AEC Feed

Prominent Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group plans to open five more Indogrosir wholesale stores outside Java, next year. 
Indogrosir operator PT Inti Cakrawala Citra operational director Suyono said the five wholesale shops would be located in Makassar in South Sulawesi, Ambon in Maluku, Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi and Jambi City in Jambi. With the five new wholesales stores in four cities, the group will operate 21 Indogrosir shops next year. Half of all existing branches are already located outside Java.
“Each shop requires a minimum of 100 billion rupiah (Bt255 million) in investment for physical building and equipment only,” Suyono said on the sidelines of Trade Minister Enggartiasto “Enggar” Lukita’s visit to its Tangerang branch office on Friday.
“The expansion follows the development of business potential, especially in the eastern part of the country,” he added. The firm believes the ongoing development of the maritime axis will help it reduce distribution costs, leading to cheaper products for consumers in the eastern part of the country, where prices are higher than those in western Indonesia. Indogrosir targets family-owned shop owners with a special membership scheme as well as by partnering with state bank BNI that offers loans with a low interest of 9 per cent. – The Jakarta Post

Indonesia’s forex reserves total $124.96 billion in May

Indonesia’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves hit another record high since at least 2015 in May, climbing to US$124.96 billion, data released by Bank Indonesia (BI) on Thursday shows. The reserves earlier peaked at $123.25 billion in April, the most since two years ago. The rise was mainly supported by forex earnings from taxes, oil and gas exports and a BI auction of foreign exchange securities (SBBI), among other factors.
 “Bank Indonesia is of the view that the forex reserves figure is able to support [the country’s] external sector and to maintain Indonesia’s continuing economic growth going forward,” the central bank’s official statement reads.
The May figure is sufficient to cover 8.9 months of the country’s imports, or 8.6 months of imports and the repayment of the government’s debt. Foreign inflows continue to enter the country’s financial system. It received about 105 trillion rupiah ($7.8 billion) in foreign funds by May 12, much higher than the Rp 65 trillion recorded in the same period last year, according to BI. – The Jakarta Post

Philippine joblessness eases

The jobless rate eased in April while the underemployment rate fell to its lowest in more than 10 years, the government reported on Friday.
Results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) April 2017 Labour Force Survey showed that the unemployment rate declined to 5.7 per cent from 6.1 per cent during the same month last year.
The number of employed Filipinos in April reached 40.27 million, down from 40.66 million a year ago, but the PSA explained that the labor force participation rate dropped to 61.4 per cent from 63.5 per cent in 2016.
Last April, the labour force population, which consisted of those with jobs as well as the jobless aged 15 and up, stood at 69.6 million, up from 68.17 million a year ago. As for the underemployment rate, state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said it dropped to a low of 16.1 per cent in April.
The number of underemployed Filipinos declined to 6.47 million from 7.43 million a year ago, equivalent to 962,000 who found better jobs between April last year and April this year. – Philippine Daily Inquirer

VN seafood exports to US face tough recovery

Vietnam’s seafood exports to the United States reduced in the first five months, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Also, it will face difficulty in recovering in the next few months, VASEP said.
The nation saw a year-on-year growth of 7.5 per cent in the total export value of seafood to US$2.76 billion in the first five months, but the export value of local seafood products to the US fell by 12.7 per cent year-on-year to $461 million, the association said. The reduction made the US only the second largest export market for Vietnam in the first five months of this year, against the first place in the same period last year, it said. The fall was partly due to the anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese tra fish and shrimp in the US market. – Viet Nam News