Strengthening MSMEs key to economic recovery – ADB

Strengthening micro, small and medium corporations (MSMEs) with innovation and internationalization is key to revitalizing Southeast Asian economies, inclusive of the Philippines', that had been devastated through the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.


This is consistent with the primary quantity of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) "Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor (ASM) 2020" file, which provides a detailed evaluation of financial and nonfinancial issues MSMEs face inside the vicinity. It also analyzes guidelines and regulations surrounding MSME development and get admission to to finance in each Southeast Asian us of a.

The file said that, inside the Philippines, MSMEs — which account for 99.Five percent of the full range of enterprises and sixty three.2 percent of the total employed pressure — performed a essential position in using the countrywide economy. More than eighty percent of them are into wholesale and retail trade, it added.

Access to finance remains a challenge to Philippine MSMEs' growth, in keeping with the file.
"Access to finance is a continual hassle blockading MSME survival and increase. The share of MSME credit score to general financial institution credit score has been falling to a unmarried-digit percentage percentage considering that 2013," the record stated.

"Meanwhile, microfinance operations by way of banks were increasing in view that 2016, even though compliance with mandatory lending to micro and small companies has not progressed satisfactorily," it delivered.

"The nonbank finance industry represented through microfinance institutions and pawnshops is small in scale, however a feasible funding source for microenterprises and people self-employed.
The capital marketplace [is] but to grow to be an alternative investment supply for MSMEs to expand."

The Manila-based totally multilateral lender cited the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' promoting of virtual economic service solutions for MSMEs beneath its country wide financial inclusion strategy, saying "[i]nfrastructure which includes a countrywide price transfer, digital ID (identification) and standardized QR (brief response) codes help boost digital economic service answers."


It additionally stated corporate profits tax (CIT) and incentives reform need to gain MSMEs, for the reason that the CIT fee positioned a heavy burden on their operations.

ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada stated MSME development remained key to promoting inclusive boom in growing Asia, calling such companies "the spine of Asia's economic system."

"They stimulate domestic call for, create jobs, innovate and compete nationally, and probably, locally. Access to finance and improved markets remain at the middle of MSME growth," he introduced.

"Asia's monetary transformation and pandemic recuperation offer the chance to boost up business opportunities for MSMEs to discover ways to digitize and embrace virtual monetary services and e-commerce, with out forsaking the conventional MSME strengths in wholesale and retail change, agribusiness, food processing, accommodation and different carrier-related enterprise.

"A restoration in call for, alternate and funding is wanted, and MSMEs must be at its coronary heart."

Budget gap shrank to P138.5B in Sept

The authorities's fiscal deficit slimmed to P138.5 billion in September as revenues and spending each declined through double digits in the month, facts from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) confirmed on Friday.

The shortfall become smaller than the P178.6-billion deficit a 12 months earlier, however higher than the P40.1-billion hole in August.


"The finances gap narrowed as the ten.19-percentage yr-over-year decline in revenue collections become matched by a 15.45-percentage dip in public spending," the Treasury bureau said in a statement.
Revenues slid to P212.Four billion in the ninth month from P236.5 billion yr-on-yr at the same time as expenses dropped to P350.9 billion from P415.1 billion a 12 months earlier.

In August, revenues reduced by 13.05 percentage and spending elevated by way of 0.38 percentage.

The September shortfall delivered the year-to-date deficit to P879.2 billion, wider than the P299 billion in the first nine months of 2019. It is, however, 32.30-percent lower than the authorities's revised program of a P1.298-trillion fiscal hole for the length.

In September on my own, the Bureau of Internal Revenue contributed the majority of sales with P140.6 billion, a 6.Fifty six-percentage reduction from P150.Five billion a yr ago and a 25.17-percentage slide from the August quantity.


The Bureau of Customs contributed P50.Eight billion, a 13.Sixty nine-percentage slip from P58.Eight billion in September 2019.

Other offices published P1.7 billion in tax sales remaining month. As a end result, total tax sales fell by way of eight.51 percentage to P193 billion, better than August's thirteen.05-percent decrease.

