| Dear Karolina Domenech, |
May 24, 2007 |
Please find below two Philippine mining industry related articles.� Periodic updates of interest are compiled from a number of international media publications and will be sent out to our contact list.� Articles will appear exactly as they did in their original dissemination and links will be provided to access the posting website.
The first article below, titled "Increase in mining investments to bring in more jobs", notes that the increase in mining activity in the Philippines is expected to create an additional 3,000 jobs this year.� This is in addition to the 6,500 jobs created since January 2004.�
The second text, "Arroyo to make Philippines more investor-friendly", notes that President Gloria Arroyo plans to adapt the economic policies of the Philippines to promote foreign investment.� Specifically targeted areas mentioned in the document include mining and education.
Please feel free to contact Paul Moon, Director of Corporate Communications, or myself should you have any inquiries.�
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Ian McColl
Ian McColl
Corporate Communications
TVI Pacific Inc.
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Increase in mining investments to bring in more jobs
Iloilo City (23 May) -- With brighter prospects for mining this year, some 3,000 new jobs are expected to be generated, on top of the 6,500 jobs created since the industry was revitalized in January 2004.
Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said a total of $694 million in investments had been generated so far and this is expected to rise further between now and 2010 as the on-going projects are in the "advance stage."
Reyes said as the projects advance in their development, additional direct employment is created in the areas where the projects are located, which boosts the employment and poverty reduction program of the government.
He added that if priority projects materialize this year, the value of metallic and non-metallic minerals would grow to $1.385 billion this year, up from 1.282 billion in 2006, while mining's share to total exports would rise to 9 percent this year.
These levels, the DENR believes, are reflective of the country's mineral wealth and will elevate the Philippines to a mining country.
The mining industry's gross production was valued at P68.4 billion in 2006. Total exports of mineral and mineral products amounted to $2.06 billion, while taxes, royalties and fees from mining reached P3.1 billion, and employment from mining rose to 141,000.
The Philippines has 18 medium to large-scale mines, including the controversial polymetallic mine in Rapu-Rapu island in Albay, that was allowed to resume operations in February following months of suspension due to a mine tailing spill in late 2005.
On top of these, DENR said there are 23 projects in advanced stage and 41 others in a stage of exploration.
http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m&fi=p070523.htm&no1�
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Arroyo to make Philippines more investor-friendly
May 23, 2007 MANILA- Emerging results from mid-term elections in the Philippines were a vote of confidence for the government and its economic policies, President Gloria Arroyo said in an interview published Thursday. "I'm very happy that we have a bigger majority in the House now and almost a complete sweep of the local (government officials)," she told the Wall Street Journal.
Incomplete counts from Monday's polls show a comfortable lead for pro-Arroyo candidates in the House of Representatives, which for the past two years has frustrated opposition efforts to get her impeached over alleged fraud in the 2004 presidential election.
Arroyo allies were also well placed in many of the more than 17,000 local posts at stake while the opposition appeared likely to take control of the Senate, where they need eight seats of the 12 at stake to get a majority.�
"I think the message we can give to the investor community is that the elections were good, peaceful, free and fair, and there is going to be political stability," the president said.
After fixing the country's barebones tax base, Arroyo wants to use the remaining three years of her six-year term to upgrade infrastructure using the extra revenues, as a come-on for foreign capital and also to bring down legal barriers to foreign investment.
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That includes proposals to amend the constitution to allow the entry of foreign capital in such diverse areas as mining and education. This initiative provoked widespread opposition previously, especially in the Senate.
"We have to bring the economic provisions in the constitution into the 21st century and make them more in keeping with the globalised world," Arroyo told the newspaper. This would "make it easier for foreign investors to invest in the Philippines."
Arroyo said her economic reform initiatives were bearing fruit - "poverty is down, unemployment is down."
"Now we have to work on political reform because the political system is still a mess," she said, without giving further details.
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http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id�55c0f238649424f334779bb53432fe
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