SINGAPORE -- APEC’s 21 member economies improved the ease of doing business in the Asia-Pacific by 8.2 percent between 2009 and 2011, exceeding their five percent target for the period and paving the way for greater economic activity in the region.

The findings were revealed in the new 2012 APEC Economic Policy Report, released on 4 October, which assesses member economies’ progress in implementing the APEC Ease of Doing Business Initiative adopted in 2009. The Initiative’s goal is to foster a 25 percent more favourable business environment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2015.

CANADA -- Hackers using a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) named Mirage have been engaged in a systematic cyber espionage campaign against a Canadian energy company, a large oil firm in the Philippines and several other entities since at least this April,  Dell’s SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit says.

The campaign is the second one targeted at oil companies to be discovered by SecureWorks this year. In February, researchers at the firm discovered attackers using remote access tools similar to Mirage to target several oil companies in Vietnam according to a report in Computerworld.com.

That campaign also targeted government agencies in several countries, an embassy, a nuclear safety agency and multiple business groups, according to SecureWorks.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), manager of the largest public pension fund in America, has invested some $51 million in the shares of stock of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. and at least 25 other Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)-listed firms.

“We welcome the investment, which affirms the robust investor confidence in the Philippines, and in some of our best-managed companies,” Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said.

MANILA -- A total of 63 new information-technology (IT) parks are now being developed nationwide, House Deputy Majority Leader Roman Romulo, who represents the lone district of Pasig City in Congress, revealed today, Sept. 21.  He said 41 of the emerging IT parks are in the provinces while 22 are in the National Capital Region.

“We strongly favor the advancement of new IT parks in highly urbanized corners outside Metro Manila. This will spur on balanced economic growth all over the country,” Romulo said.  He is a key backer of the labor-intensive, IT-enabled business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

BPO firms are the predominant locators in tax-advantaged IT parks registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

MANILA — The Aquino administration asserts that “good governance leads to good economics” and points to rapid economic growth in the first quarter of 2012, supposedly looming investment-grade credit ratings, and even alleged creditor nation status. Yet while these indicators of supposedly sound macroeconomic and fiscal fundamentals are appealing to banks, credit rating agencies and investor groups, they do not reflect the reality of continuing problems for the economy and tens of millions of Filipinos.

The administration is hard-pressed to provide similar glowing accounts of sustainable development on the ground because there are still no such gains to speak of.

MANILA -- The economy has more than enough profits to support a substantial wage hike. According to research group IBON, the benefits of a wage hike for workers and their families are clear and will substantially improve their welfare.

IBON made the statement after Malacanang announced yesterday that it does not support the proposed Php 125 wage hike bill pending in Congress as the economy cannot accommodate the wage increase.

MANILA -- Expats, celebs and investors are all eyeing the Philippines as an unprecedented boom is promising fortunes for a nation once known as the poor-man of Southeast Asia.

Much of the success for the economic boom can be put down to President Benigno Aquino who has been on a tough road of cleaning up corruption, bringing down budget deficits and boosting spending on infrastructure.

CHICAGO (jGLi) – The United States Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has entered a consent decree with Leprino Foods, Inc. of Lemoore, California, which will pay $550,000 in back wages, interest and benefits to 253 minority workers, who were rejected for on-call laborer positions from 2005 to 2006 because of its use of pre-employment test called WorkKeys to select hires that discriminates against African-American job applicants and those of Asian and Hispanic descent.