AEC Feed

 Operating Scoot and Tigerair as one will not lead to job cuts, Singapore Airlines (SIA) said yesterday, as it announced that a new entity has been set up to house and run its two budget carriers.
There are no plans for retrenchment but organisational changes from the integration could see some staff take on different roles, according to SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides.
Scoot has more than 900 employees and Tigerair has about 850.
Confirming a report in The Straits Times that a new holding company would be set up, SIA said this will lead to sharing of key functions, such as in sales, marketing, and planning and operations.
The new company - Budget Aviation Holdings - is being helmed by Tigerair chief executive Lee Lik Hsin.
Scoot boss Campbell Wilson will return to SIA in late August as acting senior vice-president in sales and marketing. –The Straits Times
 Singapore exploring investment treaty with Myanmar
 Singapore is exploring the possibility of negotiating a bilateral investment treaty with Myanmar, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Wednesday during an introductory visit to Naypyitaw.
Such a deal will give potential investors “a greater sense of assurance, of security, of policy and regularity certainty” , he said, adding that it will also accelerate investment.
Dr Balakrishnan was speaking at a joint press conference with Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday morning.
“We... had a short discussion about the possibility of beginning negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty,” he told reporters.
Myanmar has already signed bilateral investment treaties with several countries, including China and India. – The Straits Times
 EU bans imports of vegetables grown in Laos
 The European Union (EU) has banned the import of four types of vegetables grown in Laos following its warning that the vegetables failed to meet safety standards, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
 Following the ban that was imposed earlier this year, the ministry has instructed its provincial departments to work with the relevant sectors to improve the quality of the vegetables.
 The plants in question are basil (Ocimum spp), Mexican coriander (Eryngium spp), peppers (Capsicum spp) and cha plu (Piper spp).
 The EU has told Laos that the vegetables originating from the country were found to harbour diseases and chemical substances that exceeded the safety level. The EU has issued 130 warnings since 2012 followed by the ban.
 In light of the problem, the ministry recently issued an order instructing provincial departments and relevant bodies to work together to improve the safety standards of the vegetables.
The ministry has told the relevant authorities to stop issuing quality guarantee certificates to companies who were warned by the EU. The suspension will be imposed until the quality of the vegetables is improved to meet the EU’s standards.
Officials said Laos has exported a number of farm products to many countries including the EU, generating large sums of money. The export of bananas alone increased ten-fold from more than 30.8 billion kip (US$3.8 million) in 2011-12 to more than 324.8 billion kip (US$40 million) in 2014-15, according to a report from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
 The main markets for bananas grown in Laos are China and Thailand.– Vientiane Times
 Vietnam's central bank loosening policies
 Experts believe the Vietnam' central bank is loosening its monetary policies to support businesses and boost economic growth.
 These reports started circulating following recent cuts in lending interest rates by large state-owned commercial banks, as required by the State Bank of Viet Nam.
 According to Nguyen Duc Do, deputy head of the Financial Economic Institute at the Ministry of Finance, a loose monetary policy is urgently needed to lower interest rates because economic growth is slowing amidst low inflation and a stable exchange rate.
Do said if the interest rate did not drop, all businesses, the government and the economy would face difficulties.
 In a recent report, analysts from HCM City Securities Co (HSC) also said the recent lending interest rate cut by commercial banks reinforced the belief that the monetary policy was loosening and noted that this easing of the policy was an important component in the stimulus package proposed by the government.
 According to HSC analysts, the loose monetary policy was necessary in the context of the limited state budget, which would make it difficult to use fiscal policies to stimulate economic growth. – Viet Nam News