Filipino-owned US businesses thrive

By EDU LOPEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-owned businesses are thriving in the US market, a testament that local entrepreneurs can compete globally. The Survey of Business Owners: Asian-Owned Businesses 2007 revealed that there were over 163,226 Filipino-owned business firms in the US, making it the fifth strongest Asian player in the US market next to Chinese (423,631), Indians (308,472), Vietnamese (229,139) and Koreans (192,502).

Filipino-owned businesses represent 10.5 percent of the Asian-owned businesses, one of the strongest segments of the US economy. Between 2002 and 2007, Asian-owned businesses grew by 40 percent to 1.5 million enterprises. The number of Philippine-owned businesses grew by 30.4 percent compared to Koreans (22.1%), Vietnamese (55.8%), Chinese (48.1%) and Indians (38.2%).

Among Filipino-owned US firms, nearly half were in the health care and social assistance sector, the professional, scientific and technical services sector, and the repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services sector. By comparison, 44.7 percent of Asian-owned businesses operated in repair and maintenance; personal and laundry services; professional, scientific and technical services; and retail trade.

About 55 percent of these Filipino-owned firms had one to four employees and nearly two percent had 50 or more employees.

More than a fifth had receipts of $10,000-$24,990 while 1.8 percent had receipts of $1 million or more. The largest number of Filipino-owned firms can be found in California, numbering around 81,348 or nearly 50 percent of total number of Filipino-owned firms.

They generated an income of $9.1 billion, 45 percent of all Filipino-owned receipts. The vast majority of Asian-owned businesses are also in California (509,097), followed by New York (196,852) and Texas (114,336). The cities with the largest number of Asian-owned businesses in were New York (153,885) and Los Angeles (61,607)
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Cebuano businessmen urged to strengthen trade with Indonesia

April 14, 2011, 2:53am

CEBU CITY, Philippines (PNA) — Cebuano businessmen were encouraged to help strengthen trade relations between the Philippines and Indonesia.

“Indonesia and Philippines trade relation is growing stronger ever since the opening of the diplomatic relations 62 years ago. It is high time to look at various possibilities and increase trade and investment opportunities for both countries,” said Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Kristiarto Legowo.

He spoke during the recent seminar, “Strengthening Economic Cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines,” hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.

Indonesia’s economy grew by 6.1 percent last year, driven by strong domestic consumption and investment.

Legowo said their visit to the Philippines is a follow-up of President Benigno S. Aquino lll’s visit to Indonesia lat March 8.

Aquino’s meeting with Indonesian government representatives focused on the improvement of trade and investments of both countries.

Legowo said they chose Cebu as the first area to visit as it is one of the key centers of development in the country. He described Cebu as a beautiful city that has a lot to offer Indonesians.

Legowo said the trade exchange of both countries already amounted to USD2.27 billion from January to November last year. In the same period in 2009, trade was recorded at USD1.81 billion.

But Legowo stressed that both countries should not be complacent, as the figures do not reflect the potential of what both countries could achieve with a strengthened economic cooperation.

Legowo said there is a trade imbalance since Philippine exports to Indonesia last year amounted only to USD383 million while its imports amounted to USD1 billion.

He said they are encouraging businessmen to see the potential of trade investments to both countries instead of trading goods and services with more remote regions.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Samuel Chioson said both countries have not seen each other’s trade potentials because of the similarities of the products. He said that in order to enhance trade investments, both countries should enhance bilateral trade agreements.

Inquirer busines reporter among PH’s top female mindgrabbers —Google

By Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Daily Inquirer senior business reporter Doris Dumlao was among the top female Filipino mindgrabbers on the Internet in 2010, the local unit of Silicon Valley-based search giant Google.com said.

The results of Google’s yearend Zeitgeist, which means “spirit of the times” in German, showed that Dumlao placed 12th on a list of the country’s most influential women. The list was released earlier this week to mark the centennial celebration of International Women’s Day.

“As the country recognizes women’s rights and becomes more aware of gender equality, Google looks at the Filipina personalities that grabbed the greatest online mindshare in 2010,” the search engine company said in a statement.
Dumlao, who has been with the Inquirer for 13 years, ranked higher than any other journalist on the list, beating news anchor Korina Sanchez, who placed 19th.

She currently covers companies listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) as well as firms registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She also covers the private banking sector.

“I’m humbled by this recognition, which is a testament not to myself but to keener public interest in Philippine business news as well as to the popularity of www.inquirer.net and particularly, our new business column, BizBuzz,” Dumlao said.
On top of Google’s list of most influential Filipino women was Valenzuela City 2nd District councilor Shalani Soledad, who made waves in 2010 as she supported her then-boyfriend Benigno Aquino III during the presidential campaign, up to their breakup later in the year.

Another often talked-about personality, Kris Aquino, landed second, likely because of her breakup with then-husband basketball star James Yap and questions about how her career might affect her brother’s presidency.

Other women in the top 10 were actress Ruffa Gutierrez, Miss Universe runner-up Venus Raj, teenage recording artist Charice Pempengco, actress Angel Locsin, singers Sarah Geronimo and Regine Velasquez, showbiz personality Heart Evangelista and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.

Tony Award-winning theater actress Lea Salonga was 11th on the list after making an on-stage comeback for the musical Cats.

Other prominent personalities on the list were actresses Sharon Cuneta (15th) and Nora Aunor (20th) and fashion designer Monique Lhuillier.

Google Zeitgeist uses data aggregated over millions of users without personally identifiable information, and is powered by computer algorithms. It shows results for search terms in google.com.ph that receive significant amount of traffic.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer