The joint venture, to be called Lao K-tech Co, will be established this year. The new company will be located at Dongphosy village in Hadxaifong district, Vientiane.

The joint venture agreement was signed on March 4 by Lao State Fuel Deputy Directors Anousinh Pholsena and Phaiboun Phomphaphithack, TN Energy Chairman Myung Jai Yoon and President Joo Kyung Choi.

In the first year, the two companies will work together to survey areas for growing the raw materials, especially cassava and sugarcane, for use in producing bioethanol.

To meet its needs, the companies will plant 40 percent of the raw material, while the rest will be bought from local farmers at the current market price.

In addition, some other mixed raw materials, especially the main substance called Rod, a multifunctional additive, will be imported from Korea during the first or second year of production.

TN Energy has invested US$34 million in the project and expects to produce 1.2 million litres of Power Gasoline a mont h once the project is up and running.

In turn, Lao State Fuel will be responsible for allocating locations and storage space as well as finding markets to sell the product.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Lao State Fuel Technical Staffer Phoukhong Keolakhone said the idea to establish the new company came after seeing the progress made in producing and using Power Gasoline during a pilot project carried out in 2013.

He Highlighted that the project was a cooperation between the Lao State Fuel Company and Korea’s TN Energy Company.

During the pilot project, TN Energy imported ethanol, naphtha and Rod to make Power Gasoline in Laos. After that, the two companies were able to produce 500 litres of Power Gasoline to meet the national standard.

Phoukhong explained that the two companies ran trials using the Power Gasoline on two types of new car both running in Vientiane and the provinces.

The trial showed that the car used 133 litres to cover a distance of 1,270km in Vientiane and used 46 litres to cover 663km from Vientiane to Pakxe.

Phoukhong added that the cars were checked using a computer system at the Kolao Group centre after using the Power Gasoline, saying “The results of the checks were satisfactory because the quality of the biogas matched the national standard.”

To realise this, CEO Malek Mattar, 55, is forging partnerships abroad, using technology and making sure all the staff pull in the same direction. Having a well-defined job scope, an open line of communication and fair incentives go a long way in motivating workers.

Q What does your business do?

A Broadly, we are a service provider to firms, a halal value-chain platform, looking at how we can assist emerging SMEs in the halal food industry to expand and grow. We currently work extensively in Malaysia, which has a big and growing halal food industry. We also have a presence in Japan, advising Japanese food manufacturers interested in getting into the halal food sector.

Apart from such services, My Outlets also operates all-halal supermarkets in Singapore (My Outlets Global Halal Hub) and in Dongguan, China (EFH MyOutlets), which was opened recently.

Through our supermarkets, we provide the physical platform for small companies to sell their products, give them exposure and opportunity to grow locally. Some of them may find it hard to put their products in the big supermarkets, so we give them that store frontage.

Q How many supermarkets do you have in Singapore?

A Currently, we are only in Woodlands. We consolidated our operations recently and shut outlets in Bishan and Ubi. That enabled us to double the space of the outlet at Primz Bizhub in Woodlands Close to about 7,000 sq ft. This was also the result of a productivity consultancy which was done with the Singapore Productivity Centre in which we fine-tuned our operations.

We are still a small company with 16 employees in Singapore.

Q What are the key challenges to growing your business?

A Attracting and retaining staff remains a challenge; it’s not just us, businesses in other sectors are experiencing it too. Our staff retention rate is about 88 per cent.

In retail, the hours are long. We try to keep the working environment friendly to retain staff. It’s a family-oriented environment. There are no rigid systems, employees are encouraged to manage their own work. We try not to micro manage, so as to give the workers room to breathe.

We also conduct employee satisfaction surveys, and improve financial and non-financial incentives.

Employee satisfaction for My Outlets came in at 84.4 per cent, based on a Singapore Productivity Centre survey. There were 13 dimensions to this survey, including career development, relations with colleagues, working hours, and evaluation and promotion.

Q How are the points awarded for the incentive programme?

