Should the decision be made, it would end the era of low interest rates that has become one of the country’s economic growth-pushing factors.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the fiscal policy would be important in maintaining economic growth amid the withdrawal of foreign funds from Indonesia as an impact of the “normalisation” of the world’s economy.

“Our challenge is fiscal. While we have to collect taxes, we have also to offer incentives,” Sri Mulyani said at the annual bankers’ gathering, themed “Fiscal Policy Reform as a Stimulus to Boost the Economy”.

She added that after revising a tax holiday regulation, which was mainly for investments starting from 500 billion rupiah (US$35.49 million), the government was currently revising a regulation on tax allowances for investments below 500 billion rupiah.

“[The revision] of a regulation on tax allowances is in the finalisation process. Investors do not need to worry about taxes. They have a long time [until the government collects taxes],” Sri Mulyani added as quoted by kontan.co.id. Under the newly issued Finance Ministry Regulation No 35/2018, the government offers simpler procedures and more attractive incentives.

Old companies can now obtain a tax holiday for expansions, as well as a tax deduction rate of 100 per cent for five to 20 years, and more business players are now eligible for tax incentives.

KEPPEL Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has, through its wholly owned subsidiary Keppel FELS, inked a master agreement to sell five jack-up rigs to Oslo-based drilling contractor Borr Drilling for around US$745 million (S$1 billion).

These are existing jack-up rigs which are being built by Keppel FELS to the KFELS B class designs, said Keppel in a statement yesterday. This price excludes any down payments made by the original owners.

The master agreement is contingent on certain conditions, including Borr Drilling raising sufficient funds. Borr Drilling will pay a first instalment of US$288 million within 20 business days of the effective date of the master agreement and the remaining amounts are payable within five years from the delivery date of each individual rig.

The rigs are scheduled to be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020, with one rig to be delivered next year and four rigs in |2020. – The Straits Times

Largest co-working space in Philippines to open in June

Spaces, an Amsterdam-born firm, will open in June the largest co-working space in the Philippines, where the demand is “exceptional,” a top official said.

In a press briefing yesterday, country manager Lars Wittig said that they are opening the company’s first site in the Philippines with a 500-square meter co-working space.

The first and largest international provider of this type of office space, Spaces will offer competitive rates to both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, Wittig said.

Spaces, the sister company of world-renown office space provider Regus, will be located at the World Plaza in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, where it would cover the more than 3,000 square metres.

This includes the co-working space, which Wittig calls a “community hall.”

“Co-working space is a term of yesterday. What we are building is a community,” he said, noting that it would even have Wild Flour Bakery + Cafe Corp. serving Spaces’ patrons.

According to a separate statement, the company said the area would have more than 400 workstations, with |ample space for private meetings in offices and meeting rooms. – Philippine Daily Inquirer

Widodo sees off first export with giant ship to US

Indonesian President Joko Widodo officiated at the departure of the first CMA CGM Tage container ship of exports from the Jakarta International Containers Terminal (JICT) at Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta.

The CMA CGM Tage ship, which has a capacity of 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers, will serve direct calls from Jakarta to Los Angeles, the United States.

“We loaded the ship with 4,300 TEU containers. It is a large number. With the direct call, the transporting of goods is more efficient,” Widodo said as reported by tribunnews.com.

The ship has a gross Tonnage (TG) of 95.263 and is 347 meters long. It is one of several massive ships that regularly |dock at Tanjung Priok port. – The Jakarta Post

Seeking to cover part of the country’s huge backlog of 6.6 million housing units, the new venture plans to launch about 15 new housing projects equivalent to around 33,000 housing units within the next five years.

Each unit will be priced between 1 million pesos and 6 million pesos, targeting middle-income first time homebuyers. Overall, the deal will deliver homes worth more than 57 billion pesos.

The joint venture company, to be named Phirst Park Homes, will be incorporated after the joint venture agreement has secured clearance from the Philippine Competition Commission. The projects will be launched in key locations outside of Metro Manila under a new brand called PHirst Park Homes.

Capital expenditures for the first five years are estimated at around 10 billion pesos. Under the terms of the agreement, CPG will subscribe to 60 per cent and Mitsubishi to 40 per cent of the authorised capital stock equivalent to 5 billion |pesos over the same five-year horizon.

From a return on equity point of view, deepening their affordable housing partnership is seen beneficial for both CPG and Mitsubishi because of the faster turnaround time and higher margins from this type of development compared to high-rise residential developments.

“Our joint venture partnership with Mitsubishi Corp solidifies Century’s plans of diversification and strengthens its positioning not just in the affordable housing |category, but in the broader first home buyer market,” Century Properties chairman Jose Antonio said.

“We thank Mitsubishi for its continued trust and confidence in Century Properties. Our relationship has certainly been fruitful to date with our two projects with them – both for the office building in Century City, and in Tanza, Cavite to date. It is but natural to take it to the next level.”

“The big housing demand, coupled by the natural and good chemistry between Century Properties and Mitsubishi Corp., led us to a great milestone today – the signing of an agreement to form a joint venture company for affordable housing.

