The Brunei Journal

ASEAN Fashion And Leather Fair To Boost AFTA Activity

THE Department of Export Promotion (DEP) of Thailand's Ministry of Commerce will organise an international fashion and leather fair during April 1-4 in a bid to promote the Thai and ASEAN fashion industry's competitiveness in the global market.

The fair will be officially named the Bangkok International Fashion Fair and Bangkok International Leather Fair (BIFF & BIL) 2010, the ministry said in a statement obtained by Xinhua on Monday.

On the back of the theme of Look East, the BIFF & BIL 2010 will be a vivid showcase of great potential of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fashion industry, from upstream to downstream, the statement said.

"With the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) become effective from January this year, the overall trade volume between the ASEAN countries and their partners is growing at rapid pace," the statement quoted Srirat Rastapana, Director General of the Department of Export Promotion, as saying.

More than 1,000 selected domestic and overseas exhibitors in diverse fields from clothing, textile, leather and fashion accessories to textile equipment & machinery, software & services related to the fashion industry will participate in the fair, the statement said.

"The BIFF & BIL 2010 therefore will provide the region's exhibitors and buyers from Japan, India, China, (South) Korea and Taiwan with a promising platform for trade and cooperation.

It is the only fair that offers a complete range of products and services related to the fashion industry supply chain, with greater trade negotiation and sourcing opportunities ever for everyone involved," she said.

Potential visitors of the fair include importers, manufacturers, traders, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, boutiques, department stores, buying agents, designers, international press and related others.

Speaking at a recent press conference during the BIFF & BIL road show in Tokyo, the DEP Director General invited manufacturers, buyers and relevant institutes and organizations in the Japanese fashion industry to join the BIFF & BIL 2010.

"The textiles, apparel, and leather exports to Japan are now worth nearly 500 million U.S. dollars. Within this, textiles and apparel exports account for more than 420 million U.S. dollars and leather goods account for US$50 million.

"Thanks to the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) and the expanding opportunity for Thai exporters in the Japanese medium market as local Japanese manufacturers focus on high-end segment," said Srirat.

Among highlights at the BIFF & BIL 2010 include seminars and conferences, 48 fashion shows, ASEAN Design Congress, Thailand Designer Contest as well as ASEAN Pavilion and Japan Pavilion. - BERNAMA

OCBC Bank to open 10-20 branches

OCBC Bank (M) Bhd plans to open 10 to 20 new branches, including Islamic banking outlets, nationwide within the next two years.

Director and chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong said the bank was now looking for suitable locations for the new branches, including in Sabah and Sarawak.

“It doesn’t matter whether we are opening a conventional or an Islamic branch as our Islamic banking products and services are also available via our conventional branches,’’ he said yesterday.

Chew was speaking to reporters at the opening of OCBC Al-Amin Bank’s Taman Sutera Utama branch, the group’s first Islamic outlet in southern peninsula.

The Taman Sutera branch is also OCBC’s seventh in Johor.

OCBC Al-Amin Bank, the group’s wholly-owned Islamic banking subsidiary, has five branches.

Chew said OCBC was now a foreign bank with the largest number of branches in Johor.

“Our branches in Johor also serve Singaporeans, including the republic’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which have operations here,” he said.

He said the opening of two integrated resorts (IR) in Singapore would bring economic spillover to Johor, including the SMEs, and create job opportunities for the locals.

OCBC Al-Amin Bank director and chief executive officer Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik said the prospect was good for Iskandar Malaysia, especially in tourism and real estate sectors.

“We don’t want to miss the opportunities in Iskandar and our presence here is to offer a choice of either Islamic or conventional banking to customers,” he said.

Syed Abdull Aziz also said OCBC would look at southeast Johor, comprising Teluk Rumania and Pengerang, slated to be the regional oil and gas hub by 2013. - The Star Online

Abu Dhabi bank plans to start operating in Malaysia

THE National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), one of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) biggest banks, plans to start commercial banking operations in Malaysia following the Government’s move to liberalise the financial services sector.

The bank, according to sources, is one of the foreign banks vying for a licence to operate in Malaysia under the liberalisation plan.

