Vice President of the LFTU Simoun Ounlasy described the seriousness of the situation when speaking to Vientiane Times last week, saying that many workers have been exploited by their employers in various ways.

“People are being forced to work longer hours than the time stipulated by law. Some employees do not receive the pay they anticipated in line with the amount of work they do,” Simoun said.

“Some employers have not increased the minimum wage for their workers after the government issued a decree stipulating a higher minimum wage.”

One resident of Vientiane who works in a shop selling imported goods told Vientiane Times her employer delayed paying her wages for 15 days, meaning that if she wants to quit the job within this period, she would not be paid for those days.

Simoun said workers can send letters of complaint or call their trade union to report any form of unfair treatment so that the union can report the issue to the government.

He said some companies didn’t allow their workers to have the legal number of holidays.

Many employers still refuse to cooperate with trade unions by allowing them to enrol members in companies or factories as they fear the unions could interfere with their business operations and reduce their profits.

“From now on we will submit a list of the names of companies where labour oppression is reported or companies that do not cooperate with trade unions to the government and other relevant sectors, in the hope that the law will be enforced,” Simoun said.

Under the law relating to trade unions, employers must allow the establishment of a trade union in their business within six months of starting operations, but many companies have ignored the ruling.

Simoun said there were many challenges in protecting workers’ rights given that trade unions have been established in only 30 percent of more than 124,870 private businesses and enterprises operated by Lao citizens and foreigners in the country.

At present, Laos has over 551,200 labourers, of whom many are unskilled or have few skills. About 70 percent of them work in the industrial sector.

However, trade unions have been established in all ministries, government agencies and departments as well as at the provincial, district and grassroots levels and have almost 210,420 members. There are over 7,200 trade union units at the grassroots level.

The inflow of foreign investment has contributed greatly to the growth of the country’s economy, but has posed a challenge for the LFTU in carrying out its work as some operators often try to cut costs by not paying their workers properly.

From running indoor vertical vegetable farms that grow crops in stacked layers, to raising fitter fish that are robust against aquatic diseases, farmers here are finding ways to overcome the limitations of traditional farming.

Sustenir Agriculture, for example, is an indoor farm which currently produces about 54 tonnes of vegetables a year – an output which its founders consider highly efficient for a 344 sq m space.

Grown in rolling racks less than 3m tall, the plants are packed tightly together, allowing for maximum light absorption. Their modular design means the racks can be moved around easily and the concept can be replicated elsewhere.

“Traditionally, when people look at vertical farms, they haven’t been looking at them from an urban standpoint,” said the farm’s co- founder Martin Lavoo.

“Especially if they are farms of gigantic size, most of them are placed in the outskirts of the city or in relatively rural areas. We wanted to look at how we can put this in the middle of the city – say, Raffles Place – delivering straight into the heart of demand.”

The farm’s controlled conditions also allow them to grow imported varieties such as the Tuscan kale. “This means a lower carbon footprint – we won’t have to air-freight them from the United States or Europe,” said the other co-founder of Sustenir Agriculture, Benjamin Swan.

Since 2014, the farm has been producing vegetables such as kale and arugula.

Sustenir is based in an industrial facility in Admiralty.

Its vegetables absorb light from LEDs and are tube-fed with nutrients while carbon dioxide comes through the air-conditioning ducts.

Before anyone can enter the area where plants are grown, they have to don a jumpsuit and take an air shower to remove dirt particles to ensure that the vegetables are not contaminated. They are grown at temperatures ranging from 14 to 22 degrees Celsius.

It takes about two weeks for the produce to grow before it is harvested – about half the time needed for outdoor farms to grow vegetables under normal conditions. It is then sold to restaurants.

While the vegetables sell for S$19 per kilogram – about 10 per cent more than it would cost businesses to buy from wholesalers – both Swan and Lavoo say the quality is worth the price.

“The usability of our product is actually much higher because ours contain less stalk than those you see in supermarkets, for instance,” said Swan, adding that their vegetables can stay fresh for up to two weeks as they are locally produced.