Nontax earnings settled at P19.Four billion, with the Treasury contributing P8.6 billion, shrinking by using 19.35 percentage yr-on-year. The bureau traced this to the 87.40-percentage contraction within the country wide authorities's share from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.'s earnings and the timing of remittance of hobby on advances from authorities-owned and -managed corporations offsetting the higher dividend collection from the country wide government's stocks of shares.

Revenues from other workplaces hit P10.8 billion, 27.Fifty seven percent lower than the 12 months-in advance's P14.9 billion, "because of the effect of the pandemic," the Treasury said, referring to the coronavirus disaster, which disrupted authorities and enterprise operations.

The BTr stated nation spending in September changed into smaller "because of the timing of subsidy releases and the bottom impact of higher infrastructure spending within the identical month remaining 12 months."
The bulk of presidency spending — P307.6 billion — was for primary expenses, which dove by 17.32 percentage from P372 billion a 12 months in advance.

Interest bills, settling at P43.4 billion, accounted for the relaxation. The BTr said this determine, up 0.63 percent from the September 2019 quantity, got here as favorable forex prices for foreign interest bills "offset the marginal growth in home payments for reissued bonds."

Netting out interest payments, the number one stability reached a budget shortfall of P95.2 billion in September, bringing the 9-month tally to a P566.2-billion deficit.

This 12 months's budget shortfall is visible to attain P1.Eighty one trillion, or 9.6 percentage of the u . S . A .'s gross home product, in step with present day estimates from the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee.

Businesses throughout the Asia-Pacific region thought they had weathered the worst that the coronavirus had to throw at them, but they have got realized that running remotely or flexibly is a essential a part of the brand new paintings reality and not a brief fix.


The initial recognition for most businesses when lockdowns first came about changed into almost absolutely on ensuring that current group of workers had the right tools to be efficient at domestic. Not enough attention turned into paid to personnel' residing arrangements to recognize whether or not they had a dedicated space at home to paintings, if own family dynamics that could allow them to work, and the intellectual fitness impacts of working in unexpected isolation, especially once the home and work divide evaporated. The concerns of the occupational safety and fitness legal guidelines which have formed traditional offices, together with the Workplace Safety and Health Act in Singapore, additionally extends to body of workers running remotely. Essentially, employers have a obligation of care to make certain the fitness and protection of far flung employees, and provide get right of entry to to sources wherever additional guide is needed. It is incumbent upon leaders to shield workers and not simply equip them with software program licenses with the wish that they clock their each day hours.
This should consist of providing practical steering on putting in a home office, requiring employees to finish a self-evaluation, permitting them to borrow device from the workplace, ensuring workers completely sign off from work, and putting in place a secure workplace surroundings with flexible hours. These problems, along with the generation challenges that include presenting relaxed access to the structures, applications and data people want to do their jobs from domestic, can show to be a frightening task. Then upload the onboarding of new personnel as organizations reply to unexpected adjustments in customer desires.

Addressing the realities of fluctuating employee numbers across more than one locations calls for speedy, responsive team of workers lifecycle techniques and new tactics to using era to suit an unpredictable paintings environment. Enter the agile group of workers.

New place of business lifestyle

Before far flung working became mandated, office tradition in Singapore and across Southeast Asia centered on face-to-face interactions, and towns inclusive of Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok became acknowledged for traffic congestion all through top hours. In an workplace surroundings, silos between business gadgets and operational arms brought about inefficiencies, useless duplication, and mistakes that precipitated purchaser dissatisfaction or ran afoul of regulators. Many of those irritating troubles have been triumph over with employees meeting in person to make sure that departments were on the same web page — both literally and figuratively.


Over time, approaches constructed up around these inefficiencies — not to eradicate it, but to mitigate its risks. Now, with personnel operating remotely, a lot of these procedures and tactics virtually don't translate to the virtual international. The digital workplace calls for a new way of life this is adapted to the constantly converting economic situations. Systems and methods that have been traditionally segregated between siloed departments, technologies, and personnel need to be incorporated in order that organizations have a complete view of operations thru records.

