“Due to the enormous amount of construction works, we are first concentrating on building toll roads. [With the better leverage], the toll developments will not depend on the state budget,” she said after a limited meeting regarding the SOE holding company at the State Palace on Monday.

According to the SOE holding companies roadmap, the ministry will establish holding companies in every strategic business sector, including the mining sector, financial sector, renewable energy sector and construction sector.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo encouraged SOEs to not only act as the engine of the national economy, but to also provide multiplier effects and be more competitive globally.

“The President has called for the development of the holding company to be carried out carefully, and seriously, with attention to efficiency and coordination. And to also make state-owned companies more efficient and agile, and free of non-professional practices,” he explained.

Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran signed an Agreement on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments, also known as a bilateral investment treaty, with Iran’s Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Ali Tayyebnia in Teheran yesterday (February 29).

Singapore is the second country, after Japan, to sign a bilateral investment treaty with the Middle Eastern nation after international sanctions were lifted in mid-January.

“We are here now to deepen the economic collaboration between our two countries,” Iswaran told the media after the ceremony.

“We see significant opportunities to do so because of the size of the market in Iran and in the region, and the capabilities of the people.

“For Iranian businesses, there are interesting opportunities in Singapore and through Singapore into Southeast Asia and the larger market of Asia,” he added.

Iswaran arrived in Teheran on Sunday for a three-day visit to explore new business and investment opportunities. His trip coincides with a one-week mission by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) to the Iranian capital.

Iswaran also met Iranian Minister of Industries and Business Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh and Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei.

With this agreement, Singapore investments will be treated as favourably in Iran as any other investments – foreign or local. And businesses can transfer capital and returns between the two countries without obstacles.

The treaty also provides Singapore investors with the option to resolve investment disputes through international arbitration.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry said Singapore’s bilateral trade with Iran was S$6.6 billion (US$4.70 billion) in 2011, before the sanctions were imposed. It fell to S$2.6 billion in 2012, after the sanctions kicked in. Last year, trade stood at S$171.4 million, with Singapore exporting S$158 million worth of goods to Iran, while imports from Iran to Singapore amounted to S$13.4 million.

Singapore firms have shown renewed interest in the oil-rich country, which is just re-opening its doors after a prolonged period of under-investment.

A total of 51 firms from various sectors, including oil and gas, petrochemicals, logistics and information communications technology, have been in Teheran since last Friday, gaining first-hand knowledge about the business environment and investment opportunities.

This is the SBF’s fifth delegation to Iran, and the largest group that it has taken to the Middle East so far.

The delegation comprises two main groups – companies that were previously doing business in Iran and are now seeking to re-establish dealings after the lifting of the sanctions, and companies that are completely new to the market.

“Singapore companies are known for our quality, reliability and the service we deliver… but competition is greater than before and others are running very fast,” said Teo Siong Seng, SBF chairman and leader of the business mission.

Singapore businesses are facing stiff competition from South Korean and European companies, which are pursuing deals in Iran, he noted.

According to the Teheran Times, South Korea on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran to provide 5 billion euros (US$5.44 billion) in financing for infrastructure, development and manufacturing projects in the country.

Many of these businesses tend to be bold and are willing to put in huge investments. Singapore companies, however, tend to be more careful, said Teo.

(US$1 = S$1.40)

“This year, a decision has to be made and refineries must be built. Any country with a crude oil supply is welcomed. We need to have bigger stocking capacity here so that the supply chain can be shortened and we no longer need traders,” Jokowi said.

In the past years, the country had several plans to build new refineries. However, the attempts fell through, usually over financial issues.

The President also highlighted the need to build up stockpiles during the period of low oil prices so that the country would not suffer when oil prices jump.

“It doesn’t matter if the stockpiles are located onshore or overseas. State-owned enterprises, Pertamina and the ministry have to think how to build up the stocks to anticipate price rebound,” Jokowi added.

Global oil prices dropped by a third since late 2014 to about $35 per barrel recently following a global glut of supply caused by the success of US shale oil. As an importing country, Indonesia may currently enjoy the drop in prices as the country needs to spend less money to purchase the commodity, which has burdened the country’s current account.

Indonesia’s oil demand is estimated to be equal to 1.6 million barrels per day, but Indonesia’s fields can deliver less than 800,000 per day because they have been depleted.

