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Dining In/Out (03/24/22)

RWM switching to cage-free eggs

ON March 22, Resorts World Manila (RWM), kicked off its overarching sustainability program dubbed, “I Love Earth” with the launch of its Sustainable Culinary initiative advocating the use of cage-free eggs. The integrated resort has committed to join a global shift towards the use of only cage-free eggs across all its hotels and food and beverage (F&B) outlets by 2025. Batangas Free Range Chicken (BFRC) is one of the partners which will supply sustainable products to the different hotels and F&B outlets. RWM worked with the Lever Foundation on making the switch. The global NGO works with food companies across the region to help them upgrade their protein sourcing for a more humane, safe and sustainable supply chain, with a focus on cage-free eggs and alternative protein. Animal protection and food safety organizations around the world are encouraging a switch to cage-free eggs, which are more humane to animals and safer for consumers. On caged egg farms, each egg-laying hen is confined for nearly her entire life in a cage so small she can barely turn around. Research by the European Food Safety Authority and others has found that cage-free egg farms are up to 25 times less likely to be contaminated with key strains of salmonella compared to hens raised in cages. Battery cage egg production has been banned throughout the European Union as well as in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, India, and parts of the United States.

Sheraton joins Earth Hour 2022 celebration

ON Saturday, March 26, the Sheraton Manila Bay will be one with the world in the observance of Earth Hour. Aside from joining the global movement by switching off lights in its main public and office areas from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., Sheraton Manila Bay’s top-floor restaurant Pacific Lounge will also be serving a special Earth Hour Cocktail at its Saturday pre-dinner cocktail buffet. The Earth Hour Cocktail (P988++ per person) is a zero-waste rum-based cocktail infused with basil syrup made to compliment the wide array of tapas and international cuisine at the buffet. Bring along friends and family and take home a signature WWF Plushie Panda for every group of four persons. Proceeds from the Panda Plushies are donated to the wildlife conservation projects of the World Wide Fund. Sheraton Manila Bay’s Pre-dinner Cocktail is available daily starting 6 p.m. For reservations call 5318-0788 or e-mail reservations.manilabay@sheraton.com. Sheraton Manila Bay is located at M. Adriatico cor. Gen. Malvar Streets, Malate, Manila.

Eden Melt Sarap now ‘meltier,’ cremier

EDEN Melt Sarap has been made creamier and meltier, making it even easier to use in recipes that need melty cheese. The company has created recipes using the updated product that can be accessed at www.cheeseanything.com. One can also follow and like the Facebook page Eden Cheese PH for updates and more recipes.

Seattle’s Best Coffee offers Skippy Peanut Butter Collection

SEATTLE’S Best Coffee has unveiled the new Skippy Peanut Butter Collection, now available at all Seattle’s Best Coffee branches nationwide. The collection is made up of the Skippy Hot Choco, which blends dark chocolate sauce, milk, and Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter; Skippy Iced Choco Java, crafted with a shot of espresso, white chocolate mix, and Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter; Dreamy Skippy Cookie Javakula, an ice-blended beverage made with a shot of espresso, dark chocolate sauce, Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter, and garnished with whipped cream and peanut cookies. All are available for dine-in, take-out, and delivery through Facebook Messenger (https://www.facebook.com/seattlesbestcoffeephilippines), Grab Food, Food Panda, and Pickaroo.

Seafood for Lent at RWM

FILIPINOS usually observe Lent by giving up meat and embracing seafood in their diets. For the season, Resorts World Manila (RWM) F&B outlets are focusing on the bounty from the sea. Casa Buenas, is cooking up a Seafood Fiesta featuring Octopus and coconut kilawin, Gambas al ajilo, Wood oven roasted salmon with adlai and mixed vegetables, and Garlic baked oyster. The special seafood fare is available for P1,999 net, every Friday until April 30 at Casa Buenas, GF Newport Grand Wing. Abalone is the star at the Newport Garden Wing’s Victoria Harbour Cafe (VHC) and the Newport Grand Wing’s Silk Road which are serving several abalone dishes such as Double boiled abalone and chicken soup (P608 net) at VHC and Biryani chicken with abalone (P840) at Silk Road. Meanwhile, Silogue’s Seafood Bilao is an exotic feast of grilled squid, catfish, river snails, and sinigang na tuna served with a native fermented rice dip. The Filipino feast (P2,000 net) is available every Friday until April 30. Silogue is located at the GF Newport Garden Wing. The Garden Wing Cafe is serving up its take on a Seafood Binalot — garlic shrimp, vinegar mussels, and grilled salmon inasal are placed on top of aligue rice, all wrapped with a banana leaf and served with atchara and salted egg ensalada. The Seafood Binalot (P688 net) is available every Friday until April 30. The Garden Wing Cafe is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Breakfast set made with bio-based plastics