Streamlining onboarding, integration

Responding to the new everyday effectively calls for a bendy onboarding procedure. Culture starts the minute a brand new hire is brought into the commercial enterprise, so it's miles important to get off to the proper start.

Consider how hastily agencies along with Lazada, Shopee and even GrabFood managed the spike in users earlier this 12 months as more human beings began ordering products on line. Not only did new workers need to be fast inducted and brought updated with processes and safety protocols, there has been a vast recruitment attempt to locate them. Onboarding new employees is even extra challenging whilst they may usually be far off employees. True staff agility lies within the capacity to rapidly onboard crucial people to guide customers in a time of want.

Ready for something

Onboarding techniques in offices had been isolated and disconnected. Just keep in mind the quantity of office work and paperwork required for each new rent. Manual approaches straddled multiple departments and time spent schooling personnel on the a couple of systems had to do their task efficiently not on time the creation of latest personnel, impacting purchaser delight.

Today, places of work ought to have easy-to-use, comfy tools quite simply available for personnel regardless of if they're running at domestic or in an office. Replacing bodily paperwork with online bureaucracy, gets rid of the want for dealing with and workflow automation guarantees that the paperwork are right away logged with the right departments. This greatly streamlines the entire process and reduces the risk of pricey mistakes. Fast and bendy personnel control techniques are important for corporations to come to be agile enterprises which can be equipped for any adjustments inside the business surroundings.

Mainstreaming telemedicine in the Philippines

Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic started, ordinary medical doctor visits have turn out to be an unnerving venture for lots sufferers. This has brought about the unusual increase in sufferers turning to telemedicine services in Asia. In the Philippines, as an instance, the quantity of contactless consultations at KonsultaMD, a 24/7 subscription-based totally telemedicine service, surged by way of 450 percent closing April.


Telemedicine is described through the World Health Organization as "the shipping of fitness care services, wherein distance is a crucial issue, by all fitness care specialists the usage of facts and conversation technologies for the trade of valid records for prognosis, treatment and prevention of sickness and accidents, research and assessment, and for the persevering with training of fitness care vendors, all inside the pastimes of advancing the health of people and their groups."

The Philippine Medical Association has issued the Telemedicine: Guidance for Physicians inside the Philippines to address how the Covid-19 pandemic has converted scientific exercise in the country. It is really worth noting that even earlier than the modern-day pandemic hit, interest in telemedicine become growing. Filipinos these days experience a high stage of digital literacy and mobile adoption, creating the perfect conditions for on-line clinical offerings to be typical with the aid of locals via their cell smartphone.

In an interview with The Manila Times (TMT), Frederic Ho, vp for Asia-Pacific Jumio Corp., discussed how telemedicine could help fill the gaps within the united states of america's shortage of health care professionals and triumph over the shortage of health facilities, especially in far flung areas.
TMT: Why is telemedicine a especially relevant and viable fitness care choice for the Philippines?

HO: Foremost purpose is the truth that telemedicine makes health care more accessible to patients with mobility issues or those residing in rural areas. This elevated accessibility may be the important thing to riding early intervention and diagnosis, main to better lengthy-term results for the patient and lower public health prices.

Patients, particularly those living in rural areas, may be hesitant to consult using new generation. What would it take for sufferers to get comfy and be fully on board with telemedicine?

We keep in mind that from the affected person's perspective, there are lots of practical and emotional considerations earlier than turning to on line clinical offerings. First and main, patients ought to be aware of the offerings presented and feel assured that the best of care they get would now not be compromised. Providers should also teach sufferers approximately services and remedies which can be ideally suited for telemedicine as opposed to those in which an in-individual medical evaluation is critical.


Second, telemedicine services need to be easy and convenient for sufferers to use. Once once more, the onus is on fitness care companies to provide services that cater to a huge base of users with differing digital abilties. This applies particularly to older sufferers, who've the maximum to benefit from get right of entry to to faraway health care services, however also have a tendency to have the bottom levels of digital literacy.

