CHINA is building new harbors and airstrips on various reefs and atolls in the Spratly Islands—facilities

that, Beijing confirms, will be used for military, as well as civil purposes. The US and its allies in the region need to weigh their response with care. New images showing the extent of these land-reclamation efforts in the South China Sea have aroused concern, and critics are accusing the Barack Obama administration of fecklessness in the face of provocation. The issue isn’t quite so clear-cut. Sharper thinking is needed about when and how to challenge China’s growing assertiveness.

Territorial disputes WHILE claiming that the construction was

intended for “typhoon shelters, naviga-tion aids, search-and-rescue centers, ma-rine meteorological forecasting stations” and the like, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman admitted the new installations would also be used for military purposes. They’ll enable Chinese naval vessels to re-fuel, and jet fighters to patrol, far from the mainland. They could help China impose a threatened air-defense identification zone over the South China Sea. In January even foreign ministers from the normally reticent Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed “concern” at the scale of recent construction. Yet, this “great wall of sand,” in the words of US Pacific Fleet Cmdr. Harry Harris, is not as brazen a move as one might think. Other claimants to the Spratlys have

built military facilities, including airstrips, on islands and atolls they control. The reclaimed land doesn’t neces-sarily strengthen China’s legal claim to the territory or surrounding waters. And the facilities probably wouldn’t be much use if it came to a shooting war, given their vulnerability to bombs and missile strikes. The US cannot expect to frustrate every manifestation of China’s rise and expanding ambitions. It needs to pick its fights judiciously. Beijing is wrong to try to change the status quo in a tense region, and the administration should say so‚ but if the US hopes to do more than that, it must develop usable measures capable of imposing real costs.

C A

THE seven-month-long port congestion cost local and foreign busi-

nesses at least $500 million, according to estimates made by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), which enjoins the government to implement reforms to avoid more losses, as the peak season for port activity draws near.

Michael Raeuber, president of the ECCP, disclosed his cost estimates for both port-congestion surcharges and trucking rates during the gridlock at Manila’s ports, in a bid to give a better picture of the damage the logjam has cost to exporters and importers. “Just due to the surcharges, we have a damage of a mini-mum of $166 million. Subic is not considered nor Batan-gas. What is also not considered here are other surcharges that other shipping lines have imposed, such as container imbalance surcharges and the like,” Raeuber said.

ECCP PRESENTS RECOMMENDATIONS TO AVOID REPEAT OF COSTLY CONGESTION AT MANILA PORTS

www.businessmirror.com.ph n�TfridayNovember 18, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 40 P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEKn�Wednesday, April 15, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 188

A broader look at today’s businessBusinessMirrorBusinessMirrorTHREETIME

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDEE2006, 2010, 2012U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

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PRESIDENT Aquino aims to ring anew the opening bell at the Phil-ippine Stock Exchange (PSE), when

the market index breaches the 9,000 and 10,000 levels, before he steps down in 14 months. In a speech after ringing the bell on Tues-day, Mr. Aquino acknowledged that with the PSE’s “enhanced trading capacity and increased risk-management parameters,” breaching the index target is within reach. “I have no doubt that this system will serve you well in the future, especially since

I expect to ring the bell in celebration of the index breaching the 9,000 and 10,000 levels, hopefully, before I step down from office,” Mr. Aquino said. The President noted that the market of today is “drastically different,” but added that he was “pleased to see that the PSE is adapting well.” He cited the PSE’s move to migrate by next month to a new trading system—the PSETrade XTS—which, he said, “possesses an enhanced trading capacity and increased risk-management parameters—for instance, I am told, the ability to recover from a system failure that will happen in the same day.”

Mr. Aquino recalled that the first time

he rang the bell at the PSE was back in September 2010.  “Back then, the PSE in-dex [PSEi] was on the cusp of breaching the 4,000 level. We had good reason to believe that it would, since both intraday and closing record highs were observed in the days prior. Now, looking back, Icannot help but think: How times have changed, and might I add, for the better,” the President added.

He pointed out that, in almost five years, the PSEi went from record high to record high. “I’m told: 119 in total, with the index breaching the 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 and 8,000 levels.”

INSIDE

PHL REALESTATESECTOR CONTINUESTO GROW

A QUICK STUDY

CHINA, RUSSIA AND SAUDI ARABIA INCREASED DEFENSE SPENDING IN 2014

BusinessMirrorBusinessMirrorWednesday, April 15, 2014E1 Editor: Tet Andolong

WITH a remarkable economic growth rate of 6.1 percent, vigorous service and surging foreign

investments, the country’s property sector is slated to have another growth year in 2015, according to real-estate services agency KMC MAG Group.

“We expect the property markets to remain active throughout the year,” shared KMC MAG Group Man-aging Director Michael McCullough in a recent media brie�ng held in Makati City. “�ere are a lot of rea-sons for this optimism, chief among them low interest rates, quantitative easing from the central bank and positive feedback from investors. �ese factors have helped create a favorable climate for both local and foreign businesses.”

McCullough noted that the emer-gence of townships across various cities resulted in the creation of pockets of growth and development in Metro Manila. He said proper-ty titans, such as Andrew Tan-led Megaworld, the Sy clan’s SM, and the Zobel-headed Ayala, are focusing on township projects, with Megaworld turning its attention to McKinley West and Uptown Bonifacio, while SM is working on reclaiming more land and expanding the Mall of Asia complex, and Ayala developing the Arca South  (Taguig), Makati Circuit (Makati) and Vertis North (Quezon City) townships. Moreover,  developer Vista Land of former Sen. Manuel Vil-lar  has also started to build townships.

�e completion to develop town-ships led to the pouring of gargantu-an amounts expected to breach the P300-billion mark this year, cover-ing land acquisitions, ongoing proj-ects and launches.

“�e township concept also pro-vides a way for developers to be part of the solution to the congestion in Metro Manila,” McCullough said. “With developers taking the critical �rst step and building in other areas within and outside of the Metro—they’re creating new microdistricts and encouraging more Filipinos to live, work and play closer to home. We hope that this will help reduce congestion and make Metro Manila more livable.”

�e outsourcing industry will continue to boost the demand for the o�ce market, which has encour-aged developers to launch new de-velopments across Metro Manila. In 2015 alone, he said, approximately 560,000 square meters (sq m) of new o�ce space are expected to be built across the major central business dis-tricts, with nearly half of the supply located in BGC.

“�e expansion of business-pro-cess outsourcing [BPO] to new wave cities and the economic growth in major cities, such as Cebu and Davao, have spurred developers into pursu-ing more projects outside of Metro Manila,” McCullough said.

He said the o�ce supply is also set to increase in Alabang, Ortigas and in the bay area, with the additions of the Alabang Town Center BPO Build-ing, Vector �ree, the BDO Corporate Center and Five E-com. Meanwhile, Quezon City will have to wait until 2016 for new o�ce supply.

�e retail sector also enjoys the advantage of having lower rates than Hong Kong, Singapore, Aus-tralia, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. “At $49.1 per sq m, the monthly prime mall-rental rate in Manila remains as the lowest in the region, less than its counterparts Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. �e Philippines should be taking advantage of that,” McCullough noted.

On the other hand, McCullough recommended the strengthening infrastructure and relaxing foreign-ownership rules to   attract more in-vestments and fully maximize its posi-tive momentum.  “We need to make it easier for potential investors to come in and see what we have to o�er.”

“If the Philippines invests in con-nectivity throughout Luzon, the Vi-sayas and Mindanao, and supports this with good governance, sound macroeconomic policies and more liberal foreign-ownership rules, then it stands a good chance of becoming an economic powerhouse in South-east Asia.” Rizal Raoul Reyes

PHL real-estate sector continues to grow

C1 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015mirror_sports@yahoo.com.phsports@businessmirror.com.phEditor: Jun Lomibao

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.phC1 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

SportsSportsBusinessMirror

B S DMUSA Today

THE green jacket sparkled in the Big Apple.

Less than 24 hours after Jordan Spieth thumped Augusta National Golf Club in his record-setting victory in the 79th Masters, he hopped aboard a plane on Monday and touched down in New York for a nonstop tour chock full of appearances on various sports, news and entertainment shows.

The world’s No. 2 and second-youngest Masters winner did interviews with ESPN Radio, NBC Nightly News and Fox. There was a photo-op and lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building, which was lit green in his honor. And, of course, he met up with David Letterman for his late show.

On Sunday he’s live with Mike & Mike in the Morning, CBS This Morning, Today, CNBC’s Squawk Box, Golf Channel’s Morning Driveand The Dan Patrick Show, among others.

On Monday he also shot a spot for the Jim Rome Show that will air on Showtime on Wednesday.

On Thursday he’ll play in the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Good thing he’s 21—and caught a few winks while sleeping with the green jacket by his side.

“It has spent very little time away from me,” said Spieth, who dreamed of winning the Masters as a kid as he putted on a makeshift putting green in front of his house. “It’s just been a whirlwind the last 24 hours.... I really don’t think it has sunk in yet. Walking up 18 after the second shot, I knew I was going to win the Masters. But for it to really soak in in its entirety is going to take some time.”

While Spieth headed north, his parents went westward to Dallas, where they live within 10 minutes of their son, who still comes over to do his laundry. Most of his family was behind the 18th green when he wrapped up his four-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose. It came one year after he finished in a tie for second in his first Masters.

