Metro Manila – An online petition from several authorities and groups urging the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to withdraw the memorandum of increase rates in the premium contribution of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has received some 300,000 signatures. According to the memorandum, OFWs with income amounting between ₱10,000 and ₱20,000 will be required to pay 3 percent of their …

KUALA LUMPUR – The COVID-19 global pandemic and the resulting Movement Control Order to contain the disease could potentially push people to become poorer in 2020. The COVID-19 global pandemic however benefitted the industry of e-commerce and companies selling masks, surgical gloves, ventilators, personal protective equipments and supplying boxes for food deliveries. On the downside, the effects of after almost …

The Public Health Ministry has come up with a plan on lifting restrictions on some businesses in 32 provinces, which will be submitted to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) for consideration. Kamnuan Ungchusak, an adviser to the public health minister on the Covid-19 outbreak, said at a meeting with related agencies, it was agreed that the measures should …

PETALING JAYA – The official website of the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) has temporary closed  due to a system crash on the first day of applications for business to operate during the Movement Control Order (MCO). The Ministry’s official website suffered a crash after its servers received over 100,000 applications from various businesses, causing massive overloading to the …

Minor is preparing to close hotels in Bangkok and at-risk areas around the country to limit the coronavirus outbreak, says William Heinecke, chairman of Minor International Plc. In an open letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday, he said the rapid outbreak is becoming the greatest threat to the global economy ever seen. Minor would like to support containment …

Airbnb Inc. is considering raising capital from new investors, as the home-sharing giant wrestles with escalating losses due to the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its global business, according to people close to the company. The pandemic has also thrown into disarray Airbnb’s plans to go public this year, and the company’s board and investors are divided over …

Thailand’s billionaire Chearavanont family is considering setting up a shrimp farm in the United States, as President Donald Trump’s administration tries to curb America’s reliance on seafood imports. The agro-industrial arm of the family’s conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group, said it’s looking at several potential locations, including Florida, as well as other sites less prone to hurricanes. As much as 95% …

Rising Chinese pollution levels measured from space are showing a gradual but uneven industrial pickup after the economic slowdown caused by the nation’s fight to contain the deadly novel coronavirus. Although the level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in China’s atmosphere has risen nearly 50% from Feb 17, it was still roughly 20% below the equivalent period last year, according an …

As part of a business restructuring plan, the flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has laid off 300 employees to handle losses suffered by travel restrictions on coronavirus-stricken destinations. PAL announced on Friday that PAL has introduced a “voluntary separation program for long-serving workers and a retrenchment process” which was completed on 28 February. The mass lay-off is part of the …

PETALING JAYA: Manufacturing sector and industrialists are confident that the current situation caused by the corona virus or Covid-19 outbreak would soon slow down as most business units and plants in China are back in business. The rest of the areas, except in Wuhan where the virus originated, factories in China are running at full steam, as reported by the …