President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today cited Intel Corporation for its significant contribution to the economy by investing another $300 million to put up a wafer facility in the country.

The President, together with Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II, Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Chairman Lilia de Lima toured Intel Corporation’s state-of-the-art assembly and test facility at the Gateway Business Park in General Trias, Cavite.

"Thank you for the $300 million that you invested under my administration. Onward, the wafer facility in the Philippines," the President wrote in the Intel’s souvenir signboard that she signed during the tour of the facilities.

The Chief Executive specifically visited Intel’s production line, including the latest Pentium 4 microprocessor manufactured on the newest 0.13-micron and 300 mm. wafer fab technologies.

Intel uses wafers of pure silicon cut from a silicon ingot to make microprocessors. Silicon, the primary ingredient of beach sand, is a semiconductor of electricity. Semiconductors are materials that can be altered to be either a conductor or an insulator.

The President also took a first-hand look at the latest Mobile IT (Information Technology) Classroom of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), an air-conditioned bus equipped with 17 Pentium 4 microprocessors based notebooks, PC peripherals and audio-visual equipment.

The mobile classroom will provide students and teachers in Region IV (Southern Tagalog) with access and exposure to the latest technologies.

During the tour of the facilities, Intel General Manager Robin Martin assured the President of his company’s support for the government’s continuing efforts to boost the country’s competitiveness by improving infrastructure such as roads and telecommunications facilities, traffic conditions, investment incentives and science and technology education.

According to Martin, Intel is also committed to technology partnership with education, industry and government, to contribute significantly to the development of the Philippines’ information and communications technology sector.

Intel’s strategy in the Philippines is to work closely with the academe, industry and government to help the nation realize the growth potential of its computer industry and develop the local computing infrastructure.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is projecting the country’s export receipts to hit $33.4 billion by the end of the year.

This shows that the trade and economic policies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration are working despite some unfortunate global economic developments.

Trade Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II said the projected exports would be at least four percent more than the $32.1 billion generated last year.

Roxas said electronics, which make up 68 percent of exports, continued to fuel the growth for two reasons, "increase in consumption and inventory hedging."

He said digital signal processors, the Philippines’ main semiconductor product, have been in demand.

The processors are universal components of electronic products like cellular phones that have low cash outlay and limited life spans and thus have steady replacement markets.

Roxas said companies have been stacking up their inventories to hedge against inflationary pressures spawned by a number of factors, among them the widening rift between the United States and Iraq and fears of oil price increases.

"The 6.9-percent growth in exports during the first seven months is very encouraging. We expect our August figures to maintain such pace," he said.

"But we have to temper our forecasts with the realization that the factors that are fueling our current growth still do not appear to be sustainable," he added.

Statistics showed that export sales from January to July rose to $19.895 billion from $18.582 billion year on year.

Sales of microcircuits and semiconductors posted 20.13-percent and 19.18-percent growth, respectively.

However, sales of input/output peripherals used in making desktop computers declined by 9.9 percent.

Exports of machinery and transport grew by 10.6 percent while garments and textiles were down by 3.9 percent.

Electronics, machinery and transport, and garments and textiles account for over 80 percent of the country’s exports.

"The Philippine economy is subject to the vagaries of the world economy," Roxas noted.

He said the US economy, which accounted for 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product, has yet to fully recover.

"If it suffers a relapse, then the global economy will be at risk again. This would mean a slowing in the expansion of trade and capital flows that have underpinned global integration," he added.

The trade secretary also took note of gains in the export of motor parts and the food industry.

The continued growth in motor parts was due to strong car sales in the US brought about by interest-free loans given to consumers and the improving economies of Asia, among them Malaysia and Thailand, which import Philippine-made motor parts.

While export sales of furniture and fixtures registered a 4.17-percent growth, strong competition faced by the wearable (to include footwear and jewelry) sector went down by 31 percent and gift ware and holiday decors slowed by 19 percent.