“There was all of this relief because of how focused Jordan was on the Masters this year, after being so close last year,” Shawn Spieth said of his reaction to his son’s victory. “And it was awesome to see him accomplish a goal that was his No. 1 priority in golf. It happened more quickly than probably anyone expected. And now it has the potential to change his life in certain ways.”

But it won’t change who Spieth is. He will remain humble, polite and generous with his time for both fans and news media. And his focus off the course is to help others, especially those with special needs, such as his sister, Ellie, 14, who was born with a neurological disorder that places her on the autism spectrum.

She is Spieth’s inspiration.“As great a game golf is,

it’s still a game. He has that perspective,” Shawn Spieth said. “It’s not changing a lot of lives in significant ways. What’s really most important to him is outside of golf, and that’s helping people that have different types of needs. He wants to make a difference in other ways in life that are bigger than the game of golf.”

SETTLING INWITH THEGREEN JACKET

B D FThe Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Georgia—The most important round in Jordan Spieth’s young career began with a little perspective

from his caddie.Spieth’s former golf team at the

University of Texas was playing a match on Sunday in California at Pasatiempo Golf Club south of San Francisco. Spieth would have been in his final year in Texas if not for dropping out early to try to make a living on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour.

As they stood on the first tee, Spieth said Michael Greller told him, “Aren’t you glad you’re not at Pasatiempo right now?”

Looks like it was a good career move for the 21-year-old Texan, who ended Sunday wearing the green jacket.

After having a laugh about where they were, and just how they got there, Spieth birdied the first hole and was on his way to a performance that ranks among the best at the Masters.

He set scoring records for 36 holes (130) and 54 holes (200), and a bogey on the final hole on Sunday meant he had to share the record for 72 holes (270) with Tiger Woods. He had the lowest start by a champion (64). He made more birdies (28) in one tournament than anyone in 78 previous Masters.

The only number that really mattered to Spieth was 42—his jacket size.

“It’s the most incredible week of my life,” Spieth said. “This is as great as it gets in our sport.”

But even as he tried to fathom all he accomplished, it was that joke on the first tee that was even more difficult to comprehend.

Spieth turned pro in late 2012

without a PGA Tour card and no idea where the road would take him. It led to victory as a 19-year-old rookie, to being selected as the youngest American to play in the Presidents Cup, to the final group at the Masters in his debut last year and losing a two-shot lead with 11 holes to play.

“It’s all run together. It all happened quickly,” Spieth said. “Sometimes it feels like a long time ago. And sometimes it feels like yesterday. All in all, it’s really cool.”

It was the disappointment of last year that ultimately carried him to a four-shot victory on Sunday.

He watched Bubba Watson celebrate another Masters title, and all the perks and celebrity that came with it. He knew that could have been him.

“So you get reminded of it all the time, because when you’re Masters champion, it’s a different legacy,” Spieth said. “And so that definitely left me hungry. And then also, having a chance to win the last couple of week and not pulling it off.”

He was runner-up in the Texas Open and lost in a playoff at the Houston Open before arriving to Augusta.

“So the combination of the two allowed me to keep my head down, not worry about anyone else in the field, except myself, and to play a golf course that is my favorite course in the world,” he said.

The par-5 eighth hole is where it all started to go wrong last year. He had a two-shot lead and made bogey to Watson’s birdie. On the ninth hole, Spieth’s shot came up a fraction short and tumbled down the front of the green and back into the fairway, leading to another bogey. Watson birdied and suddenly was two shots ahead, and Spieth didn’t have the power or the putting to catch up.

MASTERS WINNER JOWINNER JOWINNER RDANDAND SPIETH IS GOING PLACES IN A HURRYRRYRR

A QUICK STUDY

This year was different. His lead down to three shots, Spieth made a simple birdie on the eighth hole. This time, his approach on the ninth was fraction long enough to land on the ridge and stay put. He made par, and Justin Rose had a three-putt bogey to fall five shots behind.

There was only one shaky moment after that. Spieth was four shots ahead and looking at a two-shot swing on the 16th when Rose had 15 feet for birdie and Spieth faced an 8-foot putt for par. Rose missed. Spieth made. He was on his way.

“It was probably one of the best putts he hit all day,” Rose said.

It’s tempting to declare Spieth as golf’s next big star after such a performance and the elite

company he joins. In the last century, only four players have three PGA Tour titles that include a major before turning 22—Spieth, Woods, Tom Creavy and Gene Sarazen. He was the first wire-to-wire winner at Augusta in 39 years. He already is No. 2 in the world, and he still has work to do to reach Rory McIlroy at No. 1.

Golf is craving a rivalry, and this has all the trappings of one, especially because the world ranking has never had No. 1 and No. 2 both 25 or younger. It’s worth waiting to see if other young players emerge the rest of the year in the majors, such as Jason Day or even Hideki Matsuyama, who finished fifth.

But that Friday at Augusta,

when Spieth shot 66 and built a five-shot lead, felt a lot like Friday at Congressional when McIlroy began to bury the US Open field in 2011.

“He’s way more mature than I was at 21, and a hell of a golfer and a great person, as well,” McIlroy said.

Spieth was not ready to think about a rivalry, even though he stated his goal very clearly that he wants to be No. 1. This was a big step, but it was only a step.

“He’s got four majors,” Spieth said of McIlroy. “That’s something I can still only dream about.”

If history is any indication, the kid is a quick study. And he seems to be in a hurry to get where he’s going.

JORDAN SPIETH says his previous losses priorthe Masters’ victory keep his head down. AP

JORDAN SPIETH, here getting the help from Bubba Watson to wear the green jacket, now has a full schedule for interviews after winning the Masters. AP

B3-1 | Wednesday, April 15, 2015 • Editor: Lyn ResurreccionWorld

BusinessMirror

WorldTheWorld

China’s defense spending rose 9.7 per-China’s defense spending rose 9.7 per-China’s defense spending rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier, to $216 billion, and Russia’s increased 8.1 percent, to $84.5 billion, the research group said in its annual report on global defense spending adjusted for in�ation.

Saudi Arabia had the biggest per-centage increase among the top 15 spenders worldwide, rising 17 per-cent, to $80.8 billion.

While the US remains by far the world’s largest military spender, its

defense spending in 2014 fell 6.5 percent, to $610 billion, re�ecting a 20-percent decrease since 2010, ac-cording to the report.

The report focuses on countries that spend more than 4 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.

�e �gures re�ect intensifying global turmoil.

Russia’s March 2014 annexa-tion of Crimea sparked a con�ict in Ukraine, and tensions simmer over territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas.

Saudi Arabia continues to arm militants in Syria, joined a US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, and last month launched air strikes against Iranian-backed reb-els in Yemen.

�e data do not re�ect the sharp fall in oil prices in late 2014, and it’s

unclear what e�ect that may have, the institute said in the report.

Many oil-producing countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, are expected to be able to withstand any e�ects because of the “strong �-nancial reserves” they accumulated during several years of high oil prices.

�at’s not the case for Russia, which planned its spending in-crease before the start of the crisis in Ukraine.

Russia already has cut its planned spending for this year in consideration of its battered econo-my, the institute said.

Russia still expects to have a sub-stantial increase in total military spending for 2015—about 15 per-cent in real terms—to $66 billion).

In contrast, North Atlantic Trea-ty Organization nations are unlike-

ly to increase their spending to meet the required target of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Most of Western and Central Europe will see a downward trend from continued austerity policies while Baltic, Nordic and Eastern Eu-ropean countries that border Russia boost expenditures to withstand the Russian threat.

China’s military spending has gener-ally kept pace with its economic growth rate, with expenditures remaining a fairly steady share of GDP of 2 percent to 2.2 percent over the past decade, the research group said.

Japan spent about the same amount it did in 2013, dropping in rank to the world’s ninth-largest spender, according to the report. India took Japan’s place last year as the sev-enth-largest. Bloomberg News/TNS

China, Russia and Saudi Arabia increased defense spending in 2014

ROYAL Saudi Land Forces and units of Special Forces of the Pakistani army take part in a joint military exercise called Al-Samsam 5 in Shamrakh �eld, north of Baha region, southwest Saudi Arabia, on March 30. AP/SAUDI PRESS AGENCY

UNITED NATIONS—Chinese, Russian and Saudi Arabian defense spending increased

the most last year, while US spending fell, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

TRADE groups from the US, Europe and Japan urged China to suspend guidelines that limit banks from us-

ing foreign technology, saying the policies discriminate against outsiders and limit Chinese companies’ security options.

In a letter dated on Monday, 31 trade associations asked the ruling Communist Party’s cyberspace leading group to halt the rules from the banking regulator that are aimed at spreading the use of “secure and controllable” or Chinese-developed Internet and technology products.

“A“A“ pproaches that keep out certain

technologies would likely render China’s a�ected industries slower to innovate, more costly to operate, and less capable of managing dynamic security threats leaving Chinese networks less secure,” the groups said in the letter.

The protest follows a similar letter that several of the same groups sent in January seeking urgent talks with the party’s cyberspace leading group about the regulations, which they called “an overly broad, opaque, discriminatory ap-proach to cybersecurity policy.”

China has unveiled a national strategy,

reported by Bloomberg News last Decem-ber, to purge most foreign technology for banks, state-owned enterprises and the military by 2020.

China’s cyberspace administrator didn’t immediately respond to a faxed request for comment about the letter. Cyber-space minister Lu Wei said in February others must resist making “false allega-tions” and countries should manage the Web together.

