MANILA, Philippines — The Ayala Group is working to find a balance between protecting lives and restoring livelihoods as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The group has adopted a structured work-from-home arrangement to keep majority of its 56,000 employees safe. A remote work setup helped employees adapt faster to digitization with online tools and learning platforms provided by the conglomerate,” Ayala chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said in a recent online session with the Makati Business Club.
He said that despite these new challenges, Ayala also recognizes opportunities in digital technologies as a way to reshape industries.
“As more and more Filipinos adapt to online shopping while they confine themselves to their homes, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) observed that 81 percent of transactions are now done via online channels, up from 71 percent before the quarantine. Transactions via the BPI app also grew by 118 percent, while platform enrollments increased by 125 percent,” Zobel said.
GCash’s total users doubled during the quarantine period, while its transaction volume doubled in June, compared to pre-quarantine levels, data from Globe showed.
With the change in consumer behavior, Ayala Malls is likewise adapting to the increasingly digital consumer behavior.
“To facilitate online shopping, Ayala Malls started DriveBuy, a curbside pickup system where customers can quickly and safely claim their online purchases without having to enter the premises. Ayala Malls continues to reconfigure its spaces to meet growing digital demands,” Zobel said.
The group is also putting in place digital initiatives in its healthcare business to be able to cater to the needs of consumers.
“The recent heightened interest in telemedicine gave way to AC Health and Globe’s 917 Ventures’ HealthNow, a digital teleconsultation platform that, in its web-based pilot phase, matched 11,000 consultation requests with its pool of volunteer doctors. Due to this success, HealthNow will be relaunched this month as an all-in-one mobile health app that can help netizens consult a doctor through video, buy medicine for delivery, and book clinic and lab appointments,” Zobel said.
Read more.. https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/08/11/2034278/ayala-group-pivots-adapt-amid-pandemic
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rebounded above the 6,200 level on Tuesday ahead of President Duterte’s announcement on quarantine measures across the country.
By the closing bell, the PSEi ended higher by 1.68 percent, or 102.54 points, to 6,207.72. The broader all-shares index rose 1.34 percent, or 48.31 points, to 3,645.17.
The gains followed positive sentiments across the region and a rally in Wall Street overnight.
Index heavyweights such as Ayala Corp., Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and BDO Unibank Inc. carried the measure higher even as new coronavirus cases increase
Further boosting the market were comments on Tuesday made by World Health Organization representative in the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe.
He said the country was doing “relatively well” in addressing the health crisis and that there was no need to reverse quarantine rules in Metro Manila.
All subsectors closed positive with gainers led by financials, up 2.43 percent, and holding firms, up 2.2 percent.
Trading volume hit 857.26 million shares valued at P6.46 billion. There were 118 advancers versus 70 decliners while 54 companies closed unchanged.
Altus Property Ventures Inc. was the most actively traded on Tuesday as it gained 49.9 percent to P41.60 per share.
It was followed by BDO Unibank, up 4.26 percent to P98; BPI, up 3.6 percent to P72; Ayala Corp., up 1.97 percent to P777; and Universal Robina Corp., up 0.78 percent to P130 per share. INQ
https://business.inquirer.net/301391/psei-rebounds-gains-1-68
The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2020 used four parameters to gauge the overall competitiveness of a country. Economies are ranked on economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure, with various sub-markers within each of these four categories.
Competitiveness is defined as “ability of a nation to create and maintain an environment that sustains more value creation for its enterprises and more prosperity for its people.”
Overall, Singapore retained its number one position as the most competitive country for the second year in a row followed by Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Hong Kong SAR showcasing the strength and versatility of small economies which have performed well against larger ones. With the exception of Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan and the Korean Republic, most Asian economies dropped in rankings this year.
Based on the report, despite the Philippines moving up one spot in the overall ranking, it did not improve in any of the four main factors or dimensions of competitiveness when taken individually. Economic Performance declined by six notches from 38th to 44th; Government Efficiency went down one spot from 41st to 42nd, and Business Efficiency declined from 32nd to 33rd.
