Briefs

The Philippines expects to seal an initial US$2 billion worth of trade and investment deals with Japanese investors, on top of the additional official development assistance being sought by the government during President Rodrigo Duterte’s state visit to Japan this week.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said around 12 private sector deals – covering a range of industries, including manufacturing and agriculture – were expected to be signed this week. Close to 200 Filipino business leaders are joining the trip.
One of the agribusiness deals involves a Japanese company that has expressed interest in ordering 20 million boxes of fruits yearly from the Philippines. Each box is estimated to weigh 13 kilograms.
“So we hope to further improve our trade and investment [levels] with Japan and to have more of the Japanese companies buying our products … The deals mentioned are just the initial ones that are within sight. It could be more. We’re working on hopefully some other official development assistance that can be improved,” Lopez said.
He said the official development assistance could be in terms of technical cooperation, training, capacity building, research and development support, and exchange of scholars.| – Philippine Daily Inquirer 

Financial literacy 
for Laos villages
Phu Bia Mining has provided 440 million kip (Bt1.88 million) to 11 villages to set up village banks.
To give banking access to people living in rural areas, Banque Franco-Lao (BFL), Phu Bia Mining and Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) conducted joint training on September 29 and 30 on financial services and financial literacy in three villages in Xaysomboun province: Ban Namchang, Ban Nammo and Ban Namngone.
“The goal of the initiative is to teach people about money-management skills,” BFL sales officer Suelor Chayer said. 
BFL gave an introduction to the use of automated-teller-machine services (balance checks, withdrawal of money, etc) and explained the benefits of deposits, while the GIZ trainer focused on basic financial literacy. |–Vientiane Times
Chayer said money played a central role in people’s lives. Financial knowledge and skills are a key factor for individual economic success. How one spends, saves and invests, determines one’s financial well-being in the future. Through the training, people learned how to plan financially and build savings for the future. 
Pan, one of the participants, said: “I learned how to save my money more effectively and can use the services of the bank easily with the ATM now.” –Vientiane Times

Peugeot Scooters 
return to Vietnam
France’s famous Peugeot Scooters brand has announced it will return to the Vietnamese market after a 50-year absence, with the target of becoming one among the top three brands in the high-end scooter segment in the country.
Xavier Casin, head of the Peugeot Motocycles spelling is correct Vietnam representative office and the company’s Asean director, said the market had “high potential, with Vietnamese consumers making many purchases, including buying scooters instead of traditional motorbikes”.
Since few high-end scooter companies operate in Vietnam, the Peugeot Scooter brand will become a new alternative, he said, adding that the scooters would be priced from 50 million to 80 million dong (Bt78,000-Bt125,000).
To mark its return, the company plans to open its “brand store” concept by the end of this year. Other showrooms will open in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and other cities.
The company is now seeking more distributors, Casin said, adding that the latest scooters would be sold in the Vietnamese market.
The latest models will be displayed at the Vietnam International Motor Show, which opens in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday today, he said. – Viet Nam News