APR News

The government of Thailand vows to seek and include comments from local farmers during any new trade talk efforts.
According to Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department of the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, officials will pay on-site visits to hear opinions and suggestions from various groups of farmers to supplement the new free-trade agreement (FTA) talks.
“Currently the department is preparing information for the Thai-EU FTA talks and studying the feasibility of participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),” Ms. Auramon said. “The on-site visits will thus allow the department to know the genuine information from farmers before the negotiators commence any talks.”

Grab has acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia operations. According to an announcement, in exchange, Uber will take a 27.5% stake in Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board. Moreover, Grab is now backed by DiDi Chuxing and Uber, in addition to leading global investor SoftBank.
Grab will integrate Uber’s ridesharing and food delivery business in the region into Grab’s existing multi-modal transportation and fintech platform. It will also take over Uber’s operations and assets in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
For its food delivery services, Grab will rapidly expand its existing GrabFood businesses in Indonesia and Thailand to two more countries - Singapore and Malaysia - following the integration of the Uber Eats business. “GrabFood will be available across all major Southeast Asian countries in the first half of 2018,” the firm said.

Gas Indonesia Summit & Exhibition is the country’s premier event dedicated to the integrated natural gas and LNG industry, covering the fullstream natural gas value chain from upstream E&P, processing & refining, marketing and distribution, downstream utilisation and power generation.
As Indonesia's Only Fullstream Natural Gas & LNG Event, the Gas Indonesia Summit & Exhibition is supported by Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Activities (SKK Migas) and PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk (PGN).
Gas Indonesia Summit & Exhibition 2018 returns for the 3rd edition on 1st – 3rd August in Jakarta. The theme of the event will be “Accelerating Integration of Indonesia’s Gas & LNG Infrastructure.”
Important topics to be covered in 2018 include:
• Overcoming distributed natural gas demand across the Indonesian archipelago;
• Development of natural gas and LNG infrastructure in strategic areas: Central and Eastern Indonesia;
• Understand the latest reforms regarding natural gas pricing, allocation and utilization;
• Discover the natural gas virtual pipeline value chain in Indonesia: mini-LNG, LNG carrier, FLNG and FSRU, onshore LNG, truck;
• Update on PLN’s plans to tender for the procurement of LNG across 21 locations;
• Scenarios for the use of CNG as a feedstock for power plants;
• Opportunities in Indonesian Deepwater Development projects for gas supply;
• Learn about the Trans-Indonesia Gas Pipeline; interconnection between regions and how this will affect supply.

The northern province of Quang Ninh has surpassed the central city of Da Nang to top the provincial competitiveness index (PCI) rankings, according to a report released on March 22, 2018.
Quang Ninh has been in the top five since 2013. Over the past five years, Quang Ninh has focused on administrative reform through its Public Administration Centre and the Investment Promotion Agency, which have helped shorten waiting periods and reduce transaction costs for investors and businesses.

On 20 March 2018, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held a press conference. The agenda of the meeting was devoted to business environment enhancement in China. Premier Li stressed that the government would implement new reforms, aimed at engaging more people in business activities.
Li Keqiang specified the measures to improve the situation: “We'll cut the time it takes for opening a business by another half; we will reduce the time required for reviewing a project application by another half; we will put in place, at the national level, an e-platform for accessing government services; we will work to see that our people can get things done in one office, without the need for a second trip; and we will ensure that any requirement for certification that has no basis in law or regulations will be abolished”.

China will waive income tax for three years for foreign investors trading the country's new crude futures contract, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday, in a bid to attract overseas capital for the much-anticipated launch.
The start of trading on Monday will mark the culmination of a years-long push by China to create Asia's first oil futures benchmark, aimed at giving the world's biggest oil importer more clout in pricing crude sold to Asia.
It will potentially give the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, which will operate the new contract, a share of the trillions of dollars each year in oil futures trading.
The finance ministry said foreign brokers will be exempted from paying income tax on commissions they earn from dealing in the new Shanghai crude futures.

China’s authorities are preparing for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China scheduled for this year, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying at regular briefing.

"Putin will visit our country this year according to the plan of the annual regular exchange of visits between the Russian and Chinese leaders. We will further maintain close dialogue with the Russian side on this issue through diplomatic channels," she noted.

Hua Chunying reiterated that the Russian leader, like China’s President Xi Jinping, made a great contribution to development of relations between the two states. "Chinese-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership will continue to develop in accordance with the new prospects and will contribute to our common prosperity," the diplomat concluded.

Cambodia generated more than US$7.6 billion from exporting garment and footwear products last year.

The figure was shared by Minister of Labour and Vocational Training H.E. Its Samheng during the ministry’s annual meeting here in Phnom Penh yesterday.

The amount, he underlined, was contributed by 1,154 garment and footwear factories operating in Cambodia, employing over 770,000 people, as of 2017.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 19 March 2018 to implement the trade facilitation reform and enhance the competitiveness of Mongolia’s agricultural exports.
IFC will help the Ministry of Foreign Affairs establish the Mongolia Trade Information Portal, an on-line repository for all trade-related regulations. The project will also help streamline trade and customs regulations, simplify border inspection practices, as well as enhance private sector capacity to meet export requirements in the next five years.
Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Foreign Minister of Mongolia, said, “Trade facilitation is a cornerstone of the government’s trade and economic development agenda. We believe it will greatly assist Mongolia in reaching our goal of increasing Mongolia’s export. The government of Mongolia appreciates the World Bank Group’s support in reducing trade costs, and simplifying trade procedures, which have been a bottleneck for Mongolian businesses.”

President Joko Widodo has agreed to a government regulation allowing the import of industrial salt, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution stated.
With the issuance of the government regulation, companies are no longer required to obtain a recommendation from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry to import industrial salt.
As such, the Industry Ministry will decide the allocation of industrial salt for certain industries as auxiliary material, he revealed.