Philippine GDP growth forecast upgraded amid a sea of downgrades

Standard & Poor's raised The Philippines GDP growth forecast to 4.9 percent for 2012, up from it's earlier estimate of 4.3 percent.

This comes as the company downgraded the GDP growth forecast for Asia almost across the board.  The downgrades include half a percentage point for China to 7.5 percent, India to 5.5 percent, Australia to 3.0 percent, Korea to 2.5 percent, Japan to 2.0 percent,  Singapore to 2.1 percent, Taiwan to 1.9 percent, and Hong Kong to 1.8 percent.

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/43987/sp-lifts-growth-outlook-for-philippines-trims-rest-of-asia

The Philippines tops foreign inflows among TIPs in 2010

Comparative Foreign Inflows to the Philippine Stock Exchange (ALLPI, PSEi) , Jakarta Composite Index , and Stock Exchange of Thailand  for the year 2010

Philippine Stock Exchange

Foreign Inflows:  $ 2.77 billion.

2010 All Shares Index Performance:  Up 56 %.

2010 PSEi Performance:  Up 38 %.

Jakarta Composite Index

Foreign Inflows:  $ 2.18 billion.

2010 Performance:  Up 46 %.

Stock Exchange of Thailand:

Foreign Inflows:  $ 1.9 billion.

2010 Performance:  Up 40 %.

Morgan Stanley favors TIPs over BRICs

Ruchir Sharma, the head of Morgan Stanley’s Emerging Markets favors TIPs over BRICs

Ruchir Sharma, the head of Morgan Stanley’s Emerging Markets says rapid growth can’t be sustained and it’s time to look for the next decade’s big growers for big returns. For the last decade it’s all about “BRICs” or Brazil, Russia, India and China, but after a decade of rapid growth, the world’s most celebrated emerging markets are poised to slow down.

In his interviews, Mr. Sharma, defines a “Breakout Nation” as:
a. a country that is able to beat expectations in terms of growth rate
b. a country that’s able to grow faster than other countries in the same income class per capita income

Here’s the 5-Year GDP (Gross Domestic Product) Forecast of the Breakout Nations

Philippines:  6.0% GDP Growth 2012-16
Indonesia:    6.5% GDP Growth 2012-16
Poland:        4.0% GDP Growth 2012-16

Source: Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Below is the IMF GDP Growth Forecasts

                      2012    2013       2017
Indonesia         6.1%    6.1%       7.0% 

Philippines       4.2%    4.7%       5.0%

Turkey             2.3%    3.2%       4.6%  Source: Breakout nations by Ruchir Sharma

All 3 countries favored by Morgan Stanley also belong to Goldman Sach's Next 11 group of emerging economies.

http://www.pnoytrader.com/2012/05/forget-the-brics-buy-tip/

The Philippines climbs to Number 1

The Philippine Stock Exchange climbs as the top gainer in Asia in 2011, better than the previous year's 3rd best gainer in Asia for 2010.

Next target:  Top gainer worldwide, and we are on our way there with record high after record high being set in 2012.

2010 Performance
Top gainers in Asia
1.  Indonesia
2.  Thailand
3.  The Philippines

2011 Performance
1.  The Philippines (3rd best gainer worldwide)
2.  Indonesia
3.  Malaysia

2012?

The Philippines: Top Ranked in Wind Power Potential

     The Philippines and Indonesia have the greatest wind power potential worldwide.

     Being an archipelago, the Philippines naturally has immense wind power potential and this is largely untapped with only 1 wind farm in Ilocos Norte but further projects are firmly in the pipeline.  These include:

1. PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) 140 MW in Ilocos.

2. UPC Asia (100 MW)

3. Energy Logics (40-60 MW)

4. A Spanish firm in Burgos province (10-15 MW)

5. Aklan project (10-15 MW)

6. Bulalacao project (40 MW)

     Further projects in 16 sites that are ideal locations for wind farms have been offered by the Philippine Department of Energy to investors.  The sites are:

Bago City and Cauayan in Negros Occidental; Carmen and Oslob in Cebu; Allen-Lavesares and Calbayog City in Northern Samar; Siquijor; Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte; Bantay, Ilocos Sur; Bani and Bolinao in Pangasinan; Maconacon, Isabela; Tagaytay, Cavite; San Andres, Quezon; and Mercedes and Daet in Camarines Norte.

     Other projects being studied include those US firm Constellation Energy Corp.  The company is studying two projects in Ilog, Negros Occidental and Bais City, Bayawan, Tanjay and Pamplona in Negros Oriental.

     The best places for wind power projects in the Philippines are found in the islands of Batanes, Babuyan Island, Ilocos Norte, Mindoro, Samar, Leyte, Panay, Negros, Cebu and Palawan.