Finally, to ensure more agree with in telemedicine, sufferers ought to additionally be confident that their medical information is being saved and used securely, and in compliance with neighborhood privacy regulation. Health care establishments need to now not most effective inspect first-class practices for safeguarding affected person data, but additionally communicate this information protection commitment to patients.

TMT: Your enterprise, Jumio Corp., presents facial recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) in its telemedicine service. To faucet into your excessive-tech carrier, what would be the era necessities from the aspect of the doctor and at the cease of the patient? Additionally, what would be the minimal necessities so the affected person's data and the online consultation itself might be relaxed from possible statistics heist?

HO: Traditionally, the technique to verifying patients' identities has been to require them to expose their IDs over a video call. Unfortunately, this technique is less than ideal since it presents low levels of identity guarantee. That is, it may be hard for a health care administrator to determine between a legitimate authorities-issued ID and a fake one over a video name. Most practitioners are not skilled to identify faux documentation.

This is wherein "recognise your affected person" (KYP) approaches are available. Similar to the banking enterprise's "know your customer" procedure — which allows banks to confirm a patron's identification, determine danger and determine suitable product offers — KYP is crucial for the safe and accurate transport of digital health care services. KYP leverages sophisticated technology which include facial biometrics and AI for identity verification, allowing it to be the first line of protection in opposition to fraudsters who use stolen or fake identities to look a doctor, benefit get right of entry to to managed materials or report illegal coverage claims.

This technique could also allow carriers to streamline the online system of telemedicine — from registration to scheduling appointments and filling prescriptions — even as complying with present regulatory suggestions. KYP can also now be carried out securely, allowing medical doctors to treat sufferers with a bit of luck and confidentially — at ease in the information that they have got get admission to to the right statistics. Beyond verifying patients for ordinary consults and prescription deliveries, KYP may also correctly confirm 0.33 events, as an example whilst younger kids ought to have a parent or mother or father present throughout consultations or to purchase medication.

TMT: What forms of proactive rules might you advise so the exercise of telemedicine, a younger enterprise, as you say may want to flourish specifically in a developing economic system like the Philippines?

HO: As with any new industry, governments and marketplace innovators want to paintings collectively to better understand the benefits and limitations of telemedicine. This consists of setting up first-rate practices and standards of care that prioritize patient welfare and protection, but also inspire innovation and simplicity-of-use.

The Philippines has made superb strides on this regard because the start of the pandemic, with the Department of Health (DoH) and the National Privacy Commission having advanced a framework for telemedicine services in a bid to improve accessibility to health care throughout the usa's better network quarantine. Under the framework, the DoH partnered with several telemedicine carriers to offer unfastened telemedicine consultations to sufferers who might be wanting medical advice from certified and licensed docs.

Furthermore, it's miles important for the private and non-private sectors to hold collaborating to reimagine every step inside the consultation and treatment process. This might assist identify any risks and establish exceptional practices early on, making sure that telemedicine should flourish and definitely impact those who need it maximum.

Just the same, to preserve such a younger industry nimble, extra need to be achieved. The authorities have to put in force proactive regulations and measures to inspire more fitness care institutions, together with hospitals and clinics, to transform digitally and revamp their delivery of medical offerings. More public education campaigns encouraging the adoption of telemedicine and outlining its protection and blessings need to additionally be undertaken.

Jumio is a global chief in AI-powered identification verification and authentication towards government-issued IDs (passports, identity cards and drivers' licenses) from over two hundred international locations. This is an mainly critical feature nowadays, as movement regulations are bringing volumes of critical transactions on-line, from touch tracing and telemedicine, to financial services and retail.

What game are you playing?

Imagine this: A famous stock analyst endorsed an amazing stock to buy. As quickly you heard approximately it, you acquire it. But as quickly as to procure it, it went immediately down. In instances like this, we generally blame the individual that advocated the stock. Whether he's a friend or foe, it doesn't remember. Although that's normal, it's not definitely right. Maybe he encouraged it for the long term, and to procure it due to the fact you wanted to make a quick dollar. When he said long term, he simply meant five years, not one. Or perhaps he recommended it as one in all many in a diverse portfolio, however you went all in at the stock.