A Staff earn points that are pegged to the sales turnover as well as their roles and performance. It’s a transparent approach – everyone can see the sales numbers.

The incentive is variable and fluctuates according to the sales performance. Management-level staff will get more points. For example, a manager will be given five points for monthly sales of $200,000. For each point earned, he gets $200. So the manager will receive $1,000 for the month, plus his basic salary. This is on top of other perks like carpark and phone allowances.

Q What forms of training do you provide to your staff?

A We participate in different programmes, such as ad hoc seminars by the Singapore Malay Chamber Of Commerce and Industry, and retail management course at the Singapore Productivity Centre. We are a small company, so some of the training is conducted in-house. We also have motivational talks.

We plan to send employees for the Workforce Skills Qualifications System for Retail (Retail WSQ), courses on customer service and inventory management.

What is important is to have open communication. For example, we have group chat on WhatsApp with all the staff – separate groups for different things, so everyone can share their ideas.

We also do a “table-talk” session, whenever issues come up. This will allow matters to be resolved quickly, leaving no room for resentment to fester.

Q How do you ensure the business operates efficiently and productively?

A Technology plays a big part in this. In September, we invested about $80,000 to develop a Retail Plan Portal, which provides real- time sales and inventory monitoring to the SMEs.

They can log in and check on how their products are selling, which ones are moving fast. And for those that are not selling well, perhaps they want to replace them with other products. They also have access to CCTV footage of the store, so they can see what’s going on.

It improves work flow and we have more data on sales, which benefits our suppliers too. We are looking at revamping our website soon.

Q What are the growth plans for the firms outside of South-east Asia?

A I think we need to take advantage of the rapid growth of the halal food demand in North Asia. We set up the EFH MyOutlets with our partners in Dongguan in November. This year, we aim to open many more branches in China, most likely in second-tier cities in the western part of China where there’s a larger Muslim population.

We have been operating in Japan for a year now. My Outlets carries some of the 20 to 30 halal products that Japanese companies are exporting. Some companies ask us to provide advice on what sells and what doesn’t. The taste may not be suitable, the price point may also be too exorbitant. So that’s where we come in and give them advice.

In fact, we just started working with Korean companies, which are exploring halal cosmetics. These may be products that do not use animal ingredients.

Q What is the demand for halal food and how big is the market?

A The halal food industry is on a growth spurt; the global demand for halal food is expected to hit US$2.1 trillion (S$2.9 trillion) this year. This can be a bright spot for Singapore.

Last year, Malaysia exported RM40 billion (S$13.5 billion) worth of halal products. This year it is expected to be about RM50 billion. We can be part of this halal supply chain and put Singapore on the halal map. What we hope to do is to establish Singapore as a gateway for halal products, a global halal hub. This can be the next pillar of growth for Singapore.

The new airline will be named VASCO and has a minimum charter capital of 300 billion Vietnamese dong (US$13.43 million) and about 10 airplanes.

Vietnam Airlines will hold 51 per cent of the venture, while the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Banks (Techcombank) will have a 49 per cent stake.

As soon as the airline is established, Techcombank will make an initial investment of VND147 billion, while Vietnam Airlines will provide aircraft and other assets worth about VND157 billion.

Vietnam Airlines said the assets will be valued by the Vietnam Valuation and Finance Consultancy Jsc (VVFC) under the Ministry of Finance.

A representative from Techcombank will be appointed as VASCO’s chairman, while the Chief Executive Officer of VASCO will be from Vietnam Airlines.

In its first stages, VASCO will continue to operate ATR72 aircrafts on domestic routes not capable of handling jet airplanes, such as to Con Dao, Cà Mau, Rach Gia and Dien Bien.

The move comes as Vietnam Airlines continues to lose its domestic market share to the low-cost VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co Currently, Vietnam Airlines also holds 70 per cent of stake in another low-cost carrier, Jetstar Pacific Airlines.