Source:  alternat1ve.com

The Philippines: Tremendous Potential in Renewable Energy

     A study conducted by the Renewable Energy Coalition states that the Philippines has the following renewable energy potential:

1. Geothermal - 4,531 MW  (200,000 MW based on the United States Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

2. Hydro electric - 13,097 MW

3. Wind -76,600 MW

4. Wave (Ocean) - 170,000 MW

5. Biomass – 500 MW (conservative estimate)

6. Solar Power - 5 ~ 5.1 KwH per square meter per day.

Source: Alternat1ve.com, renewableshub.com

The Philippines: Number 1 in Geothermal Energy

     The Philippines is the second-largest producer of geothermal energy in the world (behind the United States) with 2027 MW installed capacity but is poised to overtake the United States as world leader in geothermal energy.  Under an earlier plan, the Philippines’ goal is to raise its capacity to 3131 MW by 2013, allowing it to overtake the US.  The plan needs to solve the problem of pipe corrosion due to high acidity associated with active volcanoes prior to realizing the goal.

     The United States Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has shown that the Philippines geothermal resources have a potential to generate 200,000 MW of power.

Source:  Philippine Department of Energy, US Dept of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

The Philippines: Leader in Renewable Energy

First in Southeast Asia

     The Philippines has the first large-scale wind farm in Southeast Asia located in Bangui, Ilocos Norte.  The wind farm has been generating clean energy since 2005.

     In 2002, the Philippines was able to source out 36% of its energy requirements from renewable sources. The biggest contributor to this was geothermal energy (21%) followed by hydropower (15%). 

     The government has committed to double this to an impressive 72% by 2013.

     This leadership is attracting investors from all over Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

Top 5 Biggest Green Tech Projects in the Developing World

1. Leyte Geothermal Field
   1. Location:       Leyte, Philippines
   2. Capacity:       708.5 megawatts
   3. Status:             Operational at Full capacity
2. Suzlon Wind Farm
   1. Location:       Dhule, India
   2. Capacity:       1,000 megawatts
   3. Status:             Operational at 650 megawatts capacity
3. Acme Solar Thermal Plants
   1. Location:       Haryana, India
   2. Capacity:       1,000 megawatts
   3. Status:             Not Operational
4. Qaidam Basin Solar PV Installation
   1. Location:       Qinghai Province, China
   2. Capacity:       1,000 megawatts
   3. Status:             Partially Operational?
5. Econcern Wind Farms
   1. Location:       China
   2. Capacity:       720 megawatts
   3. Status:             Not Operational

Source:  renewableshub.com

The Philippines is one of The Next Eleven

     The Next Eleven (or N-11) are eleven countries — Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam—identified by Goldman Sachs investment bank as having a high potential of becoming the world's largest economies in the 21st century along with the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China). The bank chose these states, all with promising outlooks for investment and future growth, on December 12, 2005.

     Goldman Sachs used macroeconomic stability, political maturity, openness of trade and investment policies, and the quality of education as criteria. The N-11 paper is a follow-up to the bank's 2003 paper on the four emerging "BRIC" economies, Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/clubs/pakistan/docs/next11dream-march%20'07-goldmansachs.pdf

http://www.ryanallis.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/expandingmiddle.pdf

http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/brics/brics-reports-pdfs/long-term-outlook.pdf

Philippine Pride beyond wearing a shirt with the Philippine map

     Beyond wearing the map-bearing shirt, beyond wearing the flag-bearing shirt, I am proud to be Filipino.

     The blog will constantly evolve as a compilation of anything and everything that I can be proud of as a Filipino.

     I'm not really that patriotic, I regrettably admit, but I do feel happy for my country.  It is looking brighter.  ",)   We have had few things to be proud of, but now the numbers are increasing, and they all deserve to be celebrated accordingly.

     It’s not all-encompassing pride for anything and everything Filipino.  I am an idealist, an optimist, but also a realist.

     It is best to assess things objectively while trying to take into account every circumstance.  For example, there is nothing to be proud of when you see the slums.  There is nothing to be proud of when you see the unhygienic practice of spitting left and right in public.  There is nothing to be proud of when you see a Filipino migrant coming back to the Philippines acting pompous and arrogant indicating clearly that he is unaccustomed to his newfound wealth...or perhaps he is just a plain egotistical bastard.  There is nothing to be proud of when you see the old rich of the Philippines abusing a waiter who is earning an honest living.  There is nothing to be proud of when you hear in the news that a Filipina housemaid is bullying and exploiting a fellow Filipina housemaid in Hong Kong.

     Enough of my personal disclaimer and on to the good news.