...the World's Top Bank Governors

Tetangco keeps 'A' rating, named one of world's six top central bankers

August 25, 2012

GMA NEWS

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amado Tetangco Jr. was listed by an international finance magazine one of the world's six best Central Bankers for 2012.

Global Finance magazine, which publishes the "Central Banker Report Card," said the six performed well as the world's central banks were severely tested.

"During one of the toughest years on record, the World's Central Bankers were tested as never before. Every year, we assess the determination of Central Bankers to stand up to political interference, and their efforts at influencing their governments on such issues as spending and economic openness to foreign investment and financial services," said Global Finance publisher Joseph Giarraputo.

The Central Banker Report Card grades Central Bank governors of 50 key countries (and the European Central Bank) on an "A" to "F" scale for success in areas such as inflation control, economic growth goals, currency stability and interest rate management.

Tetangco got an "A" along with:
- Australia's Glenn Stevens
- Canada's Mark Carney
- Israel's Stanley Fischer
- Malaysia's Zeti Akhtar Aziz
- Taiwan's Fai-Nan Perng

The BSP noted Tetangco also received an “A” rating last year. — ELR, GMA News

...the world's fastest growing economies

PH makes Top 10 list of 'fastest growing' economies

ABS-CBNnews.com

08/21/2012

 

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is predicted to be one of the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world in the next 40 years, according to Knight Frank and Citi Private Wealth's 2012 Wealth Report.

 

The Philippines is seen to be the 6th fastest growing economy in the world between 2010-2050, with gross domestic product (GDP) at 7.3%.

The Wealth Report's list of fastest growing economies is topped by Nigeria with 8.5% growth rate, followed by India with 8%, Iraq 7.7% and Bangladesh and Vietnam both with 7.5%.

On 7th spot is Mongolia with 6.9%, Indonesia with 6.8%, Sri Lanka with 6.6% and Egypt with 6.4%.

In contrast, the 10 countries that are predicted to grow the least in the next 40 years are Spain, France, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Japan.

Citi research forecasts that developing Asia's share of world real GDP will increase to 49% in 2050 from 27% in 2010. Meanwhile, North American and Western European countries' share of global GDP will fall to 18% in 2050 from 41% in 2010.

China's economy is expected to overtake the US as the world's biggest economy by 2020. However, India is seen to overtake China by 2050.

"Citi research shows that while China and India are likely to grow rapidly over the next 40 years, there are other key countries with promising chances for growth that do not necessarily match the traditional assumptions about where future growth will emanate from," Grainne Gilmore, head of UK Residential Research at Knight Frank, said, in the report.

"For example, Russia and Brazil, which make up the so-called BRIC nations alongside China and India, do not make it on to Citi’s list of Global Growth Generators – or '3G' countries. Instead, Citi includes countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Mongolia, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam on this list," she added.

The report also quoted Citi chief ecnomist Willem Buiter: "All of these (3G) countries are poor today and have decades of catch-up growth to look forward to. Some of them, including Nigeria, Mongolia, Iraq and Indonesia, also have large natural resources that we hope will be more beneficial than they so often have been in the past."

The Wealth Report noted that Asian economies, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, are projected to be the world's richest economies on a per capita basis by 2050.

Singapore topped the list in 2010 and is expected to keep the top spot in 2050, when the city-state's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita would reach $137,710. Taiwan and South Korea were not even in the top 10 in 2010.

Gilmore said there are now around 18,000 "centa-millionaires" -- those with $100 million or more in assets -- in the region covering Southeast Asia, China and Japan, more than the 17,000 in North America and 14,000 in Western Europe.

By 2016, Southeast Asia, China and Japan are expected to have 26,000 centa-millionaires, compared with 21,000 in North America and 15,000 in Western Europe, Gilmore wrote, citing data from Ledbury Research. - With Agence France-Presse

...the "Third World" craft

Pinay brings eye-catching 'Third World' crafts to France

KARLA MAQUILING

August 21, 2012

 

 

 

France-based Filipina Apol Lejano-Massebieau gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “Third

World.”

 

 

A former magazine editor and television host, Lejano-Massebieau sells handcrafted bags, trays, lamps, and bowls under the "7,100 Islands" brand.

Lejano-Massebieau moved to southern France eight years ago to join her French husband.

 

Her line of products include bright and eye-catching indigenous Philippine materials like abaca;

T’nalak, a traditional cloth made by the T’boli tribe in South Cotabato; and hinabol from the

Higaonon tribe in northern Mindanao.