He reiterated that China welcomes investment so long as those entering the country obey Chinese law. Bloomberg News

INTERNATIONAL TRADE GROUPS TO BEIJING: SUSPEND RULES ON FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY

CONTAINERtrucks carry goods at a sea port in Rizhao in east China’s Shandong province. CHINATOATOA PIX VIA AP

UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations on Monday said the world’s population is ex-

pected to grow from 7. 3 billion to 8.4 billion between 2015 and 2030, and called for integrating popula-tion issues on the post-2015 devel-opment agenda.

�e information was learned from the 48th session of the UN Commission on Population and Development that opened here on Monday, with a focus on current and future population trends and their implications for sustainable development.

In a message to the commission, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the international community is going to forge a set of sustain-able development goals, and they will be influenced by the “profound demographic shifts,” which take place in current world, especially those related to youth, the elderly, urbanization and migration.

According to a thematic report prepared by Ban for the session, all of the 1.1-billion projected growth in global population will occur in urban areas.

All regions, except Europe, are expected to record increases of 15 percent or more in the size of their urban populations.

“Already, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that proportion will grow over the next 15 years, adding urgency to e�orts to optimize the bene�ts of urbanization and overcome its challenges,” Ban said.

�e report also noted that over the next 15 years, roughly 2 bil-lion children will reach school age; meanwhile, the share of older per-sons in the population is projected to increase from 12 percent in 2015 to 16 percent in 2030.

“�is requires enhancing educa-tion for both girls and boys, ensur-ing access to sexual and reproduc-tive health care and creating more decent jobs,” he said, adding that “we must forge societies where older persons can contribute to the fullest and enjoy the social protec-tions they deserve.”

During the session, UN mem-ber-states, UN entities and the civil society will review the change and make recommendations for people- centered development strategies, which will bene�t the ongoing negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda.

�e session will close on Friday. PNA/Xinhua

U.N.: WORLD POPULATION TO GROW TO W TO W8.4B IN NEXT 15 YEARS

LIVING in an apartment? Expect your rent to go up again.

Renting has gotten increasingly expensive over the last �ve years. The average US rent has climbed 14 percent to $1,124 since 2010, according to com-mercial property tracker Reis Inc. That’s 4 percentage points faster than in�a-tion, and more than double the rise in US home prices over the same period.

Now, despite a surge in apartment construction, rents are projected to rise yet another 3.3 percent this year, to an average $1,161, according to Reis. While that’s slower than last year’s 3.6 percent increase, the broader upward trend isn’t going away.

“The only relief in sight is rents in the hottest markets are going to go up at a slower pace, but they’re still going to go up,” says Hessam Nadji, chief strategy of-up,” says Hessam Nadji, chief strategy of-up,” says Hessam Nadji, chief strategy of�cer at Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real-estate services �rm.

The main reason: More people than ever are apartment hunting.

Young people who have been living with their parents are increasingly �nd-ing jobs and moving out. Rising home prices are leading many long-time rent-ers to stay put.

In addition, most of the new apart-ments coming on the market are aimed at a�uent tenants and carry higher-than-average rents. That’s especially true in cities where new buildings are going up in urban core areas, which means builders need to recoup higher land and development costs.

Consider Denver, where rents have in-creased more than 5 percent a year since

2010—9.2 percent in 2014—according to Marcus & Millichap. Of the 9,400 new apartment units added last year, 23 per-cent were in urban core areas.

Competition for apartments means renters are less likely to be able to nego-tiate with landlords, or win concessions such as a free month’s rent.

During the last recession many workers who lost their jobs moved in with relatives or took on roommates. About 32 percent of US adults were living with roommates or adult family members in 2012, up from 27.4 percent in 2006, according to Zillow, an online real-estate �rm.

Stepped-up hiring has begun to re-verse that trend. About 2.8 million more Americans have jobs than 12 months ago.

“The share of young adults with jobs has climbed in the past year, and that will help many of them move out of their parents’ homes,” says Jed Kolko, chief economist at online real-estate �rm Tru-lia. “Most of them will be renters �rst.”

More people vying for apartments helps drive rents higher. And metropoli-tan areas with faster job growth are gen-erally seeing higher-than-average rent hikes. as well.

The three metro areas with the big-gest annual increase in rent in January, according to Trulia: Denver (14.2 per-cent); Oakland, California (12.1 percent); and San Francisco (11.6 percent).

Job growth in each of those cities also eclipsed the national growth rate of 2.3 percent over the 12 months ended in January. Employment grew 3.7 percent in Denver; 2.7 percent in Oakland; and 4.5 percent in San Francisco. AP

US apartment rents projected to rise againUS apartment rents projected to rise againUS apartment rents

PROPERTY E1

SPORTS C1

WORLD B31 P-Noy expects to ring PSE bell anew soon when index breaks 9,000 level

PHL TO CONTINUE AS BESTPERFORMING ECONOMYIN SOUTHEAST ASIAIMF

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THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees a below-target growth for the Philippines next year, but raised its expectations for 2015.

In its recently published World Economic Outlook (WEO) for April, the IMF said its 2016 growth projec-tion for the Philippines is at 6.3 percent. This is lower than its earlier forecast of 6.4 percent, as announced in January this year. It is also below the government’s growth target, at 7 percent to 8 percent. The IMF announced earlier this month that it has raised its growth outlook for the Philippines for this year from 6.6 percent to 6.7 percent, on the assump-tion of increased government spending for 2015. Amid the downgrade of growth forecast, the IMF said the Philippines is still set to become the fastest-growing economy in Asean this year and in 2016,

Port logjam cost traders $500M

S “IMF,” A

S “P ,” A

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 44.6330 n JAPAN 0.3717 n UK 65.5302 n HK 5.7591 n CHINA 7.1795 n SINGAPORE 32.5551 n AUSTRALIA 33.8129 n EU 47.2039 n SAUDI ARABIA 11.9002 Source: BSP (14 April 2015)

BUSINESS and government leaders (from left) Lance Y. Gokongwei, president and COO of JG Summit Holdings Inc.; Robert G. Vergara, Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) director; Teresita J. Herbosa, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo; Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima; President Aquino; Jose T. Pardo, PSE chairman; Eusebio H. Tanco, PSE director; Teresita Sy-Coson, BDO Unibank Inc. chairman; Hans B. Sicat, PSE president; Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp.; and Ramon S. Ang, president of San Miguel Corp., lead the bell-ringing ceremony to mark the PSE index’s ascent to the 8,000 level on the PSE trading floor in Makati City. NONIE REYES

UNITED FRONT NEEDED TO CONFRONT CHINA’S‘GREAT WALL OF SAND’

followed by Vietnam and Indonesia. For the so-called Asean-5, growth is seen to generally pick up to 5.2 percent, from the 4.6-percent actual growth in 2014. This pace of growth is seen to be sustained up to 2016 at 5.3 percent, as pro-jected by the IMF. The world’s economic outlook, meanwhile, is also seen to slightly pick up to 3.5 percent from the 3.4-percent actual growth seen in 2014. In 2016 the IMF sees world output to hit 3.8 percent. Inflation for the country, meanwhile, is seen to hit 2.1 percent—or at the bottom end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) target for the year at 2 percent to 4 percent. IMF Resident Representative Shanaka Jayanath Peiris said is due to the lower commodity prices during the period. For next year, the country’s inflation rate is seen to pick up at 2.8 per-cent—still within the government’s target. Among the downside risks to growth going forward in the region, as discussed by the IMF in its WEO report, is the slower economic expansion in China and Japan, the persistent US dollar strength against the euro and yen, and the movements in global financial conditions that may af-fect the region’s and individual country’s markets. The IMF is set to visit the Philippines in May for its Article IV consulta-tion. “The agenda for the next article is an ongoing discussion by usually covers the economic outlook, risks and policies the sustain growth over the medium,” Peiris said in an e-mailed response to the BusinessMirror.

BusinessMirror news@businessmirror.com.ph Wednesday, April 15, 2015A2

NewsDTI to lure more US manufacturers

By Catherine N. Pillas

The Philippines needs to attract more non-business-process outsourcing (BPO) investments from the US, spe-

cifically in manufacturing, to help bridge the country’s manufacturing supply-chain gap, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Tuesday.

The average port-congestion surcharges per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) was pegged at a conservative $119.55, based on fees imposed by 11 shipping lines. The volume that was handled by both Ma-nila International Container Terminal and the South Harbor for at least six months of the peak of congestion was at 13.94 million TEUs, accord-ing to official data from the two port operators. Multiplying the volume with the surcharge cost would translate to $200 million. On the trucking rates, Raueber estimated that an additional $418 million were incurred by businesses in the nine months that the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines increased rates by a minimum of P10,000. The total trucking cost was estimated from the number of TEU traffic from the March-to-December period, which was at roughly 2 million TEUs, multiplied by $200, representing the increase in trucking rates. “From the number of containers and known increases of the trucking rates, we have another $418 million. I just took the average increase at $200, or P 10,000, which is conser-vative, as rates have actually tripled. P10,000 is

roughly the increase of trucking rates just from the port area to Calabarzon,” Rauber added. In sum, tallying the conservative esti-mates for both trucking rates and conges-tion surcharges based on only a handful of shipping lines, the cost to business was already at $500 million. “If an economist were to compute this and get a more holistic study, it would be much, much more,” Raeuber said. With the numbers reflecting substantial damage to businesses, the ECCP hopes the government would consider carefully its strat-egy in the coming months when port activity is expected to pick up anew. “Putting the numbers on the table hope-fully will send the message that the govern-ment must take this seriously; they must help to see to it that this situation does not come back. The situation has stabilized because it is the low season,” said Henry Schumacher, ECCP vice president for External Relations. The ECCP is pushing a list of reforms, crafted together with other foreign chambers, to prepare for the increase in the flow of goods around May to June. Among the short-term reforms are putting

an end to the midnight gate-pass expiration at Manila container ports, implementation of a 24/7 vehicle-booking system in picking up cargo from the ports, and moving illegal businesses and informal settlers near the port area to maximize the space. For the long term, the foreign chambers want to see a master plan for the expansion of the port of Subic and the port of Batangas, an access road system from Cavite to Manila ports, and a broad strategy to incentivize businesses to relocate to other development areas outside of Luzon to spread the flow of traffic. The Department of Trade and Industry, which is part of the Cabinet Cluster on Port Congestion, announced over the weekend that selected shipping lines have withdrawn their port-congestion surcharges and truckers have reduced their rates, as a result of easier movement of cargo at the ports and compe-tition among truckers, respectively. The ECCP will be having a meeting with concerned stakeholders in the private sector and in the government at the end of April, to discuss the looming heavier flow of goods at the ports come midyear, and air its recom-mendations anew. Catherine N. Pillas