Mitsubishi general manager of Asean urban development department Hidetoshi Suzuki said: “This is not just for one project but for a long-term relationship that will make significant contributions in addressing the housing backlog in the Philippines.”

Economists at the Lao National Economic Research Institute made the recommendation in their March economic update, aiming to help the government find ways to reduce its subsidisation of state organisations.

Another option open to the government to improve its financial position is to turn underperforming state enterprises into state-private joint ventures. This would enable the government to access new sources of development funding.

According to a report from the Ministry of Finance, the government is facing a big challenge in collecting sufficient revenue to meet its expenditure needs. Over the first quarter of this year, the government was able to collect only 20 percent of its target figure.

In addition, public debt is rising as the country borrows money to finance infrastructure development. This poses a big challenge for the government’s attempts to stabilise national economic development, according to reports from the World Bank and IMF.

Economists believe that if the government could reduce its subsidy to underperforming enterprises or sell its shares to the private sector, its financial position would be better. The government would then have more funds at its disposal to finance its priority projects.

According to a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, there are about 135 state-owned enterprises in Laos with more than US$5 billion in assets. In recent years, the government sold its shares in major state-owned enterprises such as BCEL and EDL-Gen to the private sector.

The government is now planning to sell its shares in Lao Airlines so the national flag carrier can operate more efficiently and become more innovative and competitive.With regard to state financial sector reform, economists said the government should continue to identify sustainable sources of revenue. At present, a large proportion of the government’s revenue comes from the resources sector, such as mining, whose reserves will one day be exhausted.

As part of this reform, the government should also transform ways of balancing the budgets of local administrations.

Instead of providing financial support to local administrations that are facing a budget deficit, the government should encourage local authorities to maximise the use of their resources to generate revenue so they can become self-sufficient, the economists said.

They said the adoption of new financial management methods would not only strengthen the government’s financial position but also reduce its reliance on external funding and assistance.

The economists also suggested that private and state enterprises should be encouraged to adopt electronic transaction methods and pay taxes electronically. This would help the government to prevent further leaks of state revenue.

With regard to state financial sector reform, economists said the government should continue to identify sustainable sources of revenue. At present, a large proportion of the government’s revenue comes from the resources sector, such as mining, whose reserves will one day be exhausted. As part of this reform, the government should also transform ways of balancing the budgets of local administrations.

Instead of providing financial support to local administrations that are facing a budget deficit, the government should encourage local authorities to maximise the use of their resources to generate revenue so they can become selfsufficient, the economists said.

They said the adoption of new financial management methods would not only strengthen the government’s financial position but also reduce its reliance on external funding and assistance.

The economists also suggested that private and state enterprises should be encouraged to adopt electronic transaction methods and pay taxes electronically. This would help the government to prevent further leaks of state revenue.

“The Singapore authorities have cooperated extensively with their Malaysian counterparts on their past requests for information in relation to 1MDB-related transactions, and are fully prepared to extend further assistance.

Singapore has also taken swift action against financial institutions and individuals who have broken laws within our jurisdiction in connection with 1MDB-related fund flows,”|they said in the joint statement, in response to media queries.

This comes after Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this week that he expects prosecutors will soon have a strong case to charge former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over graft claims at state fund 1MDB. A previous government audit report on the fund was declassified on Tuesday.

Some US$4.5 billion has allegedly been misappropriated from 1MDB, with reports that about US$700 million had gone to Najib’s personal bank accounts. Meanwhile, the alleged mastermind Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low as he is known, is believed to be at large in either China or Thailand, a Straits Times report said.

MAS has fined eight banks a total of $29.1 million while Swiss private banks BSI and Falcon were shut down in Singapore and several persons jailed after a two-year extensive probe into 1MDB fund flows.

Industry insiders said the price could be attributed to a falling supply of imports from Vietnam, imports which they say have dominated the market for years.

According to Ly Laville, general manager of M’s Pig ACMC (Cambodia) Co Ltd, the pig farm of Mong Reththy Group, the price of pigs had been on a decline that started in mid-2015 until the recent uptick.

“Even if the pig price doubled, it still wouldn’t be welcomed by domestic farmers as they have been suffering for years,” he said, noting 30 percent of domestic farmers had already given |up during the long period of falling prices.

“Domestic farmers are waiting to see the market, how stable is it? They are scared to start raising pigs again,” he said. “Our livestock market is dependent on neighbouring markets, it is hard for [Cambodian] pig farmers to build trust ”.

He claimed that the start of the decline in 2015 was triggered when China stopped importing pigs from Vietnam, saying that cheap livestock then flooded into the Kingdom’s markets.

According to Laville, roughly 8,000 to 10,000 live pigs are sold each day nationwide, of which less than half were bred in Cambodia.

Chet Phirum, deputy director of Cambodia Livestock Raisers Association, said that pig market prices were responding to imports from the country’s neighbours.

“The price of pigs has increased because the price has increased in neighbouring countries.Our pig farmers don’t receive any benefit from that increase,” he said.