On economic performance, the Philippines ranked higher in employment at 26th and 30th on domestic economy, but ranked poor at 43rd on international investment, 44th on prices, and 48th on international trade.
On government efficiency, the Philippines also ranked higher on tax policy at 14th and ranked middle at 37th for public finance, but lower at 48 for international framework, 53th for societal framework and down below at 57th for business legislation.
The country also performed better in business efficiency with labor market at 10th place although productivity and efficiency was down at 45th. It also ranked 37th for finance, 29th for management practices and in the middle level at 33rd for attitudes and values.
The Philippines did not also improve in the infrastructure measure, which was a big drag as the country ranked bottom in all indicators under it. The country ranked 48th on technological infrastructure, 60th for basic infrastructure, 59th for scientific infrastructure, 55th for health and environment and 61st for education.
Dr. José Caballero, Senior Economist at IMD World Competitiveness Center, said in an email interview with the Business Section of Manila Bulletin that the Philippines’ slight improvement from 46th to 45th is mainly due to an increase in international trade and a steady performance of its labor market. The improvement also reflects an increase in overall productivity and efficiency. In addition, measures of labor market remain strong and the country boost its managements practices, particularly in terms of measures that capture the agility of the private sector and the effective use of big data and analytics by companies in their decision-making process. Increases in the overall investment in telecommunication also contributes to the country’s improvement.
But the Philippines ranked lower on the measure of infrastructure despite the huge Build Build Build program of the government.
“Our measure of infrastructure goes beyond the physical infrastructure to capture the strength of the technological and scientific infrastructure, the health and environment, and education. In that sense, the Philippines low ranking in the overall infrastructure is the result of a deficient performance in all the above elements,” said Caballero.
In the accompanying Executive Opinion Survey of the competitiveness ranking report, executives rated countries based on 15 indicators.
For the Philippines, executives showed their high regard for the local talent. It ranked higher in skilled labor with a score of 76.7 percent followed by dynamism of the economy at 67.8 percent followed by open and positive mind at 64.4 percent, high education level at 61.1 percent, cost competitiveness at 48.9 percent, access to financing at 41.1 percent and quality of corporate government at 32.2 percent, 28.9 percent business friendly environment and effective labor relations at 22.2 percent.
But the executive survey showed the Philippines scored lower with only 12.2 percent for policy stability and predictability, 5.6 percent for reliable infrastructure, 4.4 percent for competency of government, 3.3 percent for strong R and D culture, 3.3 percent for competitive tax regime and 0.0 for effective legal environment.
Based on the survey, the challenges faced by the Philippines in 2020 include mitigating COVID-19’s economic impacts and adjusting to the new normal. The country would also be challenged on the preparations for the healthcare system for possible succeeding waves of COVID-19.
Other challenges include ensuring adequate and prompt aid to vulnerable households and businesses, quickly resuming the governments BBB infrastructure investment program, and reviving business and consumer confidence.
In the context of the rankings, Caballero noted that the Philippines ranked just below Italy and India thus they can be considered as its closest competitors. Regionally, Indonesia and Malaysia, both ranking higher, can be seen as the Philippines’ competitors.
According to IMD, the impact of COVID-19 on the competitiveness ranking is partially captured in the executives’ opinions about the effectiveness of the different health systems.
In the ASEAN countries included in its sample, only Singapore (remains at 4th) and Thailand (improved from 28th to 22nd) have a positive performance in the effectiveness of the health infrastructure. Indonesia slightly declined from 36th to 38th, and the Philippines from 45th to 49th.
Malaysia experienced the largest decline in the health infrastructure (from 17th to 23rd) among ASEAN countries.
The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking has been produced every year since 1989 and is widely acknowledged as the leading annual assessment of competitiveness.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2020/06/16/ph-moves-notch-higher-in-world-competitiveness/
The country’s oldest business house, the Ayala group, is embarking on a comprehensive hand-holding program for about 250,000 small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in its ecosystem, including shopping mall tenants, suppliers and banking clients grappling with business disruptions caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Ayala launched the Ayala Enterprise Circle (AEC), a synergistic initiative that is focused on helping the group’s SME partners continue their operations and recover from the pandemic.
