BusinessWeek MINDANAO
YOUR LOCAL ONLINE BUSINESS PAPER
www.businessweekmindanao.com
Issue No. 20, Volume III • October 24-27, 2011 Editorial: 088-856-3344
Market Indicators as of 5:35 p.m., OCT. 21, 2011 (Friday)
FOREX
X
US$1 = P43.44
0.012 cents
• A Safe and Sound Investment with Big Returns
PHISIX
By RAMELITO RAGANDAN
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Briefly Power supply
IN a possible sign of things to come, Mindanao has run about 81 megawatts (MW) short of electricity supply, partly because one major plant was shut down for regular maintenance, but also after other facilities’ capacities were “de-rated” due to their age, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said in an official advisory. NGCP said the island was put “on red alert” at 11 a.m. on Wednesday last week “due to zero contingency reserve brought about by planned outage and reduced capability of several plants.” Alert lifted later that night -- but only because demand had eased. A check with the NGCP Web site on that day showed the island was still 81-MW short, with capacity of 1,150 MW against peak demand of 1,231 MW.
One of several branches recently opened by PVB.
PHILIPPINE Veterans Bank executive vice president and Branch Banking Head Jesus Vicente Garcia, has assured that time deposits
with the Philippine Veterans Bank are a sound and safe investment for someone’s hard-earned money. “Because they enjoy higher interest rates than a regular savings account,
an individual’s initial investment is assured of a maximized return. For example, a P500,000 investment on Veterans Bank’s Maxi-Return Time Deposit with Veterans/PAGE 6
PVB EVP & Branch Banking Head Jesus Vicente Garcia
Stronger trade links in BIMP-Eaga sought By NELSON V. CONSTANTINO, Editor-in-Chief and BONG D. FABE, Correspondent
O
FFICIALS of the four-country regional grouping Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) has expressed commitment to make trade among the four countries more efficient in a bid to assert their role in facilitating freer movement of people, goods and services within the sub-region.
Iligan, MSU partnerhip
ILIGAN City -- The City of Iligan and Mindanao State University (MSU)-Iligan Institute of Technology signed an agreement to cooperate in the development and promotion of business in the city. The Sangguniang Panlungsod passed a resolution on October 17 giving authority to Mayor Lawrence Ll. Cruz to sign the agreement for the city. The resolution was authored by City Councilor Frederick Siao, Chairman of the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry. Part of the agreement is for MSU-IIT College of Business Administration and Accountancy to help facilitate the training sponsored by the city for micro and small business enterprises including research to develop business in the city.
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Veterans Bank assures big returns for investments
4,166.60 points
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Local and state government officials from Mindanao, Brunei Darussalam, North Sulawesi, Sarawak and Sabah remain bullish on business prospects but are constrained by the lack of mechanism for them to fully participate in the economic cooperation. “The role of the private sector in BIMP-EAGA is indispensable,” Bitung City Vice Mayor Max Lum-
ban pointed out during a roundtable discussion at the sideline of fifth BIMP-Eaga Heads of Customs Meeting in Cagayan de Oro. But Lumban added that it is them [the local or state governments] that make things happen. “It is our job as government officials to create the enabling environment for trade and investment,” said trade/PAGE 9
Bukidnon to maximize eco-tourism potentials
Davao to trim list of priority investment areas
TOURISM HAVEN. Impasugong town’s tourism center showcasing its bountiful harvest and ethnic identity. This town of Bukidnon is dubbed as the country’s home of the finest cowboys. photo courtesy of severo enriquez espino iii
By ANN NOBLE Bukidnon Bureau Chief
MALAYBALAY City -- With the provincial government’s intense drive in preserving the Bukidnon environment, local government units here get on the trend of developing its nature parks to draw prospective tourists in the province. Gov. Alex Calingasan in a recent interview admitted that there’s a need for the
local government units to fully tap the potentials of its natural resources but still within the concept of environmental preservation. Calingasan with his flagship program Regreening Bukidnon spearheaded massive tree growing campaign in the province which was also replicated by the province’s local government unit. The regreening program also encouraged the local eco-tourism/PAGE 13
By CARMELITO Q. FRANCISCO Correspondent
DAVAO City – The City government must trim its list of priority investment areas so that it can provide more focus in promoting them. This was the advice provided to the city government by members of the corporate service corps the IBM, the multinational information and communications techinvestment/PAGE 6