Customs eyes full digitalization next yearCustoms Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz said the BOC is on track in the system overhaul in the agency to increase productivity and efficiency. “The remaining customs processes that we need to digitalize, we need to address some court orders. “I have to be fast on this because the President gave very specific instructions to go full digitalization and streamline customs processes,” he said. Currently, the World Bank is supporting the digitalization of the BOC through an $88.28 million financing for the Philippine Customs Modernization Program. The Customs chief stressed the agency would continue to push for its digitalization efforts until it achieves a fully-automated customs procedure.

After all, the PSAs being fixed-rate agreements would still be good for consumers in the long run. But SMC believes that its power subsidiary SMCGP will weather its present challenges as it remains in a stable position to navigate these circumstances. Meralco will also be forced to source up to 1,000 megawatts from the WESM and to enter into higher-priced emergency power supply agreements. And because of this, Meralco said that it would also exhaust all available remedies to prevent the termination of its power supply deals with SMC. Bottom line is, it is the public which eventually will have to contend with higher electricity costs with the termination of SMC’s PSAs.

Singapore firm helps DA push for cage-free egg productionMarket vendor in marikina wet and dry market said prices of eggs in the market is possible to increase due to feeds hike. MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has teamed up with Singapore-based consulting company Global Food Partners to help egg farmers employ practices on cage-free egg production amid growing demand for the product. According to the DA, more and more egg producers in the Philippines are seeking to adopt cage-free egg practices, and have expressed the need for technical training in cage-free production. ATI OIC director Remelyn Recoter said the government is committed to supporting farmers who are interested in adopting cage-free egg practices. The course features seven modules to help egg farmers, veterinarians, auditors, students and others involved in egg production, establish a basic understanding of animal welfare and cage-free egg production as well as put the knowledge into your daily practices.

Customs collections closing in on P1 trillion markIf realized, the BOC could generate from P953 billion to as much as P968 billion for the year. MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is expecting to rake in over P900 billion in collections this year, exceeding the P733 billion target and effectively closing in on the P1-trillion mark as the economy continues to reopen. The BOC is targeting to collect P733 billion this year. This is already 87 percent of its original target of P733 billion. For the business community, if you have a predictable and transparent Customs administration, then it’s very favorable to them,” he said.

Citing economic reasons, President Marcos on Thursday said he would name a health secretary once the country’s coronavirus situation “normalizes” from its current state of calamity. ProclamationsThe country remains in “a state of calamity due to the coronavirus,” as declared in 2020 by Mr. Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte in Proclamation No. Mr. Marcos said it was not yet time to lift the state of calamity. Because, for example, if I lift the state of calamity, our health workers will not get their benefits that are in the law. For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.

Philippines opens doors to investors in EV technologyMANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is inviting investments in technologies related to electric vehicles (EVs) as it eyes to join the global value chain, according to the chief of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). “Together with EV technologies, those related to renewable energy and battery form part of the DTI green metals initiative. Among the green metals used in cleaner-energy applications are copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth metals. “Fortunately, the Philippines is rich in these green metals. We want to link with global value chains involving Norway energy companies, especially the renewable ones,”Pascual said.

A male owner of a Sham Shui Po shop was on Wednesday arrested by customs for selling a program online that allows users to bypass the paywall and watch paid TV channels for free ahead of next month's FIFA World Cup. Customs recently receive a complaint from Now TV, the copyright owner of those paid TV channels, that a seller has been promoting on online platforms a program that can stream its TV channels for free. Customs stressed that the copyright owner had applied an effective technological measure to protect its own copyright work. Those who wish to watch the paid TV channels legitimately must subscribe to the service and watch the channels either by using the official decoder or logging in to the online service account. The arrestee's program, with an annual fee ranging between HK$240 and HK$280, can live-stream the paid TV channels online as well.

At Little Taj Indian Street Kitchen, you'll get to go to India while in Boracay. Little India started off sharing space with its sister resto Nonie's at Station X, but with a constant clamor for its flavorful fare, it was quickly launched as the standalone Little Taj Indian Street Kitchen in May 2022. In Boracay's Little Taj, you'll easily find an island fave and surely keep coming back. Little Taj is the latest baby of island resto duo Patrick and Shria Florencio of the Nonie's Group. At Little Taj, everyone's pretty vishesh and is treated like a VIP, whether you're an island local or a tourist on a beach escape.

