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Malaysia ready for property boom

The property sector may peak sometime in 2012/13 before going into a potential slump, OSK Research Sdn Bhd said.

• Asia leads world tourism recovery
World tourism rebounded strongly this year from the global financial crisis, led by Asia and the Middle East, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said Friday. .

• Lower interest rates for Indo SME loans
The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) expects banks to set lower interest rates for loans to small- and medium-scale enterprises (SME) from the current 20 to 30 percent to no more than 17 percent.

• Young Thais talk a lot
Young Thais are the top mobile phone talkers in Asia and spend an average 1.7 hours a day talking on their mobile phones, says the market research firm Synovate.

• Indicators point to slower Philippine growth
Philippine economic growth is likely to slow in the third quarter of the year, based on the composite leading economic index (LEI).

• Philippines record-low interest rates appropriate
THE Philippine central bank said it is confident with its decision to maintainkey interest rates unchanged although there is a tighter monetary policy wave across Asia.

• Vietnam agrees to supply additional power
Cambodian officials said that Vietnam would supply another 30 megawatts of power to Cambodia responding to an appeal from Prime Minister Hun Sen.

• Hungarian feed company invests in Laos
Hungary’s Vitafort is building three feed mix plants and other investments worth a combined US$9 million in Laos, CEO Zoltán Kulik recently said.
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NEWS UPDATES Updated: 3 Septembert 2010

• Philippine tariff body drops Indo case
The Philippine Tariff Commission has dismissed the anti-dumping petition of local mosquito coil makers against Indonesian imports.

• Malaysian Islamic bank expands
Malaysia’s largest lender Maybank on Friday announced plans to expand its Islamic finance business in Singapore and Indonesia to tap the markets’ demand for these services. .

• Court lifts environmental block
The Administrative Court ruling ending the environmental impasse in Rayong’s Map Ta Phut industrial estate could improve the country’s investment climate and investment could grow by about 9.3 per cent in 2011, according to Kasikorn Research Centre.

• Thai telecoms foreign-cap end urged
A leading Thai think tank has advised the government to propose a new telecom law to allow 100 percent foreign-owned companies in the Thai telecom market, reasoning as the best way to prevent the use of nominees.

• Asia decoupling itself from Western economies
HSBC says Asia is decoupling itself from the Western economies.

• Russian nuclear cooperation with Vietnam
Russia plans to cooperate with Vietnamese experts to establish a centre to train staff, experts and engineers in nuclear power plant operations as well as establish a research academy on nuclear energy, General Director of Russia’s Rosatom State Corporation Sergey Kirienko said yesterday.

• Paying the bill for clean industry
Lack of awareness and financial support for technology enabling Cleaner Production in Industry (CPI) has delayed its introduction in Viet Nam, said Nguyen Khac Kinh, deputy president of the Viet Nam Association for Environment Impact Assessment.

• Watchdog cites Cambodia as “repressive” on labour
Cambodia continues to be a “repressive” environment for labour activists in 2009, despite the existence of relatively progressive legislation, according to a new report from United States-based watchdog Freedom House.

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News 2 September 2010

• Asean-US draw closer
Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said Thursday that Asean leaders have been invited by U.S. President Barack Obama to meet in New York on September 24.

• Thai exporters wary of baht rise
The Thai baht, which traded at 31.1 to the US dollar yesterday, has gained more than 6 percent against the US$ this year, prompting concerns among business leaders and policy makers about whether the country would lose competitiveness in global export markets. .

• Chambers complain about Philippine mining regs
The Aquino administration’s mining policy is unsettling the investor community at a time when the government is courting private sector support for the Philippines’ infrastructure development in the next six years according to foreign chambers of commerce.

• Singapore fights property bubble
Asian economies fearing a US-style housing market bubble are pursuing measures to curb runaway property prices as the region leads the global rebound from recession.

• Vietnam’s FTAs scrutinized
Free trade agreements (FTAs) in general have led to higher economic growth, but regional FTAs have had mixed results, experts have said.

• Cost of Vietnamese borrowing drops
The interest rate on loans at commercial banks from August 20-26 was lowered by 1 percent to about 13 per cent per ear.

• Cambodia’s tourism up
Cambodia’s tourism is up more than 13 percent during the first seven months of2010. Cambodia is one of five Asean countries to see an increase in 2010, according to a Ministry of Tourism report.