Gregory L. Domingo said on Tues-day, at the sidelines of a National Competitiveness Council event. Domingo said that this will be part of his agenda, as he is set to embark on an investment mission to the US in June.  While there is a move of the Western nation to keep jobs and future expansions—especially in manufacturing—within its shores, the Philippines can still get a share of the investments from labor-in-tensive manufacturing industries, reasoned the trade chief. This is a significant point, as the US can join other countries that are now helping narrow the gaps in the

local manufacturing supply chain,  Domingo said. “We have subassembly here, and we make mostly intermediate prod-ucts. We have very few production of finished products like medical devices, but for basic components, they are just beginning to come in,” Domingo added. Shimano Inc., a Japan-based bicyclye-parts manufacturer, re-cently set up shop in the Philip-pines, along with STIHL, a German carburetor maker.   More of these basic component makers are looking at the Philip-pines now, especially those from Japan and Taiwan, Domingo said.

He is hoping US firms can be enticed to follow suit during his investment mission. Basic component makers can further strengthen the sup-ply chain, as they can also lure in their downstream industries for further processing. The Board of Investments is cur-rently implementing a manufactur-ing-resurgence program to boost employment numbers and overall competitiveness of the sector.  The trade chief will also be vis-iting Europe in a separate invest-ment road show in June and, aside from manufacturing, will be en-couraging investments in services and infrastructure.

  “From the US, we are still getting a lot in the information technolo-gy-business-process outsourcing;

outside of that, it’s not much, es-pecially in manufacturing, which needs more push,” Trade Secretary

Unifying the various other claimants in the region is crucial. China notices when Southeast Asian nations speak with one voice. Arguably, President Xi Jinping launched his most recent charm offensive in response to the backlash over last sum-mer’s deployment of a huge Chinese oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam. The idea of joint Asean patrols, perhaps, including Japan, is still far off. But if, in the meantime, smaller nations can resolve or at least suspend their own territorial disputes, they’ll be able to apply more diplomatic pressure. Beijing has been dragging out negotia-tions with Asean over a binding code of conduct. If this continues, members should work with the US to develop their own. That would draw a bright line between regionally accepted norms and Chinese actions. Similarly, the US should continue to press governments to follow the example set by the Philippines and submit their claims to international ar-bitration. The aim should be to entrench a rules-based order that China will find harder with time to ignore. The US should also do more to bol-ster the defenses of nations, such as Viet-nam and the Philippines, by improving their maritime “domain awareness” and command-and-control systems. While engaging with Beijing on codes to avoid accidental clashes in the air and on the sea, the US must also be clearer about actions by China that would cross a line. These should include any attempt to seize territory occupied by another claimant, unilaterally declaring an air-defense identification zone, and provok-ing incidents by aggressively deploying its massive fleet of “white-hulled” para-military vessels and fishing boats. The US should at least consider deploying “gray-hulled” naval vessels in response to Chinese coercion, even at the risk of escalation. Bloomberg News

United front needed to confront China’s ‘great wall of sand’

Continued from A1

Port logjam. . . Continued from A1 IMF. . . Continued from A1

news@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Wednesday, April 15, 2015 A3BusinessMirrorThe Nation

By Joel R. San Juan

BAGUIO CITY—The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday affirmed with finality the decision of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) dismissing Cadet First Class

Jeff Aldrin Cudia from the academy last year for violating its Honor Code. At a media briefing, SC Spokesman Theodore Te said the justices denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Cu-dia through the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) during their regular en banc session, seeking the reversal of its decision issued on February 24. In its February 24 ruling, the Court stressed that it sees no reason to deviate from the PMA’s findings. The SC said there was no violation of Cudia’s right to due process by the PMA, when it enforced its rules on discipline, including the Honor Code. Cudia was found guilty of lying about his reason for be-ing late in a class, and was not allowed to join his classmates during their graduation rites on March 16, 2014. He filed an appeal, but it was dismissed by the PMA, while a meeting with the President also did not bore fruit, as the latter only directed the then-Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, to review the case. Cudia then filed a petition with the SC, but the Court did not issue an status quo ante order or a tem-porary restraining order that would have allowed him to graduate. Cudia’s lawyer, PAO Chief Persida Ruth Acosta, in-sisted that he was not accorded fair trial by the PMA Honor Committee. Cudia is an incoming freshman at the University of the Philippines College of Law. He was considered a college gradu-ate, as the PMA released his scholastic records.

SC affirms dismissal of PMA cadet officer

Centrist Democratic Party Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, chairman of the ad hoc panel, in a news conference, said that members of the panel have de-

cided to amend the Palace-proposed BBL to ensure its constitutionality, even if this would result to a watered-down version as feared by the MILF.

House panel chairman to MILF:Accept our BBL version or…

T HE Regional Trial Court in Quezon City has stopped Quezon City officials from granting a building permit for a 10-level school planned to

be constructed by Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) on Katipunan Avenue.

Judge Manuel B. Santa Cruz Jr. of Branch 226 or-dered QC Planning and Development Officer Tomasito Cruz and QC Building Officer Isagani R. Versoza Jr. from allowing MIIS to start building the school be-cause it is prohibited by the Revised Comprehensive

Zoning Ordinance. In issuing the writ, the QC court took into consideration the petitioners’ concern and desire “to prevent any untoward incident that may happen should there be an earthquake given that Blue Ridge is close to the Marikina fault line and the

proposed site of MIIS’s school abuts a cliff.” With the writ of preliminary injunction, the prohibi-tion against MIIS will stay until the resolution of the case filed against the school and QC officials by residents of Barangay Blue Ridge A and other affected communities.

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has no choice but to accept the House of Representatives version

of the proposed Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), the chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL said on Tuesday.

“We will pass what is acceptable.... It’s really take it or leave it,” Rodriguez said. Earlier, the MILF has reportedly issued an “advisory” for other Muslim groups to prepare for an all-out war if the BBL is shelved. It, however, quickly denied by the MILF. “They should not threaten the govern-ment…the government is ready to meet any challenge after the bill is passed into a law,” Rodriguez added. Rodriguez said among the unconsti-tutional provisions, which the panel de-leted, are the ones authorizing the new Bangsamoro administration to have its own version of the Commission on Elec-tions, Ombudsman, Civil Service Com-mission, Commission on Audit and Com-

mission on Human Rights, and creat-ing its own defense and police forces.

“The main fun-damental of the BBL is the pow-er sharing, politi-cal autonomy and fiscal autonomy…

that’s the most im-portant,” he said.

Rodriguez said that they also plan to delete a BBL provision, allowing other areas outside the Bangsamoro territory to also join the entity upon a petition of at least 10 percent of the constituents, as it may also be declared unconstitutional.

QC court stops construction of school near fault line

rodriguez

BusinessMirror news@businessmirror.com.ph A4

Economybriefs

DTI holDs aTIga InformaTIon DrIve The Department of Trade and Industry’s export Marketing Bureau (DTI-eMB) and the Bureau of International Trade Relations (BITR) recently held an information session and stakeholder consultations on self-certification under the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga) as part of its continuing advocacy to make Philippine exporters more competitive in foreign markets.

eMB Director Senen M. Perlada urged the participants to take advantage of the free-trade agreements (FTAs) that the Philippines entered into and familiarize themselves with the developments to qualify for preferential tariffs provided by these FTAs.

Perlada noted that the most recent development is the self-certification system under Atiga being implemented in some participating members of the Asean.

