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Myanmar : IP awareness workshop 2022 for SMES jointly held by the IP Office and the Directorate of Industrial Supervision and Inspection

IP awareness workshop 2022 for small and medium enterprises was held at the IP Office under the Ministry of Commerce on August 12th, with a virtual meeting in the conference hall.

The Deputy- Director General of the IP Department, Dr. Hnin Nwe Aye and Deputy-Director General U Aung Myo Khaing of the Directorate of Industrial Supervision and Inspection delivered the opening remarks. This IP awareness workshop was jointly held by the IP Department under the Ministry of Commerce and the Directorate of Industrial Supervision and Inspection(DISI) under the Ministry of Industry. for raising awareness of MSMEs related to Intellectual Property Rights and making all entrepreneurs aware of trademark, copyright and patent protection for their businesses.

81 participants including Small and Medium enterprises, business association and government officials from various regions/states were attended the IP awareness workshop. This workshop shared the knowledge about Trademark, Patent and Industrial Design by the officials from the IP office.

Source: Directorate of Industrial Supervision and Inspection

Jan-Jul UK trade rises 45% as new trade regime nears

Bilateral trade between Cambodia and the UK in the first seven months of 2022 rose by 45.5 percent year-on-year, with further increases seen as London refines its new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) to replace the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) early in 2023, which is expected to improve access to the UK market for Cambodian merchandise.

General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) statistics show that from January to July, Cambodia-UK trade reached $581.374 million, compared to $399.583 million in the same period last year.

Cambodian exports to the UK soared by 43.08 percent to $527.733 million, and imports mushroomed by 74.48 percent to $53.642 million. Cambodia’s trade surplus with the UK expanded by 40.22 percent to $474.091 million.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng told The Post on August 21 that prior to the worst ravages of Covid-19, trade growth between the two kingdoms had been consistently positive, even as the UK adopted a new GSP after its withdrawal from the EU on January 31, 2020, commonly known as Brexit, which offered duty-free access for a range of Cambodian items.

“The UK is a major European buyer and a gainful market for Cambodian goods,” he said, voicing optimism that through the preferential trade arrangements offered by the four-nation union, “Cambodia’s exports to the UK will be able to gain huge swings of momentum down the road”.

Major Cambodian exports to the UK include garments, footwear, handbags, bicycles, and agricultural products, while key imports comprise vehicles, machinery, electrical and electronic components, and construction materials.

For full article, please read here


Author: Hin Pisei
Source: The Phnom Penh Post 

Tourism recovery gaining momentum in Philippines, Southeast Asia

MANILA, Philippines — Recovery of the tourism sector is gaining momentum in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries following the removal of pandemic-induced restrictions, according to a United Kingdom-based think tank.

“The recovery in tourism in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) gathered pace in the second quarter as the region moved on quickly from the sharp, but short outbreaks of Omicron earlier this year,” Miguel Chanco, chief Emerging Asia economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a report released yesterday.

He said the almost in sync removal of border restrictions put in place due to the pandemic would help the sector.

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This started with the Philippines’ full reopening in February, to the most recent move by Thailand in May to do away with mandatory on-arrival tests and quarantines for vaccinated visitors.

“Not surprisingly, stratospheric rates of growth in arrivals from the extremely depressed COVID-era lows are now the norm,” Chanco said.


He said the Philippines saw an 866 percent quarter-on-quarter growth in tourist arrivals from April to June.

Chanco said growth in tourist arrivals in other ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia stood at 599 percent, 58 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

“The scope for catch-up in the second half of 2022 is still immense, even though huge intra-regional disparities are emerging,” he said.

Chanco said recoveries seen in the Philippines and Vietnam are more advanced compared to Indonesia and Thailand.

“The big picture advises us not to get carried away by the Philippines’ outperformance and not to be disheartened about Thailand’s underperformance,” he said.

He said the Philippines had one of the smallest ASEAN tourism industries in the pre-COVID era, with visitors at just eight million in 2019, while Thailand’s was at 40 million.

Even with China’s implementation of a zero-COVID policy, he said there were still Chinese visitors to ASEAN countries.

He said Chinese visitors accounted for three percent of total arrivals in Thailand in the first half, and six percent in Vietnam.

“Nevertheless, this still is a trickle of the pre-pandemic traffic, and the near-absence of Chinese tourists will create a hard ceiling for the regional tourism recovery, which likely will be hit in mid-2023,” he said.

