ASEAN SME NEWS

 
Latest ASEAN news

Quality approach to boost competitiveness

Filipino micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are advised to implement a quality-based excellence approach in their products and services, a key strategy for competitiveness and market access.
 
According to a quality handbook released by the International Trade Centre under “ARISE Plus Philippines Project” financed by the European Union, small entrepreneurs very often are not aware that not applying quality proves more costly than incurring costs of applying quality methods and techniques.
 
“From commanding favorable prices, encouraging repeat business and reducing risk and waste, to increasing market shares and profits, the benefits of quality are extensive and significant,” it said.
 
The handbook cited some good quality practices and tools, including Kaizen, quality circles, good housekeeping practices, and the seven basic quality tools.
 
Kaizen in Japan is a system of improvement that applies equally to both home and business life, as well as social activities. It has contributed to the success of many Japanese companies.
 
Every employee -from upper management to the cleaning personnel- is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular basis. Suggestions are not limited to any specific area such as production or marketing, but concern any area where improvements can be made.
 
“It would be useful for managers to spend some time on the shop floor working with employees to help and encourage them to develop suggestions. Managers should also ensure employees see their good suggestions acted on immediately. Suggestions should be implemented as far as possible on the same day. Employees should be kept informed about the outcome of their suggestions,” it said.
 
Tools used by quality circles include data gathering tools such as Check Sheets, graphical tools like histograms, frequency diagrams and pie charts, the Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram to identify causes of a problem, the Pareto Chart to set priorities and the PDCA (plan-do-check-act) approach for continuous improvement.
 
The handbook said issues that are generally addressed by quality circles in enterprises include improving occupational health and safety, improving product design, and improving manufacturing
processes.
 
The good housekeeping practices refer to the five steps of Japanese 5S involving Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain.
 
Sort helps in determining which items are needed, Set in order enables one to decide how they are to be kept, while Shine includes cleaning and caring for equipment and facilities and inspecting them for abnormalities.
 
Standardize means ensuring that whatever level of cleanliness and orderliness has been achieved and should be maintained. This requires the development of a work structure that will support the new practices and turn them into habits.
 
The fifth S –Sustain promotes the habit of complying with workplace rules and procedures, creates a healthy atmosphere and a good workplace.
 
“Before starting quality control activities, it is crucial first to set your housekeeping in order. Systematic housekeeping is the foundation for quality control,” the handbook said.
 
On the other hand, the seven basic quality tools that could easily be taught to any member of the organization include the process flow chart, check sheet, histograms, Pareto analysis, cause and effect diagram, scatter diagram and control charts.
 
After Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, the Pareto analysis is also called the “80-20 Rule”, indicating that 80 percent of the problems stem from 20 percent of the causes. It helps to identify the most important areas to solve problems.
 
The handbook further said a customer will be satisfied if the product conforming to his needs and expectations is delivered, but businesses also need to deliver the product within the agreed time and price.
 
“In the marketplace, the winners will be those who can offer products or services that are better (in terms of quality), cheaper (in terms of costs) and supplied more efficiently (delivered in time or provided with a timely after-sales service). If customers are not satisfied, they can always buy from another supplier. In this sense, quality is the core task of a business. It is not optional. It is essential for survival,” it added.
 

China-Laos New Agreement for Renewable Energy

The Chinese state-owned energy corporation inked a deal with the Lao Government last week to build a renewable energy base in Laos.


According to Reuters, CGN has signed a deal with the Lao government to develop a renewable energy base in Laos. The project will include various renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydro, and energy storage.


The base will be connected to an existing power line that transfers power from Laos to China’s Yunnan province. Additionally, a planned 500kV power line between the two countries will further enable the energy transfer.


This agreement builds upon a memorandum of understanding signed between CGN and the Lao government in October 2022. The signing took place during the China-ASEAN Expo held in Nanning, Guangxi province.


Chinese companies have reportedly invested over USD 16 billion in Laos until 2022, highlighting the nation’s significant role in the development and investment sectors within Laos.


By Phontham Visapra


Source: Laotian Times

Towards an equitable EU–ASEAN green deal

The European Green Deal has caused concerns among emerging markets, especially ASEAN member states. The Green Deal is an array of initiatives and regulations aimed at meeting the European Union’s pledge to achieve ‘climate neutrality by 2050’.

Two major instruments are causing consternation among developing countries. The first is the European Union Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR), requiring all EU import and export commodities to be traceable as ‘deforestation-free’. The second is the European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes duties on products imported from countries without a carbon pricing mechanism or with carbon prices below the European Union Emissions Trading System. While the European Union maintains that the Green Deal is an environmental effort rather than a trade protection measure, it will still have adverse effects on ASEAN economies.