This scheme requires a simple declaration that the goods satisfy the Asean originating criteria and all other requirements. With this scheme, exporters are no longer required to present a certificate of origin in claiming Atiga tariff preferences. PNA

B.o.C. seTs auCTIon of p70.5-m smuggleD rICe

The PSA said the growth of the volume of production index (VoPI) was slower compared to the 6-per-cent growth posted in February

2014. However, it was faster than the 3.3-percent growth posted in January 2015. “The increment was mainly due

Wednesday, April 15, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

factory output slowed to 4.4% in february–psa

Subic Ayta tribe gets 2 tourism sailboats

By Cai U. Ordinario

The country’s manufacturing output slowed to 4.4 percent in February 2015, according

to the latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (Missi) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday.

to the improved performance in production output observed in 12 major sectors, with two-digit in-creases,” the PSA said. These sectors include leather products which posted a growth of 86.8 percent, followed by to-bacco products, 55.2 percent; pr inting, 51.4 percent; basic metals, 38.8 percent; and bev-erages, 38.6 percent. Other sectors with double-digit growths are textiles which posted a growth of 20.3 percent; nonmetallic mineral products, 17.5 percent; wood and wood products, 16.2 percent; and paper and paper products, 15.1 percent. In terms of value, the Missi

reported that the value of production index (VaPI) decelerated as it posted an annual decrease of 2 percent in February 2015. This was largely due to 10 major sectors showed significant contrac-tions in VaPI. These were led by fur-niture and fixtures which posted a contraction of 51.9 percent; petrole-um products, 30.8 percent; footwear and wearing apparel, 19.6 percent; rubber and plastic products,16.3 percent; and chemical products, 15.9 percent. Meanwhile, in terms of pro-ductiv ity, the Missi reporter showed that the average capac-ity utilization in February 2015 for tota l manufactur ing was

recorded at 83.3 percent. This was due to 60 percent, or 12 of the 20 major industries that operated at 80 percent and above capacity utilization rates. These include basic metals whose aver-age capacity utilization rate was at 88.6 percent; petroleum products, 88.3 percent; nonmetallic mineral products, 86.3 percent; machinery except electrical, 84.5 percent; and food manufacturing, 84.5 percent, among others. “About 58.1 percent of the estab-lishments operated at 70 percent to 89 percent capacity, while 18.3 percent of the establishments op-erated below 70-percent capacity,” the PSA said.

By Henry EmpeñoCorrespondent

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—“What are we going to do with these?” This was the reaction of some Ayta

leaders here when they saw the two sail-boats donated to them by the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians (IYFR). The paraw sailboats, which are dou-ble outrigger sailboats like those used in the popular resort-island of Boracay, were brought into Subic for the same pur-pose—to help the indigenous Ayta tribe earn additional income from tourism. The boats were formally turned over by members of the IFYR and the Saturday Afternoon Gentlemen Sailing (SAGS) on Saturday over weekend at the culmination of the 2015 Commodores’ Cup Regatta at The Lighthouse Marina Resort here. Ayta chief tain Conrado Frenilla received the sailboats from IYFR International Rear Commo. Jun Avecilla in the presence of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia, members of the IYFR Subic Bay fleet, Rotary Clubs in the Subic Bay area, and the ISAF International Jury of Commodores’ Cup Regatta. “They’re so big,” exclaimed Frenilla, who initially thought the boat donation was just some motorized banca like those used by local fisher-men to fish in the bay waters. The sailboats—brightly painted in white with the IFYR initials and Rotary logo in dark blue—are about 5 meters long and could comfort-ably sit 12 passengers. Frenilla’s wife Tere, as well as some leaders of the Pastolan Ayta community who attended the ceremonial turnover, said it was a big question to them what the purpose of the donation was. They also asked themselves where they would store the boats, as their village, in the foothills of what is geographically a part of Hermosa, Bataan, is located more than 10 kilometers away from the sea.

But Avecilla reassured them that the boats will be used to ferry tourists around the bay and that he and fellow members of SAGS will teach the Aytas how to sail and operate the boats themselves. “The Aytas are not known seafarers, but they have in early times been reported to have lived in coastal areas until they were driven away to the mountains because of circumstances,” Avecilla also noted. “It will be the pleasure of our sailing group, the Saturday Afternoon Gentlemen Sailing, to teach,” he added. Garcia, meanwhile, observed that the boats, with Ayta tribesmen as operators, “will give Subic Bay another iconic attraction, as well as provide visitors with a different sailing experience.” Thanking the IYFR and the Rotary Clubs for their donation, Garcia added that the project would “redound to the good of Subic Bay tourism.”

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—Sea connectivity between Palawan and the neighboring

countries of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia will get a boost on Thursday when the first-ever vessel under the Brunei, Indo-nesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) leaves the port of the southern town of Brooke’s Point.

“At last, after waiting for 20 years, it’s happening; the sea link between Palawan and our neighbors in the BIMP-Eaga will now come to life when our first-ever vessel goes to Kudat in the state of Sabah, East Ma-

laysia, on Thursday,” Brooke’s Point Mayor Mary Jean Feliciano told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview on Tuesday.

Brooke’s Point, a first-class municipality located south of the province, and named after Sir James Brooke, a British adven-turer, whose exploits in the Malay Archipelago made him the first White Rajah of Sarawak, is one of two areas in the Philippines, where sea networks have been established to improve trade and tourism in BIMP-Eaga.

On Thursday Feliciano said cargo vessel Princess Beatrice will set sail

for the first time from the port of Brooke’s Point in Barangay Buligay to Kudat, Sabah, East Malaysia, with raw palm-oil products.

“When it returns from Kudat, it will also be bringing consumer goods here and others,” Feliciano said.

“Our town has been waiting for this for a long time. If I am not mistaken, this plan took off during the time of former President Fidel Ramos. After a few governors, now it’s finally happening through Gov. [Jose] Alvarez’s persistent follow ups,” she said.

Feliciano said the trip of Prin-cess Beatrice is just the initial. What

the provincial government is after, she said, is the eventual establish-ment of the Brooke’s Point-Kudat roll-on, roll off (Roro) service that shall bring tourists from Malaysia to Palawan to other parts of the country as a “gateway.”

“This is the start; we will check what the reception is, and maybe af-ter five or six trips by the cargo vessel, the Roro service will come next,” she said, stating further that residents of Brooke’s Point are excited about the recent development.

She added that many Brooke’s Point residents are working in Malaysia, and if the Roro service

becomes available, it would be-come easier for them to travel back home to their families.

Foreign tourists visiting Ma-laysia and its states, she said, can also have the opportunity to visit the Philippines through Palawan.

“Aside from trade opportuni-ties, the sea connectivity will also present us with tourism pros-pects, particularly that our target is to help the country reach its goal of 10 million tourists within the next few years, and is impor-tant in the regional economic in-tegration,” the mayor said.

The sea connectivity will play a vital role in the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which is aimed at “implement-ing certain initiatives to achieve

a single market and production base, allowing the free flow of goods, services, investments and skilled labor, and the freer move-ment of capital across the region.

The areas of cooperation of the AEC include “human-resources development and capacity build-ing; recognition of professional qualifications; closer consultation on macroeconomic and financial policies; trade-financing measures; enhanced infrastructure and com-munications connectivity; devel-opment of electronic transactions through e-Asean; integrating indus-tries across the region to promote regional sourcing; and enhancing private-sector involvement for the building of the AEC.”

The port of Brooke’s Point is lo-cated 192 kilometers south of Puerto Princesa. It handles consumer goods, construction materials and products of agricultural and mining indus-tries, and links the province to Ca-gayan de Tawi-Tawi, General Santos City and Dipolog.

It has a listed commercial area of 2,329.51 square meters and op-erational area of 15,823.18 sq m, or a total port area of 18,152.69 sq m.

The port reportedly has a wharf of 12 meter wide by 60 meter long connected to the pier approach of 6 meter by 190 meter; depth of 6 meters; and one Roro facility of 12 meters by 15 meter. PNA

Cargo ship’s maiden voyage boosts Palawan-East Asia sea connectivity

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is looking to earn over P70.5 million, from the auction of over 1.6 million kilograms of smuggled rice this month.

A total of 33,480 sacks of rice will be sold in a public auction through sealed bidding on the second floor of BOC Conference hall, Port of Cagayan de Oro Building in Macabalan, Cagayan de Oro City, on April 22.

The seized goods shall be available for public viewing and prebid conference on April 20 and 21.

The items consist of 64 container vans of glutinous rice, 59 of which were seized from eC Peninsula Commercial and New Dawn enterprise in November 2014, while the other five container vans were seized from Gold Friends enterprises in September last year.

eC Peninsula and New Dawn enterprise are both facing multiple rice smuggling cases for unlawful importation of rice before the Department of Justice. PNA

Pastolan ayta leaders, led by ambala tribal chieftain Conrado Frenilla (second from right), receive the paraw sailboats from International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians International Rear Commo. Jun avecilla on saturday.

news@businessmirror.com.ph Wednesday, April 15, 2015 A5BusinessMirrorEconomy

Liberal Party Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, chairman of the House Committee on Energy, at a news conference said that the Luzon grid has 1,500 megawatts (MW) of power reserves to tap into during this

summer season’s critical period. “We are not yet talking of Inter-ruptible Load Program [ILP], which is close to 1,000 MW. We are lucky, because since March 15 up to now, we have not yet spent a single cen-

tavo [for] additional increase in our electric bill,” Umali said. Based on established protocols, ILP is implemented during a red- alert status (minimal power reserve) upon the notice of National Grid Corp. of Philippines and the power utilities informing ILP participants to deload from the grid. The ILP is a voluntary program whereby businesses, such as malls and factories, that have their own generators can be disconnected from the power grid in times of short sup-ply, and can sell any excess power they generate to distributors. Moreover, Umali added that the expected power shortage in March did not happen due to steady sup-ply of electricity in Luzon, despite the annual one-month maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya power plant, which started on March 15 and is expected to end on Tuesday. “We want to see a steady supply

of electricity from Luzon down to Mindanao in the future by building more power plants that will meet the growing demand [for] electric-ity,” Umali said. Earlier, Congress went on break without the approval of the joint reso-lution granting President Aquino spe-cial powers to address the projected 782-MW power shortage in Luzon from March to July 2015. According to Umali, the con-gressional bicameral committee remain locked in a stalemate over the joint resolution on emergency powers, as the leadership of the lower chamber maintained its po-sition on no-pass-on scheme. Umali said the lower chamber had done its part, but no one among the two chambers wanted to give in. The joint resolution wants the government to mainly use the ILP in generating additional power capacity these dry months.