Contrary to the general perception that it would solely pursue Islamic banking, sources said it was keen on commercial banking avenues.

A source told StarBiz that one of the possible areas of focus for the bank would be in the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment.

“NBAD is strong in the SME business in UAE and Malaysia as a developing nation with more than 90% of total businesses comprising SMEs is a good fit for the foreign bank,” he said.

“Since SME is one of the fastest growing business segments in the country, NBAD will use its experience and expertise to offer niche products and services to this segment. This will help it leverage and ride out the stiff competition in the local banking sector arising from the liberalisation.’’

When contacted on whether NBAD was a likely candidate for the foreign banking licence, Bank Negara said it would not comment on specific financial institutions.

Analysts view the move by NBAD to pursue commercial banking operations as a surprising one as a Middle Eastern Bank would normally focus on Islamic banking. A banking analyst opined that the emergence of NBAD would add to the depth and breadth of the SME market, a backbone of the Malaysian economy.

NBAD, which is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, was incorporated in 1968 and is majority owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

It has operations in 12 countries on four continents and was rated as one of the 50 safest banks in the world.

News on NBAD in the local financial scene emerged in the wake of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s state visit to the Middle East last month.

The likelihood of Bank Negara granting the licence to NBAD, according a Malaysia-based online portal, was mentioned during a meeting between Najib and Khaldoun al-Mubarak, the chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Affairs Authority and the managing director of Mubadala, an investment group that has varied interests in Malaysia.

In April last year, the Government announced a financial sector liberalisation plan that included the issuance of licences for seven banking and two takaful players from 2009 until 2011. It also, among others, eased foreign ownership rules by increasing limits of equity ownership to 70% from 49% for investment banks, Islamic banks, insurance companies and takaful operators.

The decision by the central bank on the successful applications of foreign banking licences would be announced by June. It is currently evaluating and processing the applications.

The deadline for applications lapsed in December last year.

Under the liberalisation measures for the financial sector, up to two new commercial banking licences would be issued to qualified foreign players in specialised areas and up to three for foreign players that offer significant value propositions.

For Islamic finance, the measures would see up to two new licences for Islamic banking with a minimum paid-up capital of US$1bil, as well as up to two new licences for family takaful. - The Star Online

Queries On Development Proposals To Go Online Soon

BUILDING architects and engineers who submitted development proposals to approving authorities will soon be able to check the status of their applications online using an "Online Query" system.

All "qualified persons" registered will be given a pin to access the system, most probably using their IC number. Haji Mohd Rozan bin Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yunos, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Development yesterday told the media that the system is the latest e-government application to benefit the public and hopes to improve the ease-of-doing-business in the country.

Meanwhile, the authority in particular, the Town and Country Planning Department, has reminded that all applications for building construction and earthworks must only be submitted by "Qualified Persons" (architects and engineers) who are registered with the Ministry of Development depending on the type of building and earthwork proposals.

This rule also produced some negative feedbacks by certain architects who believe that the owner or developer should be allowed to submit their own proposals to the approving authority, because they may want to make some changes at a later time. Mr Hock Kok Seng, Commissioner of Town and Country Planning said this is to avoid problems that could arise when the contractor and owner develop a land without regards to the approved specifications.

"There were cases where proposals submitted by the owner or developer were not approved although earlier proposals submitted by the architect were approved, because they didn't meet the requirements," he said.

"There were also cases where houses or buildings being built crossed another land property and was not shown in the actual plan," he said and added, "We know it was unfortunate that we were not able to produce the necessary "Occupancy Permit (OP)". With this rule, it is necessary that the qualified persons (architects and engineers) deal with the owner throughout its development process until it is completed.

According to him, this will also improve the professionalism and services rendered by the qualified persons and improve their business in the long run. He said submissions must follow the guidelines and requirements of the Development Control Competent Authority (DCCA) to avoid applications being rejected and thus, cause unnecessary delay.

It is therefore important that all qualified persons submitting for applicants and landowners (clients) be responsible and professional in their conduct, and be knowledgeable about the existing guidelines and requirements of the DCCA, the site submitted and the surrounding areas.