The impact of ongoing diplomatic negotiations is likely to be limited. On 29 June 2023, the European Union agreed to establish a Joint Task Force with Indonesia and Malaysia to discuss the EUDR — the same day it entered into force. With the CBAM expected to enter into force on 1 October 2023, there are questions about the impact on free trade agreement negotiations between the European Union and ASEAN member states, namely Indonesia and the Philippines.

ASEAN and EU decision makers must chart a path towards an equitable, business-centric resolution. The European Union should increase financial and technical support for a carbon-neutral economy, while ASEAN countries should enhance their regulatory frameworks to optimise the benefits of such an economic model.

The EUDR will initially cover seven commodities — palm oil, soy, wood, cattle, cocoa, rubber and coffee — and several derived products. Its extensive due diligence and tracking-and-tracing requirements will impose large compliance costs on Southeast Asian farmers, as producers must submit certificates reporting greenhouse gas emissions during production. The European Union also plans to establish a monitoring system, involving audits of goods-producing countries. These strict rules may further exclude smallholders from the export market and reduce their incomes.

Meanwhile, the CBAM will apply duties on certain products — including iron and steel — imported from countries without carbon pricing mechanisms or with carbon prices below the Emissions Trading System. This will apply to Indonesia and Malaysia’s iron and steel exports to the European Union. The impacts may even grow as the European Union is set to extend the sectors covered.

The CBAM will cause welfare losses in developing countries and welfare gains in developed countries, contradicting the principles of equity and ‘common but differentiated’ responsibilities. The CBAM could result in an annual welfare gain of US$11 billion in developed countries in 2030, with an annual welfare loss of US$9 billion in developing countries, compared to a baseline scenario.

In the same scenario, ASEAN could incur an annual welfare loss of US$500 million in 2030. The total net welfare transfer, from developing to developed countries, at US$20 billion, almost negates the EU’s US$25 billion climate financing for developing countries in 2021.

The societal and political costs of the CBAM and EUDR are harder to quantify. But ASEAN economies have a right to design their own green economy strategies. Small- and mid-size manufacturers are unlikely to withstand and taxation without adequate support.

To address these issues, the European Union should increase its climate financing and technical support to a level beyond reversing welfare loss in ASEAN caused by EU climate regulations. This expanded commitment should be translated into a significant climate finance package to enable ASEAN to meet the Green Deal requirements and improve its climate resilience. While the recently launched (US$95 million) EU–ASEAN Green Initiative and EU–ASEAN Sustainable Connectivity Package are welcome initiatives, they should target manufacturers and smaller businesses that will be directly impacted by the CBAM and EUDR.

EU–ASEAN climate cooperation should also include the establishment of national and regional carbon markets and pricing, along with a steady increase of carbon asset prices — including nature-based solutions in forests, peatland, and agriculture — to levels closer to the Emissions Trading System. One idea is to support mutual recognition and interoperability of emission reduction credits between ASEAN and the European Union. There should also be recognition that emission offsets remain a major tool for ASEAN to account for their economic growth and to comply with the required sustainability reporting requirements.

EU support should extend to climate-related investment in concrete transition projects, including those related to energy, circular economy, green transport and smart cities. The Just Energy Transition Partnership with and is a solid start. But the partnership could shift from the traditional donor-driven model of loans and grants towards a common but independent financing mechanism, catalysing private and public funding to enable third parties to buy coal assets for early retirement.

ASEAN member states and the European Union should ensure their regulations facilitate rather than impede trade and investments. The Green Deal need not serve as a cautionary tale where good regulatory intentions have unintended negative consequences.

Authors: Brasukra G Sudjana, Vriens and Partners and Cazadira F Tamzil, Pijar Foundation

Brasukra G Sudjana is Senior Director at Vriens and Partners, a policy consultancy firm, and former Assistant Director for External Economic Relations, ASEAN Secretariat.

Cazadira F Tamzil is Director of Public Policy at Pijar Foundation, Indonesia.

Source: East Asia Forum

Laos to Benefit From Singapore’s Renewable Energy Shift

As ASEAN countries ink deals to move away from fossil fuel consumption and toward renewable energy sources, Laos is set to benefit from this environment-friendly trend.


According to Nikkei Asia, Singapore, a city-state whose primary source of energy is natural gas (95 percent), is trying to make a shift towards importing 30 percent of its energy supply from 4 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035.


This in turn has allowed countries such as Laos, which has been increasing its renewable power generation capacity, to benefit greatly from the move. 


