization Index (TSGI).

Released in July, this year’s Tholons report placed higher emphasis on digital innovation attributes and assessment of how the various cities and countries have managed and are winning over the global crisis during the pandemic.

According to Tholons managing director Avinash Vashistha, these new criteria resulted in five new high-cost cities from the west surpassing Cebu City’s ranking. These five new western cities ahead of Cebu City are San Francisco, London, New York, Sydney and Vancouver.

“This year we changed the assessment and put a significant emphasis on digital. So there is a greater emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent automation and innovation. ... We know you were ranked 12 and now 15. However, seven of the cities (Delhi, Hyderabad, Krakow, Poland, Chennai, Montevideo, Santiago) that were in the Top 15 have now dropped below 15. Cebu has only dropped by three, which means the city has a net improvement based on the last year’s list. This is going to become even tougher as more and more western cities who are leading in innovation even though they are more expensive will continue to be a larger part of the cloud-based services industry,” said Vashistha, in his email to Cebu IT-BPM (information technology-business process management) Organization (Cib.O) former managing director Wilfredo Sa-a, Jr.

Manila also suffered a setback this year from ranking second in last year’s list to fourth this year. India’s Bangalore though has maintained its rank as the top super city in the Tholons list.

Moroever, the Philippines as country sustained its fifth spot in the Top 50 Digital Nations ranking, after the UK (4th), Brazil (3rd), the US (2nd) and India (1st).

The TSGI, which is published annually, ranks the Top 100 “Super Cities” and Top 50 “Digital Nations.” The index evaluates ranks and provides location strategies to multinational corporations, countries, governments, multi-lateral agencies, analysts and investors.