In this regard, the general public and landowners are reminded to seek advice and approval from the DCCA before conducting developments such as earthworks building, construction or extensions and change of use. For any queries related to development control process, the public may contact the Town and Country Planning Department through its office branches nationwide or e-mail tcpcomp@brunet.bn.

This improvement to the development control system in terms of a unified development control authority and reviewed applications procedure will enable the DCCA to deliver the best and efficient services to the general public while assisting in reducing delays and allow ease of doing business in the country.

On the other hand, Dato Paduka Architect Idris proposed that a professional board for "qualified persons" be established that will help to not only monitor and ensure that their professional services be maintained at the optimum level but also promote improvement and development of members. - Borneo Bulletin

Adinin Works & Engineering Celebrates Achievement

ADININ Works and Engineering Sdn Bhd recently organised an annual dinner to celebrate the company's successful achievement and to recognise the company's long-service employees.

The local company with a workforce of 700 people had accumulated a total of two million manhours and successfully achieved "Zero Lost-Time Incidents" and "Zero Medical Treatment Case" as well as fulfilling last year 's 'Goal Zerp' target for safety. Another excellent HSE milestone achieved last year was the company's operations in attaining nine years of Lost-Time Injury (LTI).

At the annual dinner, long-service employees were also recognised for their commitment to the company with the presentation of long-service awards by the group's Chairman, Hj Adinin bin Pehin Dato Hj Ibrahim. The evening's programme also included various performances by employees and numerous lucky draw prizes.

In his speech, the company's Managing Director, Awg Musa bin Haji Adinin lauded everyone's excellent team work in leading towards the company's achievement. He said he will also look ahead to the company's projected high level of activities and challenges for 2010 and spoke about the company's vision of becoming the "Professional Contractor of Choice". - Borneo Bulletin

Palm oil deal 'a threat to the rainforest'

HUNDREDS of millions of tonnes of palm oil look set to be pumped into Britain's vehicles despite scientific evidence showing that chopping down rainforests to make way for plantations exacerbates climate change, according to a leaked report.

The European Commission is planning to increase the amount of palm oil used in cars and power stations under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), which is intended to reduce greenhouse gases, suggests the document.

A loophole in the draft communication from Brussels on implementation of the directive would allow almost all palm oil currently produced to be used in vehicles on British roads.

The development – which campaigners warned have would lead to fresh bouts of forest destruction in Asia to meet growing global demand for the oil – comes after an intense campaign of lobbying in Brussels by Malaysian producers who feared the EU would ban imports of palm oil for energy.

Britons use 50 billion litres of transport fuel a year, 2.7 per cent of which came from biofuels in 2008-09. Palm oil, which is primarily used in food and household products, already controversially forms part of that fuel mix.

The Government says it is keen to avoid use of environmentally damaging materials but admits there is insufficient data about the provenance of 42 per cent of transport biofuel used in the UK. Under the RED, passed last year, Britain and other EU states are required to source 10 per cent of petrol and diesel in road transport from renewable sources. Part of that will be accounted for by electrical vehicles but the majority is expected to come from plant-based fuels such as rapeseed, soy, palm and sugar cane.

The EC document ostensibly protects wildlife areas that could grow these plants by banning member states from sourcing fuel from greenhouse gas-sequestering grasslands, wetlands and forests. But, in a crucial exemption, the protection does not apply to habitats changed before January 2008, meaning the vast majority of palm oil produced may be used, even though much of it comes from plantations that have replaced forests in the past 15 years.

The policy is almost certain to increase demand for palm oil, which can only be grown in tropical climates in Malaysia, Indonesia and other Asian countries, West Africa and the Amazon in Brazil. Rainforests have strong carbon credentials; they suck carbon dioxide out of the air as they grow.

According to a study by Denmark's Nordic Agency for Development and Ecology, published in the journal Conservation Biology in 2008, it would take between 75 and 93 years for the benefits to the climate generated by switching to biofuels to outweigh the detrimental effects of converting rainforest to plantations.