The lack of oil is exacerbated by aging refineries, which can run on less than their original capacities. There are currently six big refineries that had a capacity of 1 million barrels per day, but they are now operating at about the 800,000 level.

The government has rolled out regulations to support refinery development, in part by opening up the business to private players and planning to give incentives to investors who wish to develop refineries in the country.

“Apart from the regulations, we can also use state assets such as land in Bontang to host new refineries. There will be no land rent and they will get tax holidays. Another point is that Pertamina is obliged to be offtaker of the refineries’ product,” Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said said.

Pertamina is currently in the process of selecting a partner for the development of a refinery in Tuban.

The company’s director for refineries, Rachmad Hardadi, previously revealed that Pertamina had shortlisted five candidates for the project, namely Russia’s Rosnef, Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco, Kuwait’s Kuwait Petroleum International, China’s Sinopec and a consortium of PTTGC and Thai Oil.

On his timeline, he wrote in Khmer: “When I returned from the Asean-US meeting, I said I had a debt to pay … I added that it is difficult to repay a debt for grandchildren who ask for gifts” – which explained why he had posted pictures of children playing and eating.

Hun Sen has used social media to communicate with the people for quite sometime. His first post was seen in 2010. Initially, the posts were very formal and mostly focused on his work as premier. Recently, however, posts have looked informal, casual and even personal, showing him spending his life as ordinary people do, eating on the street, watering plants in a Phnom Penh park and talking with farmers in a paddy field. These messages make strongman Hun Sen appear as an accessible and friendly leader.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore is also among the frontrunners who know how to use social media to communicate with citizens effectively. His posts cover a wide range of issues and activities relating to his government’s strategies and policies.

Last week, he came across a BBC article on China’s women-only mosques. He shared the article with comments saying, “Every major religion expresses itself in diverse ways and traditions. Its followers adapt the customs and practices of the religion to their own societies and circumstances, enriching the heritage. Islam is no different. Muslims in Singapore have their own identity and culture, and have every reason to be proud of it.”

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak mostly posts in the Malay language to communicate with his fellow citizens. He is quite active on social media with a few posts per day covering many issues and activities he is involved in as the head of the government. Najib has also used Facebook to share his feelings with other Malaysians on topics such as the wonderful free kick scored by Faiz Subri of the Malaysian Super League football club Penang recently.

In Myanmar, where Internet service is not as good but is improving, outgoing President Thein Sein has an official account managed by his office for communications. But the leader who is more keen on this is the military commander in chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The commander always usesFacebook to promote his activities, mostly regarding his military career and politics. Meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won the election in November, were reported on his page in Burmese language and sometimes in English.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Philippine President Benigno Aquino also have their own social media presence.

All of these leaders have been present on key social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and the messages conveyed on each medium are mostly similar.

Leaders generally do not customise the message format and form when communicating on different platforms. That might be because leaders believe that people who use different platforms belong to different groups, said Chanut Kerdpradub (@Ajbomb), an expert in social media at the Faculty of Business Administration and Liberal Arts at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna.

“In democratic countries where politicians have to compete to gain popularity among the people, leaders will more actively communicate with people on social media,” Chanut said.

However, most Asean leaders do not engage well with people on social media since they love one-way communication, although social media is meant to be interactive, he said.

“While video is a highly engaging type of content on social media, most Asean leaders are not doing well using video,” Chanut said.

The popularity of social media platforms also reflects the freedom of communication in the country, Chanut said. In authoritarian countries, Twitter will not be popular while Facebook will be the main social media platform.

“People actively express their political opinion on Twitter, while they are likely to comment in general on Instagram or Facebook, which is in the in-between,” said Chanut.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, however, has no presence on any social media platform as he enjoys his weekly TV show and press interviews.

“Rather than using airtime on television, the government should utilise social media as a communication channel to push messages and to get engagement,” Chanut said.

More leaders are trending towards using social media that allow them to directly convey exact messages rather than using traditional media, which must go through gatekeepers such the editorial process, Mana Treelayapewat, dean of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s School of Communication Arts, said.

“The beauty of social media is the two-way communication platform, a capability which leaders should utilise. Leaders should not only communicate one way but they need to engage with people [who can give feedback or opinions] to be a part to develop policy,” Mana said.