• Carrefour’s stores up for bid
British and Japanese retail giants along with local operators are in an auction battle to take over the Southeast Asian business of French supermarket chain Carrefour, reports said Thursday.

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News 1 September 2010

• Thai ministry opposes Thai Tiger startup
In yet another example of what makes Thailand an interesting and at times quirky place, the Transport Ministry has come out against the startup of new budget air carrier, Thai Tiger.

• Philippines has dollar surplus
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the Philippines had a dollar surplus in August. .

• Pertamina reduces 2010 investment
Indonesia’s state oil and gas company PT Pertamina has revised its investment target by Rp 18.6 trillion (US$2.06 billion) or nearly 42 percent of the initial target due to the stronger rupiah and the delay of some projects.

• Sumitomo raided in Indonesia
Indonesia’s anti-graft agency has raided the local office of Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation as part of a probe into alleged corruption in the transport ministry, reports said on Wednesday.

• Singapore economy up 15 percent in 2010
Singapore’s economy is expected to expand at a record pace this year as a surge in demand for the city-state’s exports drives manufacturing, according to a central bank survey of analysts.

• Lao garment industry benefits from rising Chinese labour costs
The garment industry in Laos is benefiting from more orders as the cost of Chinese labor continues to rise, according to the Lao Garment Industry Association.

• Germany Pledges US $7M for Lao, Vietnamese Climate Change
The German Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the German Reconstruction Bank (KFW) have pledged to fund a combined US$7 million for a project to cope with climate change in Vietnam and Laos in next four years, a KFW senior official said.

• Cambodia rejects Thai transport offer
Cambodian officials said August 30 that they would reject US$41.2 million for a road project that Thailand reportedly pledged to resume last week as part of an effort to improve relations between the two countries.

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News 31 August 2010

• Thailand plans high-speed rail
The cabinet of Thailand is reviewing a joint investment plan between Thailand and China to develop high-speed train routes in Thailand. Everyone agrees that faster rail transit will benefit the country economically and socially.

• Microfinance at Thai post offices
Thailand post offices nationwide could become microfinance centres to provide financial services to lower-income groups, according to the Finance Ministry. .

• Aquino to abolish obsolete agencies
THE Aquino administration is looking to determine which obsolete government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) would be abolished to rein in its budget deficit.

• Higher fees on Philippine telecoms
Philippine regulators plan to raise spectrum users’ fee (SUF) imposed on telecom companies to raise more revenues in line with the government’s effort to narrow its record budget deficit.

• Airport woes in Indonesia
Frequent flyers have urged Soekarno-Hatta International Airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura II, to improve services as the holiday season approaches.

• Three more companies plan IPO
Oil and gas company Borneo Lumbung Energi, gas stove manufacturer Aditec Cakrawiyasa and retail firm Midi Utama have asked for approval to sell a part of their shares to the public.

• Malaysia’s starts new air terminal
Malaysia’s new low-cost air terminal is to be completed in April 2012 at a cost of more than 2.5 billion ringgit ($800 million), officials said at a groundbreaking ceremony.

• Singapore population growth slows
The Department of Statistics (DOS) said Singapore registered a lower population growth this year due to the slower growth in the number of permanent residents and non-residents.

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News 30 August 2010

• Vietnam opens new beer-bottling line
Vietnam’s thirst for beer is hard to quench, and a new production line with a capacity for 50,000 bottles an hour is the latest attempt to target that key market.

• ASEAN sets tone for competition
Ministers from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have gathered here for the five-day 42nd ASEAN Economic Ministers and 4th ASEAN Economic Community Meetings this week, to discuss how to strengthen the regions’ economies. .

• Smartphone sales to fuel Asian markets
Mobile communication companies are set to manufacture ever-cheaper handsets, a new report says the region will be a hotbed for smartphones in the future.

• Thai stockbrokers brace for deregulation
Thai stockbrokers may employ anti-dumping and fair competition laws as sanctions once members as deregulation on commission fees takes effect in 2012, according to the trade association.

• UN assistance to match local priorities
THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that the next United Nations assistance program for the Philippines would be aligned with the new government’s development priorities.

• Economist wants more FDI in Philippines
THE Aquino administration has to relax restrictions on foreign direct investments (FDI) to sustain higher economic growth, according to Bernardo M. Villegas, economist at the University of Asia & the Pacific (UA&P).