Things might have additionally modified after a month. He may have encouraged a eating place stock, now not watching for a deadly disease to strike. So the complete funding thesis might have changed. In brief, he could be gambling a distinctive recreation.

Trading is greater of a brief-term endeavor that relies more on charts and taking advantage of quick-term volatility, even as investing is extra long-time period in nature, counting on precise business potentialities, increase in profits and growing dividends. So that's better, to alternate or make investments? It's a not unusual, age-vintage question that may be replied simplest with the aid of "you,'' so the answer should be "It relies upon.'' What sort of game are you playing? An arcade, roleplaying or a strategy game? Is it baseball, football or basketball?

Are you a day trader, swing trader, trend follower, lengthy-term lively investor or passive investor? Just like pc video games or sports, every sport has a exceptional set or regulations and required talents.
What typically happens is that buyers or buyers take cues from human beings with a one of a kind objective in mind. A research record gives a stock select and target rate based on certain conditions. We expect this because the truthful cost and anticipate that charges might finally reach it, typically in a year's time. How a whole lot need to you pay for an SM Investment Corp. Or Ayala Corp. Stock nowadays? The answer relies upon on what kind of participant you're. Do you have as a minimum a 10-yr time horizon? Then you might want to apply a discounted coins glide analysis in estimating the internet coins for the following 10 years. Do you intend to hold it handiest for approximately a year? Then you may want to test whether sales are picking up and earnings would get better quickly. Are you an afternoon dealer? Then the fee of the stock doesn't honestly depend to you, but today's headlines and quick-time period price movement might.

When traders or investors have distinctive goals, time horizons and threat profiles, as they do with their other property, fees that looks irrational to 1 may make sense for another. Most humans lose money by means of now not following their recreation plan and changing games in the middle. They commonly start as a dealer buying speculative stock, hoping for a fast income.

Then they change into a protracted-time period investor as soon as the stock tanks, in place of following their buying and selling plan and cutting their losses. You need to recognize your own sport and not be effortlessly motivated by using the movements of the maddening crowd who could have been gambling distinct games.

There's no rule that asserts you can't play more than one recreation. You may have one portfolio for lengthy-term active investments, every other for passive ones, and a third in your quick-term punts. You may even examine your returns over time and decide to choose and hold best the ones in which the returns are great. The critical thing is that irrespective of how we exchange or make investments, we ought to align it with our financial and private dreams, talents and peace of thoughts.


There's also no rule that says you can't change your game inside the future. Martin Schwartz, a famous market wizard, modified from being a failed lengthy-time period fundamentalist to a very successful brief-term technician. A pal of mine who used to be a successful swing trader changed his game and have become an even extra successful investor.

How we make investments our difficult-earned money have to be clear to us from the start. If you're a protracted-time period index fund investor who's confident of the boom prospects of our us of a inside the subsequent twenty years, then you definitely don't want now not fear approximately the short-time period motion of inventory fees. Once you write and execute your approach, you gained't word things unrelated to it, together with what the market did ultimate month or last 12 months or whether or not we'll have a recession next yr. You'll come to recognize that volatility is truly part of the sport, which should no longer have an effect on you.

PH needs to stop being a hostage to the rice sector

As rice remains the Philippines' nutritional staple and the most important part of its agricultural area — by means of volume, as a minimum — it's been more a political problem than an economic one for longer than all and sundry can don't forget, and has grow to be, for the nth time, a hot-button problem due to the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic.


The overblown significance of rice has allowed one of the least cost-including sectors of the financial system to maintain the relaxation of the united states of america hostage to its short-time period and short-sighted demands that its dysfunctional nation be preserved, hindering development in agricultural improvement, meals protection and usual boom. And it wishes to stop.

The cutting-edge controversy, if it can even be called that, is precisely the same as any of the handfuls of times prior to this that it become dragged to the fore: rice farmers are complaining that farmgate prices of palay (unmilled rice) are too low for them to live to tell the tale, which they ascribe to the importation of rice below the program provided for by the Rice Tariffication Law, the favorite target for blame for his or her own lack of productivity because it was enacted ultimate year. Because of "limitless rice imports," the farmers' representatives have charged, palay fees have dropped almost 30 percent from their stages in 2018, to approximately P16 in line with kilo.

