Philippines news headlines

The GSO forecasts that if the epidemic is successfully nullified within the first quarter, the industrial sector’s added value will rise by only 2.68 per cent in comparison with the same period last year, of which the processing and manufacturing industry will increase by 2.38 per cent. In contrast, the figure was anticipated to reach 11.21 per cent if the epidemic had not taken place. … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS HEADLINES FEB.18

Singapore (VNA) – The total number of international tourists to the Philippines in 2019 increased 15.24 percent year-on-year to hit record 8.26 million, surpassing the set target, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) said on February 17. Almost all months, except January, registered double digit growth rates, the strongest of which was August at 27.54 percent while December recorded the highest number of foreign arrivals at nearly 776,800, the ministry added. Those from the Republic of Korea (RoK) are still the top tourists of the country with a total of 1.98 million or a 22.48 percent growth. China was hailed the second top source market with 1.74 million visitors or a 38.58-percent increase. The US comes third with 1.06 million arrivals, followed by Japan with 682,788. Australia, Canada, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Germany also sent large numbers of holidaymakers to the Philippines in the year. Last April, the DOT launched a tourism campaign with … [Read more...] about Foreign tourists to Philippines up 15 percent in 2019, exceeding target

Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippines is hoping to reach its target of 8.2 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2019, one million higher than the figure in 2018. The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) reported on September 6 that the number of foreign tourists to the country in the first seven months this year was around 4.85 million, a 12.4 percent increase over the same period last year. The Republic of Korea remained the top foreign tourist market with 1,113,274 arrivals, followed by China with 1,038,409. The US came third with 663,116 arrivals, while Japan ranked the fourth with 382,634 visitors. The department attributed the continued upsurge to the sustained support from industry stakeholders, government, host communities, investors and foreign travel trade counterparts. The tourism industry created 5.4 million jobs in 2018 and contributed 12.7 percent or 2.2 trillion pesos (41.96 billion USD) to the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP).-VNA … [Read more...] about Philippines expects to attract 8.2 million foreign tourists in 2019

Hanoi (VNA) – Small- and medium-sized banana growers in the Philippines, the world’s second largest exporter of the fruit, are being heavily affected by the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), following market closures in China. Mainland China is among the country’s biggest banana importers. Together with Japan, China purchased more than half of the shipments sent by the Southeast Asian nation in 2019. The Philippines earned 1.93 billion USD from banana exports last year, up about 40 percent from 2018 and accounting for 3 percent of the country’s overall exports. Representatives of the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) met officials from the Philippine Department of Agriculture on February 17 to tackle new challenges, including the COVID-19 outbreak. PBGEA Executive Director Stephen Antig said the hardest hit by the epidemic are small- and medium-sized growers who deal with spot buyers, as big … [Read more...] about Philippine banana growers struggle due to COVID-19

“In general, any athlete is a little nervous prior to a fight but when we are in the ring we just focus on how to win. I have done a good job here, thanks to my family, friends and supporters. I hope to receive more from them at my next events,” said the boxer, who will now focus on gaining points for a berth at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. VNS … [Read more...] about Hoàng knocks out Wongda to retain WBA Asia title