“Admittedly, the roof is much lower for the likes of Thailand and Vietnam, where visitors from China accounted for roughly a third of the total in 2019,” he said.

In the Philippines and Indonesia, the share of Chinese tourists was at about 20 percent and 13 percent, respectively, prior to the pandemic.

PH consumers most confident in ASEAN of tech-driven growth

Filipinos are most confident that new technology will drive growth in business than their peers in ASEAN, but majority of Filipinos still prefer in-person interactions over chatbots compared with consumers from their neighbor countries, a new study revealed.

The recent VMware Digital Frontier 4.0 survey by VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) showed that Filipino consumers are the most confident (78%) in Southeast Asia (SEA) in believing that technology is an enabler in connecting families and people in their communities during a pandemic. Filipinos surveyed have also demonstrated the highest faith (83%[1]) in the digital progress of the nation and the potential of technology in creating jobs and livelihood to create a stronger economic impact.

As the Philippines advances in their journey towards a digitally empowered future, Filipino consumers continue to show high reception to new technologies compared to other SEA countries. The survey showed that 55 percent are aware of the concept of Metaverse and optimistic about the implications of it, the highest in the region.

Also, 43 percent of Filipino consumers surveyed also believe that the metaverse will be favorable for the society. The survey also reveals that high internet service (76%) and better connectivity (68%) are the most important contributing factors for Filipino consumers to buy homes in the future, leading in adaptability than the rest of the world (55.5%).

As digital innovations accelerate in the Philippines across industries, Filipinos are found to prefer digital empowerment in some sectors more than the others. They have shown the least enthusiasm and acceptance (21%[2]), compared to the rest of SEA (25%[3]), in embracing robotics in healthcare or having virtual medical consultations with doctors (22%[4]), whereas the study found that Filipinos are relying heavily on technology to create advanced ways of managing and working with the finances – second highest in Southeast Asia (67%) after Thailand (68%).

However, the survey also revealed that Filipinos still prefer in-person interactions over chatbots the most in this region (76%) in the finance and banking sector, 4 percent more than the rest of SEA.

The respondents from the Philippines also strongly believe that technologies that push new boundaries are necessary to improve the well-being of citizens and the society. Hence, 78 percent of the respondents in the Philippines feel that connectivity in rural areas must improve to create a truly digital future, the second highest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Six in ten respondents (61.4 percent) in the Philippines are worried that their older relatives are not able to keep up with the new digital world and that organizations should further their agenda to include every community as they propel towards creating a digitally empowered society.

Similar to last year, personal data privacy and security remain top concerns for consumers in the Philippines. The consumers are highly apprehensive about how their data is being used by organizations and the government; 51 percent of the respondents think the government has not been transparent enough in this regard, up from 46 percent in 2021, 60 percent are paranoid about being tracked by organizations on their devices and 29 percent cite the loss of privacy to organizations with access to their personal data as their top concern. The Filipino consumers have shown the most eagerness in this region (65 percent) to pay more to the internet services if that meant keeping their data private.

Walter So, Country Manager, VMware Philippines, said that fostering digitalization and modernization requires more than the ability to acquire immersive technologies. “It also means creating environments where businesses can leverage innovation by delivering meaningful change to drive the best results for the customers,” So said.

As the Philippines assesses the implications of COVID-19 and the economy shows a strong growth momentum, So said, enterprises must equip their customers with secure digital offerings by strengthening their ability to develop and deliver superior digital experiences that are easily accessible on any app, any cloud and any device.

Samui Businesses Support Wellness Destination Plans

Tourism businesses on Koh Samui are encouraging the government to move ahead with plans to promote the island as a wellness destination and construct a bridge between Koh Samui and Khanom district in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

Tourist and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakan led a group of officials to conduct a visit to Koh Samui over the weekend to review conditions in the southern region.

During a meeting with the minister and his entourage, Wanwalee Tantikarn, president of the Samui Spa Association, expressed support for an initiative to promote the island as a wellness destination.

Wanwalee noted that tourists are becoming increasingly concerned with their health. If Koh Samui becomes the country’s main health and wellness destination, it will likely attract more tourists, bringing in additional revenue for all business operators.

A plan to construct a bridge between Khanom district in Nakhon Si Thammarat province and Koh Samui in order to establish a new transportation and shipping route was also discussed at the meeting.

The Tourism and Sports minister added that responsible agencies would further study the initiative. If permitted, an environmental study and survey will be conducted before construction supervised by the Ministry of Transport can begin.

