The Chinese government has pledged to bring in more investments to the Philippines, Malacañang said in a statement yesterday.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who arrived in China Saturday for a five-day visit, got the commitment from Meng Jianzhu, secretary of the Communist Party of China-Jiangxi Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress, during their meeting at the Sofitel Trilec Hotel in Jiangxi.

Jiangxi is a sister city of Bohol and both provinces signed a Memorandum of Agreement to expand their trade and friendly relations.

Rice sufficiency seen by '09

The Department of Agriculture is optimistic the Philippines can attain a reasonable level of sufficiency in rice by 2009.

The DA said in a report that before former Secretary Domingo Panganiban turned over his post to his successor, Arthur Yap, last week he underscored the positive growth in the country's rice production which has sustained an average annual growth of 3.2 percent in the last four years.

For 2006, rice production is still expected to reach more than 15 million metric tons this year despite the crop damage caused by the typhoon Milenyo.

BSA urges firms:
Aim for immunity

The Business Software Alliance said in a statement it is urging companies to adopt its Software Asset Management Advantage Program to receive the SAM Advantage Certificate which awards one-year immunity from BSA-initiated enforcement actions.

The program seeks to recognize organizations, from various industries such as business process outsourcing, manufacturing and construction/engineering, that have successfully implemented a sound software management practice.

BSA, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use of licensed software, recently issued SAM Advantage Certificate to 133 companies.

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