tradersturf

HKTDC Research found that traditional toys remain the most preferred toys overall in China. However other kinds of toys are also catching attention.

A number of STEM toys have been launched in recent years as China vigorously promotes STEM education, an educational approach that integrates the different subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

A Japanese firm has expressed interest in ramping up its purchases of mangoes from the Philippines, which has an excess supply of around 2 million kilograms, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA). The government is offering to sell mangoes at P25 per kg if the buyer will purchase at least 4 MT. Export grade mangoes are also available at P50/kg for every 4-MT order.

Fresh mangoes from the Philippines are exported to 33 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday eased its monetary-policy stance with a main policy rate cut, following an assessment of a further decline of both inflation and growth rates in recent months.

A 25-basis-point cut to its overnight reverse repurchase was made at its monetary-policy meeting, effective Friday, May 10—as broadly called for by markets for this meeting. The interest rates on the overnight lending and deposit facilities were reduced accordingly.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno told reporters that their decision to cut after several months of unchanged monetary-policy stance and aggressive rate hikes in 2018 was based on their assessment that the inflation outlook continues to be manageable.

Asked about their decision to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) Diokno said there is no decision from the Monetary Board yet, that it is still on the table and that it will be discussed by the Monetary Board next week.

The Philippines is now preparing for the possibility of graduating from ADB concessional financing once it becomes an upper middle-income country. The government is now making the necessary preparations that would enable the Philippines to finance its development needs in the future.

These measures include fiscal policy reforms that seek to strengthen the capability of the government to generate funds, as well as efforts to fast-track “game-changing infrastructure projects” that will bring the country “to a higher level of play.” Upper middle-income economies are those with a gross national income (GNI) per capita of between $4,036 and $12,475, while high-income economies are those with a GNI per capita of $12,476 or more.  But this will make loans offered by MDBs, such as the ADB, more expensive.

A variety of Philippine seafood products from nine companies were promoted during the show, including fresh chilled tuna; fresh frozen octopus, shrimp, milkfish; dried fish; canned sardines, crab meat; bottled milkfish, sardines; and traditional Filipino sauce condiments, such as shrimp paste, shrimp fry, bagoong and fish sauce, among other products.

The show served as a venue to foster the Philippines as a reliable supplier of high-quality seafood products and introduce the country’s seafood-based sauces and condiments to the Korean market.

In 2018, the Philippines exported $23.51 million worth of seafood products to Korea.

Reference: https://bit.ly/2vBv6UP

Black is the new color of money; and it grows on trees. Coconut trees, in fact, that are abundant in the archipelago.

The Philippines is naturally endowed with what would seem an endless coastline peppered with rows of coconuts.

Activated carbon (AC), which is midnight black, is fast becoming the Philippines’s major export, a $100-million revenue-generating industry.

The traded commodity, which is made from coconut shells, has been posting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.92 percent since 1991.

The Philippines is the seventh top exporter of AC in the world just behind Belgium.

The major AC importers in terms of value are the US, Belgium, Germany, Japan and China, Intracen data also showed.

Read more: https://bit.ly/2VKah8k

THE Philippines on Tuesday received its highest credit rating from a major ratings agency to date, as the credit watcher lauded the country’s above-average economic growth.

S&P Global Ratings announced that it is assigning a “BBB+” rating on the Philippines’s long-term sovereign credit rating. “We raised the rating to reflect the Philippines’s strong economic growth trajectory, which we expect to continue to drive constructive development outcomes and underpin broader credit metrics over the medium term,” “The rating is also supported by solid government fiscal accounts, low public indebtedness and the economy’s sound external settings,” S&P said.

Philippine economy is growing “consistently faster” than that of its peers and that its strong economic growth should continue as long as investment is maintained. “The Philippine economy is among the fastest-growing economies in the world on a 10-year weighted average, per-capita basis—a reflection of its supportive policy dynamics and improving investment climate,” 

Reference: https://bit.ly/2GLIuuR

PHILIPPINE exporters are looking to diversify product offerings and expand markets overseas to grow revenue by 5 percent to 6 percent this year.

Goods being looked at to improve exports on include non-electronic products, such as cars, desiccated coconut, coconut oil, footwear and wearables.

Local exporters are, likewise, looking to expand market destinations. Some of these markets are Russia and the Eastern Bloc countries.

The conceptualization of the Philippine Halal Logo has gone through various consultative meetings with relevant stakeholders, including Muslim religious groups conducted by the Halal Export Board-Technical Working Group.

The guidelines on the use of Philippine Halal Logo will be issued to a product or service certified as Halal by the Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB)- accredited Halal Certification Body demonstrating compliance with the standards set forth in the Philippine National Halal Certification Scheme and other related laws.

