AEC Feed

Grab Indonesia, a ride-hailing application provider, is planning to take measures to increase the income of its drivers in response to their protests last week. 
“We will study this. We all agree to make a joint effort to increase the income [of the drivers],” said Grab Indonesia managing director Ridzki Kramadibrata at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday as reported by kontan.co.id.
Ridzki and a representative of Go-Jek, another ride-hailing application provider, were at the palace at the invitation of Presidential chief of staff (KSP) Moeldoko to discuss the issue, following a meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and representatives of the protesting drivers last Tuesday.
Jokowi received the drivers’ representatives after thousands of drivers hit the streets on Tuesday morning to demand the tariff increase, which was 1,600 rupiah (Bt3.6) per kilometre.
During the meeting, Jokowi promised mediation between the drivers and the ride-hailing application providers.
Riszki said he would soon announce the results of the study and get ready to talk to government officials.
“The government has shown goodwill by asking us to negotiate [with the drivers]. We have already understood the problem. It is about income. But the drivers have to understand that tariffs are not the only factor in increasing their incomes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Moeldoko said the drivers demanded the tariff be increased to 4,000 rupiah per km from 1,600 rupiah.
He said the Transportation Ministry had also made calculations about the new tariffs that would be proposed in the mediation meeting. – The Jakarta Post

Malaysian importers ordered to dispose of sub-standard appliances

Four importers of home electrical appliances have been ordered to dispose of products for failing to meet safety requirements, including not having a SIRIM label. More than 10 types of microwaves of various brands, cooker hoods, four types of washing machines and dryers worth more than 100,000 ringgit (Bt808,000) were destroyed in Shah Alam and Puchong warehouses. 
The Energy Commission of Malaysia issued the orders failure to meet electrical requirements including some without the label of SIRIM, a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia. 
Kosium Trading (M) Ltd Co imported microwave from Italy that failed screening test conducted by SIRIM as one of the parts in the certificate of approval was not listed under a safety test report.
The washing machine and dryer imported by Signature Obicorp Co Ltd also did not meet the requirement as parts used in the products differed from the sample listed in the safety report.
The commission said cooker hoods imported by BSH Home Appliances from Germany failed to secure certification from the importer. 
Lee Hin Company was ordered to destroy a total of 174 electrical items including blenders, microwaves, refrigerators, cookers, electrical pots, hot pots, irons, rice cookers, vacuum cleaners and washing machines. The products valued above 30,000 ringgit were imported from China and have since kept in a warehouse in Shah Alam.
The electrical safety monitoring unit under SIRIM said all imported electrical products are to have certificates of approval and abide by relevant requirements. The parts of electrical items are to be similar to those stated in the safety test report.
Electrical items without safety labels are not allowed to be sold in the Malaysian market. They are either sent back to the country that produced the items or disposed of. If those products have been sold to consumers, the importer would have to call back the products through advertisement placed in newspapers. – Sin Chew Daily

VN ranks 7th in world in consumer confidence

Vietnamese consumer confidence finished 2017 on a high note, nudging the country into ranking as the 7th most optimistic country in the world.
According to the Conference Board Global Consumer Confidence survey, consumer confidence in Vietnam in Q4 2017 decreased by one point compared to the previous quarter to 115 points.
“Overall, we saw a stable and high confidence level among the Vietnamese consumers throughout 2017,” said Nguyen Huong Quynh, managing director, Nielsen Vietnam. Nielsen collaborated in the conference board’s survey.
According to Quynh, the optimism of the Vietnamese consumers can be attributed to the good momentum of economic growth across industries, combined with positive signals of foreign investment flows, increasing household income and growth-oriented Government policies.
Besides this, Quynh said, the consistent trend could be influenced by the build-up of positive sentiment towards personal finance status as well as immediate spending intentions in recent years.
Consistent with many past quarters, after covering essential living expenses, the Vietnamese consumers in the fourth quarter of 2017 were eager to spend on big-ticket items to enhance the quality of life. Nearly half of the consumers were willing to spend their spare cash on new clothes (49 per cent) and vacations (44 per cent). Some two in five persons spent on new technology products (40 per cent), out-of-home entertainment (41 per cent) and home improvements (42 per cent).
However, the Vietnamese consumers still had a strong affinity towards saving. Close to three-quarters of the population (72 per cent) put their spare cash into savings (compared to 66 per cent in the previous quarter). The report also revealed that saving was an integral part of Southeast Asian consumer choices, with 66 per cent of the respondents putting their spare cash into savings.
In this quarter, the top five concerns among the Vietnamese consumers remained the same as in the previous quarter. Job security continued to top the list (46 per cent), followed by health (40 per cent), work/life balance (27 per cent), the economy (21 per cent) and parents’ welfare and happiness (19 per cent).
“It is observed that there was a little movement in the concern for job security and state of economy. These concerns slightly strengthened in the last quarter of 2017, which can make consumers cautious about their spending habits and thus motivate them to curb their daily expenses,” Quynh said.
Besides, she noted, as consumers wanted to strive for a better life and had high aspirations of securing their children’s future, owning a house or high-tech products and having more frequent local or overseas holidays, the feeling of cautiousness in spending was likely to continue, which could make them save more and prioritise their spending. — Viet Nam News