 

source : NATIONAL NEWS BUREAU OF THAILAND

EEC schemes to get govt hurry-up

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will today chair a meeting Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Policy Committee to follow progress in investment projects.

He will also discuss ways to prevent potential social and environmental impacts, deputy government spokeswoman Traisulee Taisaranakul said on Sunday.

The government has instructed state agencies to ramp up efforts to press ahead with EEC projects and listen to feedback to ensure communities enjoy maximum benefits

The government aims to turn the EEC, which covers parts of Chon Buri, Rayong and industrial hub hosting 12 targeted S-curve industries, including electric vehicles, smamedical and wellness tourism

“The EEC is intended to be a strategic area for development to which the government has attached great importance,” she said. “Incentives have been offered to encourage investment while measures have been devised to take care of society and protect the environment.”

“Opportunities will be created and residents will benefit from various projects,” she said.

The move comes after the government received a study on the prevention of social, environmental and health impacts in local communities in the EEC from the Senate committee on tackling poverty and disparities, Ms Traisulee said.

The report has been sent to the Office of the EEC Policy Committee which will work with the Industry Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Social Development and Human Security Ministry and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to put the recommendations into action, she said.

The report has predicted potential problems in the EEC area such as urban expansion, losses of agricultural land, degradation of natural resources and the environment, water shortages and concerns about pollution management, she said.

Solutions included adopting proactive approaches to tackling problems, conducting a strategic environmental assessment, promoting industries that are friendly to the environment, and supporting a participatory process involving residents in decision-making, she said

 

source : Bangkok Post

Govt to regulate booming auto leasing sector

The government plans to regulate the fast - growing business of hire purchase and leasing of cars and motorcycles to maintain financial stability and protect consumers, the central bank said on Monday.

The business has grown 5.5 % on average between 2017 and 2021, with outstanding transactions at the end of last year amounting to 1.8 trillion baht ($ 50.78 billion) , or 12.3 % of total household debt , the bank said in a statement.

About a third of the transactions were conducted by non - financial firms which do not yet have clear regulations and there have been rising public complaints about the sector , the Bank of Thailand ( BoT) said without elaborating.

Public opinions on the matter will be sought from Aug 15 to 31, to help with the drafting of regulations, the BoT said.

 

source : Bangkok Post

Thai exporters urged to tap Taiwan vegetarian food market

The Commerce Ministry sees vegetarian food as a golden opportunity to break into the Taiwan market.

The ministry said that the demand for vegetarian food is likely to grow in Taiwan. It will be an opportunity for Thai exporters to use their expertise in food manufacturing to export products to Taiwan.

Phusit Ratanakul Sereroengrit, International Trade Promotion Department director-general, said that he had received survey results of Taiwan’s vegetarian food market from a commercial ambassador in Manila.

The results show that it is an interesting market that has a great potential to grow because 10 per cent of Taiwan’s 23-million population eats vegetarian food regularly, he said.

They eat vegetarian food because they want to protect the Earth which is different from the past when they used to eat veg food due to religious and health reasons.

Currently, the Taiwanese brand Plant-Based is successful in the US market and is sold in the famous supermarket chain Aldi while also joining hands with Carrefour, a giant hypermarket in Taiwan.

The brand is also pushing ready-to-cook meat to the market, such as stir-fried pork with basil, Korean-style grilled beef, and European sausages.

The brand also plans to sell tom yum kung, green curry, and fried chicken with lemongrass and chilli, which are popular Thai foods in Taiwan, he said.

Meanwhile, Plant-Based has successfully developed nine menus of planted-based ready-to-cook for Mahayana Buddhists and Yiguandao believers who eat vegetarian foods.

Previously, most vegetarian foods are bland and their tastes are not varied so they are not very popular in the market, he added.

Therefore, the company decided to develop products with diverse tastes and successfully got into the US market two years ago.

The taste was similar to normal foods as consumers could not tell the difference and almost 20,000 kilograms of products were sold in the first phase.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, the transportation cost increased heavily, so the company decided to accept fewer overseas orders and focused on the domestic market instead.

The company has joined hands with several hypermarket giants in Taiwan and developed ready-to-cook meals based on Thai foods’ popularity in Taiwan.

Phusit mentioned that more business operators have decided to get into the Thai vegetarian food market to respond to consumers’ demands and released several items, especially famous Thai foods such as stir-fried pork with basil, tom yum kung, and green curry.