Forests in the biggest palm oil-producing countries of Malaysia and Indonesia are rich in rare wildlife, including the orangutan and Sumatran tiger, but about 90 per cent of an area's flora and fauna are lost when the land is converted to monoculture plantations where the plants are grown in straight lines. Some palm oil producers have also been linked to human rights abuses. - The Independent

Taylor's University Partners With HRDS To Increase Education Opportunities

TAYLOR's University College held its inaugural Open Day at the Goldstone Ballroom of the Centrepoint Hotel yesterday afternoon. The event also marked the appointment of HRD Services Global Education Link (HRDS) as Taylor's new representative in Brunei.

The guest of honour was Dato' Ku Jaafar bin Ku Shaari, Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, and Zainal Haji Tik, Vice President of Business Development of Taylor's Business College.

In his welcoming speech, Mr Zainal Tik spoke about the university, programmes offered in the campus and the plan to expand the the university further by encouraging international students to study there.

He said, "Today we spread our wings in Brunei even further. We have appointed yet another agent, HRDS, as a representative of Taylor's University College on this side of the border. With this, I believe that we are providing even more options for Bruneians to pursue tertiary education."

During the event, he also said, "Just last month, we added another feather to our cap. Our flagship campus, Taylor's Lakeside Campus, opened it's doors to its first batch of students. It was indeed a proud moment for us to see our dreams and vision manifest into reality. Equipped with world-class facilities, our brand new campus will serve as the base for all our tertiary programmes, from foundation right up to degree and postgraduate level."

Meanwhile, in his speech, Dato' Ku Jaafar said, "Taylor's move into Brunei is a first step towards realising the government's objectives and aspirations for Malaysia to become a regional education hub within the next decade. By spreading their search in Brunei, Taylor's is playing a part to increase the education opportunities available for Brunei's citizens. This smart partnership will definitely yield great benefits in the economic growth and educational development of both our nations."

He concluded, "As I have already mentioned, this is a significant moment for us in Brunei, in more ways than one. We now have more windows open to pursue tertiary education at a world-class institution like Taylor's University College."

The event was followed by a talk titled "Habits of highly successful students" by Mr Frank Meagher, Associate Director. - Borneo Bulletin

Public Toilets Upkeep To Be Privatized

THE Municipal Department will privatise the task of cleaning public toilets in Bandar Seri Begawan to ensure that they are well-maintained.The department has announced that Sa Glossilite Enterprise will be the company tasked with maintaining the hygiene of the public toilets, effective February 15.

The toilets in question are the ones located at the stalls on Jalan Residency, Kianggeh Market, multi-storey carpark on the ground and first floor, parking lot at Jalan Bendahara, Gadong Market, Selera Market and the Bumiputera Commercial and Trade Centre on the first and seventh floors.

Previously, the cleaning of these toilets would cease at 5pm, however, Sa Glossilite Enterprise will carry out the cleaning until the buildings are closed, with some being open until 12am. - The Brunei Times

Brunei’s first-mover bid in halal drugs

BRUNEI is on its way to becoming a producer of halal pharmaceuticals, thanks to new guidelines that build on the Sultanate’s reputation for strictly adhering to Islamic principles when it comes to halal production.

For instance, Brunei is one of the Muslim countries whose Ministry of Religious Affairs is involved in the certification of halal food. The nascent Brunei Halal Brand has also been dubbed as a flagship brand in the diversification of the economy.

Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) Chief Executive Officer Vincent Cheong talks to The Brunei Times about the halal pharmaceutical guidelines and the government’s plans to attract investors in the field.

BT: When were the guidelines approved and who was involved in the process?

We have just received approval for the new halal pharmaceutical guidelines and that has been approved beginning of this year. The Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources is very much focused on the halal food side of business and on our end, we are very interested in halal pharmaceuticals and other halal components. Essentially, what the new guidelines mean for us is that it is going to be the first of its kind in the world and these guidelines have been endorsed by the Brunei Islamic Religious Council. What it entails is that it has got all the references, all the standards and procedures for companies who wish to manufacture pharmaceuticals.

Obviously for these guidelines, it is not just a BEDB thing, it involves all relevant ministries and agencies. BEDB is just one of the parties to this but we give full credit to the team who have gotten the guidelines up and running as it was hard work.

Why or how are these guidelines relevant for BEDB?