Around 80 percent of the electricity produced by Laos is sold to neighboring countries, Thailand and Vietnam, making up about 30 percent of the country’s total exports. However, Laos has now readied transmission infrastructure to export power to Cambodia, and it has already been supplying electricity to Singapore since 2022.


The latter kicked off last year with the start of the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore power integration project (LTMS-PIP), which will transfer 100 MW of power from Laos to Singapore over two years. 


The developed infrastructure to send power to Cambodia will also be used in the future to export more energy to Singapore through Cambodia. 


Additionally, Laos has also begun the construction of a USD 700 million wind power project, called the Monsoon Wind Power Project. This will be the largest wind power plant in Southeast Asia, with the capacity of producing 600 MW of power, which will mainly be exported to Vietnam, which has recently suffered from chronic energy shortages.


Ultimately, the generation and increased export of renewable energy are aimed toward creating the ASEAN Power Grid, facilitating multilateral power trading in the region. 


Moreover, cross-border renewable energy deals spread out supply throughout the region, providing more protection against natural disasters and geopolitical risks.


Hiroshi Takahashi, a professor at Japan’s Hosei University specializing in renewable energy policy, referred to a cross-border electrical grid as a form of “collective energy security,” and sees ASEAN as a good fit for such a project.


By Jonathan Meadley


Source: Laotian Times

Japan ready to buy more Cambodian agri products

Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Ueno Atsushi has urged Cambodian exporters to enhance the quality of products with the required standards for exporting the items to the Japanese market.

“Cambodia’s exports of agricultural products to the Japanese market are marginal, but Japan can import more,” he said at a round table discussion on Cambodia-Japan relations at Sun & Moon Hotel, Phnom Penh, yesterday.

The Ambassador called for separate negotiating assistance to the agricultural sector in Cambodia under the official Japanese agency ODA, saying that it must be separated from private investment projects.

Japanese private companies have made some investments in Cambodia such as for the export of pepper products to Japan or cashew products, he added.

“We continue to support exports to Japan, both by the public and private sectors. At the moment, we do not have any restrictions on the import of Cambodian agricultural products to Japan,” he said.

Agricultural products from Cambodia are no different from the agricultural products of ASEAN countries. But the issue is transportation or the trademark of products in Cambodia, he said.

Cambodia and Japan are members of the Regional Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which was put into force in early 2022. Japan is one of the main trade partners of Cambodia.

For full article, please read here



Author: Chea vanyuth

News: Khmer Times

Cambodians can soon pay with KHQR in Vietnam

Cambodians visiting Vietnam will soon be able to use KHQR for payments there as the central banks of the two countries are expected to sign an agreement this year facilitating cross-border digital payments.

The proposed agreement with Vietnam follows the launch of a similar arrangement with Thailand in June and Laos in August this year, said Kimty Kormoly, the Director General of Central Banking, National Bank of Cambodia, while making a presentation at the Asean-Cambodia Business Summit, organised by the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (EuroCham), recently.

According to Kormoly, NBC is also planning to establish cross-border digital payment corridors with more countries such as China, India, Japan and Malaysia in the near future. He said promoting digital payment is a top priority for the government and NBC as it has been found to help the social and economic development of the country, besides facilitating remittances from migrant workers. It can also boost the use of riel and help with the de-dollarisation efforts of the country.

“Technology is driving digital payments and makes it easier as well. Healthy competition among the Cambodian banks has also led to speedier adoption of digital technologies,” the senior NBC official pointed out.

The digital payment initiative can also help increase financial inclusion in Cambodia. A sizeable section of the Cambodian population is still underbanked with no access to banking facilities.

In one year since its official rollout in 2022, KHQR, the universal quick response (QR) platform of the country for digital payments, has recorded nearly 400,000 transactions.

As of April 2023, the number of transactions using the KHQR Code in riel reached 169,195 involving an amount of 97 billion riel while the 216,069 transactions in the US dollar accounted for $38 million, the half-yearly report of the central bank revealed.

For full article, please click here



Author: Manoj Mathew
News: Khmer Times

Exports to Singapore record 6.5-fold rise from Jan-Aug

Exports to Singapore in the first eight months of 2023 rose over 6.5 times to $476.9 million from $72.8 million in the corresponding period in 2022, as bilateral trade fell 62.8 per cent to $1.1 billion due to lower imports from Singapore, according to the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE).

The GDCE’s International Commodity Trade Statistics showed that from January to August, Cambodia imported goods worth $625.8 million from Singapore, which is a decrease of 78.3 per cent from $2.9 billion last year.

