Arjay L. Balinbin

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter CANON can no longer rely on its hardware products alone, such as copiers, printers, and scanners, because many organizations have gone paperless due to the pandemic, a company official said.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter AIRPORT infrastructure in the Philippine capital should adapt to the growing business aviation market, business jet maker Dassault Aviation said, noting that Clark and Subic airports are not ideal locations for Manila-based businessmen.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter THE Philippines dropped out of the top 10 in a list of countries that are considered attractive destinations for technology, digital and innovation, and business process management, after seeing a decline in the workforce population amid the pandemic.

BusinessWorld — SOFTWARE company Stratpoint Technologies, Inc. said the shutdown of the broadcast operations of its partner ABS-CBN Corp. had heavily impacted its revenue last year despite the rapid increase in technology demand triggered by the pandemic crisis. "The revenue decrease, a lot of it - I mentioned that ABS-CBN was a big client of ours - was due to ABS-CBN.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter THE Philippines is considered among developing countries that performed better on frontier technologies than their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) would suggest, a 2021 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter METRO Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) on Wednesday said its tollways unit Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) sold 100% of its stake in Thailand's AIF Toll Roads Holdings Co., Ltd. for $149.25 million. FPM Tollway (Thailand) Ltd., a 100% indirect subsidiary of MPTC, entered into share purchase deals with "several parties" on Feb.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter DEMAND for private aviation services in the Philippines is growing amid a coronavirus pandemic that has battered commercial airlines. Aviation solutions company PhilJets Group has seen a 20% increase in aircraft sales in 2020, helping it stay afloat despite the crisis.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter NEARLY a million Filipinos in rural areas do not have access to digital connections, as most cell towers are located in wealthy cities, according to an analysis by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Thinking Machines Data Science, Inc.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter THE Philippines ranked 59 th out of 79 countries in the 2020 Global Connectivity Index (GCI) report by Chinese technology firm Huawei Technologies Co.,Ltd., suggesting that the country remains a "starter" when it comes to digital transformation.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter BUDGET, regulations, cybersecurity, and inability to appreciate the benefits of technologies remain the top constraints that keep some companies from going digital, business leaders said. Budget is a major constraint "because digital transformation is not cheap," said David L.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter THE Cavite government saw "infirmities" in the required documents submitted by the consortium of MacroAsia Corp. (MAC) and China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) for the Sangley Point International Airport project, the province's top official said.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter THE MANILA International Airport Authority (MIAA) board has junked the appeal filed by Megawide Construction Corp. and its foreign partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. seeking to overturn the revocation of its original proponent status (OPS) for theNinoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) rehabilitation.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter LISTED fiber internet provider Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. is aiming to cover more than half of the country's households by 2025, its top official said.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter ANNUAL TRAFFIC congestion in Metro Manila significantly dropped last year due to coronavirus lockdown, but the Philippine capital was still the fourth-most congested city in the world, according to data from a location technology company. Latest data from Amsterdam-based TomTom International B.V.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter REVENUES of airlines in the first half of the year are expected to be "close to catastrophic," aviation think tank Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said, as trunk routes will not be commercially viable.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter The Philippine trade deficit dropped to its lowest level in five months in November, suggesting that trade could contribute to economic growth in the fourth quarter, though declining imports hinted at slowing domestic demand. The trade deficit was $1.73 billion, lower than $1.79 billion in October and $3.65 billion in November last year.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter THE new strain of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will likely place renewed pressure on the finances of airlines, as countries reimpose lockdowns and travel bans, analysts said. "The new strain is still apparently being studied by the authorities. However, drastic measures have already been taken.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter YASMIRA P. MONER, a 34-year-old resident of Linamon town, Lanao del Norte in southern Philippines, is eager to get a coronavirus vaccine shot because of the hassle she has to go through every time she comes home from Iligan City, where she works as a university lecturer.

BusinessWorld — The disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic to global supply chains were unexpected. "This has really been one of the most challenging times ... in all walks of life," said Christopher Buono, managing director of UPS Philippines, who has been in the industry for 18 years.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter PLDT, INC. and Globe Telecom, Inc. reported mixed earnings in the first nine months of the year, but the telecommunications incumbents are expected to outperform the broader economy going forward as the pandemic hastens the adoption of digital processes and work practices.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter IN ORDER TO "build back better" from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Philippines should focus on closing the digital gap, upgrading the education curricula, upskilling workers, and expanding investments in research and development, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

youtube.com — Join BusinessWorld Insights, “Safe Banking: Data Security on Online Payment Services”, a discussion on how security issues in digital finance are being addressed and how consumers can ensure that they are safely doing financial transactions online with speakers Philip Casanova, principal, Technology Consulting of SGV & Co.; Sparky Perreras, CEO and co-founder of PearlPay; Paulo del Puerto, chief marketing officer of Secuna; and moderator Arjay Balinbin. #BUSINESSWORLDINSIGHTS' Safe Banking Special is presented by Security Bank with the support of Olern and The Philippine STAR.

BusinessWorld — By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS in the Philippines are falling behind their counterparts in some Southeast Asian countries in reading, writing and mathematics, with a significant percentage of students still performing at levels expected in early years of primary education, a regional study showed.

youtube.com — Catch the second part of BUSINESSWORLD INSIGHTS: An Online Forum Series on Connectivity with the theme, "The Connected Path: A Guide to Digital Transformation of Government and Businesses", with speakers AMTI EVP for Technology, Sales and Marketing Digital Transformation Executive Sponsor Bong Paloma; GCash Chief Commercial Officer for Transfers Frederic Levy; PayMaya Philippines Chief Operating Officer Paolo Azzola; and Tata Consultancy Services, Inc. Country Head Shiju Varghese, moderated by Arjay Balinbin, BusinessWorld's senior reporter. #BUSINESSWORLDINSIGHTS Connectivity Series is made possible by Tata Consultancy Services, Globe, AMTI, Dell Technologies, PLDT, Smart The Philippine STAR, and Olern; with the support of the Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators, Management Association of the Philippines, Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines, British Chamber of Commerce Philippines, Financial Executives of the Philippines, Philippine Association of National Advertisers, and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.