Briefs

Myanmar’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning concerning sub-quality and counterfeit medicines.
FDA officials have been hunting down substandard drugs under Operation Pangea and implored people to report to them if they suspect any medicine of being fake.
A project combating illegal, counterfeit and substandard drugs by the Ministry of Health and Sports caused an increase in pharmaceutical prices last year, according to wholesale dealers. Most illegal drugs in the country| are imported from Thailand, China and India.
“Fake drugs purportedly manufactured by the Myanmar Pharmaceutical Factory were seized. Cevit or Burplex used to be 450 kyat [Bt11] per bottle but are now 1,200 or 1,500 kyat. Unregistered drugs coming through |the border are cheaper, and most |customers choose the cheaper drugs,” said the owner of Pyae Sone Mon wholesaler.
The operation was carried out in Yangon and Mandalay in June and the FDA filed 29 cases under the National Drugs Law from January to May last year.
Drugstore owners at the Zaycho market in Mandalay Region shut their doors in protest against the FDA’s alleged failure to inspect the pharmaceutical suppliers for illegal drugs.
“The licences of some drug companies expired, which we did not know when they introduced their products. When the FDA confiscates the products we end up paying for the loss. 
The FDA should inspect the companies first,” said the owner of Ko San pharmacy at the Zaycho. – Myanmar Eleven 

Online shopping a boon for busy pros in Vietnam 
Many Vietnamese consumers say the hectic year-end schedule keeps them so busy that they can’t go shopping, but the development of e-commerce and e-payment is helping them avoid going to stores or supermarkets
Lan Anh, an accountant living in Ho Chi Minh City, says she is overworked as the Lunar Year draws to a close.
She has plenty of reports to finish and very little time to spare for shopping, even for the most traditional, must-have food items for Tet (Lunar New Year), the most important festival celebrated in Vietnam.
For professionals like her, online shopping is a boon. Ordering and paying have become easy and convenient, although problems of quality and authenticity have also surfaced. 
Many consumers have said that the hectic year-end schedule keeps them so busy that they can’t go shopping, but the development of e-commerce and e-payment is helping them avoid going to stores or supermarkets. Now, without leaving their office or home, they can place orders online and wait for goods to be delivered. – Viet Nam News

Indonesia’s target of 
15 million tourists
this year ‘achievable’
The Indonesian Tourism Ministry is largely optimistic that it can achieve its goal of welcoming 15 million tourists this year, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said on Tuesday yesterday.
“According to our calculations, if tourism grows by 10 per cent [this year], we’ll get 13.5 million tourists,” |he said after a meeting at the State Palace in Central Jakarta, adding that within the next 11 months, there would still be room to increase the number of foreign-tourist arrivals.
China will remain the country’s |most sought-after market, but Indonesia also expects to see 1.5 million additional tourists from across the Southeast Asian region this year |after the recent Asean Tourism Forum (ATF).
Furthermore, Arief said ATF members had agreed to increase joint promotions of the region as part of celebrations for 50 years of Asean.
“This will be beneficial to Indonesia, as our tourist numbers are still relatively low compared [with] our neighbours. While we have around 10 to 12 million tourists [per year], Malaysia has |25 million, Singapore has 15 million |and Thailand has 30 million,”| he said. 
Indonesia expects to see anincrease to 20 million tourist arrivals by 2019. –The Jakarta Post