The Cambodian delegation started their visit touring the 37th Trade Expo Indonesia in Baten province which was attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Trade. More than 1,000 guests from over 100 countries congregated at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition Centre (ICE).

The opening ceremony started with an Indonesian traditional dance followed by a fashion show at the ICE on Wednesday morning. Various products were displayed at more than 1,000 booths.

In his opening address at the 37th Trade Expo Indonesia, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Indonesia has grown 5.44 percent in the second quarter of 2022 even though the inflation has risen to about 5 percent in the same period, while the country’s central bank Bank Indonesia and municipal-provincial authorities have worked together to control the inflation effectively.

Lauti Nia Astri, Minister Counsellor of Economic Cooperation of the Embassy of Indonesia in Cambodia, told Khmer Times that when the trade mission started the off-line trade mission has not been arranged for two years – 2020 and 2021 – due to the Covid-19 pandemic around the world, while the trade exhibition had still been organised on line.

“We expect the delegations or businesspeople will find what they are looking for as there are many varieties of products here from food & beverage, lifestyle products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics to everything,” Nia Astri said, adding that it is expected that more than 1,000 buyers from across world such as Egypt, South Africa and Senegal to participate in the exhibition.

The Sultanate ranked first globally in cost of redundancy dismissal, second globally in applied tariff rate, third in political and operational stability, fourth in pupil-teacher ratio and in graduates in science and engineering.

This was revealed in the recently-published 2022 Global Innovation Index (GII). Brunei Darussalam was 47th among the 48 high-income group economies.

The Sultanate is in 38th place in global corporate R&D investors, but did not score well in domestic industry diversification, hi-tech manufacturing and infocommunications technology services exports indicators.

Brunei ranked 14th among the 17 economies in the Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania (SEAO) region.

The institutions category is where the Sultanate performed the best, at 23rd place globally.

In benchmarking against other high-income economies, Brunei Darussalam performed above the group average, while in the SEAO region, the Sultanate performed above the regional average.

Meanwhile, Brunei ranked 53rd in human capital and research and 61st in infrastructure. Its weakest performance was in knowledge and technology outputs (127th).

Source: Borneo Bulletin

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The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) last week revised downwards Brunei Darussalam’s economic growth from 3.0 per cent forecast in July to 0.7 per cent in its October Economic Outlook.

As for next year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth, it also revised the Sultanate’s growth from 3.9 per cent projected in July to 3.0 per cent in its October update.

AMRO also revised its short-term growth forecast for the ASEAN+3 region.

The continuing strict dynamic zero-COVID policy and real estate sector weakness in China and potential recessions in the United States (US) and the euro area are weighing on the region’s outlook.

In its October Update, AMRO staff forecasted the ASEAN+3 region to grow by 3.7 per cent this year – down from the 4.3 per cent growth projected in July reflecting mainly weaker growth in Plus-3 economies.

The ASEAN region is expected to grow strongly by 5.3 per cent. The region’s inflation rate for 2022 is now projected to be 6.2 per cent – a full percentage point higher than previously forecast. Growth is expected to increase to 4.6 per cent in 2023 as China’s economy picks up, with inflation moderating to about 3.4 per cent.

Source: Borneo Bulletin

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Cambodia's January-August exports to and trade surplus with Canada both rose by around one-quarter on-year, a pattern that is expected to continue, driven by preferential commercial arrangements and initiatives spearheaded by the representative offices of the apex Cambodian trade body, as the Kingdom pushes for a lucrative free trade pact with the world’s ninth largest economy.

In the first eight months of 2022, bilateral trade between Cambodia and Canada came to $804.406 million, up 22.61 per cent year-on-year, with the Kingdom’s exports worth $780.188 million, up 24.03 per cent, and imports totalling $24.217 million, down 10.4 per cent, according to the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE).

The Kingdom’s trade surplus with Canada for the period expanded by 25.58 per cent on a yearly basis, from $602.001 million to $755.971 million. As the fifth biggest buyer of Cambodian goods over the first eight months of the year – after the US, Vietnam, China and Japan – Canada accounted for a 4.99 per cent share.

Speaking to The Post on October 3, Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng commented that, prior to Covid-19, the Kingdom’s exports to Canada had been on a years-long upward trajectory.

Heng ascribed this year’s export growth momentum on the Canadian market, and its expected continuation for the foreseeable future, to improved diplomatic relations between the two countries, benefits for certain Cambodian goods under Canada’s General Preferential Tariff (GPT) regime, and the existing and subsequent CCC representative offices on Canadian soil.

With Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly planning to attend the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia next month, Heng anticipates a number of key talks aimed at promoting bilateral trade cooperation between the two countries.

He shared that Cambodian-made goods exported to the Canadian market mainly comprise garments, footwear and travel goods, bicycles, electrical equipment and electronic components, and agricultural products, while imports from Canada include cars, construction materials, and modern technological equipment.

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Author: Hin Pisei

Source: The Phnom Penh post 

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport on Wednesday launched an initiative to improve transport, connectivity, climate resilience, and east-west regional trade across the north of the country.

The Southeast Asia Regional Economic Corridor and Connectivity Project is backed by World Bank financing and is designed to help people in the northern provinces benefit from expanding regional trade and transport connections.

The project was designed to complement the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Master Plan on Connectivity. The new project will upgrade Lao National Road 2 connecting Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, thus building an east-west corridor that links with existing north-south routes in mainland Southeast Asia.

The upgraded road’s design will protect it from storms, floods, and landslides which are becoming more frequent because of climate change.

Other activities include the development of dry ports, marketplaces, trucking terminals, and locations where farmers can bring their produce for transport to national and foreign markets. A major aim is to improve the ability of local smallholders to market goods that can be traded via the new transport networks.

“We are seeing dramatic improvements in the transport infrastructure running from the north to the central part of the country.”

“However, without local connections to these and other trade routes, most people in the provinces will not be able to take advantage of these new facilities. This is therefore an essential investment in our future,” said Mr. Viengsavath Siphandone, Minister of Public Works and Transport.

Read more: LaoTianTimes

SMALL and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and multinational corporations (MNCs) play an equal role in advancing the sustainability agenda and should work together to do so, said panellists at a discussion held at the SME Centre Conference on Wednesday (Aug 31).

“We all have a responsibility, no matter the size,” said Benjamin Henry Towell, executive director of sustainability at OCBC. “A large corporation uses a whole supply chain of SMEs, and so the relationship between them is quite fluid. Both the SME and MNC need to work together when it (concerns) a whole supply or value chain.”

Similarly, Nigel Lee, general manager of PC vendor Lenovo, said that sustainability was not an individual effort. “In the past, sustainability was about pushing the responsibility to the end-user; now, sustainability is about putting the responsibility on the manufacturer to produce really sustainable products. So we need to connect the dots.”

He noted how Lenovo’s success is dependent on the success of its supply chain partners: “This is a critical part for SMEs, regardless of whether you’re in supply chain or logistics…in the short run, it’s going to impact us one day or the other. So I think the journey has to start with them.”

Benjamin Chua, chief executive of cleaning technology company Speco, said companies should tap the whole ecosystem of partners, including trade chambers and associations. “The opportunities for us to collaborate are out there, especially for SMEs, and we should huddle together as a pack.”

Towell noted that banks can serve as a conduit by connecting solutions providers to customers looking for solutions. “We bank the supply side; we have the demand side as well. So being able to link up those various parts of the ecosystem together to provide their solutions has been very useful, and we’re seeing that in all the different industries.”

Banks can also provide sustainable linked loans to help SMEs transition to becoming greener businesses, Towell added. “There would be targets on greenhouse gas emissions, so in 5 years, you’ll reduce it by, say, 40 per cent year on year and we’ll provide the capital to do that.”

Meanwhile, companies that have been most successful in meeting sustainability goals are those with employees who have fully “internalised” the firm’s sustainability strategy, noted Mayur Singh, co-founder of Green Collective, a collective of sustainable retail brands.

“There are 2 sets of companies: one where employees fully understand what the sustainability roadmap means for the company and its stakeholders, while the other one is where internalisation has not happened in a very good way. It’s more like the KPI is done by the sustainability team.”

He cited the example of outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, which recruits employees that share the brand’s values of sustainability. 

“It’s actually very important to align (at this level), because you have a lot of network effects, which then lead to ideas coming not just from the top to bottom level, but (vice versa). And that is where you can drive a lot of the synergies that value add to sustainability.”

There are many ways for companies to harness this culture of “environmental leadership”, Singh added. 

This includes organising talks and workshops, getting employees to form “green teams” - which refers to a group of employees coming together to advance sustainability within the organisation - and even constructing hydroponics walls in the office. 

“That belief system that is created within employees can go a very long way in delivering the highest sustainability objectives that the board of your company wants to actually achieve.”

Source: The Business Times

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