 

 

 

“Didn’t we all grow up hearing and saying, ‘Ay, napaka-third world naman!’ meaning backwards

or baduy? I wanted to turn that idea on its head and show that third world can also mean

exciting and new,” Lejano-Massebieau said in an e-mail interview with GMA News Online.

 

In between writing projects, she creates whimsical French vintage items for La Pomme, which

is sold on the online marketplace, Etsy.com.

Her 7,100 Islands brand brings her much closer to home and the things that she has loved about the Philippines: its textiles and crafts products.

 

Happy Tribal, Lejano-Massebieau’s first collection, consists of colorful and bright bags, clutches,

trays, and bins that, she said, “evoke the Pinoy joie de vivre.”

 

She gives them playful names, too, that any true-blue Pinoy would be familiar with: “Seksy” is a

fabric bowl sculpted painstakingly to form a curvaceous shape. “Bansot” is a 4-inch-tall bowl for

pens, keys, and coins; its bigger version, “Lusog,” is an 8-inch-tall storage solution. “Ganda” is a

3.5x3.5-inch ikat-print pencil holder.

 

An idea, 20 years in the making
 

The idea of creating new objects from indigenous materials came up 20 years ago, on Lejano-

Massebieau’s visit to Pampanga, which had been ravaged by the Pinatubo eruption. There she

chanced upon Aetas selling seed-bead jewelry, arches, and arrows.

 

“I found the objects beautiful. At the same time, I felt pain for the Aetas because they had been

displaced,” she recalled.

 

Many years later, she would make the idea a reality through "7,100 Islands," by building a

business that would help Filipino crafts people earn a living.

 

Lejano-Massebieau found her textile sources through the help of another France-based Pinay,

Nola Andaya-Milani, a social entrepreneur who has worked extensively with tribes and artisan

communities in the Philippines. She contacts them directly through e-mail, phone, and Skype.

 

The whole business setup is not without its challenges. T

he T’nalak fabric takes two months

to weave, and considering the time it takes to ship the material from the Philippines to France,

plus designing and creating an object out of it—something Lejano-Massebieau does herself—an

item from 7,100 Islands can take as much as six months to make.

 

If there’s anything Lejano-Massebieau has learned from the experience, it’s that one needs to

go with the flow. “It takes foresight and patience, and an acceptance that things will not always

go as planned,” she said.

 

Recently, 7,100 Islands was featured in an American blog, which caught the attention of an

American designer who wants to collaborate with Lejano-Massebieau. Soon, the 7,100 Islands

collection will also be sold through the online site Beklina.com, enabling these Pinoy-made

designs to reach a wider audience worldwide.

 

In the future, Lejano-Massebieau plans to come back to the Philippines for an extended

visit and set up a production house for 7,100 Islands.

She intends to find Filipino designers and artisans whose works she can feature and offer to the global market. Indeed, Lejano- Massebieau proves that there’s more to “third world” than meets the eye. - VVP, GMA News

...the competitive edge

PHL can be more competitive with infrastructure revamp — ITC

 

August 20, 2012

GMA News

 

Developing countries, including the Philippines, should consider restructuring and applying appropriate competition rules to their infrastructure sectors in order to benefit from trade liberalization and to boost their competitiveness.

This is the recommendation of a trio of trade experts in the book "National Trade Policy for Export Success," recently published by the International Trade Centre (ITC).

The ITC is an agency jointly operated by the WTO and the United Nations, its work being on trade-related technical assistance to developing countries.

The book addresses five objectives, each taking up a chapter. The chapter referring to developing countries' infrastructure improvement is titled "Create competitive infrastructure services" and is co-authored by French economist and Supreme Court judge Frederic Jenny and two members of the WTO's Intellectual Property Division: Counselor Robert Anderson and legal affairs officer Anna Muller.

The report quotes the Oxford dictionary in defining "infrastructure" as being "the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise," while adding that this includes transportation, energy and telecommunications.

The authors said that restructuring infrastructure entails actions such as enforcing competition laws and policies to prevent wrongdoing such as price-fixing, establishing cartels and the abuse of one's dominant position in the industry; and improving public services.

These, they said, will serve to complement and enhance the competitiveness of developing businesses.

"Countries, and their businesses, will not be well-poised to take advantage of the benefits of trade liberalization unless steps are also taken to: reduce costs and enhance the efficiency of infrastructure sectors; promote flexibility by eliminating artificial restrictions on entry, exit and pricing in manufacturing and other industries," said the chapter.