According to the International Air Transport Association, Vietnam is expected to become one of the world’s top 10 fastest growing aviation markets in the next two decades.

UOB’s clients will have an opportunity to broaden their investments into OurCrowd’s portfolio companies,

Through this collaboration, innovative Asian companies with differentiated and highly scalable technology products and services will now get access to another source of funding through OurCrowd’s equity crowdfunding platform. Through equity crowdfunding, they can seek relatively small investments from a large number of investors in return for equity or shares in their start-up company. It provides them with the funding needed to develop their concepts, products and services into viable business models. Moreover, they can also tap into OurCrowd’s global investor network to jumpstart their international expansion and business development.

“As Singapore’s largest SME bank with an extensive regional network, UOB has deep experience from its long-standing support of entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs. This collaboration with OurCrowd is a natural extension of our interest in nurturing the growth of small businesses,” said Janet Young, head of Group Channels and Digitalisation, UOB.

“SMEs are the foundation of Asian economies, providing high levels of employment. However, it can be challenging for small businesses to obtain financing, particularly equity financing, in the early stages of growth. Because of this, UOB has partnered with OurCrowd, to connect smart ideas with smart money.”

This collaboration is OurCrowd’s first foray into Asia and represents a significant step towards developing the financial technology ecosystem in the region.

To OurCrowd Founder and CEO Jon Medved, the collaboration represents a huge step forward for OurCrowd and the Asian tech ecosystem.

“Together, we will empower scores of new entrepreneurs and match them with global investors and mentor networks. The beauty of crowdfunding OurCrowd style is that the investor in Asia can now access quality deal flow in Israel, Silicon Valley and beyond, while a Singapore entrepreneur can easily gain top notch global backing.”

Sassoon Investment Corporation (SassCorp), the private investment holding company of the Singapore-based Sassoon family, is also partnering and investing in the first leg of OurCrowd’s Asian expansion.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Maybank Nongduang Branch, Deputy Governor of the Bank of the Lao PDR Vatthana Dalaloy said the new branch would attract more Malaysian companies to invest in Laos in the years ahead.

“In 2012, the first branch of Maybank opened in Laos and was successful, enjoying an increase in assets and capital, so the opening of a second branch will enable the banking sector in Laos to supply the needs of customers in providing funds,” she said.

Vatthana said the new branch would also serve to boost trade between Laos and Malaysia in the years to come.

Chairman of Maybank Tan Sri Dato’ Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor, Maybank International CEO Pollie Sim, and the Ambassador of Malaysia to Laos Dr Than Tai Hing were present at the opening ceremony along with other invited guests.

According to a senior Maybank official, the newly-opened branch will further strengthen Maybank’s presence in the Indochina region and enhance its ability to meet the banking needs of customers, particularly the growing investor base.

Last year, the Lao economy saw strong inflows of foreign investment projects amounting to over US$1.26 billion, mainly in the hydropower and transportation sectors.

Meanwhile Maybank anticipates that this newly-opened branch will boost the growth in loans and deposits by over 70 percent and 100 percent respectively by the end of this year and also support the increasing trade between Asean and L aos.

Two years ago, Malaysia was ranked the ninth largest foreign investor in Laos with projects worth more than US$382.2 million. However, the latest update of investment projects operated by Malaysian investors has not yet been released.

The establishment of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) last year offers great potential for the development of the Lao economy as many investors from Asean countries are seeking ways to boost their support for Laos as one of the region’s fastest expanding economies.

The event was organised by the US Embassy and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST).

Vietnam was willing to learn from pioneering countries for the purpose of connecting different sources to support innovation and entrepreneurship incubation and widening the network to keep pace with the latest technological trend in the world, Traàn Vaên Tuøng, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology spoke at the conference.

As the US is home to thousands of the world’s leading high-tech corporations, through such events as the Innovation Roadshow 2016, Vietnam is expected to promote networking between the US and Vietnamese companies, the deputy minister said.

