AEC Feed

The Singaporean government will give the tourism industry a boost of 700 million Singapore dollars (Bt18.2 billion) for the next five years until 2020, Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran said.
The money comes at a challenging time for the industry, which has seen slower growth in recent years as tourists tighten their belts ahead of a weakening global economy.
Growth is expected to slow to a crawl this year, with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) forecasting growth of 0-3 per cent for visitor arrivals and 0-2 per cent for tourism receipts.
But it is not all doom and gloom. There are bright spots, such as a burgeoning interest in outbound travel to the region and Asia’s growing middle class, which will drive intra-Asia travel.
The industry needs to keep an eye on long-term growth opportunities, while dealing with short-term volatility, Iswaran said.
The fund is a shot in the arm for the STB as it pursues its strategy of attracting “quality” tourists – those who stay longer while spending more.
The strategy is a practical one, as Singapore can no longer rely on the volume of visitors to drive growth. – The Straits Times
 Laos prepares for timber trade agreement with EU
 The technical working group of the Laotian Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade process has elaborated a first-draft Timber Legality Definition in preparation for the first face-to-face FLEGT/Voluntary Partnership Agreement negotiations between Laos and the European Union.
The Forest Inspection Department of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry held a workshop to agree on the first structure of the Timber Legality Definition with Principles, while providing a venue to discuss the draft Timber Legality Definition of the Thematic Expert Group on Log Landing 1-3 in production forests.
The two-day workshop brought together 50 key stakeholders from various government agencies, and private-sector and civil-society organisations.
“Having a concrete definition on what is legal timber is crucial for Laos as it acts as an ‘entry ticket’ to generate new export opportunities in the Asean Economic Community and other export markets such as Europe, the US, China, Asean, Australia, Japan and South Korea, requesting legally verified timber,” said Manohack Rasachack, director-general of the Department of Industry and Handicraft of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
Laos has started to negotiate such an agreement with the EU with assistance from the GIZ project to provide support to the EU-FLEGT process. – Vientiane Times
 Applications invited for logistics award
 The Commerce Ministry’s international Trade Promotion Department, through its Office of Service Trade and Trade Logistics, is calling for applications for the “Excellent Logistics Management Award”, or Elma, which will take place later this year.
This award, in its 10th year, is a national recognition of the service excellence of Thailand’s logistics service providers.
Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the department, said yesterday that the logistics industry was highly regarded as a key driver of economic growth as well as financial stability.
The department recognises the importance and the urgency of its development, particularly in logistics management and services.
Elma is presented annually to logistics service providers that pass the assessment criteria based on international standards.
“Elma continues to boost the competitiveness and heighten confidence in Thailand’s logistics service providers among regional and global players,” Malee said.
This year, Elma will be awarded to logistics firms with excellent performances in four categories – transport services, warehousing services, international freight forwarding and customs-brokerage services, and third-party logistics services.
Top scorers in each category will also be nominated for the coveted Prime Minister’s Export Award in the trade logistics category.