According to figures from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) released last year, 10,848 tonnes of leafy vegetables consumed here in 2014 were produced locally – 12 per cent of Singapore’s total vegetable consumption that year. This was up from 7 per cent in 2010, meeting the AVA’s long- term target of 10 per cent.

Dr Jonatan A. Lassa, a Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, who researches food and environmental security issues, said that growing crops in a controlled environment can have several advantages, including a lower carbon footprint and less water wastage.

Both Swan, 35, who used to work as a regional project manager for Citibank, and Lavoo, 29, a former regional sales manager, said the concept of sustainability encouraged them to set up Sustenir Agriculture.

Half of the company’s 688 sq m facility is currently unused and there are plans to grow spinach and strawberries.

“The beauty of vertical farming is that the multiple is infinite,” said Lavoo. “We can go as many storeys up as we like. The sky is literally the limit.”

According to the agency, there are about 200 Thai projects in such industries, with combined investment of US$7 billion or 88 per cent of Thailand’s total investment in Vietnam.

These sectors are followed by agriculture, forestry and seafood sectors, which have 31 projects worth $235 million. The rest are in retail and construction sectors.

As the end of February this year, Thai businesses had invested in 428 projects in the country, with a total investment capital of $7.88 billion, ranking 11th among countries and territories that have invested the largest capital in Vietnam.

A Thai project was worth $18.4 million on average, about $14 million more than the average value of a foreign investment project in the country.

The southern Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province attracted the highest number of foreign direct investment projects from Thailand, worth $3.77 billion. It’s followed by the northern Vinh Phuc Province with projects worth $744 million and the southern Binh Duong Province with $513.4 million.

The statistics also showed that Thai joint venture investments comprised 70 per cent of Thailand’s registered investment in Vietnam, worth $5.5 billion.

Vietnam has become a favourite destination of many Thai billionaires in recent years, with many large projects and merger and acquisition transactions taking place in retail and consumption areas.

These include Thai company Berli Jucker’s (BJC’s) purchase of Metro Cash & Carry Viet Nam for more than $870 million; and Power Buy, a subsidiary of the Central Group of Thai billionaire Chirathivat, also acquired a 49 per cent share in New Solution and Technology Development Company NKT, the owner of Viet Nam’s leading retailer Nguyen Kim Trading JSC.

The framework was established by BNM and BOT to promote the use of Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht between Malaysia and Thailand to settle cross-border trade and direct investments.

This is the first bilateral currency settlement framework within Asean, with the aim of providing an alternative settlement framework for the US$22 billion trade between Malaysia and Thailand.

The framework would benefit businesses by reducing the risks associated with the volatility of global settlement currencies as well as lowering transaction costs.

CIMB Group chief executive Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said: “We are honoured to be part of this inaugural bilateral currency settlement framework within Aseanand to be among the first banks in the region to offer the direct settlement of ringgit and Baht. This is indeed a milestone to boost investment development and foster closer economic ties between the two countries.”

“This appointment is a validation of CIMB’s value proposition as a leading Asean universal bank, through our strong network in both countries, represented by 298 branches in Malaysia and 123 branches in Thailand. As such, we are well positioned to support the myriad of business needs of our customers and facilitate the currency cooperation effort. We look forward to participate in future cross currency arrangements with the other Asean countries in the future”, he said in a statement on Monday.

“Despite the fact that TMI is one of the top three news portals based on traffic in Malaysia, it did not receive enough commercial support to keep it going,” said group chief executive officer and publisher The Edge Communications Ho Kay Tat in a statement on Monday.

“In the 20 months since acquiring TMI in June 2014, TEMG has incurred losses of around 10 million ringgit (US$2.44 million) and we are no longer in a position to keep it going,” he said.

After announcing that TEMG would be disposing off TMI as part of a restructuring exercise, TEMG was approached by three external parties of whom all had existing media businesses and also an offer for a management buy-out (MBO).

“Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement with any of the external parties as well as for the MBO to take place,” he said.

“We believe the recent problems TMI had with The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had made it more difficult for a sale to be concluded even though discussions had started before that,” he added.

The whole TMI staff which consist of 59 people will be let go and will receive a severance package as required by law.

