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Procter & Gamble (P&G) is investing an additional US$30 million (Bt990 million, S$41.5 million) in its digital innovation centre in Singapore, one year after it pumped in an initial US$100 million and co-launched its E-Centre with the Economic Development Board (EDB).
The new investment is part of the multinational consumer goods company's launch of E-Centre 2.0, which is an expansion of its existing digital innovation programme with the EDB. Part of the funds will go towards its first digital omni-channel retail centre, i-Singapore Digital Omni-channel Centre (i-SIDOC), which enables P&G to work with regional retailers to create actionable knowledge and retail solutions in multi-channel consumer shopping.
The platform will be located with the company's Singapore Innovation Centre and omni-channel store. The funds will also support new supply chain projects and a new team of data scientists.
Through the E-Centre, P&G supports partners and employees by equipping them with skills to leverage digital technology and solve business problems.
In the week leading up to the opening of E-Centre 2.0, P&G Asia Pacific hosted its inaugural digital technology event, ONward, which included a "digital university" where more than 1,000 employees went through 5,000 hours of training in five days.
The event also offered more than 500 digital tech companies, including start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises and other companies a chance to apply to develop solutions for nine business challenges pitched to them by P&G. This will help the consumer giant to co-innovate with external specialists. - The Straits Times

More China-Cambodia trade settled in yuan
There is an upward trend in using the Chinese yuan for trade settlements between Cambodia and China, with more banks in the Kingdom facilitating such transactions.
And the reason for this is that Chinese investors are seeking ways to reduce their risk by depending less on the greenback, National Bank of Cambodia's deputy director general of central banking, Khou Vuthy, said.
Speaking to reporters at the Renminbi (RMB) forum with the theme Asean’s Economy and the Internationalisation of RMB, organised by the Bank of China (Cambodia), he said usage of the yuan for cross-border settlements had been increasing in the last few years.
“Last year, cross-border settlements in yuan represented about 10 per cent of the total trade between Cambodia and China,” he said.
This, he said, proved that the share of payments in yuan is getting larger. An NBC figure showed cross-border settlements in yuan in 2016 represented only 2.5 billion (Bt12.4 billion, $377 million), or approximately seven per cent of the two countries’ total trade.
“I am optimistic that using the yuan for cross-border settlements will keep increasing in the Cambodian banking system. The evolution is parallel with regional and global trends.
“Many countries try to reduce their dependency on the dollar as the only currency for cross-border trade by promoting the use of their own currencies together with the yuan,” Vuthy said. 
The NBC, he said, has allowed banks and financial institutions to use the yuan. Two Chinese banks operating in Cambodia – the Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd – are allowed to use the yuan for payments and as a clearing facility. Thirteen other commercial banks also operate using the yuan.
According to NBC deputy governor Sum Sannisith, who made the opening remarks at the forum, bilateral trade between Cambodia and China was worth $6.06 billion last year.
Cambodia imported $5.3 billion from China, while the volume of Cambodian exports to that country reached $758 million. - The Phnom Penh Post 

Garuda introduces new business class on Bombardier 
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has introduced a new flight class product called “Explore Business Class” on its Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft .
The product is said to offer “prestige value of service” with a more competitive ticket price.
The newly launched product will consist of 12 seats located in the three front-most rows.
“In line with the promising market potential for short-haul flights served by the Bombardier CRJ1000, we expect the ‘Explore Business Class’ to be able to accommodate the market demand for the premium flight service concept,” said Garuda Indonesia commercial director Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah in a statement.
He added that the carrier had begun offering the new service on Thursday and would start operating it on Nov. 1.
Passengers interested in trying the new product can purchase tickets through the airline’s mobile app or website, as well as its ticketing sales offices. - The Jakarta Post 

Philippines' central bank tightens rules on cyberhacks
Banks in the Philippines must now report to authorities any cyberhacking incident or disruption to technology-based financial services they provide clients within two hours of their discovery, the central bank said. 
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said these new regulations—significantly tighter than the 10-day reporting window previously allowed for such events—were being put in place “in response to the increasingly persistent, sophisticated and targeted attacks launched against financial institutions.”
“Prompt reporting of these incidents by supervised financial institutions will allow the Bangko Sentral to have an enhanced visibility on the changing information technology risk landscape and to proactively ensure that their impact and resulting risks are minimized and contained to avert potential systemic risks to the financial system,” it said.
Banking industry insiders have noted that local financial institutions have been experiencing more cyberhacking attempts in recent years, from suspected large scale attempts to compromise bank computers to small scale “phishing” activities perpetrated on unsuspecting clients.
Some large local banks have also experienced disruptions in their ATM network services, some lasting as long as four days, causing inconveniences to thousands of clients.
The tighter regulations in response to these issues were approved by the Monetary Board recently to cover “cyber-related incidents and operational disruptions.” 
Having quick access to information on these incidents will enable regulators to alert other banks, industry associations and other relevant stakeholders that may be affected by a specific attack. - Philippine Daily Inquirer 

E-commerce players to be required to obtain tax numbers
The Indonesian government has long planned to collect taxes from e-commerce companies, but officials have hinted that the Finance Ministry will not issue a specific regulation on the digital business anytime soon.
The head of the Finance Ministry’s state revenue policy center, Rofyanto Kurniawan, said that his office was focusing on helping e-commerce players create reports on their businesses for submission to the government.
“The initial step is to help e-commerce players make reports,” Rofyanto said.
Taxation Director General Robert Pakpahan said the tax office was studying how to enforce tax compliance among digital businesses and that in the near future, his office would issue a regulation requiring e-commerce players to have tax numbers.
“By having an NPWP, they will be required to submit their business data to the taxation Directorate General so that self-assessment can be applied in tax returns,” Robert said.
Taxation Directorate General spokesman Hestu Yoga Saksama said that with the regulation, the target would be individuals and micro, small and medium enterprises that sell goods and services through e-commerce platforms.
Hestu said the platforms were expected to help the tax office encourage e-commerce players to obtain NPWPs. “The point is that e-commerce players can conveniently conduct business while also abiding by tax regulations,” he added.
 The official added that the prevailing regulation on final income taxation that required MSMEs to pay 0.5 percent corporate income tax could be use to collect taxes from e-commerce players.- The Jakarta Post