AEC Feed

Vietnam’s government said it will fully divest from its two biggest breweries and target to raise US$2.2billion ( Bt 75 billion) over the next 16 months, loosening its tight grip over one of Asia’s most sought-after beer markets.
The decision seeks to end years of uncertainty and government flip-flopping about how much of unlisted brewers Habeco and Sabeco the state was willing to part with. The stakes will be auctioned and both domestic and international investors can bid. Vietnam is Asia’s third-largest beer drinker by volume after China and Japan, putting it on the radar of Asian and European brewers keen to exploit changing lifestyles and one of the region’s fastest rates of middle-class growth.
Deputy industry and trade minister, Do Thang Hai, said divestment in Habeco, the maker of Bia Ha Noi beer, would be completed within this year and the selloff of shares in bigger rival Sabeco, which brews Bia Saigon and 333 beers, would be finished after the firm lists in 2017. – The Star

Rising prices expected for aparments in HCM City
The price of apartments in HCM City is expected to increase annually by 5-10 per cent for the next three years, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle Vietnam (JLL Vietnam), a foreign commercial real estate and property services provider.
JLL Vietnam predicted overall apartment prices to rise annually by 5-7 per cent in the next three years, supported by strong absorption and affordability levels. Mid-tier and affordable apartment prices could rise by up to 10 per cent each year.
JLL Vietnma believed that HCM City apartments were still affordable compared to income levels. Based on the top quintile household monthly income of $1,337 (Bt46, 303), private apartments in the affordable and mid-end range would cost about 3.9 to 6.6 years of income, assuming an apartment size of 75 sqm. The entry-level apartment price to income ratio of 3.9 years was 30 per cent lower than the average of 5.7 years in other Southeast Asian cities.
Even if prices rose 30 per cent over the next three years, it was likely that the home price to income ratio would be stable given that incomes have been rising at 10 per cent annually in the last few years. In the last five years, home prices in HCM City declined amid income growth, bringing the home price to income ratio down from 7.6 years in 2010 to 3.9 years in 2015. – Viet Nam News

Finance minister downbeat over 5.2% growth target
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has expressed her pessimism over the 2016 economic growth target of 5.2 per cent in light of current economic conditions.
In a meeting with the House of Representatives' Budgetary Commission (Banggar) at the House complex on Tuesday, Sri Mulyani said Indonesia must work extra hard to achieve 5.3 per cent growth in the second half of 2016, following the 5.04 per cent growth in the first half of the year.
The acceleration of government spending is expected to jack up the economy in the second semester. However, the Finance Ministry must delay and cut the state budget to offset the state revenue shortfall.
"This may create a contraction of economic growth and I admit the outlook of 5.2 per cent growth is quite hard [to achieve], because with such an assumption our economy must grow 5.3 per cent in the second half of 2016," Sri Mulyani explained. –The Jakarta Post

Cambodia, Japan launch first ever daily direct flight
ANA’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft with 280 passengers arrived from Japan yesterday afternoon at the Phnom Penh International Airport.
This is the first ever direct flight between Tokyo and Phnom Penh, said Minister of Tourism Thong Khon at the welcome ceremony of this inaugural flight. The Secretary of State of Civil Aviation, Mao Havannall said after its departure from Tokyo’s Narita Airport at 10.50 am, it arrived Phnom Penh at 15.10 pm and will depart at 22.50 pm and arrives Narita at 6.45am on the next day.
Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Kumamaru Yuji has also expressed his welcome of the inauguration flight.
The daily flights between Tokyo and Phnom Penh of ANA will bring Japan much closer to Cambodia, he said.
“Direct flights between the two countries have been a dream of the people of both countries for a long time. I am delighted that the dream has finally come true. I would like to thank everyone, both on Japanese side and Cambodian side, who helped it happen,” he underlined.
In the first semester of the year, Cambodia attracted total of 90,877 Japanese visitors, up 3.5 per cent if compared to the same period in previous year. – Rasmei Kampuchea Daily