The Ayala group has been working since the onset of the pandemic to help meet SMEs’ critical needs such as financial support, business continuity and healthcare.
As of May 19, the Ayala group has extended P766 million worth of free services and waiver of business operations fees to SMEs, including rental condonation. Ayala Malls alone has waived P280 million covering more than 2,400 of SME tenants in the last two months.
Ayala’s banking arm, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has also encouraged its SME clients to take advantage of its loan payment deferment program of up to 90 days to help manage cash flows that were disrupted by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). BPI also waived interbank transfer fees when transferring funds to other local banks for the duration of the ECQ.
BPI is now working with the state-owned Philippine Guarantee Corp. (Philguarantee) to refine its loan products for qualified clients. Philguarantee has opened a P120-billion micro-SME credit guarantee program to help businesses bounce back from the crisis.
Ayala is also helping SMEs cope with the disruptions brought by the ECQ through various business continuity solutions. Through Globe Telecom, the group is offering various connectivity solutions to keep businesses running from home or to support their online operations.
Similarly, Ayala Malls and Zalora are exploring new retail and e-commerce models to give SME tenants an alternative digital channel, with the physical shopping malls serving as community pick-up points for digital purchases.
Lastly, the Ayala group has been working to help protect the health of its workforce, including its SME network, by ensuring the continued availability of AC Health’s clinic, pharmaceutical and telemedicine services. AC Health’s HealthNow, a web-based online consultation platform, is free of charge until June. INQ
Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/298138/ayala-launches-program-to-help-250000-sme-partners#ixzz6NW2CzaFoDespite the ongoing pandemic and months-long nationwide lockdown, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sees a rosy economic growth for the Philippines next year.
In an interview with ANC on May 20, ADB senior economist James Villafuerte said the international lender is optimistic about a quick recovery in 2021 for most Asian countries, including the Philippines.
“That's because we expect a very bad economic outcome this year which means that there’s much opportunity for growth next year,” said Villafuerte. “I agree, there’s room for a strong bounce-back for the Philippines next year.”
The Philippine economy has receded for the first time in 22 years, shrinking by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020. The recession was triggered by stringent lockdown measures in Luzon and the temporary closure of businesses amid the pandemic.
On May 18, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Benjamin Diokno made a similar forecast, saying the country is likely to see a 7 or 8 percent economic growth next year, despite the bank’s projected economic contraction of 2 to 3.4 percent this year.
“By next year, we are anticipating a growth of seven to eight percent, and that’s the consensus among international organizatons,” said Diokno in the interview.
Diokno cited the country’s healthy fiscal position, local banks’ buffering, and economic and tax reforms which will help keep the economy afloat in 2021.
This story originally appeared on reportr.world.
The best places to do business for 2020 have been revealed. CEO Magazine 29 APRIL 2020 - 01:27 PM
Very few executives could have predicted a virus originating in China would lead to worldwide economic devastation in 2020. Just four months after the first official reports of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, more than three million cases have been confirmed globally, and with this comes exponential economic unrest.
The pandemic could possibly trim global economic growth by 2% while global trade is predicted to plummet by up to 32%, according to Congressional Research Service.
Stock market uncertainty and businesses facing unprecedented challenges, many of which won’t be known until the peak of the health crisis hits, makes for a suitable time to look at the best places to invest.
The world’s best countries to invest in or do business in for 2020 have been revealed by CEOWORLD.
The study analysed 80 countries according to business and investment environments. Corruption, freedom, workforce, investor protection, infrastructure, taxes, quality of life, red tape and technological readiness were among the factors taken into consideration.
Singapore topped the list for the 2020 edition as the most attractive nation for investors and businesspeople.
The UK was ranked second followed by Poland, Indonesia and India; however, it’s important to note the results do not take into consideration the current pandemic and any effects the health crisis may have on the economy.
Comparatively, Iran was ranked 80th on the list, just below Saint Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda.