BASEL (AFP) – The head of the international body tasked with restoring stability to the world’s financial system said Saturday that the system had improved significantly but was “not out of the woods yet.

When the financial crisis predictably turned into a jobs crisis, the Asia-Pacific region found itself facing mass unemployment. As many as 100 million people in Asia could be unemployed this year, according to ILO estimates. Allan Dow, ILO press officer, reports from Thailand.

IN a welcome eco-friendly move, telecom leader Smart, having previously harnessed wind and solar energy to power cell sites, is set on deploying fuel cell technology as part of its “Alternative Power for Cell Sites” program—the first industry player to do so.

NEDA expects more investors coming in The government sees slow but sure rebound of the economy late this year despite dire prediction that the country would experience recession before 2009 ends. “Well, moving upward is the direction. And the current target of 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent [growth in the gross domestic product for 2009]…

IF THE NUMEROUS English-language teaching centers in our urban centers today that cater to Koreans is used as the yardstick, we have reason to say that the Philippines has good linguistic educational facilities.

MAKATI CITY, Philippines—Organizations that use computers older than three years are spending more on maintenance than those that have invested on new machines, a recent study showed.

MANILA, Philippines – Local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have committed to invest around P140 million in new ventures, potentially generating 1,450 new jobs in Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, and Batangas, according to data from the Board of Investments.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Filipinos expected consumer prices to remain relatively stable over the short term, giving it elbow room to maintain low interest rates.

About 14.4 million, or 40.8 percent of Filipino children in 2006, live in poverty, a government report shows.

As President Arroyo waxed proudly yesterday about the similarity of her supposed cash transfer program with a scheme being implemented in Brazil, where she is on an official visit, a financial assistance scheme for displaced workers in the Philppines has been put off after providing loans to 100 individuals.

The country’s top economist said yesterday the private sector should not be forced to fork in their share in the vague economic resiliency program (ERP) of President Arroyo since their involvement in identifying public infrastructure may involve conflict of interest.

Print US consumer spending posted a modest gain in May but savings vaulted amid massive government stimulus spending aimed at pulling the economy out of recession, official data showed Friday.

JAKARTA – INDONESIA ordered employment agencies to stop sending its citizens to Malaysia to work as maids following a flood of complaints from domestic workers that their employers abused them, a government minister said on Thursday.

For several decades, educators believed that education is preparation for life and is normally taken under a formal and structured system. A process of instructing, training and of providing knowledge, skills and abilities, the purpose of which is to educate the person. Later on the concept of formal and informal education led to a more…

CEBU CITY: The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor group, urged the government and the private sector to implement more aggressive strategies to contain the spread of the Influenza A(H1N1) virus, warning that it could soon invade the country’s factories and diminish labor productivity.

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) announced Thursday that the Fund is offering penalty condonation to delinquent companies or employers.

The number of poor Filipino households was expected to go up this year because of the global economic crisis, an official of the National Statistical Coordination Board said Thursday.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines were cutting costs and shifting strategies to stay alive amid the global economic slowdown, a recent poll showed.

MANILA, Philippines – Studies by the Asian Development Bank revealed that the Philippines has one of the highest annual deforestation rates in East and Southeast Asia at 1.4 percent, a senior House member said.

“Would you buy a used car from this man?” That was the question asked of many Americans when Richard Nixon ran for President of the US. Today, the question being asked of the Filipino electorate is, would you trust the outcome of the elections to a company long suspected of having ties or influencing the…

NEW YORK – The world’s population of millionaires shrank dramatically last year as the global economic crisis took its toll on the wealthy, according to a report by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and consulting firm Capgemini.

MANILA, Philippines – Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council Chairman Vice President Noli de Castro said the Philippines is looking to complete the housing backlog of close to 3.8 million, as more potential buyers have been flooding the mass housing market.

MANILA, Philippines – Exports are expected to decrease by up to 30 percent this year as consumer demand from the Philippines’ major markets are projected to drop further, an economist said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco said his proposal to revive the Bataan nuclear plant should not be turned into a “political and an emotional issue.”

MANILA, Philippines—The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should revoke its new immigration policy that blacklists foreign workers who run away from their usually abusive employers, an alliance of overseas Filipino workers’ organizations in the Middle East said Thursday.

MANILA – The slowing growth pace of exports, remittances, and foreign direct investments (FDI) will pull the country’s economic growth to a range of -1 and 1 percent this year, an economist said Thursday.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says the world economy is near the bottom of the worst recession in post-war history.

The US and European Union (EU) have filed complaints that China is unfairly limiting its raw material exports.

MANILA, Philippines – Some P30 billion in unpaid premiums from various government agencies and units are hampering the operations of the Government Service Insurance System as well as its ability to pay out benefits.

MANILA, Philippines — The lead proponent in the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) at the House of Representatives appealed to critics to keep politics out of his initiative and see it as the only viable answer to the country’s looming energy woes in the coming years.