Briefs

Vietnam State Treasury raised 6.34 trillion dong (Bt9.6 billion) by auctioning government bonds (G-bonds) at the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) on Thursday.
In the latest auction, the State Treasury targeted 6 trillion dong, including 1.5 trillion in five-year bonds, 1.5 trillion in 10-year bonds, 1 trillion in 20-year bonds and another 2 trillion dong in 30-year bonds.
The bidding for the five-year bonds fetched 500 billion dong at an annual yield rate of 5.12 per cent and the bidding for the 10-year bonds earned 1.95 trillion dong at an annual yield rate of 5.99 per cent.
The HNX raised 1.3 trillion dong at an annual yield rate of 7.2 per cent from the bidding for 20-year bonds and 2.59 trillion dong at an annual yield rate of 7.68 per cent from the bidding for 30-year bonds.
Since the beginning of the year, the State Treasury has raised a total 74.6 trillion dong from G-bond auctions. – Viet Nam News

Remittances to developing countries fall in 2016
Remittances to developing countries fell for a second consecutive year in 2016, a trend not seen in three decades, says the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, which is released during the International Monetary Fund's Spring Meetings.
The Bank estimated that officially recorded remittances to developing countries amounted to US$429 billion (Bt14 billion) in 2016, a decline of 2.4 per cent from the $440 billion in 2015. The East Asia and Pacific regions saw an estimated 1.2 per cent decline in 2016 to $126 billion.
Flows to Indonesia fell at a higher rate, by 4.4 per cent, because of low oil prices and weak economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – where most Indonesian migrant workers are stationed.
“Remittances are an important source of income for millions of families in developing countries. As such, a weakening of remittance flows can have a serious impact on the ability of families to get health care, education, or proper nutrition,” said the World Bank’s global indicators group acting director Rita Ramalho on Friday.
Many large remittance-receiving countries saw sharp declines in remittance flows. India, retaining its top spot as the world’s largest remittance recipient, led the decline with $62.7 billion of remittance inflows last year, an 8.9 per cent decrease from $68.9 billion in 2015.
The exceptions among major remittance recipients were Mexico and the Philippines, which saw inflows increase by an estimated 8.8 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively, last year.
For 2017, remittances to the East Asia and Pacific regions are forecast to grow 2.5 per cent to $129 billion. – The Jakarta Post

AirAsia launches daily Davao-Cebu-Davao flights
AirAsia Philippines on Saturday began servicing its Davao-Cebu-Davao route.
The first AirAsia flight to Cebu took off from the Davao International Airport here around 10:40am with Captain Gomer Monreal, Philippines AirAsia director of flight operations, as pilot. Monreal was assisted by Captain Bernardino Perez and flight officer Leonardo Orendain.
The Davao-Cebu route has two flights scheduled daily. – Philippine Daily Inquirer

Chinese tourism company invests heavily in Maluku Islands
PT Jababeka chairman Darmono has signed a memorandum of understanding with one of China’s biggest travel and tourism players for investment on the island of Morotai in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia’s Maluku Islands.
“They are committed to build 300 hotel rooms in a span of one year and 100 villas on 100 hectares of land,” Darmono said at the Calendar of Event Wonderful Morotai Island Festival (CoE WMIF) 2017 event on Friday.
The first stage of investment is valued at around US$100 million (Bt3.6 billion), equal to 1.3 trillion rupiah. The investor, a company said to have 60 hotels in China, has made a deal to gradually increase the investment to $1 billion.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Ministry promises to renovate the airport runway to accommodate 130-passenger planes.
“As one of 10 prioritised tourism destinations, we are targeting 11,000 tourists to visit Morotai this year, and we’re hoping for an increase to 500,000 by 2019,” said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya. – The Jakarta Post

11 tourism firms can use MIST project
Eleven innovative tourism start-ups from Vietnam have qualified for the Mekong Innovative Start-up Tourism (MIST) Start-up Accelerator programme.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the Mekong Business Initiative (MBI) and Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO).
The US-based Travel Start-ups Incubator screened applications based on their potential for investment and the quality of their business plans.
MBI experts performed additional due diligence, considering sustainability and other socio-economic criteria.
Finally, selections were verified in partnership with the Danang City Incubator (DNES).
More than 250 travel tech and traditional tourism start-ups submitted applications to the MIST programme.
Qualifying start-ups will advance to a MIST Start-up Accelerator bootcamp from May 5-7, 2017 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, along with six innovative tourism start-ups from Cambodia and Myanmar.
Approximately half of all Start-up Accelerator finalists, selected by mentors, will advance from the bootcamp to an investor showcase at the Mekong Tourism Forum in Luang Prabang on June 6.
Start-ups will present their business plans to media, investors and an expert judging panel. Four of them will be chosen to receive innovation grants of US$7,000 (Bt240,000) to $10,000 each. – Viet Nam News