AEC Feed

Results of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ latest Business Expectations Survey conducted from July 1-August 12 showed the overall confidence index for the July-to-September period declined to 45.4 per cent from 48.7 per cent in the second quarter. 

This reflected a decline in the number of optimistic firms, which still outnumbered the pessimists.

The respondents’ less-buoyant outlook was due to concerns that operations might be interrupted amid the rainy season, expectations of a slack in demand during the planting and closed milling seasons and slower sales for consumer goods as households prioritised students’ tuition at the start of classes. 

Also tempering optimism were concerns about the implementation of stricter mining policies, which put on hold some mining concessions, the central bank said. – Philippine Daily Inquirer

 

Singapore group launches eighth IT park in India

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam presided over the launch of an IT park in Gurgaon city, near Delhi, the eighth being developed by Ascendas-Singbridge in India. 

The 24-hectare International Tech Park Gurgaon is under development with the first building scheduled to be completed late next year. “This new International Tech Park in Gurgaon is going to set new standards, which is what we should aim to do,” Tharman said. 

The US$400 million (Bt14 billion) project is a significant Singaporean investment in India. – The Straits Times

 

Malaysia’s Johor woos Brunei property investors

 

A new local real estate company is seeking to drive awareness and build understanding among Brunei property investors on investing in the Malaysian property market with this weekend’s exhibition. 

Darren Yap, consultant at CORE Realty, said the company is promoting its latest property called Ramada Suites@The Straits in Johor Bahru, the capital of the Malaysian state of Johor.

Not many Bruneian investors are aware of the real estate potential in Johor Bahru, which has strong manufacturing and tourism industries. When it comes to property investment in Malaysia, most Bruneians often think of Kuala Lumpur, which may fetch a higher value than Johor Bahru. However, it also means that it is more expensive to get in, he added. – The Brunei Times 

 

Asean aims to lift region’s auditing quality 

 

Asean audit regulators are in discussions with the World Bank on collaborative efforts to raise the standard of audit quality in the region. This was a key agenda item at the sixth annual meeting of the Asean Audit Regulators Group in Singapore. Hosted by Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), the meeting was attended by over 100 participants. They included regulators from eight Asean countries, Hong Kong and China, as well as the regional and global leadership of the Global Public Policy Committee (GPPC) audit firms. 

The group members comprise Singapore’s ACRA, Malaysia’s Audit Oversight Board, Indonesia’s Finance Professions Supervisory Centre and Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The GPPC audit firms comprise the six largest international audit networks – BDO, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Areas of collaboration between the group and the World Bank include capacity-building workshops and technical assistance catering to the differing capacity levels of Asean members. 

These initiatives will complement the group’s efforts to raise the standard of audit quality in Asean and achieve greater alignment in regulatory practices. |– The Straits Times