The consensus among rice farmers, based on statements made in numerous media reviews, is that the farmgate price of palay needs to be about P22 according to kilo, or more or less its stage presently in 2018 (the national common in the fourth week of September 2018, consistent with authorities statistics, was 22.93 in step with kilo). The purpose for this is that production charges common approximately P12 consistent with kilo, so at a lot under P22 in keeping with kilo, or in order that they say, the profit isn't sufficient to preserve them till the following harvest.
In an effort to quit the rice import scheme, or at the least undermine it by means of forcing the authorities to impose "safeguard price lists" on imported rice, farmers have reportedly taken to refusing assistance underneath the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), a facility that successfully subsidizes neighborhood farmers the usage of the proceeds of price lists accrued from rice imports. Raul Montemayor, the countrywide manager of the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), explained the reason in a declaration on Sunday. Keeping palay costs solid via the utility of protect obligations or extra tariffs on imported rice could were a more cost-powerful approach, he argued.

"The authorities allowed limitless rice imports, resulting in low palay fees. Now it's going to spend P3 billion to in part offset farmers' losses. If it had as a substitute imposed additional duties on imports, palay expenses would not have dropped an excessive amount of, there might have been no want for cash aid to farmers and the government may have even earned extra sales from the safeguard obligations," Montemayor said.

"Safeguard duties will no longer be inflationary, as claimed by way of the DA (Department of Agriculture), due to the fact they'll be carried out handiest when there may be already a verified oversupply inside the market. They can be removed as soon as the scenario stabilizes," he delivered.

Here's a bit of reality for the persecuted rice zone. First, the declare of P22 per kilo being a required minimal sounds a bit grasping, as the P22.93-in keeping with-kilo charge in 2018 turned into an aberration because of a deliver disaster at that point. Other than that length, palay expenses have not even been near that stage right now of the 12 months, at least within the beyond 5 years. At this time closing 12 months, costs had been even decrease than they're now, averaging simply P15.82 in line with kilo. That became, in fact, because of a piece of a supply glut, which the DA and National Food Authority (NFA) addressed by means of taking steps to moderate imports, specifically through limiting permits.


Second, reviews from rice millers and traders within the past few weeks are that the present day harvest is of poor exceptional, "chalky and high brokens (damaged grains) content," one professional said, and can't be bought at the higher charge due to the fact it'd ought to be bought at a far lower-grade retail price. That is inevitable marketplace function at paintings, something the rice farming zone might decide upon that everybody overlook.

In the present day "disaster," the government has taken some steps to diminish imports by way of making cooperatives ineligible for import allows and signaling that the issuance of allows in wellknown could be a piece more stringent, however which could best move to this point earlier than risking a repeat of 2018's shortages. In any occasion, even supposing stricter measures are imposed, which include a shielding tariff, charges might not trade rapid enough or to a large enough diploma to meet the farmers; in 2016 and 2017, prior to the import liberalization, palay farmgate expenses ranged among P18 and P20 consistent with kilo, still notably underneath the supposed P22 minimal requirement.

For its quantity, rice is one of the lowest cost crops the Philippines produces, and it is entirely down to bad productiveness. The fee of a unit of rice, just as some other grain, can most effective go so high; what makes it a profitable crop is economy of scale and yield in line with unit of land devoted to it. The government, represented by the DA under the modern Dr. William Dar, has the proper idea: use imports to relaxed the food supply (thus moderating consumer charges, which always a lot take priority over manufacturer fees), and use the proceeds of rice import price lists to fund the development of the rice quarter into some thing that, despite the fact that it in the end does not offer all the usa's call for, will at the least maximize its capacity — consolidating growers into devices of monetary scale, and making use of mechanization and plant era to growth yields.

If they would get on board with the commercial vision for his or her zone, rice farmers could get richer a whole lot faster than they ever will looking to game the market for his or her products. It is excessive time the authorities, and the usa as an entire, forestall accommodating their nonsense.