“The closure of TMI should serve as a reminder to those of us in the media industry as well as the public at large that good journalism cannot be sustained without commercial support. When good journalism stops, society is the loser,” he said.

Textiles and clothing remained the largest imported commodities from Laos making up 63 percent of total imports, growing by 8.1 percent, according to an EU report.

Coffee, the second largest import from Laos, accounted for 10.6 percent of total imports increasing by 33.3 percent, while sugar made up 4.8 percent of total exports from Laos experiencing unusually strong growth of 513.4 percent.

The large percentage increase in sugar exports was most likely due to it coming from a low base compared to the same period in year 2014.

The increase in Laos’ exports to the EU market could be linked to several factories in the Savan-Seno special economic zone in Savannakhet province beginning to export their products.

In the meantime, the EU’s total exports to Laos for the same period stood at 88.1 million euros, significantly decreasing by 36.1 percent.

The decrease may be linked to Laos becoming more regionally and globally integrated, with the nation sourcing products from more markets around the world.

Most of the key exports to Laos experienced moderate to sharp declines, including machinery, gems and jewellery, precious metals, pharmaceutical products, malt, starches, insulin, wheat gluten, electrical machinery and equipment. However, automotive parts, which represent 6.5 percent of EU exports to Laos, continued to enjoy robust growth of 107.7 percent.

Overall, the EU’s trade deficit with Laos widened to 186.4 million euros (from 133.2 million euros for the same period last year). The EU is the fourth largest investor in Laos after China, Thailand and Vietnam.

The EU works closely with Laos under the framework of the EU-Asean Cooperation Agreement to ensure an effective environment for trade and investment relations.

As a Least Developed Country, Laos benefits from the most favourable regime available under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences, namely the Everything But Arms scheme.

The Everything But Arms scheme gives the 48 Least Developed Countries – including Laos – duty free access to the EU for exports of all products, except arms and ammunition.

The EU is committed to fair trade and open markets. It is the world’s largest trading partner and the main destination for exports from 130 countries worldwide. It therefore has a strong interest in creating conditions in which trade can prosper.

Facilitating trade is also an important part of the EU’s strategy to foster development and reduce poverty.

The EU cooperation also helps Laos develop its trade policy and capacity so as to maximise economic development and poverty reduction as well as to integrate into the world economy.

Trade cooperation in this regard aims at improving market access on a preferential basis and assisting the beneficiary country in improving the structures and means of exploiting this ma rket access.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is leaning heavily on two of his allies in government, a move close advisers say is part of a wider campaign by the premier to quell a months-long revolt against his administration among powerful sections of the civil service.

Dr Zeti, 68, is set to retire at the end of next month after heading the central bank for 16 years.

For the moment, close aides to the premier say that the toss-up is between former assistant central bank governor Awang Adek Hussin, who is now Malaysia’s ambassador to the United States, and Abdul Wahid Omar, who is minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economic affairs.

A third person in the running for the post is the current deputy governor, Muhammad Ibrahim, who is the central bank’s preferred internal candidate.

Government officials say how the premier deals with the succession at Bank Negara Malaysia will provide clues on how he intends to instil greater discipline and loyalty among the roughly 1.6 million civil servants who have long been a key support base for the ruling Umno, which is the linchpin of the Barisan Nasional government.

The developments are also being closely watched because they represent part of Najib’s campaign to consolidate power after nearly being forced out of office in late July last year.

He successfully turned the tables on his political foes by seizing on the raw power of an incumbent premier in Malaysia. In rapid succession last July, he sacked his No. 2, Muhyiddin Yassin, from the Cabinet, and replaced Abdul Gani Patail, the country’s long-serving attorney-general.

Najib’s position today is unassailable. Just days ago, he demonstrated his widening political clout by removing political strongman Mahathir Mohamad, who has been heading the campaign against him, of the prestigious post as adviser of national oil corporation Petronas.

Last Saturday, the chiefs of 148 Umno divisions – more than three-quarters its 191 divisions – declared their loyalty to Najib. They condemned Dr Mahathir for working with opposition leaders in the Save Malaysia campaign to topple Najib.