WITH the Eco Conscious Edition, Philips Domestic Appliances introduces the first complete sustainable breakfast set made with 100% bio-based plastics from plant oil waste. The breakfast set is designed to offer consumers a green alternative and supports Philips Domestic Appliances’ ambition to grow responsibly and sustainably. The set includes a kettle, toaster, and coffee maker that come with different energy-saving functionalities. The set of these three products accounts for 21% less CO2 emissions. Even the packaging is eco-friendly. In line with the sustainability push, Philips Domestic Appliances is partnering with EcoMatcher to plant trees with every purchase from the Eco Conscious Edition products i.e., each item comes with a tree that can be redeemed. Consumers can redeem trees and track every tree with satellite maps. Philips Domestic Appliances will create a forest by initially investing in a few thousand trees and will work with EcoMatcher’s NGO partner in the Philippines, Fostering Education & Environment for Development (FEED), to plant the trees. Trees can be tracked on EcoMatcher’s website as well on EcoMatcher’s iOS/Android app. The introduction of biologically based plastics made from used cooking oil as part of the product assembly not only means a reduction in water pollution, CO2 emissions, and overall use of natural resources, it represents a breakthrough in the field of developing and manufacturing sustainable materials. The products are available on online malls and some Lotte department stores.

Nvidia unveils data-center chips aimed at stretching its lead in AI

NVIDIA Corp. told investors it’s focused on maintaining growth with new products, including speedier data-center chips, rather than embarking on more aggressive stock-buyback plans as some shareholders had hoped.

At the company’s investor meeting on Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said that the company’s priority is using cash to expand its business. Nvidia has bought back $2 billion in stock during the current quarter, she noted, but the company hasn’t increased its budget for repurchases. Nvidia has $5 billion of buyback authorization left, Ms. Kress said.

Some investors had been eyeing additional buybacks after Nvidia walked away from a $40-billion plan to acquire Arm Ltd. in February, according to Citigroup, Inc. and Bank of America Corp. That deal, which failed to overcome regulatory opposition, would have been the biggest takeover in chip-industry history.

Nvidia shares slipped as much as 2.5% following Ms. Kress’ remarks, but soon recovered. Though Nvidia is down nearly 10% this year, that’s in line with a broader slide for chip stocks.

Nvidia’s focus now is new products and technology aimed at continuing its rapid growth in artificial intelligence (AI) processing. Graphics chips based on the new “Hopper” design will debut later this year, the company said. The processors are created with as many as 80 billion transistors and — when paired with new connecting chips — will massively speed up the development of software that understands human speech and does genomic research.

Under Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, Nvidia has parlayed its dominance of graphics chips prized by computer gamers into a lucrative position in server technology. The company supplies chips to the owners of some of the world’s largest data centers, which use the technology to power the artificial intelligence software needed to make sense of the growing flood of digital information.

Mr. Huang saw the opportunity early and tasked Nvidia’s engineers with adapting its product to become crucial to this growing type of computing. The company branched out with new types of semiconductors, computer systems, software and services to keep it ahead of the competition.

Nvidia’s Hopper technology, named for computer science pioneer Grace Hopper, is its latest offering. It contains circuitry specifically designed to run so-called Transformer machine learning models, which are used to improve the way that machines understand and interpret human speech. Hopper will also better link with other chips, allowing it to remove some of the bottlenecks caused by transferring huge data sets between parts of a computer. Nvidia will rely on contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to make the chips.

Alibaba Cloud, Amazon.com, Inc.’s AWS, Alphabet, Inc.’s Google Cloud and Microsoft Corp.’s Azure are among the large companies that will adopt the new chips, Nvidia said. In addition, computer makers such as Dell Technologies, Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. will offer machines based on the silicon.

