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Japan’s Forval group plans Vietnam projects
Japan’s Forval Corporation wants to expand investment in Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, in tourism, education and healthcare, Vietnamplus.vn reports.
The plan was unveiled by chairman and CEO of the group Hideo Okubo at a meeting with Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen late last week.
The group was willing to help the city with training for tour guides and staff at restaurants and hotels, he said, adding that specific cooperation projects would be drafted soon.
Most of Forval’s partners are small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in the consultation field to support Japanese firms in making investments abroad, particularly within Asean, according to the CEO.
The corporation had advised many Japanese companies to invest in Vietnam, he said, adding that it opened representative offices in Hanoi and HCM City and cooperated with Vietnamese businesses in other cities and provinces.
Tuyen hailed Forval’s desire to invest in personnel training in tourism, education and healthcare, which matches the city’s demand.
HCM City’s tourism staff have yet to become fully professional, so the city hoped to partner with the Japanese group to improve the quality of human resources in this field.
The southern metropolis also hoped to introduce modern technological equipment and smart management processes to improve public health.
The corporation should per-suade more Japanese businesses to invest in HCM City, while local authorities would create the optimal conditions for entrepreneurs to do business efficiently, he added. - Viet Nam News.
FDI in Myanmar exceeds $381m in four months
Total foreign direct investment has reached US$381 million (Bt13.2 billion) from April to July this year, according to the Myanmar Investment Commission.
During the four months, 13 businesses from 11 countries have invested.
Singapore topped the investor list with $220 million, followed by Thailand with $62 million, Japan with $41 million and China with $41 million.
Singapore is used as a conduit by US investors to dodge Washington’s sanctions.
Brunei, Germany, Hong Kong, South Korea, the UK, Taiwan and the Seychelles also invested.
Since 1988, FDI has totalled about $64 billion, according to notoriously unreliable official figures.
FDI was around $4.6 billion in 2011-12, $1.4 billion in 2012-13, $4.1 billion in 2013-14, $8 billion in 2014-15 and $9.5 billion last financial year.
In total, $8 billion is expected this financial year.
According to the 20-year national comprehensive development plan (2017-30), $140 billion is expected, at an average of $7 billion a year. – Myanmar Eleven
Govt to allow yacht, private jet visits to boost tourism
The Indonesian government is in the process of relaxing regulations and taxation relating to yachts and private jets to boost tourism.
Deputy Tourism Minister Sudirman Saad said private jets and helicopters would soon be able to land at tourist destinations, as the ministry was going to issue a licence for seaplanes shortly.
“The ministry is working on a plan to cut the import tax for yachts, which currently reaches 75 per cent,” he said during a press conference at the Bank Indonesia regional meeting in Batam recently.
Other initiatives that have already been carried out include marina construction in tourism hotspots, he said.
“Now they have it and a pilot project in Morotai already built. We used to face difficulties in attracting yachts to the Sail Morotai festival,” he said.
The seaplane pilot project is on Bawah Island among the Riau Islands. – The Jakarta Post
