Author: Aiko Akihiro

SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) plans to invest PHP 15 billion ($270 million) to build 14 new hotels under the Radisson brand over the next five years. The move aims to tap into the growing tourism sector and spending of Filipino consumers. The deal, signed by SMHCC and Radisson Hotel Group, grants SMHCC the exclusive right to build and integrate Park Inn by Radisson hotels with SM property developments across the country. Majority of the new hotels will be located outside Metro Manila, bringing economic activities to the provinces, including Isabela, Olongapo, Laoag, Dasmarinas, Sta. Rosa, and Fairview. The…

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual called for continued investment in the development of Filipino talents in the IT-BPM sector to sustain its growth. At the IT-BPM Talent Summit in Makati City, he urged local players not to be complacent in upskilling their workforce, despite the Philippines’ ranking as the second-largest outsourcing services destination. With the IT-BPM industry valued between USD 265 billion and USD 275 billion, Pascual emphasized the need to develop a competitive workforce that is also a formidable force in the ever-evolving digital landscape. The DTI, along with the Board of Investments, provides fiscal…

Chubb, a leading publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, has announced its expansion of marine insurance business in the Philippines and Malaysia, according to a statement carried by Media Outreach on April 3. This expansion will increase its marine insurance footprint to 10 markets in Asia, which includes Singapore, China, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In the Philippines, Chubb is rolling out a full suite of insurance products and services, led by Jeanette Cebeda, Property and Casualty Technical Lines Marine and Surety Underwriter. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, Chubb has appointed Owen Poh as…

Aqua Cultured Foods has secured $5.5 million in seed funding to bring its ultra-realistic seafood alternatives to market. The investment round was led by Stray Dog Capital, with participation from H Venture Partners, Aztec Capital Management, and Amplifica Capital. Existing investors including Supply Change Capital, Big Idea Ventures, HPA, Aera VC, Kingfisher Family Investments, and Swiss Pampa also participated, as did CJ CheilJedang, a South Korea-based global food and bio company. Aqua will use the funds to equip its new facility, scale up production, bring products to market, add key talent, and expand its roster of restaurant and foodservice outlets…

Huddle01, a US and India-based company, has raised $2.8M in a Seed Round led by Hivemind, a leading digital asset investment firm. This brings Huddle01’s total raised funds to $4.5M. Other participants in the round include Superscrypt, M31 Capital, Protocol Labs, East Ventures, Longhash Ventures, Good News Ventures, and notable angel investors such as Balaji Srinivasan, Stani Kulechov, Dan Romero, and Juan Benet. Huddle01 aims to build the world’s first decentralized real-time communication (dRTC) network using blockchain technology. The company has taken a three-pronged approach to make audio/video communication more efficient, reliable, and secure, which includes a video meeting platform,…

Fresh Factory, an Indonesian startup that provides an end-to-end hyperlocal cold chain fulfilment and logistics service, has raised $4.15 million in pre-Series A funding. The investment was led by SBI Ven Capital through its joint fund with Kyobo Securities and NTUitive, with participation from existing investors East Ventures and Trihill Capital, as well as new investor PT Tap Applied Agri Services. Fresh Factory plans to use the funds to expand to over 100 fulfilment centres in 50 Indonesian cities by the end of 2023, including highly populated cities in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and secondary cities in Java. The investment will…

Philippine-listed property giant Megaworld Corporation is investing P15-billion to build a new integrated lifestyle community in the City of Manila. Located just beside the historic Chinatown on a property within the San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park, the three-hectare Winford Resort will feature a mix of residential condominiums, hotels, and commercial developments with a casino complex. The development will be inspired by ‘Old Manila’ with structural designs reminiscent of the pre-war era. The buildings will be characterized by rich aesthetics, with intricate details of French Renaissance, Neo-Classical, and Art Deco architecture. “This commitment to revive the old beauty of Manila…

Globally, the demand for lab-grown gemstones is growing at a rapid rate. This surge in demand is set to change the jewellery industry forever as manufacturers and retailers are compelled to change their approach in sourcing gemstones. Industry experts believe that there will be a very noticeable deficit in the global demand for mined gemstones in 2022, which will, in turn, lead to an increase in demand for lab-grown ones. The Growth of Conscious Consumerism Perhaps, you have heard about mindless consumption and conscious consumerism. Both can be seen as opposites of each other. Conscious consumerism is the next big…

You consider yourself to be a respectable homeowner in your area. You believe in having the best conveniences and comforts of the modern world for you and your family to enjoy. That’s why you’ve decided to move forward with installing solar panels for your home. For many reasons, investing in a solar panel system installation can be a wise choice. Not only are you ahead of the game and participating in a more sustainable way of living. In addition, there are energy savings you can enjoy within just the first year after installing them. Perhaps that’s why the global solar…

Rubix Blockchain Pte Ltd (Rubix) announced today it has secured a $100 million investment from LDA Capital Ltd to grow global operations, support the transition to Web3, and expand its green blockchain community. This investment will allow Rubix to optimize growth in the Web3 space, expanding education opportunities, policy development, and Web2 to Web3 transition – enabling partners to build various apps on the platform including those that address social and environmental issues. The funds will also be used to increase internal operations including hiring of employees from around the globe to support the extension of Rubix’s ecosystem. “We’re thrilled…