Nvidia also announced the availability of the Grace CPU Superchip, its brand name for a new central processing unit for high-end data-center computing. That product is its initial foray into the bigger market for central processing units (CPUs) — a field where Intel Corp. technology remains dominant but is facing greater pressure from new entrants.

It’s been six weeks since Nvidia walked away from its plan to acquire Arm, an influential UK chip designer, from SoftBank Group Corp. SoftBank is now pursuing an initial public offering for the business instead. — Bloomberg

How PSEi member stocks performed — March 23, 2022

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

How did the financial institutions help Southeast Asian MSMEs during the pandemic?

How did the financial institutions help Southeast Asian MSMEs during the pandemic?

Peso rebounds ahead of BSP policy meeting

THE PESO rebounded versus the greenback after the enactment of measures that could help boost economic recovery and ahead of the central bank’s policy review.

The local unit closed at P52.39 a dollar on Wednesday, stronger by five centavos from its P52.44 finish on Tuesday, based on Bankers Association of the Philippines data.

The peso opened Wednesday’s session at P52.42 per dollar, which was also its weakest showing. Meanwhile, its intraday best was at P52.33 against the greenback.

Dollars traded rose to $1.015 billion on Wednesday from $953 million on Tuesday.

The peso strengthened after the adoption of a new measure that could help support the economy’s recovery from the pandemic, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Wednesday signed Executive Order 166 which is a 10-point policy agenda prepared by economic managers.

The measures include the expansion of the vaccination program, relaxation of requirements for international travel and the further reopening of the economy.

On Monday, Mr. Duterte also signed a law that allows full foreign ownership in more public services such as telecommunications and domestic shipping, a move that would further liberalize the Philippine economy.

Republic Act No. 11647, which amends the 85-year-old Public Service Act, excludes telecommunications, domestic shipping, railways and subways, airlines, expressways and tollways, and airports from the definition of a public utility. This means they will no longer be subject to the 40% foreign ownership cap for public utilities under the Constitution.

The government is hoping the measures will help the Philippine economy recover from the pandemic by creating much-needed jobs.

Meanwhile, a trader attributed the peso’s strength to profit taking ahead of the policy review of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) this Thursday.

A BusinessWorld poll last week showed 15 out of 17 analysts expect the Monetary Board to keep benchmark interest rates on hold on March 24, citing earlier signals from the BSP chief that the regulator will remain supportive of economic recovery.

However, analysts said they will be expecting more forward guidance from the BSP on its imminent tightening amid expectation of faster price increases due to the war in Ukraine and monetary policy normalization in the US.

For Thursday, Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P52.30 to P52.45 versus the dollar, while the trader said he expects the local unit to move within P52.30 to 52.50. — L.W.T. Noble

PSE index barely changed amid Russia-Ukraine war

BW FILE PHOTO

THE BENCHMARK INDEX barely moved on Wednesday on last-minute bargain hunting as the war between Russia and the Ukraine continued and following hawkish remarks from the US central bank chief.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.49 point to close at 7,009.43 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares rose by 8.96 points or 0.24% to close at 3,724.75.

“The local bourse closed flat this Wednesday as a last-minute bargain hunting wiped the market’s intraday losses. The bourse was in the red territory for the most part of the day as uncertainties over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the aggressively hawkish outlook of the Federal Reserve dampened sentiment,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

“Philippine shares closed flat as investors shrugged off hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and continued to monitor the war in Ukraine. The ongoing Ukraine war is still part of the investors’ ‘to monitor’ list,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

Talks between Ukraine and Russia are confrontational but moving forward, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, as the West plans to announce more sanctions against the Kremlin amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, Reuters reported.

Intense Russian air strikes are turning besieged Mariupol into the “ashes of a dead land,” the city council said on Tuesday, as street fighting and bombardments raged in the port city.

Hundreds of thousands are believed to be trapped inside buildings, with no access to food, water, power or heat. Both civilians and Ukrainian troops were coming under Russian fire, said regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Russian forces and Russian-backed separatist units had taken about half of the port city, normally home to around 400,000 people, Russia’s RIA news agency said, citing a separatist leader.