The period’s bilateral trade volume stood at $1.1 billion compared to $2.96 billion in the first eight months of 2022, which resulted in a significant narrowing of Cambodia’s trade deficit with Singapore to $148.9 million against $2.8 billion last year. Singapore is Cambodia’s sixth largest international trading partner, led by China, the US, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan.

For August 2023, trade between the two countries totalled $211.4 million, down 40.3 per cent from August 2022, with Cambodia’s exports to Singapore up 556.4 per cent at $28.9 million while imports from Singapore dropped 47.8 per cent to $182.6 million.

Hong Vanak, an economics researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post on September 27 that the high export growth value to Singapore is linked to the impact of Covid-19 in key economic sectors in 2022 which resulted in a sharp decline in exports to Singapore. The exports rose significantly on the back of growing demand in Singapore and the shipment of export goods for resale in other countries.

He said Singapore is not only a destination for international cargo ships, but also a hub for transshipment and repacking of goods for resale in global markets.

For full article, please click here



Author: Hin Pisei

News: The Phnom Penh Post

Vietnam climbs two positions in Global Innovation Index 2023

Vietnam has risen to 46th place out of the 132 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Vietnam has made marked improvements in its GII rankings, jumping from 59th in 2016 to 42nd in 2019 and 2020. The country then slipped to 44th in 2021 and 48th in 2022. With its 46th spot secured in 2023, Vietnam has once again solidified its position in the top 50.
 Vietnam also climbed two places in the innovation input sub-index, from 59th in 2022 to 57th in 2023. The innovation input sub-index gauges elements of the economy that enable and facilitate innovative activities. It is grouped into five pillars, including institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication.
In terms of innovation outputs, Vietnam improved one position from 41st in 2022 to 40th in 2023. The innovation output sub-index captures the actual results of innovative activities within the economy and is divided into knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs.
Vietnam is among the group of middle-income economies within the GII's top 65. This is the group that has climbed the GII rankings fastest over the last decade. Other countries in the group include Indonesia, China, Turkey, India, the Philippines, and Iran.
The report indicates that Vietnam is one of three countries – along with India and Moldova – to be identified as an innovation overperformer for the 13th consecutive year.
Daren Tang, WIPO's general director said, "A group of emerging economies are consistently climbing the GII ranks, showing how a focus on the innovation ecosystem can make a difference. Globally, despite a downturn in venture capital funding, the GII 2023 should reassure us that innovative activity currently continues to run strong, and that it should continue to shift from quantity to quality."
"Thanks to the GII, policymakers across the world continue to have a rich and trusted source of data to craft pro-innovation policies that will unleash the innovative potential of their people," Tang concluded.

Source : VIR

Biz urged to join in matchmaking events to find opportunities

Entrepreneurs can participate in business matchmaking events through a trade portal to find opportunities and contacts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region and other countries.

Triin Udris, consultant at ASEAN Access on behalf of the Office of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) Promotion of Thailand, said the ASEAN Access MATCH https://match.aseanaccess.com/ is a feature of the trade portal ASEAN Access.

All registered members of ASEAN Access can participate in any webinar, panel discussion and networking session, and all business matchmaking events that it organized through its ASEAN Access MATCH platform. Businesses can also showcase their products, technologies or services in MATCH.

Udris said a business matchmaking event can be both online or onsite, has a theme or industry focus, and pre-booked mini business meetings between all event participants.

“You can book meetings with as many of them as you want and as you can during the time dedicated for matchmaking,” she said in an info and training session organized by the ASEAN Access MATCH.

Udris cited benefits of participating in a business matchmaking event, including gaining many new connections.

“All the meetings take place on zoom and you can have these meetings in your homes, in your office, (so) you can save time and money, you don’t have to travel all around the world…,” she said.

“You can speak with many potential new business partners in a very short time so it is a very efficient way of business development,” she added.

Udris said the ASEAN Access MATCH account is for lifetime, and one just logs in with the same account for all events.

Key trends for personal care in 2026 cited

Global trend forecasting firm WGSN has cited five key trends that will impact personal care which is forecast to have a global market size of $289.9 billion by 2027.

In a sample report, WGSN said these key trends include Solid solutions, Ai-giene, Seeing red, Smell me, and The age-old question.

“Waterless products will be the driving force behind more sustainable formats,” it said.

On Ai-giene, WGSN said brands will adopt artificial intelligence (AI) to better individuals through carefully mined data sets.

“Tools will evolve to become part of a holistic personal care ecosystem,” it added.