• Vietnamese FDI funds get boost
The Ministry of Planning and Investment is working with provinces and cities nationwide to speed up disbursement of funds for foreign – invested projects as many are behind schedule.

• Vietnamese IT sector targets US$17billion growth
The country’s information technology industry has set a revenue target of US$17 billion by 2015, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.

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News 28 August 2010

• Thai election when normalcy returns
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Saturday that new national elections would take place only after the domestic situation returns to normal He was responding to a report that he has not dissolved the House of Representatives for fear that a general election would never take place.

• Thais look at border trade
A business mission to Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City to study road transport and logistics development as part of the country’s plan to raise the value of border trade by 4o percent to 1.1 trillion baht a year within three years is being planned Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot said the government wanted to take a first-hand look at the land transport development linking Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam so that the three countries could jointly address any problems and move ahead.

• EU, India see Asean deals
The European Union expects to conclude a free trade deal with Singapore by the end of next year and is likely to begin talks with other Southeast Asian nations soon.

• Asean-China deal use not satisfactory
A Malaysian government minister says that peer review of the Asean-China Free Trade in Goods Agreement (ACFTA) implementation shows the agreement utilisation is still unsatisfactory, said Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed.

• Vietnam too dependent on imports
Vietnam industry’s dependence on imports for production was identified as a major weakness in the economy at a seminar in Ha Noi yesterday.

• Vietnamese agricultural exports climb 20 percent
Agricultural exports totalled US$12.2 billion in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 20 percent compared to the same period a year ago, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced.

• Cambodia earns ‘mini-tiger’ status
Cambodia’s economy has emerged as a “mini-tiger” in terms of textile processing, despite a lack of attention from international investors, according to a report by Swiss banking giant UBS.

• Cambodia to import freight trains
Toll Royal Railway in Cambodia is planning to spend up to US$81 million to import new trains as part of the multimillion-dollar railway upgrade of Cambodia’s major freight routes, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.

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News 27 August 2010

• Thai growth expected to slow
The Thai economy in the second half of the year is expected to slow down from the growth rate in the first half.

• Ford, Mazda pledge US$350 million
Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation are investing US$350 million in their 50:50 joint venture in Thailand to support the the next generation of pickup trucks. .

• Indo banks to meet new LDR rules
Major Indonesian banks, including Bank Mandiri, Bank Central Asia (BCA), Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), agreed that they will have difficulty in meeting central bank’s new loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) policy.

• Philippine SMEs are upbeat
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have turned more optimistic about economic prospects this year, two recent surveys report.

• Philippines stops new logging permits
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Thursday that it will no longer issue new permits for logging activities in all natural forests to preserve the country’s remaining vegetative cover.

• Ringgit reaches new high against dollar
The strengthening ringgit reflects the underlying sentiment and the country’s robust growth in the first-half of the year, Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.

• India-Asean may set deadline for services
Trade ministers from India and the 10-member Asean countries currently meeting in Vietnam are to come up with deadlines to wrap up negotiations on the opening of services and investment that appear to be running late.

• Gold Demand to Soar in Vietnam
Gold demand in Vietnam, which consumes more of the precious metal per capita than India or China, is set to increase as the third devaluation in the past year and a stock-market slump combine to spur sales.

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• Asean calls for restraint in Thailand as violence intensifies
Vietnam, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, expressed concern Saturday at the “worsening situation in Thailand” and called on all sides to avoid violence, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

• Vietnam: Tax on foreign businesses to rise in June
Foreign investors in Vietnam are set to be rocked by a higher foreign contractor tax on interest derived from bonds and certificates of deposit, reported VietNamNet Bridge.

• Malaysian bank plans to get listed in Indonesia
Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) is exploring the possibility of having a dual listing in Indonesia but says it needs regulations for such a listing of foreign companies to be allowed in Jakarta before proceeding, reported the StarBiz.

• Philippines: Aquino to be named president one week ahead of schedule
Philippine lawmakers will convene a week earlier than scheduled for official tallying of votes from national elections, officials said on Saturday, enabling the early proclamation of Senator Benigno Aquino as president, reported Reuters.

• Vietnamese minister calls for development of stem-cell research
Vietnam should set up a national strategy on stem cell research for the period 2010-20 to take advantage of the latest medical developments, VietNamNet Bridge quoted Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, deputy minister of health, as saying.

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Sep 5th, 2010and filed underAsia, Latest News, Markets.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site