BEIJING -- China approved two new genetically modified (GM) crops for import on Monday that could boost agricultural purchases from the United States, while renewing permits for 10 others, the Chinese agriculture ministry said.

COCONUT product manufacturer Axelum Resources Corp. is estimating its 2019 revenues to hit about P5.5 billion and projecting its 2020 top line to grow double digits.

SAN JOSE -- Costa Rican coffee exports fell 9.6% in December, the country’s national coffee institute ICAFE reported on Thursday.

THE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) denied for lack of merit the appeal of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) over the cancellation of P50.5-million tax assessment against South Luzon Tollway Corp. over its documentary stamp tax (DST) along with other charges.

YIELDS ON government securities on offer this week will likely move sideways on the back of market repositioning at the start of the year and as investors wait for latest inflation data to be released this week.

The surveys show that the Filipino people are optimistic about the new year; that their lives will be better off in 2020.

THE Palawan unit of Astoria Hotels & Resorts (AHR) is investing P650 million to expand its operations to address the growing demand from Puerto Princesa tourists.

YIELDS ON government securities (GS) moved sideways last week amid renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as well as market anticipation of local inflation data and further rate cuts from the central bank.

IT’S EXACTLY 100 years since the 1920s began. The “Roaring ’20s” came in a few years after the end of the First World War (allegedly “the war to end all wars,” but who knew then?). The Western world was in an extended period of mourning for the lives and the way of life lost after the war, and were eager for something the world had never seen before. And fashion, art, music, theater, dance -- all aspects of cultural life -- went for it.

The traffic problem is real -- we have seen it with 20/20 vision and experienced it in hours spent in the slow movement from home to work to home or to wherever in Metro Manila and in major cities. They say it is because of the lack of planning by generations of lazy politicians and bureaucrats with no vision.

THE PESO may see continued weakness this week mainly due to geopolitical tensions caused by a US airstrike that killed Iran’s most prominent military official.

BY THE TIME the final chunk of the Cartier jewelry empire was sold off in the 1970s, its founding family was almost entirely dispersed and disinterested.