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) has partnered with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Go Negosyo to support their existing coaching program and service the financial requirements of eligible farmers, fishers, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) nationwide. Under the Kapatid Agri Mentor Me Program (KAMMP), LANDBANK will facilitate loan applications and provide credit assistance to graduate-mentees coached and trained by Go Negosyo and DA. The Bank will also assist in the development of new training and mentorship modules for startup and expanding agribusiness ventures. During the virtual Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing ceremony on 20 September…

Megaworld-sponsored MREIT is planning to grow its office assets size to 1 million square meters within the next five to ten years as it aims to be the ‘country’s fastest growing REIT with the longest expansion pipeline’ amongst listed REITs on the Philippine Stock Exchange. Next year, MREIT’s sponsor is planning to inject an additional 100,000 square meters of prime office assets that will increase MREIT’s portfolio to around 324,000 square meters by end-2022. “We are committed to reaching half a million square meters by 2024, and are highly confident of our ability to reach 1 million square meters in…

In anticipation of a strong economic bounce back in the South, leading developer in VisMin Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) broke ground today, September 14, on its Php4 billion mixed-use Masters Tower Cebu which will boost its hotel and Grade A office portfolio. Located at the Cebu Business Park, Masters Tower Cebu will house the 195-room Sofitel Cebu City. The luxury hotel will be a cornerstone of the growing CLI hotel portfolio projected to grow to 1,433 rooms by 2025 when Sofitel Cebu City will be completed. This is in line with the listed company’s strategy to grow its recurring revenue…

K&L Gates Straits Law LLC, the Singapore office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP, welcomes Ed Bennett as a partner to the firm’s asset management and investment funds practice. Bennett joins the firm from Morgan Lewis Stamford, where he was a partner and co-leader of its Singapore investment management practice group. Bennett has extensive experience advising on a wide range of investment fund and corporate transactional matters, including direct and co-investments by funds, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, secondary buyout, refinancing and fund formations. He regularly works with fund managers and institutional investors across the globe on…

The Philippines’s unemployment and underemployment rates are starting to recover following record low rates attained by the country at the onset of the Duterte administration, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has said. Bello reported the accomplishments of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) during President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s Talk to the People on COVID-19 aired Tuesday morning. “Pagpasok ng inyong administrasyon, nakamit natin ang pinakamababang lebel ng unemployment rate of 5.1 percent at underemployment rate of 14 percent. Nadale lang po tayo noong pandemya noong Marso 2020, Mr. President,” Bello said. “Ganunpaman ay unti-unti na nating nababawi ang mababang…

On the second quarter of 2021, Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) posted an 11.8% growth, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The construction industry is one of the main contributors to the growth together with manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade as well as repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles. Among the major economic sectors, industry recorded the fastest growth at 20.8% . This was followed by services with a growth of 9.6 percent. Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (AHFF) registered a negative 0.1% growth. Construction posted the highest growth rate for the quarter at 25.7% followed by manufacturing at…

Ritchies Transport Limited, a leading transportation operator in New Zealand with an 86-year heritage, and KKR, a global investment firm, today announced the signing of definitive agreements under which KKR will acquire Ritchies. The investment – which marks KKR’s first infrastructure investment in New Zealand – will be used to advance the Company’s mission to better connect local communities, support the country’s expanding public transport network and promote greener transportation solutions. Founded in Temuka in 1935, Ritchies is one of the largest transport providers in New Zealand, with a fleet of more than 1,600 vehicles and a network of 42…

Committed to its advocacy against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), Globe further strengthens its anti-OSAEC initiatives by partnering with globally-recognized Internet Watch Foundation. This comes immediately after Globe sealed a partnership with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) in June. IWF is a UK-based child protection body that employs cutting-edge technology to find, remove, disrupt and prevent child sexual abuse imagery on the internet. The non-profit organization works closely with international law enforcement agencies, governments and other non-government organizations (NGO). Each report on an exploitative image or video received is examined by a pool of expert…

The Philippines reached a new milestone in its vaccination program as the country records more than 30 million vaccines administered at 30,389,160 vaccine doses, as of August 22, 2021 data from the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard. From the total number of vaccine doses administered, 17,258,675 individuals have been jabbed with a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 13,130,485 individuals are now fully vaccinated, said Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr. during the press briefing that ensued after the “30M Jabs and Counting” event held on August 23, 2021 at SM City in San Mateo, Rizal. “At habang pataas nang…

The National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (Nat Re), the Philippines’ sole professional reinsurer, was assigned a financial strength rating of PRS A, with a Stable Outlook, by the Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings). A PRS A rating means that an insurer has strong financial security characteristics, but is somewhat more likely to be affected by adverse business conditions compared to higher-rated insurance companies. A Stable Outlook is defined as: “The rating is likely to be maintained or to remain unchanged in the next twelve months.” The assigned financial strength rating and Outlook take into consideration Nat Re’s: a) solid…