Hong Kong’s labor chief said the city must be proactive in tackling its manpower shortage, noting that nearly two-thirds of recent departures from the workforce were highly skilled, though he stressed that local workers would not be at a disadvantage. His comments came after chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu outlined in his policy address on Wednesday that some 140,000 people had left the workforce in the past two years. Clearly it's very difficult to hire," Sun said, adding that the city can’t rely on the local talent base as there are not enough people. Sun said the government aims to import some 35,000 talented individuals in each of the next three years through different schemes. He added that work would be completed by the end of the year so that officials will start attracting firms and talent early next year.

China Mobile (0941) said its net profit for the first nine months jumped by 13 percent year-on-year to 98.5 billion yuan (HK$107.01 billion). Revenue from telecommunications services reached 620.1 billion yuan, an 8.3 percent increase on the same period last year. The company said it will strive to achieve stable and healthy growth in mobile user revenue for the full year. Meanwhile, China Telecom (0728) recorded a 24.54 billion yuan net profit for the first three quarters of 2022, an increase of 5.2 percent over the same period last year. In the first nine months, the company's operating revenues rose 9.6 percent year-on-year to 360.98 billion yuan.

The current Politburo Standing Committee has seven members. In the power shakeup, Li Keqiang is due to step down as premier - a position that ranks second in the Politburo Standing Committee after the party general secretary. Although Li's predecessor Wen Jiabao left the standing committee completely after finishing his premiership, there was at least one precedent in which the ex-premier stayed in the ruling body to play a new role. A few names have been floated as probable candidates, including CPPCC chairman and standing committee member Wang Yang, vice premier Hu Chunhua and Shanghai party secretary Li Qiang. This will then elect 25 to the Politburo which, in turn, will appoint the next Politburo Standing Committee, which will be unveiled on Sunday.

Haus Talk confident large projects will increase share priceIn the notes from the Haus Talk [HTI 0.85] [link] shareholders’ meeting, HTI’s Chairman, Terence Madlambayan, was asked about the stock price’s sub-peso price, and what efforts are being exerted to claw back to the IPO “strike price” of P1.50/share. Mr. Madlambayan said that the company’s “fundamentals are good”, and that the launch of the company’s two massive projects “will contribute to the increase in the market price of the HTI shares”. The two projects in question are the Biñan project (1,400 units) and the Mariveles project (2,200 units). As noted in an answer to another question, a few smaller projects that were listed on the IPO prospectus were canceled in favor of these larger headline projects. Merkado Barkada's opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock.

Quick Take: BPI teases growth and 2 more market updatesBPI [BPI 93.40 1.52%] [link] teased 9M net income growth of 74% to P30.5 billion, with revenues up 22% y/y and provisions for non-performing loans down 27%. PIZZA referred to this as a “milestone”, PIZZA notes that the Peri-Peri brand is the second largest in its portfolio. Since it was acquired in 2019 with 29 stores, PIZZA has now added 31 stores and is “ramping up store expansion”, leveraging its connections with the Gokongwei Group. MB Quick Take: PIZZA’s growth has set it up for a strong Q4 result, which is traditionally the high season for quick service restaurants. You can subscribe to the newsletter or follow on Twitter to receive the full daily updates.

HELSINKI: Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia reported substantially improved third-quarter profits and higher sales on Thursday on the back of strong demand for fifth-generation (5G) technology from operators. The company, based in Espoo, Finland, reported a net profit of 551 million euros ($539 million) for the three months ending September, up 19 percent from 463 million euros a year earlier. Net income attributable to shareholders rose 21 percent to 550 million euros from 454 million euros. Reported sales jumped 16 percent to 6.2 billion euros. Nokia is one of the world's main suppliers of 5G — the latest generation of broadband technology — along with Sweden's Ericsson, China's Huawei and South Korea's Samsung.

Let's be frank about it: would it be difficult for someone who is already making HK$2.5 million or more a year to secure a work visa? Nonetheless, in contrast to the UK's top talent visa that targets graduates from the world's top-50 universities, the SAR's new visa to admit graduates from the world's top 100 doubles the pool size. Perhaps some mainland universities that earlier decided to withdraw from global ranking polls may have to reconsider their decisions if their graduates are to be considered for admission under the new top talent visa. Probably, the chief executive is aiming to tap talent from the mainland and Southeast Asia, rather than the West. In the face of global competition for talented individuals, the city faces an uphill task to stand out as an attractive destination.