Multi-billion MWSS tourism project attracts investors

Foreign and local groups have expressed interest to execute the multibillion Water Eco-Tourism Hub Master Plan of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Masterplan, which will be implemented through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco said the plan is to build an ecotourism development like the worldfamous theme park Disneyland inside complex in Balara, Quezon City.

“Since this is PPP, we are open to proposals. It still depends because we still have to establish the Terms of Reference,” Velasco told reporters.

According to Velasco, there have been groups who wanted to present their proposals.

“There’s this group, China-TaiwanHong Kong group, and Holland-Netherland group, that are interested. They will all have a Filipino counterpart,” he added.

But of course, the project will also be open to purely local players. “Ayala Group may also be interested,” Velasco added.

Velasco said that the government will be choosing a developer based on the project that they will be proposing and how much revenues the government will get from it.

“They might want to build a theme park like Disneyland and it’s okay,” he said.

The development of the Water EcoTourism Hub Master Plan is part of MWSS’ plan

(AFP) – Global stocks pushed higher on Friday as investors, getting over their panic attack triggered by the prospect of a steep rise in US interest rates, tentatively bought back into the market, ensuring solid gains over the week.

Wall Street dipped at the opening of trading after a five-day winning streak that saw it claw back half of the losses it suffered the previous week of turbulent trading, but had turned positive by late morning in New York.

All key European stock markets posted gains at the closing bell.

Meanwhile, the dollar rebounded after striking a new three-year low against the euro and touching a 15-month low against the yen.

“European stocks are higher today as traders' levels of optimism rise,” said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

“The bullish momentum is growing, and the higher equity markets rise, the more it encourages other investors to jump on the bandwagon.”

Yes, but The “equity market recovery has legs,” observed Thomas Strobel, an analyst at UniCredit.

Some, however, questioned the assumption that stock markets really were back in full swing, having brushed off last week's dizzying falls as a one-off correction.

“There is still much debate about whether another bout of volatility is required to properly clear out vested interest from such a period of protracted complacency, and whether equities are still overvalued even after a 10 percent correction,” said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo markets.

Trading was generally subdued in Asia as many markets, including in China, Hong Kong and South Korea, were closed for the Chinese New Year break.

But Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 1.2 percent.

Wall Street closed higher for the fifth straight session on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both gaining 1.2 percent.

This week's rebound follows a sharp drop that sent major indices down more than 10 percent – considered correction territory.

Live with it The shock of the possibility the US Federal Reserve may need to hike interest rates faster than it previously indicated to ward off a possible surge in inflation driven by rising wages may also be wearing off.

“The impressive recovery in equities, particularly US equities, whilst bond yields pace higher, shows that the market is learning to live with the prospect of higher inflation and a potentially more aggressive Federal Reserve,” said analysts at London Capital Group.

In currency trading, the dollar began to rebound in European trading, but not after having struck a new threeyear low of $1.2555 against the euro.

Jameel Ahmad, global head of currency strategy and market research at FXTM, said “that the dollar has not been valued this low since traders began to price in the normalisation of US interest rate policy from the Federal Reserve that began in 2015.”

He said the prospect of higher yields on US bonds was no longer pulling investors to buy dollars.

“Investors are instead focusing on the development of economies that are within the remit of other central banks,” he said.

Expectations are that Britain, the eurozone and Japan will begin soon signalling increases in interest rates, thus making their currencies relatively attractive for investors.

But Fawad Razaqzada, at Forex. com, said signs Friday that the dollar “is beginning to come back to life again” could mean that the greenback is “on the verge of a comeback.”