Meanwhile, the US central bank must move “expeditiously” to bring too-high inflation to heel, Mr. Powell said on Monday, adding that it could use bigger-than-usual interest rate hikes if needed to do so.

Back home, sectoral indices were split. Industrials went up 167.88 points or 1.81% to 9,445.15; mining and oil climbed 76.65 points or 0.62% to 12,346.97; and property inched up by 3.37 points or 0.10% to 3,363.18.

Meanwhile, holding firms declined by 43.14 points or 0.64% to 6,608.48; financials fell by 3.80 points or 0.22% to 1,654.39; and services dropped 3.31 points or 0.17% to 1,877.16.

Value turnover decreased to P5.89 billion with 1.41 billion shares changing hands on Wednesday from the P6.67 billion or 1.11 billion issues seen on Tuesday.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 91 versus 85, while 48 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling dropped to P734.65 million from P838.47 million seen on the previous trading day. — L.M.J.C. Jocson with Reuters

World number one Australian Ash Barty retires at age 25

MELBOURNE — World number one Ash Barty has decided to retire from professional tennis at the age of 25 and at the peak of her game, citing the fulfilment of her tennis goals and fatigue with life on the Tour.

She retires with 15 titles, less than two months after winning the Australian Open, her third Grand Slam singles triumph following the 2021 Wimbledon and 2019 French Open.

“Ash Barty the person has so many dreams she wants to chase after that don’t necessarily involve traveling the world, being away from my family, being away from my home, which is where I’ve always wanted to be,” an emotional Barty said in a video posted on her Instagram account.

“I’ll never, ever stop loving tennis, it’s been a massive part of my life, but I think it’s important that I get to enjoy the next part of my life as Ash Barty the person, not Ash Barty the athlete.”

She spent a total of 121 weeks as world number one.

It marks Barty’s second “retirement” from the sport, having walked away from the game as a teenager in late 2014 after becoming disaffected by the Tour.

She returned in 2016 and rose rapidly up the rankings. — Reuters

Late heroics by Mo Bamba, Franz Wagner lift Magic past Warriors

MO BAMBA hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 52.2 seconds left and the host Orlando Magic handed the Golden State Warriors their third straight loss with a 94-90 comeback victory on Tuesday night.

Following the Warriors’ unsuccessful coach’s challenge for a shooting foul, Franz Wagner hit three free throws with 13.2 seconds remaining for a 92-88 lead for the Magic. The rookie out of Michigan added a dunk off an inbounds play moments later to complete the scoring. Wagner ended the game with 18 points on the night.

Wendell Carter, Jr. finished with 19 points and eight rebounds for the Magic, which won its second straight. Bamba had seven points, seven boards and three assists. His timely 3-pointer was just his second basket in 23 minutes of action.

Orlando held a 29-16 scoring edge in the fourth quarter as Golden State missed 14 of 21 field goal attempts.

A 13-0 run helped Orlando close within 79-78 as Gary Harris made a three off the right wing with 6:29 left.

Cole Anthony added 14 points, five rebounds and five assists to help Orlando go 3-3 on its season-long six-game homestand.

For the Warriors, Jordan Poole scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter to go with six assists and Otto Porter, Jr. contributed 14 points and 15 rebounds off the bench as Golden State opened a five-game road trip.

Klay Thompson made a pair of 3-pointers and scored 15 points for the Warriors, who were playing their second game since star guard Stephen Curry sprained his left foot.

Jonathan Kuminga had a strong game off the bench with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Andrew Wiggins, who scored 28 points in the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 6, had 13 points (5-for-19 shooting) and eight rebounds.

The Warriors, who trailed by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, outscored Orlando (36-19) in the third period on the strength of a 7-for-11 performance behind the arc. Golden State ended the quarter on a 22-13 run to take a 74-65 lead into the final 12 minutes.

Orlando jumped out to a 13-point lead before settling for a 25-17 advantage after the first quarter as Anthony made three triples and Wagner scored eight points.

Orlando rookie Jalen Suggs (ankle) missed his fourth straight game, while the Magic also announced on Tuesday that forward Jonathan Isaac underwent a small surgical procedure after suffering a right hamstring injury. Isaac was already set to miss the entire season as he recovers from a torn left ACL. — Reuters

Yankees, Aaron Judge fail to reach arbitration deal

THE New York Yankees failed to agree to terms with slugger Aaron Judge at the Tuesday deadline to finalize contracts and avoid the arbitration process.