The launch  of the Philippine Halal Logo is set ‪on May 3, 2019‬. 

Reference: https://bit.ly/2V4oucV

FILIPINOS felt an improvement in the country’s economic condition in the first three months of 2019, compared to the economy’s performance toward the end of 2018, as more businesses and households expect better income and lower inflation for the period.

Consumers, meanwhile attributed their more favorable outlook on the Philippine economy to additional/high income, improvement in peace and order, availability of more jobs and good governance.

The consumer outlook was less pessimistic for the low-income group, turned positive for the middle-income group and was more favorable for the high-income group.

Read more: https://bit.ly/2HWQM5f

Surging demand for posh digs in central business districts is pushing prices higher and higher. Prices for the residential sector have risen 20% to 25% from 12 months ago.

As of first quarter of 2019, residential condominiums are commanding prices as high as P540,000 per square meter (sq.m.) in the case of Horizon Homes at Shangri-La at the Fort in Taguig, and P533,000 per sq.m. for The Estate Makati.

Demand for these high-end condos is being driven not just by wealthy Filipinos, but also Chinese buyers and investors.

Broken down, investors account for 35% of the demand, followed by professionals at 30%, overseas Filipino workers (OFW) at 20%, while foreigners at 15% of the demand.

Of the foreign buyers, the Chinese market accounted for 35% of the demand.

Reference: https://bit.ly/2TC2uo8

THE country’s trade chief has appealed to Filipino-Chinese businesses to include small enterprises in their value chain by sourcing their input requirements locally.

In a speech at a recent business forum, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said Filipino-Chinese business owners and conglomerates should buy their materials from micro, small and medium enterprises. By doing so, they provide MSMEs the opportunity to expand the network of their businesses, he added.

Read more: https://bit.ly/2TxZYPL

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno announced that the Monetary Board has kept all monetary-policy rates unchanged and retained the level of the banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on Thursday’s meeting as inflation pressures eased further in recent weeks.

The newly appointed governor recently made what analysts have called “dovish comments” on handling the monetary-policy tool kit, including the possibility of multiple cuts in the RRR of banks in a year’s span.

Diokno said the Monetary Board’s decision is based on its assessment that prevailing monetary-policy settings remain appropriate as inflation forecasts show consumer price growth comfortably settling within the 2-percent to 4-percent target range for this year and the next.

TWENTY-FIVE Philippine companies bagged more than $83 million of export sales from over 1,163 foreign buyers when the country joined Gulfood in Dubai.

Our country’s tropical selections once again delighted the palate of buyers across the globe under the Philippine pavilion in Gulfood.

Among the best sellers under the FoodPhilippines pavilion were dried fish (herring and anchovies), fruit preserves, nuts, condiments from Pixcel Transglobal Foods Inc.; fresh banana from SL Agritech; tamarind mix and oyster sauce from Mama Sita’s; canned sardines from Phil-Union Frozen Foods Inc.; and sardines, tuna, frozen fish, canned vegetables and fruits from Mega Global Corp.

The report found that the number of billionaires in Asia is set to rise above 1,000 in the next five years. The region is projected to be home to one third of the world’s billionaire population by 2023.

India is forecast to have the world’s biggest growth in billionaires, followed by the Philippines and China.

Asia is already the world’s top region for billionaires. It’s set to extend that lead even more in coming year “India and the Philippines, both coming from a lower base — developing markets — (have) huge possibilities for entrepreneurial growth,” While a host of factors is spurring the growth of “ultra-high-net-worth individuals” (UHNWI) populations around the world, Real Estate is playing a large factor in Asia.

Reference: https://cnb.cx/2CenbAK

Private companies are requesting for an additional 3 million construction workers to sustain the country’s Build Build Build (BBB) infrastructure program. The country will need a total of around 7 million construction workers to meet its manpower needs.

To address the shortage, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) committed to increase the number of its graduates with construction-related skills.

Those 7 million must have modern set of skills and technology in order to handle complexities of future construction projects.

Incentives will play a “crucial” role in the bid to rejuvenate the garments industry. Revival efforts will only succeed if existing tax perks, such as the 5-percent tax on gross income paid by economic zone firms in lieu of all local and national taxes, are retained.

Incentives will be overhauled under the proposed Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities bill, also known as the Trabaho bill.

The more we export, the more that the dollar remittances will come in from the foreign buyers. Little by little, it can somehow ease the trade imbalance, which is right now 80 percent-20 percent already: 80 percent import, 20 percent export.

The Philippines can penetrate more markets, particularly its Southeast Asian neighbours. Top garment manufacturers, such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, are all now getting filled up, leaving no space for fresh new production.

Reference: https://bit.ly/2XGU9Ts