PSEi closes at strongest level since June

Improved corporate profits and the continued decline in new coronavirus disorder 2019 (Covid-19) instances helped the inventory marketplace surpass the 6,400 mark on Friday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped by using 2.2 percent or 139.43 factors to close at its intraday excessive of 6,484.06 — the highest given that its 6,476.24 finish on June 11 — even as the broader All Shares rose by 1.88 percentage or seventy one.2 factors to complete at 3,859.Ninety five.


Philstocks Financial Inc. Studies accomplice Piper Chaucer Tan credited Friday's surge to traders looking at the slowdown in daily Covid-19 infections and corporations' fantastic economic effects that started out rising this week.

As of Friday, the wide variety of confirmed Covid-19 cases improved through 1,923 to 365,799, of which forty six,193 are lively, in keeping with a Department of Health tally. Of the entire, 312,691 have recovered and six,915 did not.
The US Food and Drug Administration's approval of Gilead Sciences Inc.'s antiviral drug remdesivir to be used in treating hospitalized coronavirus patients and america markets' most modern gains also strengthened investor optimism, he said.

The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq brought zero.Fifty four percent, zero.Fifty two percentage and zero.19 percent, respectively, in a single day despite no obvious leap forward in negotiations on lengthy-awaited stimulus to help the American economic system recover from its Covid-19 downturn.

Tan noted that the internet cost turnover of P8 billion surpassed the yr-to-date average of P6 billion to P7 billion.

The bourse also recorded a three-day overseas inflow streak as it published net overseas buying of P795.65 million.


"It manner that each locals and overseas buyers are taking part [in] the rally of the market. We might also see some hiccups…next week, but the aid for the market will be at [the] 6,000 level and its resistance is at 6,580," the analyst said.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Luis Limlingan also attributed the marketplace's state-of-the-art rally to the latest set of positive corporate profits and hopes of progress in US stimulus talks.

"Another price inventory-led rally driven the PSEi solidly into the green to close the week as positive earnings reports [from Universal Robina Corp. And Bank of the Philippine Islands] and optimism approximately US stimulus offset worries about rising virus instances," he said.

Most nearby sectors ended within the green, with preserving corporations growing the highest at three.25 percentage. Services lost 0.17 percent.

Total volume turnover became at 1.38 billion stocks, worth P8.Five billion.

PCCI seeks establishment of EdCom 4.0

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is pushing for the creation of a congressional fee in training (EdCom) to study, examine and examine formal, nonformal, informal and alternative mastering systems, along with continuing structures of education at all degrees.

In a statement on Friday, the PCCI stated the commercial enterprise region become "very worried" approximately the alignment and concord of the tri-focalized device of education within the u . S ..


The "PCCI understands that the modern state of affairs has been very hard to the academic machine, learning establishments, instructors, rookies or even households," it stated, but pointed out that reassuring statements of the academic organizations of the government did not seem to resonate with the gaining knowledge of reviews across sectors.

While the sector identified the constraints, the studying consequences and the abilties of inexperienced persons emerge as a primary subject, thinking about that the arena of work is the stop-in-mind of training, in line with the agency.
Education is crucial to improvement, and the developing challenges and changing demands of Industry four.0 have complicated the want for the world to proactively reply, it stated.

"The PCCI, therefore, is pushing for the introduction of EdCom 4.Zero and supports the Senate Joint Resolution No. 10 of January 2020 [that called] for the New Congressional Commission on Education," it introduced.

It confused that whilst the 1990 joint decision that created the EdCom gave crucial recommendations that brought about major academic reforms, there were vital EdCom proposals that did not materialize to effect trade inside the academic device.

"Even prior to the pandemic, there have been many indicators that necessitates greater instructional reforms," the PCCI stated. One of which, it delivered, are the effects of the Program for International Students Assessment, which confirmed that the Philippines ranked ultimate in arithmetic and 2nd to the closing in science most of the 79 international locations that participated.


The business chamber additionally stated the government have to be agile and proactive in its most excellent response to ensure powerful learning in the new regular.