Although the Yankees did agree to terms with 11 other arbitration-eligible players, the absence of an agreement with Judge means he can become a free agent at the end of the season unless an extension can be worked.

Judge, 30, had one of his best seasons in 2021, hitting .287 with 39 home runs and 98 RBIs in 148 games. The three-time All-Star has a career .276 average with a .386 on-base percentage, a .554 slugging percentage, 158 homers and 366 RBIs in 572 games.

Judge made $10.17 million last year and is asking to be awarded a $21-million salary for this year in arbitration. The Yankees offered $17 million.

According to the New York Daily News, Judge said there had been no contract talks as of Sunday. However, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner told the newspaper that talks would begin soon. The New York Post reported the team will make a “presentation” to Judge next week.

After a spring training workout in Tampa on Sunday, Judge said he didn’t want talks on an extension to go past the opening of the April 7 opening of the regular season.

“The last thing I want to do is be in the middle of May and, after a good series, is talking about the extension or after going 0-for-4 and people being like, ‘You should have signed that extension,’” Judge said. “We’ll try to get everything out of the way right now while we’re still prepping and getting ready for the season.

“But once it’s April 7, packed house in the Bronx, it’s gonna be time to just focus on my ballgames.”

The Yankees announced one-year agreements with 11 players. The 2022 salaries, according to multiple media reports: Miguel Andujar ($1.3 million), Joey Gallo ($10,275,000), Chad Green ($4 million), Kyle Higashioka ($935,000), Clay Holmes ($1.1 million), Isiah Kinner-Falefa ($4.7 million), Jonathan Loaisiga ($1.65 million), Jordan Montgomery ($6 million), Wandy Peralta ($2.15 million), Jameson Taillon ($5.8 million) and Gleyber Torres ($6.25 million). — Reuters

Manchester, Liverpool mayors want FA Cup semi to be moved from London

THE mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool have asked the Football Association (FA) to move next month’s FA Cup semifinal between Manchester City and Liverpool to be moved from Wembley due to a lack of train services to London that weekend.

City and Liverpool will meet over the Easter weekend but the mayors said the match would be difficult for fans to attend as engineering work scheduled for April 16-17 means there will be no direct trains to London from Manchester and Merseyside.

“This leaves tens of thousands of fans from all over our region in an unfair position, as supporters’ groups from both clubs have made clear today,” Mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram said in a joint letter to the FA Chair Debbie Hewitt.

“Without quick, direct trains, many people will be left with no option but to drive, fly, make overly complex rail journeys or book overnight accommodation.

“We believe the most obvious solution is to move this game to a more accessible stadium and offer to work constructively with you to make that happen,” added the letter sent on Tuesday.

The mayors added that rising fuel prices would burden fans with excessive costs while there were also “significant logistical and safety considerations” with thousands of fans converging on the M6 motorway.

“More than 64,000 traveling supporters will be forced on to the roads, which will already be overburdened with bank holiday traffic,” supporters groups for both clubs said in a joint statement.

“For the other semi between (London clubs) Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Wembley makes sense. For Liverpool and City, it makes no sense.

“City and Liverpool are less than 40 miles apart and there are plenty of grounds big enough far closer than Wembley to stage such a prestigious game.”

The FA had earlier said in a statement released to British media that it would meet Liverpool and City to discuss match arrangements and announce further details in due course.

“We are also continuing to work with both Network Rail and National Express to find a solution so that supporters of both teams are able to travel to and from the fixture, with as minimal disruption as possible,” the FA said. — Reuters

Remote work possible for BPOs that surrender perks

BW FILE PHOTO

THERE IS NOTHING to prevent the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry from continuing with remote work arrangements, but must give up their tax incentives, the Department of Finance said.

IT-BPM companies, also known as business process outsourcing (BPO) organizations, “are allowed to adopt work-from-home (WFH) arrangements,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a statement on Tuesday. “No one is prohibiting them or impinging on their management prerogative to continue implementing their WFH setups. However, they must give up the tax incentives they currently enjoy because the law is clear on this.”

