AEC Feed

Microsoft Vietnam and the City of Da Nang have agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a business-start-up support programme.
Vo Duy Khuong, vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, said the MoU was part of Microsoft Vietnam’s programme called CLAS (Customer Loyalty and Acquisition Services) Expara Startup Accelerator.
After the agreement signed in Ho Chi Minh City last week, Microsoft will support individuals and organisations in Da Nang in developing the capacity of their business start-ups.
The central Vietnamese city established an Entrepreneurship Support Company last year to help young people develop opportunities and ideas for starting a business.
Vu Minh Tri, director of Microsoft Vietnam, said the MoU was a result of its longstanding cooperation to support young individuals and groups in the country’s central region.
Da Nang is also collecting the names of 100 individuals and groups as “seeds” for start-up business programmes.
The city educates 80,000 students, of whom nearly 23,000 graduate from colleges every year. – Viet Nam News

Brunei bank launches SME solution

Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), the country’s largest financial institution, has launched a one-stop solution for corporate and small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to a press statement issued by BIBD, the SME 360 offering was launched during a working visit by Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the deputy sultan of Brunei, to the Darussalam Enterprise Business Support Centre in Anggerek Desa.
The SME 360 offering provides a comprehensive banking solution that complements the needs of businesses, especially SMEs, which includes a dedicated relationship management team, financial solutions and digital payments. – The Brunei Times

Malaysian airlines form association

Seven Malaysian airlines have joined forces to form the Association of Malaysian Air Carriers (AMAC), which will provide a common platform to discuss issues affecting the industry.
A press statement from AirAsia’s communication department said that subject to the approvals from the respective boards and Registrar of Society, the founding airlines of this association would be Malaysia Airlines, MASwings, Firefly, AirAsia, AirAsia X, Malindo Air and Berjaya Air. The association will be open to all Malaysian airlines.
It said that with all the main operators represented, AMAC would ensure one voice for the airline industry while representing common industry interests among institutions such as the Transport Ministry, the Department of Civil Aviation and the Malaysian Aviation Commission. – The Star

Asean ‘remains attractive’ for investors
The steady growth of Asean in the last five years is testimony that it is not affected by the flow of hot money in and out of the region, Maybank says.
With an estimated US$110 billion (Bt3.85 trillion) a year needed for infrastructure development alone, the region remains an attractive destination for foreign investors, according to Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Malayan Banking group head of global banking.
He said that when it came to sustainability of the money that was coming in, it all boiled down to fundamentals.
“Yes, it is true that hot money comes in and goes out, but as a region, if you look at the past five years or so, you’ll see that growth in Asean has been fairly consistent,” he said.
Economic growth may be slowing in some countries like Malaysia but in the Philippines and Vietnam, it is moving upwards, so there is momentum on the whole for further growth, Feisal said. – The Star