No brownout in April, House energy panel head assures

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

The chairman of the house Committee on energy on Tuesday assured the public

that there will be no brownout until the end of April, even without the measure granting President Aquino emergency powers which seeks to address the projected power shortage in Luzon this summer.

By Cai U. Ordinario

THE Japan International Co-operation Agency (Jica) an-nounced on Tuesday that it

will complete the Metro Cebu Road-map by May 2015. The Roadmap Study for Sustain-able Urban Development in Metro Cebu will serve as Mega Cebu’s de-velopment blueprint strategy until 2050, which aims to boost and sus-tain the province’ economic growth. “We sincerely hope that, once the road map study is finished in May 2015, the Philippine government will approve and implement the pri-ority projects as soon as possible,” said Director Susumu Yuzurio of the Urban and Regional Develop-ment Group, Infrastructure and Peace-building Department from Jica Headquarters in Japan. “We share the Filipino stake-holders’ collective vision of making the study an official development plan of Metro Cebu so that devel-opment efforts will be maintained even after the present administra-tion,” he added. The scope of the road-map study includes the formu-lation of a long-term road map (up to 2030, hence, up to 2050) in order to realize the Mega Cebu Vision 2050. The blueprint will also prepare detailed action plans, consisting of priority projects for the short term and medium term, as well as produce a hazard map covering Metro Cebu and the northern part of Cebu province. The road map study also covers seven sub-road maps, such as the Metropolitan Competitiveness

Enhancement; Urban Structure and Land Use; Urban Transport and Highway Network; Water Supply and Disposal Manage-ment; Solid Waste Management; Smart SRP Development; and Metropolitan Administration. “The road-map study is one of the successful cooperation projects involving Metro Cebu, Yokohama City and Jica. I hope that the find-ings and experiences of the Filipino delegates in Japan can be integrated into the Cebu Roadmap Study,” Jica Philippines Chief Representative Noriaki Niwa said. The study was initiated in 2013 by Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB), in col-laboration with Jica and Yokohama City, Japan, to attain the Mega Cebu Vision 2050, the city’s blueprint for sustainable economic development. The Mega Cebu Vision 2050, which was formulated in 2013 by MCDCB with Jica and Yokohama City, is anchored on four strategic pillars, namely, competitiveness, mobility, livability and metropoli-tan management. MCDCB is a coordinating body for metro-wide planning and devel-opment created on April 1, 2011, and is a consortium of the province of Cebu, consisting of 13 cities and municipalities on the eastern side of Cebu island, as well as regional line agencies and private and civil- soci-ety organizations. The 13 cities are Carcar, Naga, Talisay, Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Danao; and municipalities of San Fernando, Minglanilla, Cordova, Con-solacion, Liloan and Compostela.

Metro Cebu devt road map ready by next month–Jica

By Lenie Lectura

Wholesale electricity spot Market (WesM) traders will soon be required to register with Philippine electricity

Market Corp. (PeMC) to be allowed to participate in the spot market. The WesM accreditation is a process whereby an individual who is conducing or intends to conduct electric-power trading for a WesM, member undergoes evaluation by the accreditation body, which is PeMC, against the standers on qualifications, com-petence and credibility in performing the said practice. The program is envisioned to be mandatory for traders in the WesM, and is aimed at enhanc-ing the skills of the traders. It will require traders to pass the accreditation exam. “The Department of energy [Doe] deemed it necessary to issue a policy to provide clear and detailed responsibilities of each electric-power industry participants that have either direct or indirect involvement in the trading,

scheduling and dispatching of electricity in the WesM,” the agency said. WesM participants include generation companies (gencos); service providers of net-work, ancillary and metering; system operator; and direct and indirect trading participants. each of them is represented by a trader tasked to do business on the trading floor. accreditation of WesM par ticipants will ensure that all traders are equipped with the skills and competencies to pro-tect the welfare and business interests of their respective companies, and to ensure a market where compliance to market rules prevails. Under the concept paper for the WesM ac-creditation Program, the Doe will spearhead the formulation of the program. “If you don’t have WesM accreditations, you cannot trade. If you don’t have the ex-pertise, you can take an exam for it. People are trading, and yet they do not know the aspects of WesM,” energy secretary Carlos Jericho l. Petilla said.

PEMC to tighten rule on WESM participation

By Catherine N. Pillas

THE Philippines’s competi-tiveness ranking may im-prove significantly this year,

as government agencies and the public-private National Competi-tiveness Council (NCC) have cut down the time and procedures in doing business. Trade Secretary Gregory L. Do-mingo, public cochairman of the NCC, foresees the country to reach its goal of getting into the top one-third of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competi-tiveness Report, as the body has streamlined its procedures in do-ing business. The Philippines’s standing in the WEF’s report is at 52. To enter the top one-third, the country must garner the 48th spot or better. Reforms included cutting down and merging procedures specifically in “setting up a business” and “pay-ing taxes.” The two indicators form part of the 10 indicators identified by In-ternational Finance Corp. (IFC) that measure the ease of doing business. In these two indicators, accord-ing to Guillermo Luz, private-sector chairman of the NCC, both the number of days and steps in the procedures have been reduced significantly. “Starting a business in the old procedure ends today. If we take a look, the number of steps and days would total 16 steps, 34 days in the old procedure. We [have] started merging some steps, compressing

the national agency steps, elimi-nating some through automating, so now the net result is at six steps, and eight days,” he said. Setting up a business refers to the procedure to incorporate new corporations, partnerships and nonstock corporations with the Secur it ies and Exchange Commission. For the paying taxes indicator, the number of payments has been reduced, as well, Luz said, as most payments by businesses have been merged in an online platform by agencies. From 36 payments every year, businesses will now only make 13 payments. Twelve agencies have signed various agreements on Tuesday to institutionalize the reforms. The Departments of Finance, Trade and Industry and the Interior and Local Government, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insur-ance Corp. Home Development Mutual Fund, Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, National Competi-tiveness Council and the Quezon City government. The reforms will be rolled out in NCR starting on Tuesday will be applied nationwide through-out 2015.

briefsmeet-and-match forum

to lure investors’ interest in ppp program setThe government is drumming up further investors’ interests in the country’s major public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

It is sponsoring a Meet-and-Match forum on April 24 which is expected to gather around 200 investors, financial institutions and banks.

“It [session] will also be an opportunity for the foreign investors to meet with local companies with whom they can partner with to participate in the country’s PPP projects,” the PPP Center said.

The center noted that the Philippines’s PPP projects have provided valuable opportunities for partnerships between international companies and local businesses. PNA

p136m worth of infrastructure projects to start in puerto princesaPUeRTO PRINCeSA CITY—The “Apuradong Administrasyon” here announced on Monday that it is ready to implement 15 infrastructure projects worth more than P136 million after their successful bidding and awards to contractors.

According to the local information office, the city’s bids and awards committee succeeded in awarding the infrastructure projects with Mayor Lucilo Bayron steadfast in his commitment to continue them despite a scheduled recall election on May 8.

Bayron, the chief information officer, said, believes the projects should have been implemented a long time ago since residents have been complaining about deteriorating road conditions in a highly urbanized city.

Bayron was quoted in saying “summertime is the ideal season to start the infra projects so, they can be completed before the rainy season begins.” PNA

Ease in doing business program seen to raise PHL’s competitiveness ranking

MILITARY personnel from different units have donated P3,565,410 to the families and loved ones of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos killed in the mission which neutralized Malaysian terrorist Zulkipli bin hir alias Marwan, in January. The amount was taken from the monthly subsistence allowance of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel who volunteered for the purpose, AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col. harold Cabunoc said. he added that the donation represents the P30 personal contribution from the soldiers’ meal allowance. PNA

afp donates p3.5m to families of fallen s.a.f. men

sweet and spicy mix A fruit vendor displays fresh pineapples and garlic bulbs in her stall along the national road in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya. The town is popular for its sweet large-size pineapples. leoNaRDo PeRaNTe II

Blessed summer harvest Vegetable farmers load their cabbage harvest for transport to the La Trinidad Trading Post in Benguet province for classification and packing. From the trading post, the nutritious and vitamin rich-harvest will then be brought to neighboring markets in the lowlands, including Metro Manila. MaU VICTa

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

OpinionBusinessMirrorA6

Local optimum vs world optimum

editorial

FOR decades developing countries have criticized the global economic order for what they called its imbal-ance, the dominance of a few rich countries over the numerous poor countries, particularly their power

to determine commodity prices and financial flows.

They even proposed the establishment of a New International Economic Order that would equalize economic power among nations. However, efforts toward equalization have met with limited success.

This has to be at the core of the remarks made recently by Indian Central Bank Gov-ernor Raghuran Rajan before a university graduating class.

As reported, the governor said that global rules are tilted in favor of developed economies and the onus lies on emerging markets to reframe them to ensure fairness for all. If developing countries were weakening their currencies, they would have been labeled manipulators. But there are no such limitations on the use of accommodative policies in advanced countries.

“There is a concern that the rules of the game are not clearly set in the interna-tional world.”

This space espouses the idea that individual countries must pursue policies they consider to be in their best interest, never mind that their neighbors think these are prejudicial to them.