“With more intense co-operation between the US and Vietnam, we do hope that Vietnam’s start-up ecosystem will be more effective, focussed and efficient to bring about valuable opportunities for the start-up community in the country,” Tuong said.

MoST is developing the legal framework for venture investment and start-up accelerators together with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as well as implementing the national project for supporting the start-up ecosystem for new innovative enterprises till the year 2025, according to the deputy minister.

“This is a big opportunity for us to listen, experience and connect with big technology companies from the US,” Traan Minh Son, co-founder of Lozi, a Vietnamese mobile application for sharing food and drinks, said to Vietnam News.

Ted Osius, the US ambassador to Vietnam, said at the conference that the history of the US economic growth was founded on incredible innovation and creativity and as President Barack Obama said, it was essential for the future of the US to maintain its role as the world’s engine of innovation.

However, innovation was not just essential to the future of the US, it was also vital to Vietnam’s future, he emphasised.

“We are here today to foster and promote the incredible growth in the start-up community in Vietnam,” he added.

David Thorne, the senior advisor to the US Secretary of State, spoke at the event that this Roadshow was important for energising entrepreneurship as they were building up the Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be held in Silicon Valley this summer.

The summit will showcase inspiring entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors from around the world.

“We are looking forward to having strong representation from Asean, especially Vietnam,” he said.

Mitsubishi Estate plans to draw on its experience of developing Tokyo’s Marunouchi into a world-class business district to create a Myanmar version in Yangon. The company is also planning similar projects in other Southeast Asian nations.

Mitsubishi Estate is looking into a 40,000-square-metre site in front of Yangon’s central railway station, which serves as a gateway to Yangon. The district is currently filled with dilapidated offices and other buildings.

Mitsubishi Estate is working with Mitsubishi Corp. and a local real estate firm in Myanmar for the project, which is now under way, to build multiple high-rise buildings that will house offices, commercial facilities, apartments and hotel accommodations. The total project is estimated to cost about 50 billion yen.

Myanmar is facing real estate development woes, including office shortages stemming from its rapid economic growth. The landscape of the Marunouchi district in front of Tokyo Station, which was rapidly developed from the Meiji era (1868-1912) through the rapid postwar growth period, has been cited as a good model for the Yangon development project.

Marunouchi grew into a town that attracts many visitors as a gateway to Japan, home to the offices of leading companies as well as retail stores, restaurants and hotels.

Mitsubishi Estate is aiming to work on similar development projects in other South Asian countries by promoting its approach to build complex facilities on prime urban real estate.

“We will export our urban development system,” Mitsubishi Estate President Hirotaka Sugiyama told The Yomiuri Shimbun. “The Yangon project will be an opportunity to introduce our approach.”

Investment rising sharply

Investment in Myanmar has sharply risen since the country made its transition in 2011 from military rule to a democratic government.

According to the Japan External Trade OrganiSation, foreign investment in fiscal 2014 stood at $8 billion — twice as much as the previous fiscal year.

Japan-affiliated firms have entered into business in Myanmar one after another during its economic expansion period. There are now more than 280 companies belonging to the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Myanmar. Buildings are rapidly sprouting up, concentrated in the Yangon area. There are also more and more businesspeople visiting Myanmar, resulting in expensive rent for office buildings even for Southeast Asia as well as relatively high hotel charges.

But for some so-called old-fashioned entrepreneurs, the blue-print is in their head.

And when they talk about business, they are likely to touch on the importance of working hard, having a good relationship with customers and ensuring there’s food on the table for the family — all practical and down-to-earth concerns.

This certainly describes Chee Kwai Fong, 51, the managing director of Hup Seng Sanitary Wares and Asher Sanitary Wares.

Speaking at their factory in Batang Berjuntai, Selangor, Chee says she and her husband started the sanitary ware business when they saw the opportunity to generate a better income to pay for the needs of the family.

“My husband started as a lorry driver transporting fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from oil palm estates. We had four children to bring up at the time. He had dealings with a Japanese sanitary ware manufacturer in Ijok and started to enquire if he could become a distributor of their products,” she remembers.