Why is it so important for us … at BEDB is because the establishment of these guidelines will be more effective to convincing investors or foreign investors who begin to look at Brunei as a location for the manufacturing of halal pharmaceuticals. Perhaps because these guidelines are the first in the world, so it will be good for us to use this as an opportunity to be the first mover, especially for Brunei’s case.

How did the idea for the guidelines come about?

BEDB was the one who initiated this because we had some investors who came to us previously who wanted to manufacture halal pharmaceuticals. One example is Viva, a pharmaceutical company from Canada, who are currently in partnership with a Brunei entity for the proposed manufacture and supply of halal-certified medicines, vitamins and nutritional supplements in the region.

With Viva, their approximate investment in Brunei is US$12 million ($17 million) and will create close to 100 jobs in Brunei.

Once Viva is successful, and we are sure that Viva will be successful, hopefully more and more companies start jumping into the bandwagon (in Brunei).

Besides that, we also have had consortium of Japanese companies who were also interested in halal pharmaceuticals manufacturing in Brunei. So with that, we basically said that it was good for Brunei to start establishing such guidelines and we got everybody together and through the work of everybody, it was very tough work, it was finally done and approved.

For us, what we want to ensure is that once it is up and running, we obviously will try to market this to foreign investors and see whether they have got some interest in setting up facilities or manufacturing plants in Brunei; say for example, one of the key factors that led to Viva coming to Brunei was our commitment or the Brunei government’s commitment to establish these guidelines to start their halal manufacturing facility in Brunei.

Will the halal pharmaceutical guidelines affect local importers?

I don’t think that it will affect the current situation in terms of people importing medicines. Today, being Muslims, you will note that it doesn’t mean when one is sick and have to consume medicines, halal or haram doesn’t come into place. But, if there was an alternative of halal medicines, certainly Muslims would prefer to take that.

As for health supplements, we don’t think that it is going to upset the market, what it will entail is that we hope to see more companies, of the manufacturing of halal medicines per se, but we don’t believe that it’s going to upset the market today of importing medicines.

Why is Brunei pushing for the halal sector now as something to diversify the economy?

Because we think that it is going to be the first of its kind in the world and eventually, what we hope is that all of us, the relevant agencies here, will work together to coordinate and make these set of guidelines into international standards and try to get other countries on top of other guidelines that we have and spread them internationally. So, to a certain extent, we believe that these guidelines will be useful for us because it will create, make or give Brunei a place on the world map, especially through the halal sector.

We already have a strong Islamic credibility but we believe that it will strengthen our credibility internationally. So one of the things that will be desirous for us to go to forward will be to establish this as an international benchmark.

What kind pharmaceutical products can we expect?

What we are seeing will be generic off-the-shelf medicine, like Panadol and health supplements, and we think these are probably two areas which will be easier for companies to venture into as a start of halal pharmaceutical guidelines.

What will be the target market for these products?

I think inevitably, a lot of these products will have to be exported because the Brunei market is too small to sustain domestic consumption, so whatever companies venturing into Brunei will have to look at the overseas market. It is good if they can find a consumer for the Brunei market for that product, but largely, I think that the bulk of the market for the product will be exported through their own marketing.

- The Brunei Times

Accept Working In Private Sector As Career, Jobseekers Told

JOBSEEKERS need to accept working in the private sector as a career rather than a stepping stone, said the Assistant Commissioner of the Labour Department at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Even though customer services are improving in Brunei, more efforts are needed towards creating awareness to school leavers in looking for work at different sectors other than the government, Hj Mohd Ideni Hj Ahmad said.

"We (the department) are trying to change the mindset and convince current jobseekers that having a job in the private sector can lead to a promising career," he said on the sidelines of certificate presentation ceremony to participants of motivational and customer service course participants at the Employment Centre on Saturday.

Majority of the school leavers had Form Five qualifications and below, a demographic they want to convince, in which he added can be a challenge."I think the big challenge is that we have to make them ready to be attached to the private sector.I think that they are ready academically,"he said.

With their level of education, they are ready for instruction and to receive orders, lie said."It's not them who are the problem, but their readiness to see the private sector as a permanent career," lie said.During a talk at the event, the invited counsellor spoke of how local jobseekers tend to leave their jobs after a short period of tine.