Incentives granted to IT-BPM companies located in economic zones are tied to how much work they perform onsite. The onsite work rules were eased during the pandemic, but the relaxed regime is expiring on March 31.

Under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law, companies registered with investment promotion agencies (IPAs) are eligible for perks like an option to pay a 5% special corporate income tax in lieu of other taxes, an income tax holiday, and enhanced deductions.

These incentives are subject to compliance with Section 309 of the Tax Code, which requires that the company’s business must be conducted “within the geographical boundaries of the zone or freeport” in which the project or activity is registered.

Mr. Dominguez noted that extending the WFH concession would be unfair to companies outside ecozones that pay regular taxes. “Other companies such as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) pay the regular corporate income tax (CIT) rate of 20%, while big corporations pay 25%.”

Resolution No. 19-21, dated Aug. 2, 2021 issued by the Foreign Investment Review Board, which regulates incentives granted to foreign investors, allowed IT-BPM companies to perform 90% of their operations remotely while remaining eligible for incentives. This is the resolution expiring on March 31, with appeals for an extension not granted.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority, one of the IPAs, had sought to extend the relaxed enforcement of on-site work rules to September.

Increased vaccination rates now allow companies to safely resume onsite work, Mr. Dominguez said.

As of Sunday, 65 million of the target population of 90 million is fully vaccinated, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said, for a vaccination rate of 72%.

Mr. Dominguez said that under the relaxed Alert Level 1 quarantine setting, all government agencies are required to have 100% of their staff working onsite.

A return to office work for IT-BPM companies will also help the economy recover by increasing foot traffic for restaurants, services, and transportation.

“We hope that IT-BPM companies registered with the IPAs can support us in this whole-of-nation effort of helping Filipinos recover from the pandemic and easing the impact on them of the current crisis,” he added.

The IT-BPM industry generated revenue of $28.8 billion in 2021, and employed 1.4 million workers. — Tobias Jared Tomas

India, Philippines seen as good fit for healthcare tieups

REUTERS

INDIA and the Philippines stand to mutually gain from collaborating in healthcare and health technology (healthtech), the Indian ambassador to the Philippines said.

Shambhu S. Kumaran, Indian ambassador to the Philippines, said during the India-Philippines Business Conference on Healthcare and Medical Cooperation on Wednesday that Philippine firms should view their Indian counterparts as potential partners in healthcare investments.

“Why should the Philippines look at India? As two democracies, we recognize that our people need accessible healthcare. They need affordable healthcare and they need healthcare to be available. This is only possible if we look at (the) value of partnerships looking beyond the immediate value from the transaction,” Mr. Kumaran said.

“There (are) enormous untapped requirements and capabilities on both sides,” he added.

Mr. Kumaran added that India can offer advances in healthtech.

“India is a growing technological hub. (It) is manifesting in healthtech, educational technology (edutech)..,” Mr. Kumaran said.

“I urge all our Filipino friends. I don’t want you to look away from where you’ve been looking in the past. But I want you also to look, at least also look, at India as a strong front,” Mr. Kumaran said.

Lakshminarayana Neti, chief operating officer of biotech company Biological E. Ltd., said the Philippines stands to benefit from improving its regulatory regime to ease the entry of Indian drug companies.

Mr. Neti said the Philippines can accelerate the approval process to help Indian pharmaceutical firms expand in the country, noting the current long approval process.

He added that the Philippines can enter into collaborations with Indian regulators to accelerate the approvals, by gaining a prior understanding of the drugs they will evaluate for Philippine use.

“If there are accelerated pathways that we can find, then that would help us. If the countries can respect each other’s regulators and then if they can accelerate the pathways for approvals, that would help us to serve the market of the Philippines,” Mr. Neti said.

MV Ramana, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. chief executive officer for India & Branded Markets, said the drug industries of Russia and China are opting to localize production of pharmaceuticals in order to achieve self-sufficiency, suggesting that India can help the Philippines do the same.  

“Indian companies have done a significant number of such projects and many of them are complex in nature. If this is something that is in line with the expectations of the Philippine government, (we) have 100 or 200 molecules that we would want to localize in the Philippines that would bring in self-sufficiency in critical medications,” Mr. Ramana said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave 

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