"We have proven that we have been competitive, particularly in furniture and fixtures. But these industries will have to continue investing on new technologies and improve their efficiencies so they can compete in price and quality," Roxas said.

He urged small and medium entrepreneurs to avail themselves of the wide range of help – like financial packages and market matching -- the DTI had been offering.

"Our exports to China grew by 90.57 percent," he said, adding that Asia remained a firm market for Philippine export products.

"Our exports to China grew by 90.57 percent," he added, noting that exports to Asian countries continued to grow while traditional markets like the US and Japan posted single-digit declines.

Trading with the Netherlands, said to be the country’s biggest market, has started to pick up as it marked a 13.79-percent growth.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today cited the increased export volumes that passed through the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) in the last five months, significantly exceeding what was achieved in the last seven years.

The President, in a visit to the country’s premier international gateway for cargo managed by the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), also cited the company for expanding its operations by putting in some P850-million in additional investments.

"This is a leading indicator for accelerated economic growth," the President said, as she lauded ICTSI chairman Enrique K. Razon, Jr. for ICTSI’s contribution to the country’s economic prosperity.

The President said that the expansion program of ICTSI would be reflected in government statistics on production and this will be a prelude to increased employment in three to four months.

In a briefing, MICT Manager Felipe Pacheco said MICT handled the highest volume for exports at 50,307 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) in August compared to 40,522 TEUs for the same period last year.

On import volume, Pacheco informed the President that the highest was registered at 46,453 TEUs compared to 38,678 TEUs year on year.

"Again, in the last five months, you have seen import volumes higher than you’ve seen in 1995, and these are mostly raw materials for production," the President said.

"So, again it’s a leading indicator that production is taking place and employment figures will be reflected as going on," she added.

Pacheco said the overall volume handling of MICT for this year ending August had grown to 96,967 TEUs from 79,200 TEUs in the same period last year, a rise of 11 percent.

MICT’s productivity – the movement of container per hour per quay crane – was 30 percent higher than Singapore’s worth.

Pacheco said MICT posted a low of 28.43 moves per hour per crane in February and a high of 38.62 moves per hour per crane in July.

ICTSI infused new investments worth P150 million for the construction of the empty container depot, in anticipation of increasing MICT volume.

The depot, which is 500 meters from MICT, is a new service for shipping lines. Freed of empty containers, the main terminal becomes more flexible and maneuverable.

Early this year, ICTSI also infused P700 million in investments for two additional quay cranes that would be operational next month.

Total investments for this year totaled P850 million, resulting in improved operations and customer service at MICT.

"Thank you Ricky (Razon) for your P850-million investments for the year 2002, and more to come I hope," the President told Razon. "It’s very good news."

At the MICT, the President toured the ICTSI freight station No. 1 and the container yard.

After her visit to MICT, the President motored to the Divisoria wet market and made a surprise inspection of stalls to see for herself the prevailing prices of basic commodities, particularly the price of rice.

Riding in an open window four-wheel drive vehicle, the President waved to pedestrians en route to the wet market.

In Divisoria, the President was greeted by the market vendors and consumers alike.

Malacaņang today said that the privatization of the transmission facilities of the National Power Corporation (Napocor) would mean more efficient power distribution in the country.

In his regular press briefing, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that it would be to everybody’s interest to have the transmission lines privatized "as soon as possible."

"If these line are privatized, there will be additional inflow of investments. And the operations will be a lot more efficient if the lines are privatized," Bunye said.

Bunye was commenting on the franchise of the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) that has already been approved by the House of Representatives but is still being debated in the Senate.

He said that he agreed with the observation of some sectors that there will be a problem if the Transco franchise bill will not be passed.

Bunye said that in theory there would be a more efficient operation if the transmission facilities would be handled by the private group.

"The private group will not be saddled with obligations that are now being carried by the Napocor. So, the cost of transmitting their operations would not be as expensive," Bunye said.

Energy officials have said that the passage of the Transco franchise bill would help reduce the purchased power adjustment (PPA), or the cost of excess electricity generated by independent power producers (IPPs).