He attributed this trend to lack of awareness of what they want to do.Referring to the tittle when Hjh Nlordiah Hj Jackia. a local "We finance the courses, aiming to improve their skills and employability of the
jobseekers."he said.

He also said that the customer services in Brunei is improving and they will continue to give more customer-oriented services. "We are expanding in giving them more courses in preparation for them to be deployed in the employment market."

"We will give courses such as receptionist courses and all kinds of other service- oriented courses," he said. In these courses, he said that the most frequently highlighted would be their motivation.

"Realising that these people need to work, they also need to be driven and pushed. They need something to pull them into employment. These are the things that needed to be looked at in the future, causes, preparation and development." said.

He added: "There must be a push and pull factor in the employment market."addressing in addressing the qualms of customer services in Brunei by the public, he said that the Employment Centre will be giving courses in relation to customer service. - The Brunei Times

Only 29 of Indonesia`s electric, electronic products meet ASEAN standards

INDONESIA until now only has 29 electric and electronic products that meet ASEAN standards whereas 199 of its products must be standardized by early 2011, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said.

Pangestu here Monday reminded the Industry Ministry to immediately meet the target of standard harmonization for electric and electronic products as agreed on by ASEAN member countries in December 2005.

"The schedule for standardization was agreed on whereby at the end of 2010 at the latest our electric and electronic products must meet the standards," the minister said, adding it was the task of the technical ministries to meet the requirement.

The minister said, perhaps Indonesia was not the only country that was late in meeting the standardization schedule.

"We should check if other countries also experience such a delay. The important thing is we should achieve the target as soon as possible," she said.

Until now, with 29 electric and electronic goods meeting the ASEAN standards, Indonesia ranked fourth in terms of ability to meet the regional organization`s requirement.

Malaysia with 156 of its 199 products which had met the ASEAN standards was the most ready country of the grouping to achieve the target.

ASEAN groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam. - ANTARA

Media Briefing on the Development Control System

WITH effect from the 16th February this year, all development applications in the country except for the Municipal Board areas, will come under the jurisdiction of the Development Control Competent Authority, DCCA, which is chaired by the Commissioner of Town and Country Planning Department. This initiative is to improve the delivery of services to the general public in matters pertaining to development control.

The matter was further explained to local media this morning by the Permanent Secretary, Administration and Finance at the Ministry of Development, Awang Haji Rozan bin Dato Paduka Haji Yunos. He said, the Ministry through departments under it and other relevant government agencies have reviewed and streamlined the existing development control system by proposing a unified development control authority.

He explained that the declaration of the new DCCA areas has been endorsed by the Minister of Development and will be gazetted in the Brunei Government Gazette. The DCCA is to ensure that all earth works are carried out safely and will not cause landslides and the likes. On house plans, Awang Haji Mohd Rozan said all house plans submitted should be looked at or are done by qualified persons to ensure safety and integrity.

Earlier, Awang Haji Mohd Rozan heard a dialogue session with "Qualified Persons" comprising of registered Architects and Engineers in informing them of the consolidation of areas outside DCCA with DCCA areas.

In this regard, all development applications are to be submitted to the DCCA using application forms that can be obtained from the Town and Country Planning Department and its office branches in the country. Among those present was a member of the Legislative Council, Yang Berhormat Dato Paduka Awang Haji Idris bin Haji Abas.

South-east Asian bourses in technology pact

AN ambitious initiative that would allow cross-border trading between several south-east Asian stock exchanges took a significant step towards completion on Monday, with a firm commitment to establish technology for the project.

Four leading exchanges said they had signed a letter of intent at a meeting in Manila with NYSE Technologies, the technology arm of NYSE Euronext, the transatlantic exchange that owns the New York Stock Exchange.

The four – Bursa Malaysia; the Philippine Stock Exchange; SGX, the Singapore exchange; and the Stock Exchange of Thailand – are in the vanguard of moves towards a common board that could eventually include stocks from most of the 10 countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

Vietnam’s Hochiminh Stock Exchange and the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta are also backing the project, which could eventually lead to a single south-east Asian market for stocks, with a combined capitalisation of more than $1,000bn.

