Briefs

After three straight years of decline, Vietnam’s exports have turned around this year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.
Total earnings in the first eight months were US$309.8 million (Bt10.9 billion) , a 2.1 per cent rise from last year, it said.
Except in February the value rose every single month.
According to customs, fresh and frozen tuna accounted for 58.3 per cent of the exports and the ratio of processed tuna fell to 41.7 per cent from 45.6 per cent last year.
The US, EU, Asean, China, Israel, Japan, Canada, and Mexico were the largest markets, accounting for 88.2 per cent of the total exports.
Shipments to China increased by 68.5 per cent year-on-year. It was followed by Asean with a 26.7 per cent rise and Israel with 18 per cent.
But exports to the EU fell by 11.5 per cent. – Viet Nam News

Panasonic opens VN  centre
innovation hub in VN Leading Japanese electronics corporation Panasonic held an opening ceremony for its display centre titled “Panasonic Solution & Innovation Centre Vietnam” at the Thang Long industrial zone in Ha Noi on October 7.
The centre has four main areas consisting of electronics assembly equipment for surface mount technology, robotic welding systems, smart factory solutions and air conditioning systems.
Panasonic expects the centre will be the first place in Vietnam to introduce technology, smart production equipment and comprehensive solutions, which help optimise the factory's performance.
The centre will also be a place showcasing experiences of surface mount machines, machine components glued surface, software management system PanaCIM and adaptive process control.
This innovation centre features not only Panasonic's latest chip mounter and welding machine, but also equipment from other partners, which include component towers and inspection machines.
This cooperation highlights Panasonic's message about its overall solution development strategy based on technological interconnectedness and their contribution to the success of Industry 4.0 and IoT-supported manu?facturing line. — Viet Nam News

Mercedes sales drive
Star Flag Co Ltd or Benz Star Flag, a dealer of Mercedes-Benz in Thailand, has launched its latest campaign, October Money Festival 2016, underway until the end of this month.
 The campaign offers special prices and special interest rate with the Mercedes-Benz GLA200 priced at just Bt2.09 million. - The Nation

Partial shift to mutual funds
Indonesian life insurance companies have shifted parts of their investment from bank deposits to mutual funds and other investment options amid the downward trend in interest rates.
According to Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) data, the investment of the association’s members in the bank deposits dropped by 9.43 per cent to Rp 51.2 trillion year-on-year in the first half of this year.
The proportion of their investment in bank deposits dropped to 14.11 per cent as of July from 17.64 per cent in the same period in 2015.
 From all investment instruments chosen by the life insurance industry, only those placed in bank deposits suffered a decline as all other investment options went up. –The Jakarta Post.