It introduced that the enterprise, monetary and industry sectors have to be involved in reviewing and comparing instructional systems, and educational coverage improvement, to ensure that the space between the getting to know effects of schooling and the desired capabilities of the arena of labor turned into reduced.

The PCCI also expressed concern over the Professional Regulation Commission's (PRC) cancellation of almost all board licensure examinations, along with those for physicians and nurses, because of the shortage of those specialists.

"The PCCI enjoins the PRC to discover the opportunities of carrying out these licensure examinations to enable the disenfranchised aspiring experts to be qualified and be part of the productive workforce, and to keep away from a scarcity in human aid deliver," it said.

Propaganda screening tests

The government announced that screening tests will be conducted in three provinces in southern Poland. Even the medical board at the premiere is against it. On Saturday, November 21, 2020, Health Minister Adam Nedzelski announced that the government plans to conduct screening tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection in three Polish provinces.

"After such a tense discussion with the Prime Minister, we decided which regions to choose. We decided that it will be the Carpathians, Lesser Poland and Silesia, " said Nedzelski.



And he added: "in the near future, we will determine exactly what the logistical model for conducting these screening tests will look like, but we want to go out and conduct these tests in the regions most affected by the coronavirus."

On the same day, Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska referred to the experience of other countries in this regard on zet Radio. "For example, in the UK, some cities are screened. We need to approach this intelligently so that it makes scientific sense, " the deputy minister said. many professions in connection with the pandemic were called into question. All this is due to the deterioration of the economy, among other things. In connection with the quarantine, the question of work is acute,and many move to the online sphere, knowing that you can earn additional income, as it does deltamarket reviews.

It's hard to resist the impression that the information about the mass screening was intended as an example of the government taking care of us and doing something. It also had to probably sweeten the worst news reported at the same time on the topic of exacerbations during vacation or unplanned trips on vacation but, apart from the propaganda value, does screening in individual regions make sense?

Screening tests: the example of Slovakia

According to the deputy minister of education, the country for which poland is modeled in terms of screening tests is slovakia.

"In Slovakia, 3.8 million citizens have been tested. This was done in three stages. The first stage was a pilot, where four regions were selected for testing. According to the results of the pilot experiment, screening tests were already conducted throughout the country, and a week later they were repeated again in those places where the detection rate was highest”

Kraska said during a press conference on Monday at the Main Sanitary Inspection.

According to the Deputy Minister, the method used in Slovakia is good.

Research in slovakia began on october 23, 2020. a rapid antigen test was used. The first was tested by the residents of four districts in the North, near the border with Poland: Namestovo, dolný kubín, Tvrdosin and Bardejov. it was here that the epidemiological situation was most difficult. on the first day, almost 62 thousand were collected. samples-almost 3.6 percent. of these, she gave a positive result.

The main mass testing took place over the next two weekends. October 31-November 1 tested more than 3.6 million people. 1.06 percent showed a positive result. samples. On November 7, less than 1.3 million people were surveyed. A positive result was obtained in the case of just over 8 thousand, or 0.63 percent. tests.

Good idea, but there are a lot of doubts.

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic estimated that mass tests have reduced the spread of coronavirus in his country by about 55 percent. "This is not the success of the government or individuals, but of all those who took part in the action, "Matovic said on the pages of the Slovak Spectator.

In 5.5 million Slovakia, 2581 new infections and 19 deaths from covid-19 were recorded on the day of the start of the pilot tests. the situation is still difficult. On November 21, the number of infections was 1,861, 30 people died, 984 new infections and 27 deaths were registered a day later.

Dr. Jerzy Jaroszewicz, head of the Observational Infectious Diseases and Hepatology department of the Specialized Hospital No. 1 in Bytom, quoted by Vyborcea, admitted that the experience of Slovakia with regard to screening tests has not yet been accurately described, so it is difficult to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of such a study option. However, they are known to show surprisingly low rates of confirmed infections.

Experts did not agree on the validity of mass trials in Slovakia.

"This is a path in the right direction," said Slovak experimenter Luke O'Neill, a professor of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin. - this is a good example. If it works, it will be a signal to the rest of the world."