Therefore, it is a good opportunity for Thai operators to use their expertise in Thai foods to develop Thai vegetarian food for the Taiwanese market, he said.

 

source : THE NATION THAILAND

FTI Says Foreign Land Ownership will Stimulate Economy

The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has said the plan to allow foreigners to own land in Thailand would be a new economic stimulus, especially beneficial to the tourism sector’s gradual recovery.

The comment was made in response to a plan by the Ministry of Interior to revive a measure allowing foreigners to own one rai of land in the country if they invest 40 million baht.

FTI Chairman Kriengkrai Thiennukul stated that the plan would provide long-term economic and investment benefits and encourage wealthy foreigners to consider retiring in the kingdom.

The FTI also said it would assist and support real estate companies impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

According to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), foreigners remain interested in Thai residential property. This is especially true for Chinese nationals, who accounted for 45 percent of foreign condo ownership in the first quarter of 2022.

REIC reported that between 2018 and 2020, a total of 34,653 condominium units worth a total of 145.6 billion baht were transferred to foreigners. It added that during the first quarter of 2022, Bangkok and Chon Buri were the most popular locations for foreigners wanting to own condominium units. The other three top provinces were Samut Prakan, Phuket, and Chiang Mai.

 

Source : NATIONAL NEWS BUREAU OF THAILAND

Brunei scores high in M&A Attractiveness Index

Brunei Darussalam scored high in environmental, social and governance (ESG) category with 83 per cent in the 2021 edition of the M&A Attractiveness Index by Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre (MARC) at the Bayes Business School.

The index ranks countries on their capacity to attract and sustain mergers and acquisitions activity based on six factor groups.

On finance and economy, it almost reaches a score of 50 per cent. However, the Sultanate slipped eight places down to 72nd out of 148 countries while in the Southeast Asian region, the Sultanate was at the seventh spot with an overall score of 47 per cent.

United States (US) and Singapore ranked first and second, followed by United Kingdom (UK) and Canada.

The latest annual ranking – the first to incorporate the true effects that the COVID pandemic has had on individual nations as foreign direct investment targets – compared deal activity and attractiveness to investors of 148 countries.

Compiled by Dr Naaguesh Appadu Research Fellow at Bayes, the report also provides additional analysis into the opportunities and challenges facing countries, including the clear emergence of ESG considerations from investors when completing a deal and the importance of strong national infrastructures.

Source: Borneo Bulletin

Read the full article here

Sultanate fares well in Muslim travel index

Brunei Darussalam maintained the 12th spot in the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2022, with a 61 per cent score. It secured full marks for its prayer venues and airport, and a 90 per cent score for its halal dining.

Additionally, the Sultanate ranked ninth in the services category, and the top 10th destinations after Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Egypt.

The services category evaluates the availability of core Muslim-friendly services and key touch points at the destination.

Most services, such as the restaurant sector, were at a standstill with forced temporary closures in 2020 and 2021.

They are just re-opening after a long pause. 

As such, data collected in 2019 was taken as the reference point for several sub-criteria under this category.

The GMTI 2023 is foreseen to be able to capture the actual state of these services re-opening after the pandemic.

With the impact of the pandemic easing, the tourism sector is again finding its footing and has begun to show significant developments in the last few months, the report said.

Source: Borneo Bulletin
Read the full article here

Strong commitment towards FDIs in Brunei

Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd (Hengyi Industries) signed an Islamic Syndicated Term Financing Agreement totalling USD263 million with Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), Baiduri Bank and Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei (Perbadanan TAIB), marking the start of a new collaboration between Hengyi Industries and the local financial institutions.

Hengyi Industries Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chen Lian Cai, BIBD Board of Director Junaidi bin Haji Masri, BIBD Acting Managing Director and CEO Hajah Noraini binti Haji Sulaiman, Baiduri Bank CEO Ti Eng Hui and Perbadanan TAIB Acting Managing Director Edzwan Zukri bin Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Adanan were the guests of honour.

Hengyi Industries CEO Chen highlighted His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s titah during His Majesty’s 76th birthday calling for focus on the economic development in the nation towards achieving the goals of Brunei Vision 2035.

“The financing cooperation with BIBD, Baiduri Bank and Perbadanan TAIB is in line with the initiatives of His Majesty, and also symbolises the strong commitment and support by the local financial institutions,” he said.

He added that it also demonstrates Hengyi’s commitment and efforts in supporting the development of the local financial sector.

Soure: Borneo Bulletin 

Read the full story here

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