Francisco Edralin Lim, chief executive of the Philippine exchange, said the deal with NYSE Technologies was a significant move towards the establishment of integrated Asean capital markets.

“We are confident that they will deliver cutting edge solutions that meet all our requirements. We are also excited about the possibilities of leveraging their extensive order routing networks to bring order flow into the Asean markets,” Mr Lim said.

The Thai stock exchange, which has been leading the integration project, said the trading link would allow investors to trade multiple Asean markets from their domicile countries while also allowing fresh access to order flows from outside Asean, which also includes Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and Burma.

The exchanges have been working with experts from the Asian Development Bank on technical issues such as the incompatibility of some existing trading systems, setting up central clearing and settlement arrangements, and handling transactions in several currencies.

Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, chief executive of the Malaysian stock exchange, told the Financial Times in September that currency settlement for cross trades would follow “home settlement rules”. For example, the Malaysian ringgit would be used if trades were settled in Malaysia. The same rule would apply to regulatory requirements.

ADB officials say the Asean exchanges are individually too small to attract global attention, but could be globally competitive if they were to achieve greater scale and liquidity, potentially leading to the establishment of a new Asean asset class.

The cross border trading initiative follows an agreement by Asean capital markets regulators on a “road map” for full integration of the region’s capital markets by 2015. - The Financial Times

Siem Reap to connect to Brunei, Indonesia

HIGH-RANKING officials from the Ministry of Tourism said Sunday that international flights are set to link Siem Reap with Indonesia and Brunei in order to boost tourism.

Tith Chantha, director general of the ministry, said that Cambodia would launch connections with the temple complex site Borobudur in Java, Indonesia in April this year. Brunei flights will follow later.

“If the plan is successful, we believe that more and more tourists will come to visit Cambodia. We hope that tourist numbers will increase around 10 percent in coming years. We are now discussing technical matters in order to facilitate the flights,” said Tith Chantha.

Cambodia is trying to create direct flights with all ASEAN countries in an attempt to make tourist travel easier. So far, routes have been set up with Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Laos.

In late 2009, Cambodia announced that it would directly link flights with the Philippines.

On Sunday, an official from the ministry said the first direct flights have not started due to technical issues but would commence once the problems are solved. It was not immediately clear what those issues were.

Ang Kim Eang, president of Cambodia’s Association of Travel Agents, said Sunday that Cambodia is an attractive destination for tourists, as the country offers appealing cultural sites and ecotourism. But he added that the nation has international flight links with too few countries in the region.

“We believe that the more flight links we have, the more tourists we will receive,” he said.

According to a report from the ministry, 1,111,729 out of the 2,161,577 tourists who visited Cambodia in 2009 entered the country by air. The remaining people came via land and water.

KFCH To Invest RM3 Mil To Open Rasamas Outlets This Year

RASAMAS franchisee, KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd (KFCH), will open five new restaurants this year, managing director, Jamaluddin Md Ali said.

The chicken speciality restaurants will cost of RM3 million. KFC has at present 43 Rasamas restaurants, including three in Brunei.

Each outlet will cost KFCH approximately RM600,000.

Jamaluddin also did not rule out the possibility of more than five new restaurant openings.

"We have seen an increasing demand for Rasamas restaurants. Therefore, our initial target of five, may vary according to demand.

"Last year, we opened eight new outlets.The fewer openings this year is due to our 2010 roadmap, which is to build the Rasamas brand reputation locally," he said after the official launch of the Rasamas new "Hainan Chicken", a promotional meal, dedicated to the upcoming Chinese New Year.

On another note, Jamaluddin said KFCH expects the contribution by Rasamas to the parent company, to increase to ten per cent, this year.

"Last year, Rasamas posted sales of RM22 million which represents eight per cent of the total KFCH turnover.

"We cannot expect major growth, as on the other hand, we are also increasing KFC outlets nationwide this year," he added.

At the moment, there are 476 KFC outlets in Malaysia and this is expected to increase by between 38-40 outlets, this year.

KFCH recorded a revenue of RM1.673 billion for the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2009. This is an increase of six per cent against the corresponding period of the previous year.

The company also recorded a pre-tax profit of RM135.3 million, an increase of 6.2 per cent from the same period in 2008. - BERNAMA

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