The country's agricultural trade deficit widened by almost 25% in September 2026 as export revenues declined, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.

MANILA, Philippines — At 23, Robina Gokongwei-Pe joined Robinsons Department Store as “bodegera,” a receiving clerk who manually counted inventory. It was 1984, and she was paid a daily wage of P60—equivalent to P600 in today’s prices. READ: RRHI core profit up 6% to P6.7B Her brother, Lance Gokongwei, spent his summers tagging women’s underwear. When he

MANILA, Philippines — Property giant Ayala Land Inc. is positioning for stronger growth in 2027, banking on higher recurring income, a more active but selective residential launch program and a stronger balance sheet. After a demanding year for the real estate sector, the Ayala-led firm said it was looking to convert gains from its leasing portfolio

MANILA, Philippines — Businesses have spent the past decade racing to bring artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations. Much of the business world’s talk about AI has centered on its promise to slash costs, speed up operations and squeeze more productivity out of every hour. But for global learning platform Coursera, AI is only as powerful

The value of the country"s agricultural and fisheries production shrank to P389.42 billion in the third quarter of 2026, marking a 5% decline from the same period last year at constant 2018 prices, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Beijing’s latest property stimulus package has failed to stop a downward spiral in home transactions and prices in mainland China’s lower-tier cities, which could prompt top regulators to roll out stronger incentives to reinvigorate the weak market. According to data compiled by the China Real Estate Index System (CREIS), prices in the country’s third- and fourth-tier cities dropped 2 per cent year on year in October for new homes, while prices of lived-in residential units slumped 6.5 per...

Thailand revised alcohol regulations to allow sales at specific venues on major Buddhist holidays, maintaining a general prohibition elsewhere.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PhilExport) have welcomed the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) plan to expand its one-time tax abatement program to small taxpayers, saying the move would help more businesses resolve outstanding tax liabilities and pending cases. The planned expansion would

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it has turned over a rice-processing facility worth P65.6 million to a farmers' cooperative in Nueva Ecija.

Rockwell Land Corp. has doubled its retail footprint, giving its loyal patrons more spaces to shop and more reasons to stay. Following its acquisition of Alabang Town Center late last year, the property developer now has close to 200,000 sqm of gross leasable area (GLA), doubling a retail portfolio that began with the Power Plant

A home is more than just a place to clock out from the demands of everyday life. For a young professional, it can serve as a blank canvas where ideas are scattered across couches and marble tabletops, and where one gets ready to face the day, perhaps wondering: Who will I be today? It’s a

By a certain measure, it would seem that the Filipino consumer hasn’t lost the appetite to shop, dine or travel. A cursory look at the country’s biggest malls and busiest airports would suggest that many Filipinos remain just as eager to go places and spend on experiences. Behind those crowds, however, is a changing and

The Philippine housing backlog is estimated to reach 3.7 million units between 2022 and 2028, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Meanwhile, housing production from 2022 to the end of 2025 totaled only about 477,000 units, based on statements from the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD). In other words, by the

Award-winning real estate developer Menarco Development Corporation has received the coveted champion award from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI).

For a moment, you might just forget you’re standing inside a shopping mall. The soaring ceiling could easily belong to an international airport, while the expansive 1-hectare indoor garden, bathed in beautiful natural light in a comfortable, airconditioned setting, brings to mind Singapore’s famed Gardens by the Bay. Yet this is SM Nuvali. In this

International brands have become unlikely beneficiaries of Beijing’s clampdown on so-called rapidly developed vehicles as they step up efforts to convince Chinese consumers of their cars’ quality and reliability. About 10 foreign carmakers from Tesla to General Motors (GM) were not only displaying their latest electric vehicle (EV) technologies at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), but also using the event to highlight their strengths as they continued to lose market share to Chinese...

Global financial leaders who gathered in Hong Kong this week largely sidestepped Beijing’s offshore trust tax crackdown, a lingering near-term hurdle for the city’s otherwise expanding wealth management industry. Beijing’s move earlier this year to step up scrutiny of wealthy families’ overseas assets was barely discussed openly at a series of financial industry events, including the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit and the PWMA Wealth Management Industry Summit 2026, even as it...

The Philippines will seek to drum up investments in agriculture, energy, advanced manufacturing and the digital economy as regional business leaders and investors gather in Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Business and Investment Summit on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15. Also on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed the

The motoring public is expected to get a big break from elevated fuel prices over renewed optimism that the Middle East war will end after Democrats won control of the United States Congress. Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellas said gasoline prices may significantly drop by P12.50 to P13.50 per liter starting Nov. 10. He noted

BACOLOD CITY—Despite securing an additional 9,151 metric tons (MT) of raw sugar export quota from the United States for fiscal year 2027, industry leaders on Wednesday reiterated their opposition to exporting domestic sugar during the current crop year. This allocation is part of the 1.12 million MT under the US tariff-rate quota system for fiscal

Economists caution that 86% of Thais lack retirement preparedness, emphasizing the need for earlier savings and investments due to increasing life expectancies.

Amid a bear market in China’s stock exchanges, Ren Zeping, the high-profile independent economist famed for his prescient call on China’s A-share bull market, is once again in the spotlight for a “gag order” on his social media, though industry insiders say that the move by the platform was not unexpected. Since October 24, Ren Zeping’s WeChat official account “Zeping Macro” could no longer be retrieved via search and would not accept new subscribers. The same restriction applied to his WeChat...

MANILA, Philippines — The sharp drop in palay and corn output due to weather disturbances and high input costs pulled down the country’s total farm production in the third quarter by a hefty 5 percent to P389.42 billion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Data from the statistics agency showed that the value of agriculture

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ unemployment rate rose modestly in September as job creation failed to keep pace with the growing labor force, pointing to mixed conditions in the country’s labor market. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday said the jobless rate inched up to 5.4 percent of the labor force in September from 5.3

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy could snap a four-quarter streak of slowing growth in the third quarter on the back of improving government spending and resilient exports, though the expansion is likely to remain subdued amid continued weakness in domestic demand. Gross domestic product (GDP) likely accelerated to 2.8 percent in the third quarter

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine banks remained in good shape in the first half of the year despite a rise in bad loans, with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) citing strong earnings, ample liquidity, adequate capital and stable funding as key buffers. In its latest Report on the Philippine Financial System for the First Semester of

MANILA, Philippines — German lender Deutsche Bank raised its full-year inflation forecast for the Philippines to 5.9 percent following the faster-than-expected October consumer price jump, though it maintained that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has little need to raise interest rates again as price pressures remain concentrated rather than broad-based. In a note, Deutsche Bank

MANILA, Philippines — Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) increased its consolidated net income by 11 percent to P13.4 billion in the January to September period, following the steady growth across its businesses. RLC on Friday said that its consolidated revenues in the first nine months went up by 8 percent to P38.5 billion. READ: Robinsons Land infuses

MANILA, Philppines — Converge ICT Solutions Inc. saw its bottom line dip in the first three quarters of 2026, as rising costs offset modest revenue gains fueled by its booming enterprise business. On Friday, the fiber connectivity provider reported a net income after tax of P8.1 billion for the January-to-September period, down 9.1 percent year-on-year from

MANILA, Philippines — DMCI Holdings Inc. posted a 28-percent rise in profit during the first nine months of 2026, with its businesses driving higher earnings, particularly power and nickel mining. The Consunji-led conglomerate said Friday its consolidated net income during the period had climbed to P15 billion from P11.7 billion. READ: DMCI profit jumped 26%