More than 1,900 small and medium enterprises have registered their interest to be involved in the DFTZ, surpassing the target of 1,500.

The overwhelming response is not surprising, as SMEs are eager to reach out to international markets through the DFTZ, an e-hub set up by Malaysia Digital Economy ration (MDEC) together with China’s Alibaba Group.

MCA president and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said an increase in export volume is expected with the DFTZ up and running.

Paving the way for the logistics sector to flourish are various development projects, such as the Special Border Economic Zone in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah (to draw cargo from southern Thailand to Penang Port), the expansion of Port Klang, the East Coast Rail Link, Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail and Sabah and Sarawak’s Pan Borneo Highway, Liow added.

In fact, MCA had mapped out 10 economic strategic directions and identified logistics and small traders as among the key areas to focus on back in September 2015.

The 10 economic strategic directions and the “Stronger Together” internal transformation programme are part of MCA’s information plan spearheaded by Liow when he took the helm in December 2013.

Four years on, Liow said, the efforts have resulted in a revamped, united party that is “cool” enough for youths.

“Youths had the impression that supporting the opposition was a cool thing. They felt uneasy supporting Barisan Nasional.

“We understand their feelings. We couldn’t penetrate the youths’ circle because unlike the Opposition, we wouldn’t resort to spreading sensational messages on social media that people love to share,” he said.

He said MCA has improved on its reserved and traditional ways by ging members to be more active on social media.

As former Youth chief, Liow said he understands that youths are full of idealism and want to be part of nation-building, but the Opposition takes advantage of this by giving the false impression that supporting them is to play the role of checks and balances with the Government.

“In actual fact, MCA is performing the function of checks and balances in Barisan and the government.

“When you join the party, you are able to ensure government resources are channelled to help the community and the youths,” he said, adding that this is more effective than just spouting empty rhetoric outside the government.

MCA has long emphasised education and training for youths through Tunku Abdul Rahman University, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, VTAR Institute and the Institute of Childhood Education Studies and Community Education, he said.

The party’s commitments are not confined to Malaysian shores either, Liow added.

It has actively developed external relations by becoming part of the standing committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties and forging close ties with China’s ruling party, the Communist Party of China (CPC).

It also set up the MCA Belt and Road Centre, which is recognised by the CPC as an important bridge between the two countries on Belt and Road cooperation, he said.

Liow noted that the party has successfully attracted more young members to be part of its big family.

There have been 66,093 new members recruited since 2013, bringing the total number of party members to 1.09 million.

About 40 per cent of the new members – 26,533 people – are below 40 years old.

If the numbers are anything to go by, the additions suggest that joining MCA is a cool thing to do for these people, Liow said.

The total revenue from retail sales and services topped US$142.9 billion during the first 10 months of 2017, surging 10.7 per cent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Excluding inflation, the increase would be 9.4 per cent, reaching the highest rate this year, GSO said. It was the second consecutive month with a growth rate of more than 9 per cent.

The growth showed that people’s purchasing power is improving and it is likely to remain stable this year, the office said.

Travel services, and sale of wooden products and building materials showed the highest growth rate at 15.2 per cent and 13.5 per cent, respectively, in the first 10 months of this year.

This was followed by retail sales in accommodation, restaurant and catering services with a growth rate of 12.5 per cent, revenue from food and foodstuffs showed a growth of 10.5 per cent, and education and cultural products of 9.9 per cent.

Other products that showed growth in revenue included textile and garments at 9.8 per cent, home appliances at 8.8 per cent, and transport services at 8.4 per cent. – Viet Nam News

New facility to spur export potential of Lao brands

The Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) has launched the Branding Lao Promotion and Development Facility (BLPDF) to promote the uniqueness of Lao products and gain greater access to international consumers.

The facility is a collaboration between the LNCCI and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the theme “Brand Lao for Better Livelihoods”.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Somchith Inthamith, said Laos’ economy has been growing for several years.

Growth has been primarily driven by the non-agricultural sector through the export of natural resources, either extracted minerals or energy via hydropower.

But this has not resulted in much employment and livelihood creation.

