Businessmen who paid as much as $4,000 to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in Makati City last week remain exhilarated over a series of events that allowed them to rub elbows with powerful heads of state and business leaders.
Over 1,500 businessmen attended the celebrated forum, with foreign delegates paying $4,000 and local participants half the price for the three-day Apec CEO Summit at Makati Shangri La Hotel.
Francis Chua, chairman and president of BA Securities, said the fee was worth every cent, as he was able to see and listen to US President Barrack Obama and China President Xi Jinping in one forum. “It is worth every dollar for any delegate because you saw many heads of state and billionaires like Jack Ma,” Chua said, referring to the founder and chairman of the Alibaba Group.
Chua exchanged greetings with President Jinping, Peru President Ollanta Moisés Humala and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Chua, the honorary consul general of Peru, said he even found himself in a conversation with Humala, who thanked him for his assistance extended to Peruvian delegates and officials. “There is plenty of collaboration with Peru since they will host Apec next year,” Chua said.
Japan firm investing P1.7b in Batangas
A Japanese precision parts manufacturer, which traces its roots in watchmaking, is investing P1.7 billion to set up a factory in Batangas province that will manufacture quartz crystal blank, a component for products such as watches, mobile phones and appliances.
Data from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority show that Citizen Machinery Philippines Inc., the local subsidiary of Japan’s Citizen Finedevice, will employ at least 530 workers, once the facility at the First Philippine Industrial Park II in Sto. Tomas, Batangas is fully operational.
Citizen Finedevice is currently the world’s largest manufacturer of quartz crystals and oscillators in cylindrical, plastic, metal and ceramic packages.
Apart from plants in Japan, the company also operates two factories in Guangxi and Jiangsu China, one in Kowloon Hong Kong, another in Colorado, USA and a facility in Thailand. Othel V. Campos
Wenceslao may cut IPO size
Amid the volatile market activities, construction and property company Datem Inc. decided to defer its P4.65-billion initial public offering. This could put pressures on another construction company, DM Wenceslao & Associates Inc., which is also planning to conduct its maiden offering in December.
While it had not indicated plans to defer the IPO, DM Wenceslao was reportedly planning to significantly reduce the IPO size to somewhere between $150 million and $200 million, from an initial size of $476 million, given the market volatility.
Still, this would be the country’s largest IPO this year.
D.M. Wenceslao also slightly moved the timetable for the IPO. From the initial offer period of Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, the schedule was changed to Dec. 9 to Dec 15. The listing date was also changed from Dec. 17 to Dec. 22. Jenniffer B. Austria
BSP spares credit program from politics
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is wary that the creation of credit surety funds in some parts of the country may be politicized during the national elections next year. So to make sure that these will be spared from politics, Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the regulator would resume the establishment of the credit scheme for small businesses after the May 2016 elections.
“We have done 45 so far [for 2015]. Since 2016 is an election year and we don’t want to politicize the program, we can only start in June 2016,” Guinigundo said in a text message.
Cabanatuan City Credit Surety Fund was the last facility put up in 2015. It was created on Nov. 9, becoming the 45th CSF in the country.
Guinigundo also said Bangko Sentral planned to create four more credit surety funds next year “bringing it to around 49 by the end of 2016.” The additional credit facilities will be established in Ilocos Sur, Camarines Sur, Quezon province and Dinagat Islands.
Introduced in 2008, the CSF program is a credit enhancement scheme designed to help micro, small and medium enterprises which cannot borrow from banks due to lack of acceptable collaterals, credit knowledge and credit track records as well as gain access to banks’ credit facilities for their working capital requirements. Julito G. Rada