Her husband was then helping the company to transport its products to various hardware stores, as well as disposing of their manufacturing waste.

His request got the nod, and in 1993, the couple set up Perniagaan Hup Seng as a sole proprietorship.

They commenced operations from the family home in Ijok, with the car porch serving as a warehouse. It was very basic, to say the least, but they were off to a hopeful new start.

As they didn’t have much capital, the manufacturer offset some of the transportation fees owed to them, amounting to some 5,000 ringgit (US$1,224), and gave her husband the stocks with which to launch the business.

“I was helping to take orders while taking care of the children, while my husband would go out to do sales. We also hired a lorry driver to transport the sanitary ware,” recalls Chee, who came to be known as Mrs Lim to the customers.

Her husband, she says, took the business seriously. Even when he was hospitalised before his passing in 2011, he told her: “You don’t need to spend so much time visiting me at the hospital. Please look after the business.”

And that, she certainly has done.

These days, the business has grown by leaps and bounds. The move into manufacturing in 2000 has paid off handsomely, and they have their hands full just trying to meet the demands in the Malaysian market.

Looking back, Chee says it has been a fulfilling journey and the sacrifices have been worth it with all her four children now helping to grow the business.

“I am happy that they all have a good education, graduating in the fields of accountancy, psychology, marketing and information technology. But they chose to come back to help grow the business as they understand the hard work their father put into it and want to continue his legacy,” she says.

Of course, it has been a long and winding road to get their sanitary ware business to where it is today.

The business grew mainly on good relationship. As Chee says: You must be able to entertain clients’ queries with a happy voice and positive attitude towards the client. Always.

This was how they were able to widen their client base, supplying to various hardware shops — from Penang all the way to Singapore.

From the lone one-tonne lorry they had in the beginning, they went on to add a three-tonne lorry and hired another driver.

In 1996, they set up a private limited company, Hup Seng Sanitary Wares. A year later, they set up a showroom at Bandar Baru Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, and followed it up with one in Taipan, USJ and Klang, Selangor.

They also opened a showroom in Johor Jaya, Johor.

“As our number of clients increase, the supplier began to have difficulty coping with our requests. Also, there were many internal policies that slowed our orders.

“This prompted us to think about setting up our own manufacturing plant in 1999,” she says.

The decision led to to the establishment of Asher Sanitary Wares. The manufacturing venture required an investment of about 3 million ringgit.

After a full year of preparations, during which time they hired a sanitary ware manufacturing specialist to set up the manufacturing lines for water closet, basin, squatting pan, urinals and others, as well as secure their material suppliers, they fired up their three-acre manufacturing plant in Batang Berjuntai, Selangor.

Asher had a workforce of 40 at the time, and it made eight products. Today, with 60 people on the payroll, it makes about 50 products, churning out some 10,000 pieces of sanitary ware every day.

The company’s products cater mainly to the local market, with their customers comprising hardware shops, property developers, and contractors of public infrastructure (schools, for example).

“We also export to five countries, including New Zealand and Australia. And in some cases, we serve as an original equipment manufacturer,” Chee says.

Chee is quite the businesswoman. She is the one who juggles revenue and cost, taking into account labour, material and equipment.

“No matter what we do, we must meet all the requirements set by the clients and regulatory bodies. One of the things that we do not cut corners on is the mould, which we change every three months to ensure that the quality of our products are maintained,” she stresses.

The company is also naturally a distributer of plumbing fittings such as taps and flush valves. It’s a natural outgrowth and helps to serve their clients better.

Moving forward, the company is targeting to increase its production capacity, and to this end, has purchased a shuttle kiln (a high-performance furnace used for heat-treatment purposes).

“This will allow us to increase our production lines from 16 presently to 22,” Chee points out.

Despite the company’s growth, Chee still makes time to attend to her customers, answering their queries and entertaining requests. Sometimes when things get too technical for her customers, she simply says: “Please pass me to your plumber.”