WGSN said Seeing red involves addressing social taboos and creating products better for people and the planet while menstrual care will become more accessible and understood.

While Smell me pertains to shifting from a one-size-fits-all approach as personal care will aim to serve each consumer’s tastes, it said.

“Personal care products that combat odor have traditionally adopted a functional one-size-fits-all approach. A new wave of brands and products is bringing personality to mundane products with upgraded scents and individualized solutions,” it added.

Brands are thus encouraged to extend this individualized approach to medicinal issues around odor that are often overlooked and underserved.

WGSN particularly cited US-based Superdrip that creates products for people with hyperhidrosis or severe excessive sweating.

Further, another trend that will impact the personal care market is The age-old question wherein “personal care will leave the traditional clinical space and embrace each consumer no matter what life stage they’re at”, it added.

South Korea's SK Group continues to deepen investment in Vietnam

SK Group, one of the largest companies in South Korea, and its subsidiaries continue to bolster investment in Vietnam across various fields.

SKC Co. Ltd. (SKC), a subsidiary of the SK Group, has received an investment certificate to develop a high-tech biodegradable materials factory in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

With the total investment capital of $500 million, the factory specialises in producing biodegradable materials such as polybutylene adipate terephthalate and polybutylene succinate.

The project spreads across an area of 32,089 square metres in the Haiphong I DEEP C Industrial Zone in the Dinh Vu-Cat Hai Economic Zone.

In the first phase, the project will start construction in mid-December 2023, slated to be completed within nine months. The project is expected to reach an output of 35,000 tonnes by year-end. In the second phase, the company will increase the total output to 70,000 tonnes per year.

Woncheo Park, CEO of SKC under SK Group said, "SK Group has invested about $3 billion in Vietnam over the past five years. Currently, Hai Phong is one of the countries with the most modern infrastructure and good investment attraction. That's why we decided to invest in the locality."

"SKC will bring modern technology here to produce biodegradable materials here and lay the foundation for our first investment in Hai Phong. We will continue to call for more South Korean businesses to invest in Hai Phong."

In June, SKC announced that it had signed a MoU with leaders of Haiphong People’s Committee to explore potential investments in advanced materials for secondary batteries, semiconductors, and other green sectors.

SKC's project is the first direct investment by SK Group in Vietnam, which has been one of the most active buyers in Vietnam's merger and acquisition market. The group invests across various fields, including retail, consumer goods, pharmacy retail, pharmaceuticals, and others.

In 2018, SK spent approximately $470 million buying 110 million Masan treasury shares. In April 2021, it paid $410 million for a 16.26 per cent stake in Masan Group’s VinCommerce (currently renamed WinCommerce). In the same year, SK also spent $340 million to scoop up a 4.9 per cent stake in Crown X, a consumer retail platform of Masan Group.

SK also invests $100 million in Vietnam's pharmacy retail chain Pharmacity. As of the first quarter of 2023, the group had acquired 64.79 per cent of pharmaceutical firm Imexpharm.

In addition, SK Energy, another subsidiary of SK Group, holds more than a 5 per cent stake in PV Oil, worth about $30 million.

The expansion of SK and its subsidiaries reflects the importance of the Vietnamese market. In 2018, SK invested $500 million to establish SK Southeast Asia Investment with the aim of being a potential growth engine in Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam.

Source : VIR

BMC, PDS and RBC secure export to Sabah

BMC Food Industries (B) Sdn Bhd, PDS Abattoir Sdn Bhd (PDS) and Royal Brunei Culinary Sdn Bhd (RBC) have signed agreements to enter Sabah, marking the first commercial-scale export of processed F&B products from the Sultanate to the East Malaysian state.

The agreements were signed on Thursday at the Brunei pavilion of the Sabah International Expo (SIE) at the Sabah International Convention Centre.

Sabah Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Phoong Jin Zhe witnessed the signings along with Brunei’s Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) and Board Member of the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) and Darussalam Enterprise (DARe) Hjh Tutiaty Hj Abd Wahab, and BEDB and DARe Acting CEO Daniel Leong.

Jetsin Sdn Bhd (Jetsin), a leading distributor and retailer from Sabah specialising in halal frozen food, signed agreements with three Brunei businesses for the distribution of their products: PDS processed meat products, RBC frozen food products, and BMC non-canned processed meat and OEM corned beef.

Meanwhile Moh Heng Company Sdn Bhd, one of the largest distributors of fast-moving consumer goods in East Malaysia, also signed to distribute BMC products as well as corned beef from their sister company TGT Sdn Bhd.

Source: Biz Brunei

Read the full article here

We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information from our

privacy policy

Accept cookies