Briefs

 The Bolaven Plateau Coffee Producers’ Cooperative in Laos has been exporting more than 1,000 tonnes of organic coffee per year to many foreign counties, which is currently valued at some US$5 million (Bt178 million).
A famous chef from France has tasted the organic coffee in Champassak’s Pakxong district and agreed to place an order for the top-quality beans for coffee shops in Europe including France.
The order is expected to serve as a boon for the region’s image as a coffee producer in foreign counties including France.
France is the top overseas buyer of its coffee at some 800 tonnes per year. – Vientiane Times
 Russia eyed as next destination for Filipino workers
 Russia may be the next popular destination for skilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), according to the Department of Labour and Employment.
Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello III said President Duterte will be discussing labour relations and trade when he meets with President Vladimir Putin in Russia next year.
“I already sent a memo to the president requesting him to include the possible deployment of skilled and professional workers to Russia,” Bello said.
There is demand for construction and household service workers there, he said.
Since his assumption as president, Duterte has been forging warmer ties with Russia and China, while stepping up his anti-US rhetoric.
Bello said Russia, with its relatively higher wages, is becoming a good alternative for skilled and professional workers looking for high-paying3jobs.
This is a result of the decline in oil price in the Middle East, which means fewer job opportunities in the region.
Particularly, the construction and oil business have been slowing down, the labour secretary noted.
As of 2014, there were about |4,000 OFWs in Russia. – Philippine Daily Inquirer
 52 Vietnamese state units equitised in 11 months 
 Vietnam has equitised 52 state-owned enterprises in the past 11 months, the Steering Board for SOEs Renovation and Development said.
With the equitisation, the state sold shares worth more than 2.81 trillion dong (Bt4.4 billion) in book value for more than 5.09 trillion dong.
The SOEs are mainly those owned by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Construction Ministry, Transport Ministry, Vietnam Rubber Corporation and State Capital Investment Corporation.
From 2011-15, the country equitised, merged or closed down 591 SOEs, which was 96 per cent of the target, the steering committee said.
However, the process of equitisation is facing obstacles because of incomplete legal regulations. 
Several ministries haven’t submitted seven regulations related to equitisation to authorities for approval as planned.
To speed up the next round of equitisation, the National Assembly last month adopted a resolution that includes reform targets for SOEs in the 2016-20 period. 
The emphasis is on the SOE reform process becoming “faster and stronger” and the equitisation process becoming transparent, in line with the market mechanism.
According to the resolution, SOEs that go through equitisation must list on the stock exchange one year before they can conduct an initial public offering and attract strategic investors. 
The SOEs’ loss-making investment projects will be set for bankruptcy. – Viet Nam News
 Indonesian consumers, investors need to step up 
 Indonesia’s efforts to attain 5.1-per-cent economic growth next year may fall short without a significant boost to the two top contributors of the economy – consumer spending and investment, economists say.
Prominent economist Faisal Basri projected that growth would be hindered partly by heavy pressure on consumer spending, which makes up 55 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), and amount to no more than 5 per cent in 2017.
“Consumer spending is under heavy pressure, especially for low-income people,” the University of Indonesia economist said on Monday during a seminar in Jakarta discussing the outlook of Indonesia’s economy. 
“Consumption will slow down.”
Consumer spending contributes the most to the nation’s economy, having grown about 5 per cent in the past few years. 
It is followed by investment, which accounts for 32 per cent of GDP and grew 4.88 per cent from January-September year-on-year. Government spending only accounts for 10 per cent.
Wahyoe Soedarmono, a financial economist from the Sampoerna University’s School of Business, noted that it would be difficult for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration to reach its ambitious 2019 goal of 7-per-cent growth without increasing the ratio of investments to GDP to 44 per cent.
The government recently aimed for economic growth of 5.1 per cent this year, slightly lower than the 5.2-per-cent target that was in the revised 2016 state budget, as it decided to reduce public spending in a bid to maintain a healthy fiscal balance.
The 137 trillion rupiah (Bt365 billion) cut to the state budget was made in early August after Jokowi called for efficiency measures in the form of trimming less important spending. 
The move directly impacted government spending, which contracted by 2.97 per cent in the third quarter.
The government has remained upbeat despite facing many predictions that its targets are unachievable. |– The Jakarta Post