But Najib, who also holds the finance minister portfolio, has moved very cautiously with Bank Negara.

“The PM believes that it is not about personalities but the institution,” said a Finance Ministry official.

Relations between the Najib administration and the Zeti-run central bank have been less than cordial over the past one year, largely because of the financial debacle at state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad and the controversy surrounding the flow of about US$700 million into the premier’s personal accounts in October 2013.

Close aides to Najib say that he has been upset with Bank Negara for failing to come to the government’s defence to clear up the issue of the deposits into his account, especially when the flows of such large amounts of funds would have required the necessary approvals from the central bank.

Bank Negara was one of the government agencies that was later roped in to probe the 1MDB fund flows.

The 68-year-old Zeti enjoys a strong following in the international investment community for her steady stewardship of the Malaysian banking system and monetary policy, which have been crucial in ensuring a stable domestic economy.

The financial markets will be looking for a replacement that will continue that tradition.

For some time, the well-spoken and media-savvy Awang – who has a PhD in economics from Zeti’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School – has been the front runner for the job. But close aides to the premier say that Awang had indicated last month that he would prefer to stay out of the race.

“You cannot say ’no’ to the PM and, at this point, he is the preferred choice,” said a government official who is familiar with Najib’s plans for top-level changes at the civil service.

Dr Awang is considered to be a very close ally of Najib.

Proponents of Dr Awang’s appointment say that his stint as ambassador to the US has made him a known entity with the international financial and diplomatic community. He also worked at Bank Negara for over a decade from 1985, handling banking supervision before becoming an assistant governor. “Awang knows the culture (at Bank Negara) and he is considered one of them,” said a senior aide to the premier.

With Awang less than enthusiastic for the job, Najib’s close aides say that former bankerAbdul Wahid has emerged as a back-up candidate.

Abdul Wahid, who at one-time served as the chief executive officer of Maybank, the country’s largest financial institution, also enjoys high regard among the international investing community. The only drawback with Abdul Wahid is that he has little experience in monetary policy, say bankers.

Close aides to the premier say that Muhammad Ibrahim, who is Bank Negara’s preferred candidate to replace Zeti, is in the shortlist because Najib is concerned about reactions from the international community.

“Bottom line, the PM will decide on who he thinks will be a set of safe hands and make sure that the thinking at Bank Negara is in line with his administration,” said a senior government official close to Najib.

We are here on that promise and our officials have been tasked to convert new trade and business ideas into tangible results that benefit the people of both countries, he added.

Further speaking the Thai deputy prime minister said,” “We discussed wide ranging issues at State level and are looking to triple our bilateral trade in the next five years. Private sectors of the two countries need to make all efforts to achieve the maximum benefit from this mutual cooperation. Our prime minister is committed to supporting Sri Lanka in its journey towards growth”.

“There are four main areas Thailand can help Sri Lanka to achieve its growth potential, “Firstly, industrial development, secondly adding value to small and medium industries (SMEs), thirdly, tourism and fourthly infrastructure and human development”, the Thailand deputy prime minister pointed out.

Thai Industry Minister Atchaka Sibunruang said, “Thai investors keen on investing overseas have identified high potential opportunities in Sri Lanka in agriculture, food processing, seafood products, basic infrastructure projects, tourism and hospitality, gem and jewellery and manufacturing of tech-devices. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan investors have the opportunity to invest in Thailand in industries such as natural rubber products, gems and jewellery, industrial chemicals and international trading activities”.

Daya Gamage, minister of Primary Industries said,” Our bilateral trade has declined over the past several years which stands at only US$ 500 million at present. It is geared to go up to US$1.5 billion in the next five years with the renewed efforts to boost our bilateral trade. Sri Lanka has to work towards ensuring that at least one third of that envisaged trade volume will account for exports from Sri Lanka to Thailand. While we urge Thai investors to invest in Sri Lanka, it’s important to mention that they will have the opportunity to sell their value-added goods to India and Pakistan benefitting from the Free Trade Agreements ( FTAs) Sri Lanka has with the two countries. India-Sri Lanka FTAallows Sri Lanka to export 4,200 products on zero duty while the FTA with Pakistan allows the same for 4,500 products”.