For example, we support the Japanese government’s weakening of the yen, as a component part of its general expansionary policy, even if some observers say that such weakening hurts other countries. We even gave endorsement to the Chinese govern-ment’s refusal to revalue the yuan, notwithstanding the United States position that it should. We also support such arrangements as free-trade agreements, customs union and regional integration, among countries, because these are conducive to the accelera-tion of the development of participating countries.

The intention is not to injure neighbors but to allow them their own freedom to mo-bilize measures to benefit their own people. The international order may be put under stress but it has overseers to see to it that it does not keel over.

The theory of second best says that so long as the world economic system is riddled with different tariffs, quotas, taxes and other exchange-restricting measures of partici-pating countries, small groupings of countries that promote freedom of exchange among them represent an improvement over that global order in which no such groupings exist.

The ideas expressed above clearly represent second best solutions. They do not nec-essarily promote global free exchange but they certainly do not impede it.

The global capitalist order is characterized precisely by the inequality of economic power between the investing class and the working class. Revolution after revolution have been launched and pursued in every nook and cranny of the world but they all have failed; the inequality is still there, in fact, it will intensify as the 21st century unfolds, according to French economist Thomas Piketty.

But this should not mean abdication of efforts to reform the system, only to find new ways to “rebalance” it. Rebalancing will give developing countries opportunities to grow and develop in a level playing field.

Being really, really wrong about the dollar

Being a responsible employer

THE dollar has been flexing its foreign-exchange muscles with a period of further strength. This provoked a flurry of comments about the prospects of a currency war, and the

consequences of the stronger dollar for the US and other economies. However, much of the analysis surrounding the movement of foreign-exchange rates ignores the hard facts that are presented by the data, and is, therefore, just plain wrong.

Part 2

LAST week this column talked about the legal obligations of an employer and the importance of being compliant with the law. We continue the discussion this week, as a reminder

to employers of their duties and responsibilities under the Social Security System (SSS) law.

All About Social SecuritySusie G. Bugante

A very basic obligation is for an employer to deduct from his or her employees their monthly social secu-rity contributions, pay his or her share of contributions including employees’ compensation and remit these to the SSS within the prescribed schedule of payments. Aside from remitting contributions, an employer is also obliged to deduct loan amortizations of his or her employees and remit these payments to SSS. He should also submit the appropriate reports for both contribution and loan payments.

An employer must maintain ac-curate work records of his or her

employees including monthly con-tributions and loan amortizations, if applicable, as well as records of sickness, injury and death of his or her employees in a manual logbook or electronic file for work-connected contingencies. Such records shall be open for inspection by SSS or its au-thorized representatives on a quarter-ly basis or as often as may be required.

If there are any changes with the employer data such as the business address, name, ownership and oper-ational status—the employer must inform the SSS about these changes through the Employer Data Change

as something that is thwarting their competitiveness. In spite of this, US exporters to Japan (admittedly a rel-atively select group) have seen their market share in Japan increase over the past four years.

It is a similar story with the euro area. US exporters to Europe have gained market share in the recent past, in spite of the weaker euro. Meanwhile European exporters to the US have had an unchanged market share. That might not sound as bad as the Japanese experience, and it is not, but it is still pretty bad. Remember that the international trade share of the global economy is rising at the moment (and has been rising for several years).

Any country that has anything other than a rising market share for its exporters is doing something wrong. If exporters’ market share is failing to rise when the currency is depreciating, then it suggests that the competitiveness arguments around floating exchange rates are clearly wrong.

What is happening is that export-ers do not react to every change in currency moves. Exporters have generally spent a lot of time, effort and money in building up their cus-tomer base overseas. It can take 15 years or more to establish brand loyalty in an overseas market, and with global trade now approaching 25 percent of the world economy overseas markets are a lot more important to exporters today than

they were 40 years ago when floating exchange rates first became a feature of the world economy.

Currencies tend to trend up or down for far shorter periods of time than it takes to build a brand—it is unusual to see a currency trending in one direction for more than five years. Why would a sensible corpo-rate chief executive jeopardize 15 years of work in a foreign market in response to a shorter-term currency move? So companies choose instead to ride out the fluctuations of the foreign-exchange markets, and in so doing prove the competitiveness theories of floating exchange rates to be wrong.

This means that the stronger dol-lar will not have a hugely negative impact on the US gross domestic product. Exporters keep making the same amount of product, and employing the same number of people to make the same amount of product, although profit margins on that product are squeezed. It also means that the disinflation effect of a stronger dollar on the US economy is limited—confined to commodity prices. Conversely there is little com-petitive advantage from the weaker euro and the weaker yen for export-ers of either currency area.

The benefits of the weaker curren-cies are felt mainly via profit margins. Similarly, aside from commodity price effects, these economies’ cur-rency moves are not a major source of inflation.

Request (Form R-8). Notifying the SSS is crucial when a company closes shop or temporarily suspends its operations due to financial difficul-ties or for whatever reason. Failure to notify the SSS could lead to financial liabilities later on unless the employer can show proof that his or her com-pany had suspended its operations or had totally stopped operating.

An employer who refuses to register his or her employees and himself or herself as a covered self-employed person, to deduct from his or her employees their share of contributions and remit the same to SSS including his or her share of contributions, shall be liable for violation of the social security law. Section 28 of this law provides that the penalty shall be a fine of P5,000 to P20,000 and imprisonment of six years and one day to 12 years.

Section 22 of the SS law also provides that if the employer fails to remit his or her employees’ con-tributions within the prescribed period, “he or she shall pay besides the contribution a penalty thereon of three percent per month from the date the contribution falls due until paid.”

If the employer has become delin-quent and is in financial difficulty,

he may avail himself or herself of the SSS installment plan or dacion en pago program by submitting an Ap-plication for Installment Proposal or dacion en pago to their servicing branch together with the required supporting documents. The servic-ing branch, in turn, will screen the completeness of the documents sub-mitted and evaluate the financial ca-pability of the delinquent employer.

Who can be charged for viola-tion of employer legal obligations? Liable are as follows: for a single proprietorship, the owner; for a partnership, the partners; and for a corporation, the president, gen-eral manager and members of the board of directors.

It is always the best policy to be free from liabilities. Comply with the laws and regulations at all times!

For more information about the SSS and its programs, call our 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Mon-day to Friday, or send an e-mail to mem-ber_relations@sss.gov.ph.

Susie G. Bugante is the vice presi-dent for public affairs and special events of the SSS. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.

The theory goes that a stronger currency will lead to exporters pass-ing on the currency cost to their customers overseas in the form of higher prices. This will make the exporters’ products less attractive to foreign buyers, competitiveness will suffer, and exporters will sell less. Conversely the exporters of a weakening currency will get a com-petitiveness boost that will give them a considerable advantage. This latter point is often heard in Asia with regard to the yen’s weak-ness—the supposed competitive advantage that a weaker yen has given Japan is regarded with near universal hostility.

The problem with this is that as a theory it just does not work at all. The best way to understand that is to consider the data. Over the past four years or so the value of the

yen against the dollar has dropped around 60 percent. This is pretty precipitous. One would expect the US to be sinking under the weight of Japanese-made products in the wake of so dramatic a currency move.

However, when we examine the market share of Japanese exports to the US we find that Japanese ex-porters have lost market share over the same period. The US consumer is alive and well and happily visit-ing the shopping mall with reckless abandon—but even as the US con-sumer spends more and more, they are spending proportionately less and less on products and services that originate in Japan.

On the other side of the equa-tion, the reverse is happening. US exporters are supposed to be wail-ing and gnashing their teeth at the strength of the dollar against the yen,

PAul DonovAn

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

OpinionA7BusinessMirroropinion@businessmirror.com.ph

An overview on judicial bonds

How to become a millionaire

ONE important advantage of suretyship is its universality, such that it finds application in almost all aspects of business and commercial transactions, including judicial

proceedings. Bonds that are required in judicial proceedings, either civil or criminal, instituted in the Courts of Justice are called Judicial Bonds.

By Jeff RoseAdviceIQ/TNS

WHAT do you picture when you hear the word “millionaire?” Perhaps a well-groomed senior, lounging in a bathrobe, sipping champagne and overlooking acres of achievement from the portico of a man-

sion? You think you can never be a millionaire. But what if you can?

The various courts in the Philip-pines are grouped into three kinds: regular courts, special courts and quasi-judicial bodies. The regular courts, categorized from lowest to the highest, are the Municipal Trial Courts, the Metropolitan Trial Courts, the Regional Trial Courts, the intermediate appellate court, and the Supreme Court. Special courts are those created for specific purposes such as the Court of Tax Appeal and the Sandigan Bayan. Quasi-judicial bodies are administrative bodies partly vested with judicial functions, an example of which, among many others, is the Insurance Commission.

In the course of litigation before a regular and special court or a quasi-judicial body, a party is allowed by law to avail itself certain privileges or provisional remedies. Consequently, a party availing such privileges or remedies is bound by law to indem-nify the opposing party for any loss or

damage the latter may suffer or incur in the event that the court finds the availing party not actually entitled to the privilege or remedy availed. Therefore, the court, before granting the privilege or special remedy applied for, requires the availing party to file a bond to guarantee his responsibil-ity to indemnify the adverse party.

There are two general kinds of judicial bonds—civil and criminal. Civil judicial bonds are those re-quired in civil cases and are classified further into different kinds. Some examples include the administrator’s bond, executor’s bond, attachment bond, injunction bond, and replevin bond. Criminal judicial bonds, on the other hand, are those required in criminal cases. There are several types of criminal judicial bonds but some examples include bail bond and attachment bond in criminal cases.