The agriculture sector employs about 70 per cent of the population, but it is a sector characterised by low productivity and high vulnerability. – The Vientiane Times

Cheap flights to SEA Countries from Vietnam

Vietnam’s national carrier Vietnam Airlines has launched a promotional programme named “Flying to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore” with preferential prices of only 799,000 dongs (US$35.2) per ticket from Vietnam .

The programme offers attractive fares for regular travellers from Vietnam and will end on March 31, 2018.

When the customer buys two or three economy class tickets at the same time, the price of the second ticket will be reduced by up to 30 per cent and the price of the third ticket can be discounted by up to half of the price of the first ticket. These tickets must all have the same customer name, with the same itinerary, and the conditions are applicable for travel from now until the promotional programme ends.

Passengers have a variety of flight options on Vietnam Airlines to these destinations, with frequencies of one to two daily flights to Malaysia, five flights per day to Singapore and six flights per day to Thailand. – Viet Nam News

It is one of the contents in the Circular No 102/2017/TT-BTC, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding a number of articles of Decree No 03/2017/N-CP on casino businesses, which will take effect from December 1, 2017.

Accordingly, Vietnamese nationals gambling at casinos must prove that they have one of the following types of documents: documents proving that their income is taxable at level 3 or higher, as prescribed in the Law on Personal Income Tax within one year before playing at a casino or documents proving a regular income of 10 million dongs per month or more.

For casino businesses, the circular stipulates that enterprises must open books or issue electronic cards to monitor the people who are allowed to enter the casino.

The monitoring book or electronic cards must ensure control of people entering and exiting the casino, and must be archived for a minimum period of two years to aid the inspection and examination process of the State management agencies.

Particularly for enterprises permitted to allow Vietnamese to play at a casino, the Vietnamese-based monitoring book must be archived for a minimum period of five years to aid the purpose of reviewing and evaluating the pilot project, in accordance with regulations.

At the same time, casino enterprises are responsible for collecting and accounting separately the proceeds from the fare sales. The firms which are permitted to let Vietnamese players enter, may declare the number of Vietnamese people who buy tickets and then pay the proceeds from the sale of the tickets to the state budget. The time limit for submission shall be the same as the time of temporary payment of corporate income tax, according to the regulations of the tax legislation.

Indonesia will send 23 officials from the Trade Ministry to China to study the market in the country as part of a two-week workshop on trade promotion as officials try to reduce Indonesia’s trade deficit with the country.

The workshop’s programme has been tailored specifically to boost Indonesian exports to China, said the Trade Ministry’s secretary general for export development, Ari Satria, adding that the event |would take place from November 3 to 17.

In addition to attending classes, the officials would also go on site visits to facilities relevant to the goal of the workshop, he added.

Data from the Trade Ministry shows that Indonesia posted a trade deficit of US$8.4 billion with China during the period from January to August this year, slightly better than $9.9 billion deficit recorded in the same period last year. – The Jakarta Post

AirAsia X carries more passengers in Q3

AirAsia X Bhd, (AAX) carried 1.49 million passen In its preliminary operating statisAirAsia X, the long-haul low cost airline affiliate of the AirAsia Bhd, said its capacity rose 21 per cent to 1.88 million versus 1.56 million previously.

“The growth in passengers carried is made possible with strong demand amongst Malaysians during end of August, when the National Day long weekend coincided with the Term 2 school holiday and Eid celebration in Malaysia,” AAX said in a statement.

Its passenger load factor (PLF) improved to 79 per cent , up one percentage point year-on-year, on the back of 18 per cent year-on-year growth in available seat kilometres to 9,135 million.

On the associates, AirAsia X Thailand had been able to record a robust PLF of 86 per cent, up one percentage point as compared to 85 per cent a year ago. During the quarter under review, AirAsia X Thailand carried 359,941 passengers, up 3.2 per cent year-on-year. – The Star

Yamaha introduces electric motorcycle

Motorcycle manufacturer PT Yamaha Indonesia (YIMM) introduced its electric motorcycle on Wednesday.

YIMM president director Minoru Morimoto explained that his company had a long history in developing the electric motorcycle, saying that it had introduced its electric motorcycle, the Yamaha Passol, in 2002.

