THAI FINTECH GROUP TO OPEN SANDBOX CENTRE
The Thai Fintech Association is poised to launch an experimental development centre next month that will act like a regulatory sandbox where companies can experiment with their financial-technology innovations.
Association chairman Korn Chatikavanij said yesterday that it had courted state and private organisations to partner with it to promote fintech innovations. The sandbox will be a safe space where companies can experiment with their fintech products.
CHINA’S ‘DOORS STILL OPEN’ FOR INVESTORS
China has reaffirmed its commitment to opening up to foreign investors, underscoring balanced interests shared between foreign and domestic entities.
Sun Jiwen, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said on Thursday that his country was resolutely committed to opening up. Once the door is open, it will never close and, in fact, will open wider.
Sun made the remarks after the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China released its latest survey on China’s business environment.
“China always welcomes EU investment. However, China and EU differ in development stage and industrial structure. In terms of opening up, they are varied on key areas, intensity and pace,” Sun told a press briefing.
“It is inadvisable to make simple comparisons and demand reciprocal access. It is important to make balanced interests,” he said.
According to the EU Chamber’s report, more than 55 per cent of the respondents to the survey said they saw sales revenue rise last year. Some 51 per cent of them planned to increase their presence in China, 4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
“Those figures show EU businesses’ confidence and profitability have been strengthened in China, not on the contrary,” Sun said.|– Xinhua
E-VISA PILOT SCHEME BOOSTS TOURISM
Vietnam’s electronic visa pilot scheme has had a positive impacts on the country’s tourism industry since it was implemented at the beginning of the year, the government says.
Information from the country’s Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed that by May 30 – four months after the scheme started – some 22,000 tourists from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Slovakia, Japan, Switzerland and China who do not use biometric passports had requested e-visas on the country’s immigration portal.
Some 21,000 tourists received e-visas, 12,000 of whom entered the country.
Security procedures were conducted properly at Vietnam’s airports and border gates and ensured the safety of passengers, the department said.
Vu The Binh, standing vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said that the issuance of e-visas had made it easier for |citizens of 40 foreign countries |to visit Vietnam. - Viet Nam News
