AEC Feed

Vietnamese businesses have performed well in Laos and contributed to local economic growth over the last five years despite the lingering impact of the global economic crisis, a report revealed.

At a congress of the Vietnam Business Association in Vientiane late last week, Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Somsavad Lengsavath, who chairs the Laos-Vietnam cooperation subcommittee, said the economic growth of more than 7 per cent by his country in recent years was largely a result of contributions by Vietnamese enterprises.

He thanked the Vietnamese government and companies for supporting Laos, adding that Vietnamese companies had also helped reinforce the special solidarity between the two countries.

Somsavad asked the association to continue acting as a bridge tightening the partnership between the two countries’ business circles and boosting their competitiveness.

The congress was attended by almost 100 representatives of Vietnamese companies doing business in Laos.

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Hong Nam, chairman of the State Commission on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung said they hoped the association would improve its performance in the 2016-20 period to expand the development of Laos-based companies, thus helping with the intensification of the countries’ special solidarity and all-faceted cooperation. – Viet Nam News

Indonesia notes

fishery momentum

Indonesia needs to maintain the momentum in fishery exports as its strict measures against illegal fishing contributed to an increase in exports last year, a researcher said.

Suhana, a researcher for the Centre for Policy Analysis, said the moratorium on permits issued to foreign fishing vessels in 2014 and 2015 had contributed to an increase in tuna exports to the United States last year, while neighbouring Thailand and the Philippines saw decreases.

“We need to take this opportunity to become the largest fishery-product exporter,” Suhana said at a press conference held by the People’s Coalition for Equal Fisheries.

Citing the latest data from the Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fishery Ministry on tuna exports to the US, Suhana said Indonesian exports booked a 7.73-per-cent increase year on year from January to September 2015, while exports from Thailand decreased by 17.36 per cent |and those from the Philippines by 32.59 per cent.

He added that the main markets for Indonesian fishery products were far away, such as Japan and the US. Southeast Asian countries were export-oriented and did not import from one another.

No country had a proportion of imports from other Asean countries higher than 50 per cent except Brunei, which was |at 81.89 per cent, Suhana said. – The Jakarta Post

Singapore firms join Chongqing project

A slew of Singaporean firms, including property giant CapitaLand and banks DBS and United Overseas Bank (UOB), have joined the third Sino-Singaporean government-led project, which is based in Chongqing.

DBS inked four strategic partnerships with Chinese government agencies and banks to provide comprehensive financial services for the project. One of them will see DBS and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China providing financial solutions and services to the Chongqing government to boost trade and investment.

Financial services are one of four priority areas of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity, which focuses |on modern connectivity and modern services.

The others are aviation, transport and logistics, and information and communications technology.

DBS Bank (China) chief executive Neil Ge said the bank would leverage on its experience and expertise in developed financial markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong “to explore financial innovation with its partners as well as strengthen economic ties between Singapore, Chongqing and western China”.

UOB inked a memorandum of understanding with the Chongqing financial affairs office to promote cross-border trade and investment between Chongqing and Southeast Asia. They will help Chongqing firms expand into Southeast Asia through UOB’s advisory unit, banking products and regional network.

CapitaLand is partnering the Yuzhong district government to set up the Sino-Singapore Collaboration Centre at Raffles City Chongqing, its biggest single project in China at 24 billion yuan (5.2 billion Singapore dollars or Bt132 billion), to be completed by 2018. – The Straits Times