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JAKARTA, NNC - The US-ASEAN Business Council has expressed appreciation for the improvement of ease of doing business ranking in Indonesia. This was said by Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita after accompanying President Joko Widodo in a meeting with President/CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council Alexander Feldman at the Merdeka Palace on Tuesday (3/13/2018).
"This is an appreciation of what has been done and the rise of our ease of business ranking. Then they expressed some commitments to continue the investment," said Minister Enggartiasto as quoted from the official website of the Secretariat of State, Wednesday (3/14). As is known, in the "Doing Business 2018" published late October 2017, Indonesia's ranking rose from position 91 in 2017 to position 72 in 2018.
JAKARTA, NNC - Indonesia Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto has assured that the 2018 Regional Election will not interfere with investment security in Indonesia.
"We guarantee that [investment] stability will be maintained during the 2018 Regional Election and 2019 General Election," Wiranto said at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs in Jakarta, on Wednesday (03/14).
The former TNI (Indonesian Military) Commander said the guarantee of investment security in Indonesia was one of the topics discussed when he received Michael Michalak, Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director of US-ASEAN Business Council and delegates at the Ministry's office on Wednesday.
Jakarta - Representatives of the US-ASEAN business council kicked-off their three-day visit to Indonesia by meeting President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Merdeka Palace today, March 13. The US-ASEAN business council president Alexander C. Feldman brought 41 major enterprises in this visit.
“The president was happy to accept us. We talked about our experience on industries in the U.S. and discussed the changes in Indonesia,” said Alexander at the presidential palace complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 13.
The enterprises he invited come from numerous sectors such as gas, technology, health, up to tourism; “They are Procter and Gamble, Axa, Coca-Cola, Expedia, Cigna, Apple, and Amazon,” said Feldman.
The head of a US business delegation rated the Philippines’ as one of the most attractive destinations for foreign direct investments owing to the country’s positive economic prospects, and urged local stakeholders to work more closely with American firms on the technology front.
In an interview, Ambassador Michael Michalak of the US-Asean Business Council said he had led a group of US business people to meet with government officials and learn more about the plans of the Duterte administration for the Philippines.
“We were all impressed by what we heard from the economic managers,” he said. “If only half of what they said they would do would happen, that would make the country very attractive for investors like us.”
The vision of modern, urban Viet Nam is usually associated with foreign giants such as Microsoft or IBM, which have partnered with Da Nang and Ha Noi to realise their smart city dreams. However, as it stands, several made-in-Viet Nam solutions for smart homes, meters and transportation fleet management, are ranked highly even in the global market, Tuan said during a smart city talk held on Thursday in Ha Noi by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Thailand-based Amata group.
Tuan stressed that with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, with IoT at its heart, smart solutions will be necessary in the future where automation and Artificial Intelligent reign, freeing humans from repetitive labour and allowing them to focus on more innovation and creative works.
“Most importantly, the ultimate purpose of any smart initiative, including a smart city, is to improve quality of life,” he added.
The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN bill is about to roll off with the ratification of the first package of the Duterte administration’s comprehensive tax reform program. This is a welcome development especially for millions of fixed-income earners who will enjoy significant reduction in their personal income taxes once the proposed bill is signed into law on Dec. 19. Those earning P250,000 or below annually will be exempt from paying income taxes.
As Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez noted, this is a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s gift that government can give to Filipinos because this will mean more disposable income for them. Sonny enjoys a very high trust rating with many Filipinos and happens to be a very close personal friend of the President.
Companies want to invest in the Philippines. The country’s greatest asset is its incredible people and their skills, commitment to hard work and team orientation. While American business supports most parts of the Tax Reform and Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill, which was passed by the Senate and House, there is one particular part of the bill which could send the wrong signal to international investors and long-term friends of the Philippines.
The boss of Chinese online giant Alibaba says he fears Vietnamese consumer suspicion could hamper mobile-payment development in the communist state.
Group chairman Jack Ma told the Vietnam Electronic Payment Forum that the proportion of cash transactions in Vietnam was too high, despite the huge potential for e-commerce among the young population.
Cash payments increased the chances of cheating, corruption and pickpocketing while mobile phones using anthropometric technology could help detect fraud, he added.
Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue told the forum that mobile payments were “an obvious trend” and Vietnam should not be left behind.
Hue predicted an explosion in Vietnamese mobile payments saying that the government target was to cut cash transactions below 10 per cent by 2020.
Almost half of Vietnam’s 95 million citizens use Facebook and the social network has become embedded in society.
DA NANG, Vietnam, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- In his first speech outside China after a historic Party congress, President Xi Jinping on Friday presented China's "new journey" toward a great modern socialist country, as well as the opportunities it creates for the world.
Xi described the "new journey" as one of deepening reform across the board and unleashing dynamism for development; moving with the times and exploring new model of development; toward greater integration with the world and an open economy of higher standards; toward a better life for the people; and toward a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.
"In the next 15 years, China will have an even larger market and more comprehensive development," Xi said while delivering a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Vietnam's central city of Da Nang.
Tensions in the South China Sea have been mounting since 2010 when China boosted its presence in the 3.5 million-square-kilometers rich in fish and fuel reserves.
WASHINGTON DC —
Conflict in the South China Sea and regional economic development are the two biggest, and intertwined, issues facing leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when they meet in two weeks in Manila as the regional bloc celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Five member nations ---Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam ---have territorial claims in the South China Sea, 90 percent of which is claimed by China. Cambodia, another member, backs China and has objected to any attempt to magnify the issue in line with ASEAN’s preference for consensus building over discord.