A failure of trade liberalization to generate sustained development and growth, they said, can often be traced to a failure to introduce complementary domestic policy reforms.

The authors said measures to strengthen competition are an important complement to other reforms, such as privatization, that are aimed at improving performance in public infrastructure services in the transportation, energy and telecommunication sectors.

"Successfully implemented, such measures offer substantial potential benefits to users, especially export-oriented businesses. The gains from export-oriented businesses are equally applicable to importing businesses," it said.

The paper also cited the need for countries to implement technological changes as well as improve their understand of them. - BM, GMA News

...the math wizzards in Guangzhou

Pinoys win medals in China math contests

ABS-CBNnews.com

08/20/2012

 

 

Filipino medalists at the 9th China Southeast Mathematical Olympiad (top) and the 2012 China Girls' Mathematics Olympiad (bottom). Photos courtesy of MTG

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino students representing the country won in two math competitions recently held in China.

The Philippine delegation bagged medals at the 9th China Southeast Mathematical Olympiad (CSMO) held in Putian in Fujian, China, and the 2012 China Girls’ Mathematics Olympiad held in Guangzhou, China.
They brought home a total of two silvers, five bronze medals and three merit awards.

“The CGMO and CSMO are two of the most difficult math contests in the world,” said Dr. Simon Chua, president of the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines, which trained the students in the said math competitions.

Below is the full list of winners:

CSMO
Silver

• Adrian Reginald Sy - St. Jude Catholic School

Bronze

• Austin Edrich Chua - St. Jude Catholic School
• Angelo Sevilleno - Valenzuela City Science High School

Merit awards

• Gen Mark Tanno - Southville International School and Colleges
• Jervis Chua - Philippine Cultural College
• Alexander Sarino - Valenzuela City Science High School

CGMO
Silver

• Ma. Czarina Lao - St. Jude Catholic School

Bronze

• Kelsey Lim Tiong Soon - Grace Christian College
• Reine Jiana Reynoso - Philippine Science High School-Main
• Mikaela Angelina Uy - St. Jude Catholic School

---

...the PH owls

Two new owls discovered in PH

 

ABS-CBNnews.com

08/20/2012

 

 

(Top left) Cebu Hawk owl and (bottom right) the Camiguin Hawk owl. Photo courtesy of Oriental Bird Club: original painting by John Gale

MANILA, Philippines -- Two new species of owls have been discovered in the Philippines, according to the Michigan State University (MSU), whose researcher played a key role in confirming the birds' existence.

The news is featured in the current issue of Forktail, the Journal of Asian Ornithology.

According to the paper's lead author Pam Rasmussen, an assistant professor of zoology at the Msu and assistant curator of mammalogy and ornithology at the MSU Museum, the discovery took years to confirm but was well worth the effort.

"More than 15 years ago, we realized that new subspecies of Ninox hawk-owls existed in the Philippines," she said. "But it wasn't until last year that we obtained enough recordings that we could confirm that they were not just subspecies, but two new species of owls."

"Announcing the finding of a single bird is rare enough. But the discovery of two new bird species in a single paper is so rare that Rasmussen and the other researchers couldn't recall the last time it happened," the MSU said in a statement.

The first owl, the Camiguin Hawk-owl, is said to be found only in Camiguin Sur.

"At night, it gives a long solo song that builds in intensity, with a distinctive low growling tone. Pairs of owls give short barking duets that start with a growl. They also are the only owls to have blue-gray eyes," the MSU said.

The second new discovery was the Cebu Hawk-owl, which was thought to be extinct due to deforestation.

"The owls don't learn their songs, which are genetically programmed in their DNA and are used to attract mates or defend their territory; so if they're very different, they must be new species," Rasmussen said.

"When we first heard the songs of both owls, we were amazed because they were so distinctly different that we realized they were new species."

The owls have avoided recognition as distinct species for so long "because the group shows complex variation in appearance that had been poorly studied, and their songs were unknown," the MSU saod, adding that both islands are "off the beaten path" for ornithologists and birders, who usually visit the larger islands that host more bird species.

Sound recordings of both new owl species and those from other islands are available free on AVoCet, the university said.

The MSU said a team of scientists and contributors to confirm the owls' existence, which included individuals from BirdLife International, the Oriental Bird Club, Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. and Birdtour Asia.

Additional support was also provided by National Geographic.