Sujeewa Senasinhe, State Minister for International Trade said the Bureau of Investment (BOI) and the EDB are doing everything they can to reap the maximum benefit from this renewed bilateral cooperation.

A large number of businesspeople from the two countries had the opportunity to forge business ties at this forum where Indira Malwatte, chairperson of the EDB was also present.

At present, there are more than 2,000 foreign workers in Champassak, including illegal workers who entered as tourists but have subsequently found work there and stayed on without legal documentation.

The provincial authorities began registering migrant workers over the years to address the issue while ensuring social order and protecting workers’ rights in anticipation of the Asean Economic Community coming into effect.

Most of the workers came from Vietnam and China, an official with the provincial Labour and Social Welfare Department said.

Department Director Khamsay Mueanluang told Vientiane Times on Friday that his staff would work closely with the provincial police to register about 200 migrant workers this year, up on last year’s figure of 100.

The migrant workers will pay an obligatory fee of 300,000 kip for three months or 1 million kip for one year visas to allow them to work in the province.

“Under the law, these workers should be repatriated. Their situations don’t meet the criteria required to submit a request for a work permit,” Khamsay said.

Khamsay said the workers needed to obtain the relevant documents before the deadline issued by authorities. If not, they might be repatriated.

He said many came to work for foreign-owned investment projects and had a legal work permit, but did not return home after the project finished and their documents expired.

The immigrants work mainly as hawkers, nail cutters and painters, beauticians, scrap metal collectors and buyers.

The provincial authorities plan to inform companies, factories and other business operators of their requirements in registering migrant workers, and companies would then provide a list of their foreign workers in accordan ce with the law, Khamsay added.

“The registering of foreigners for the year 2016 will start in the near future and the provincial authority expects to record at least 200 foreigners this year,” he said.

“The new measures are aimed at collecting information and identifying the number of foreigners working illegally so we can then assign resources to best regulate the situation and avoid the complexities of the past,” he added.

Khamsay called on everyone involved to cooperate in resolving the problem to make sure that foreign workers were registered.

It has been generally agreed that 2015 was a “bumper year” for Vietnam in terms of remittances, with HCM City alone receiving US$5.5 billion, slightly higher than the estimated $5.2 million.

This was also reflected in the impressive turnover recorded by remittance companies. Last year, Dong Á Money Transfer Company received $1.4 billion in overseas transfers and Sacombank’s Money Transfer divison posted a similar turnover of $1.5 billion.

In the first two months of this year alone, HCM City has received more than $900 million.

In spite of the strong growth, several experts say they are not so confident that remittances will be stable in the upcoming months and years.

Explaining their doubts, they say that the US Federal Reserve (FED) is likely to continue implementing its roadmap to increase the interest rate on the greenback, affecting the dong-dollar exchange rate, given that the State Bank of Vietnam has already decided to apply flexible adjustments based on market demand, and to reduce the interest rate on dollar deposits to zero per cent.

This would make overseas Vietnamese reluctant to transfer their savings to the country, since they would receive less benefits from the transfers, except in cases where they are investing in projects with high returns.

However, there are some experts expressing a contrary opinion, saying a significant growth in remittances is likely this year.

They say that the forex rate between dong and dollar would likely increase by three or five per cent this year, thus encouraging overseas Vietnamese to transfer more their savings to Vietnam to enjoy the benefits of a favourable exchange rate.

The clear recovery of the local real estate market, and the amended Housing Law that allows foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to own houses in Vietnam are also important factors likely to motivate overseas Vietnamese to transfer their money, they say.

The optimistic experts also say that the FED may delay its plan to increase the interest rate this year. They point to the Federal Open Market Committee’s observation that some main economic indicators of the US has slowed down recently as the US economy is impacted by financial and economic fluctuations of other major economies in the world.

For their part, domestic remittance companies say they expect a rather modest turnover growth of about 10 per cent this year.

For instance, the DongABank Money Transfer Company has set a target of $1.5 billion, just $100 million higher than last year.

Sacombank’s remittances turnover is estimated to grow by between 15 and 20 per cent, this year, bank officials say.