“We introduced [the motorcycle] to the market in Indonesia,” said Minoru in Jakarta on Wednesday as reported by kontan.co.id.

He said next month, Yamaha would cooperate with four institutions, Kebun Raya Bogor, Pelita Harapan University (UPH), PT Mitsubishi Motors Krama Yudha Sales Indonesia (MMKSI) and The Breeze BSD, to carry out a market trial for the vehicles.

Meanwhile, YIMM vice president director Dionisius Betty explained that the product would not be put on the market during the trial. “It is not difficult to produce and market the electric motorcycles. But we will first pay serious attention to its safety features,” Dionisius said. – The Jakarta Post

Laos to boost foreign reserve management

The Bank of the Lao PDR will boost cooperation with commercial banks and enterprises to improve the management of money flow, aiming to comply with the regulations on the control of foreign reserves and strengthen the process.

Responding to questions from National Assembly members during the ongoing debate session last week, Deputy Governor of the Bank of the Lao PDR Vattana Dalaloy said foreign reserves had remained stable over the last few years in keeping with economic mechanisms.

In 2015, reserves stood at US$986.8 million, falling to US$814 million in 2016 and rising to US$958.7 million in the first six months of this year, she reported.

According to economic theory, the rise and fall of foreign currency reserves should equal the increase and decrease in foreign transactions. – Vientiane Times

The move will see mm2 acquire Cathay Cineplexes’ eight cinemas across Singapore, comprising 64 screens, or 11,569 seats. The mainboard-listed company said it would retain employees of Cathay Cineplexes.

The deal to buy Cathay Cineplexes comes after Hong Kong’s Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings) blocked mm2’s bid to take a 50 per cent stake in Singapore’s Golden Village cinema business in a deal valued at S$184 million (Bt4.48 billion).

The acquisition, mm2 Asia said in a pre-market filing, is a “strategic investment by the group in line with the group’s overarching strategy to diversify into the downstream value chain of film production”, and will be funded entirely through internal funds and borrowings.

It will pay S$230 million in cash for the acquisition comprising a S$15 million deposit, with the remaining S$215 million to be paid six months after the deal’s closure.

Cathay has issued and paid-up share capital of S$5 million comprising five million ordinary shares, 48.85 per cent of which are owned by Equus Holdings, and 51.15 per cent owned by Choo Meileen, Cathay’s managing director and the granddaughter and niece of Cathay Organisation’s founders.

The consideration takes into account Cathay’s adjusted earnings before interest depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of S$16.66 million for the financial year ended December 31, 2016, and estimated future revenue of S$21 million from Cathay’s new seven-screen Parkway Parade complex, which began operations in September this year.

The intrinsic value for the Cathay Cineplexes brand was also taken into account, estimated to be between S$24 million and S$30 million.

In the announcement, mm2 said that the group’s cinema business acquisitions were undertaken to add an additional source of recurring income and growth, and in July this year, it received shareholder approval to diversify into the cinema management and operations business. Aside from the impending deal, the group has also completed the acquisition of cinema-related businesses in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Executive chairman of mm2 Asia, Melvin Ang said that the Cathay name was very much a part of Singapore’s history, and that he wants to “zealously protect” the Cathay Cinemas’ legacy, and realise Choo Meileen’s vision for Cathay Cinemas to be “one of the major film exhibitors in the Asian market”.

UEM Edgenta managing director and CEO Datuk Azmir Merican said the disposal would strengthen the group’s balance sheet and allow the company to focus on organic growth moving forward.

“Following the disposal of OIC, we will focus on streamlining our operations and drive organic growth by reallocating our resources in three core areas, namely healthcare, infrastructure and real estate,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after the company’s shareholders meeting yesterday.

UEM Edgenta plans to utilise the bulk of the proceeds to pare down its debt from last year’s acquisition.

About 415.2 million ringgit of the proceeds will be used for repayment of borrowings and to significantly pare down UEM Edgenta’s gearing to 0.22 times from 0.64 times.

The remainder of the proceeds will be used for working capital and the disposal of asset expenses. Azmir said he expects the disposal to be completed by the end of the year.

When asked about a potential special dividend, he said the decision will be made upon completion of the proposed disposal.