When a person dies leaving a will, and under such a will, a

person is named as an executor, such a person shall be appointed by the court as an executory to carry out provisions of the will. Before the performance of such functions, an executor is required by law to file an executor’s bond in an amount to be determined by the court. An admin-istrator’s bond operates in a similar manner as an executor’s bond, but is only required when an adminis-trator is appointed by the court to settle the estate of the deceased in the absence of an executor.

A party availing the provisional remedy of attachment, by which the property of the defendant in a case is taken into custody of the law as secu-rity for satisfaction of any judgment the plaintiff may obtain, is required by law to give a bond executed to the defendant in an amount not exceed-ing the plaintiff’s claim. Before the order of injunction, an order granted by the court at any stage of an action or prior to final judgment requir-ing a person to refrain from doing a particular act to perform a particu-lar act, applied for by the plaintiff in a case is issued by the court, the plaintiff must file a bond executed in favor of the property to which the order of injunction is directed. Before replevin, which refers to the recovery of possession of personal property, is granted, the person ap-plying is required by the court to file a Replevin Bond in an amount double the value of the property sought to be recovered.

A bail bond is filed by a person

accused of a crime before a court in favor of the Republic of the Phil-ippines in order to avoid arrest or to secure temporary liberty in an amount as may be determined by the court. Upon the commencement of a criminal action, or at any time afterward, the offended party may have the property of the defendant attached as a security for the satis-faction of any judgment that may be recovered from the accused. Since the same rules governing attachment in civil cases shall apply in criminal cases, an attachment bond is, there-fore, required.

When a civil case is terminated and the judgment is in favor of the principal, such judgment may pro-nounce that the bond filed by said part is canceled. If no such pro-nouncement is included, the bond-ing company may file a petition for the cancellation or discharge of the bond. When a criminal case is ter-minated and the accused is acquit-ted, the judgment of acquittal usu-ally includes a pronouncement of the cancellation of the bail bond of the accused filed for his provisional liberty. If such pronouncement is not included in the judgment, the bonding company may also file a petition asking for the cancellation of the bond.

Dennis B. Funa (dennisfuna@yahoo.com) is presently the deputy Insurance commissioner of the Le-gal Services Group of the Insurance Commission.

IT’S only April, but 2015 already seems to be the year of the Asian stock bubble. In addition to mainland China’s bubbly markets, the region is dealing with two other equity booms

that don’t jibe with economic fundamentals.

Asian stocks get all bubbly

In Hong Kong gains are racing well ahead of global rallies even as China’s slowdown accelerates. Mainland companies listed in the city jumped another 4.3 percent on Monday, even after news of an unexpected 14.6-percent plunge in Chinese exports in March. The Hang Seng Index—which grew 7.9 percent last week—has also been unaffected by the mainland’s sputtering real-estate market. And something similar is happening with Japan’s Nikkei market. The country’s economy is limping out of a recession, and Bank of Japan (BOJ) officials have been bracing for disappointing inflation num-bers. Yet, the stock market is trad-ing near 20,000 for the first time in 15 years.

This isn’t something for either country to celebrate. In the absence of solid growth, these stock market rallies are only being propped up by government action and the expec-tation that there will be more of it.

You could make an argument that stocks in Hong Kong are at-tractive on the basis of price-to-earnings ratios—shares are trad-ing at an 11.8 percent multiple in Hong Kong versus 15.8 percent in New York; 20 percent in Shanghai and 52 percent in Seoul. But there’s little reason to believe investors have suddenly grown bullish on Hong Kong companies. They’ve mostly been pouring money into little-known mainland companies whose valuations in Hong Kong are much lower than in China—in other words, they’re mostly in it for arbitrage opportunities.

The government in Beijing has encouraged this gold rush in two ways. First, officials have used stock markets to help funnel inves-tors out of the overheated mainland property market, on the theory that surging stocks would improve con-fidence in China’s broader economy. The Communist Party has initiated PR campaigns to encourage inves-tors to make the shift and offered them sweeteners like lower trading fees and less red tape. Tens of thou-sands of Chinese investors have recently opened trading accounts.

Initially, their activity was fo-cused on mainland stock markets. But as trading activity showed signs of irrational exuberance in Shang-hai and Shenzhen—up 27 percent and 55 percent so far this year, re-spectively—the government tried to export its asset bubble to Hong Kong by expanding the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, a trad-

ing scheme that facilitates cross-border investments. Now so much money is flowing Hong Kong’s way that local authorities have been forced to intervene to defend the currency’s peg to the US dollar.

This can’t end well. Hong Kong has long been an anomaly in the greater China region, because its stock market has been reasonably transparent, and stock prices and valuations have traditionally been based on the careful decisions of educated investors. Now Hong Kong’s stock market is skewing in ways that resemble China’s ir-rational corporate landscape. And Hong Kong’s bubble will probably be the first to pop: Investors who are in a rush to reduce holdings in China will likely prefer to sell in Hong Kong, where the currency is fully convertible and there are transparent legal regulations for such transactions.

Japan’s rally, which resembles the heady days of the 1980s, is also “government-made,” accord-ing to economist Yasunari Ueno at Mizuho Securities. In addition to the BOJ’s record quantitative easing efforts—including a pledge beginning last October to purchase $700 billion of government debt annually—Tokyo is nudging the managers of the $1.1-trillion Gov-ernment Pension Investment Fund to buy shares on the Nikkei. As in China, the hope is that surging valuations will improve confidence more broadly in the economy.

That theory hasn’t seemed to work in practice: Japanese corpo-rate executives and middle class households continue to express doubts about the country’s econom-ic trajectory. If anything, investors in Japan and China mostly seem to be acting on the belief that weak eco-nomic data will spur the government to inject even more easy money into the economy and the stock market.

Of course, that could prove a trap for both countries. Stock bubbles will always be in need of further reinforcement. And the more time Beijing and Tokyo spend manipulat-ing stocks, the less officials will be doing to implement overdue struc-tural reforms.

Asia’s bubbles won’t necessarily crash this year. With compliant cen-tral banks and vast savings, China and Japan can probably marshal the resources to keep the party going for a while. But Asia’s two biggest economies are now on a treadmill that will be increasingly difficult to get off of.

Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUMBLOOMBERG VIEWWilliam Pesek

Becoming one is actually simpler than you think. You may well be rich already. If you make $20,000 in net income every year, you’re among the top 3.65 percent richest people in the world, according to Global-richlist.com.

Simple tasks on the road to riches are not always easy, but they can be effective:

Work smarter and harder than your competition. Identify your competition. What differentiators can you bring to your workplace or market?

First, work smarter. There’s no sense in selling ice cream on your

front lawn in the dead of winter. Instead, set up a booth at the park in the sizzling summertime. Com-monsense changes can greatly im-prove your effectiveness.

And we’ve all seen colleagues who work harder than anyone. Aren’t they the ones promoted? Don’t they often become the office linchpins?

Early in my career, I was in a training class of some 55 people. A year later, our class was fewer than half that. By my fifth anniversary on the job, only five of us remained.

Most weren’t willing to put in the hard work required. Don’t fear hard work.

Learn from your mistakes and move on. Did you get suckered into two companies that went nowhere? Did you sink $8,000 into an online business venture, only to lose it all? These are just a couple of several in-vestment mistakes I made.

Mistakes are difficult to swallow. The best way forward: Admit we fumbled. Are you willing to admit your mistakes?

Some people beat themselves up after a goof, paralyzing their think-ing from future decisions that might produce success. As Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad said, “Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.”

Fess up and move on. Million-aires don’t give up because of a few silly mistakes.

Build something new that you’d love. You can read book after book about what your customers will love. By the time you deliver the innovation, customers will likely

already be bored with the idea.Millionaires understand that

some of the best ideas come out of passion for making the world a better place—sometimes through accident and vision. In 1945 for ex-ample, engineer Percy Spencer hap-pened to melt a candy bar and then popped corn while tinkering with radar. He quickly saw the great po-tential that eventually culminated in the microwave oven.

Work on projects you’re excited about. Chances are if you create something that you’d use and love, others will use and love it, too. And remember that some of the best ideas are born during experimentation.

Learn to budget. How much do you drop on eating out, clothing, gadgets and other unnecessary delights? Write down the amount.

Budgeting helps ensure that you spend less than you make. The only way to do that? Track everything.

Get assistance with record keeping if you need it.

Start investing. Millionaires often become—and stay—rich be-cause they invest. The good news? Investing is actually pretty simple to start.

Some people start with robo-ad-visors, simplistic online investment sites best used only as a supplement for a real-life advisor. With Better-ment, for example, you make three decisions: How much to invest, how often to invest and how you want to allocate your assets between stocks and bonds.

Point is, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to start invest-ing, nor do you need a lot of capital right away.

Once you start, don’t jump ship. The stock market has ups and downs. Ride the wave long term.

Don’t believe the discouraging people. Your belief affects your

actions and your actions affect your outcomes. When you listen to discouraging people, they drag you down so you don’t surpass them.

Prove them wrong humbly. Let your results speak louder than your words.

Save for a rainy day. Medical emergencies can last years. Trees go through roofs. Jobs evaporate.

Without an emergency fund of liquid cash in a savings account you’re likely to either go into debt or borrow from family members. Don’t be the entrepreneur who owes his parents or the couple drowning in debt.

Keep about three to six months’ expenses in your fund. For really bad times, I recommend eight.

Pursue your million dollars not for the fame. Strive for such riches for your family, your community and for a purpose greater than yourself or your bank account.