The desk, which will employ Chinese-speaking staff including two to three Chinese Embassy employees, is expected to address issues that have hindered potential Chinese investors, such as slow responses on land inquiries and language barriers.

“With the presence of the desk, we want to increase investment realisation from China,” BKPM head Franky Sibarani told reporters on the sidelines of a China-Hong Kong investor forum. “The rapid growth of Chinese investment in Indonesia, as well as intensive communication between investors and the government, require assistance from those familiar with the Chinese language.”

Investment commitments also doubled to $22 billion last year, from an average of $11.3 billion per year in the five-year period ending 2014. Hong Kong, an autonomous territory that belongs to China, also recorded an increase in investment commitment to Indonesia to $3 billion in 2015, from an average of $2 billion per year from 2010 to 2014.

The trend is in line with Chinese companies’ drive toward global expansion to widen their market outreach beyond their home country, which has seen economic growth slowdown to levels unseen in a quarter of a century.

“It is, therefore, our responsibility to provide support so that the investment commitments are realised,” said Franky.

Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xie Feng said in his opening remarks during the investor forum that Indonesia was a priority destination for Chinese companies and that most Chinese investors put high hopes on the administration of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“Less than two years after his inauguration, I think we have seen changes. We hope for more changes in years ahead,” he said.

The government has issued 10 economic stimulus packages since September last year to reform the country’s red-tape issues, including by speeding up permit processing to three hours for companies that invest more than 100 billion rupiah ($87 million) and employ 1,000 local workers. The facility had attracted five Chinese investors with investment value of $2.34 billion by mid-February.

“Although the world economy continues to slow down, the economy of Indonesia has continued to obtain impressive performance over the last few years. Its growth potential is tremendous,” said Zhang Min, chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia.

A local arm of Chinese tire giant Shandong O’Green Group, PT Eastern Ogreen, has said it is investing $501 million to build a tire plant in Indonesia as the country provides raw materials and lower export tariffs to its main markets in Europe and the US.

Eastern Ogreen project coordinator Fitri Zenitia said her firm would also benefit from a niche market in Indonesia as it specialised in truck and bus tires.

In a seminar entitled “Post COP21: Prospects and Challenges for Myanmar”, Harjeet Singh, ActionAid’s international policymaker for climate change, has issued the need for action.

He said civil society and NGOs needed to help the government assess climate impacts and develop plans for adaptation and addressing damage; help generate awareness and develop ways to deal with crises; and conduct pilot projects on various sectors and document learning so that action could be scaled up.

Singh said the private sector needed to review impacts of their businesses on the environment as well as assess impact of climate change on the businesses. Also, the private sector needed to develop strategies to reduce environmental impacts, and partner with the government and NGOs by sharing their resources – skills, expertise and finance – to implement climate change programmes.

The media can help educate the mass on the current and future impacts of climate change; highlight successful models and strategies to deal with climate change; and draw attention to gaps and areas where more work is required.

He said young journalists should be trained in covering climate change stories to raise awareness of the people. Myanmar ranked 91 in terms of CO2 emissions, according to the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), emitting 11.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

In the national adaptation programme of action, 32 priority activities were specified for adaptation in eight main sectors/themes – agriculture, early warning systems, forest, public health, water resources, coastal zone, energy, and industry; biodiversity.

Singh said that the national plan needed to be broken down into a local one.

“The Myanmar government needs to prioritise adaptation domestically and engage at regional and international levels to exchange knowledge and resources. It needs to assess future loss and damage due to extreme weather and slow onset events and develop sector specific action plans. All development and sectoral interventions should be integrated in terms of policies, programmes and budgets,” he said.

It should also learn from successful models developed by NGOs and local government agencies and work with Asean institutions on knowledge development and sharing of technical and financial resources.

Action needed at the grassroots

“In Myanmar, policies are usually kept at the national level. When it comes to implementation, a lot of issues such as budget and financing arise and it is hard to make it happen successfully. We need to ensure policies are not on paper but in reality,” said Win Myo Thu, director of EcoDev – a non-governmental organisation for advocating civil society development and environmental governance in Myanmar.

He said all the policies should be implemented by the community itself rather than by local authorities. He encouraged consultations with the elders and to promote participation of youth in the action plans.

He lauded the parliament’s move to set up an emergency fund and reserve one-million tonnes of rice in case of emergency. He said such a budget must be set aside for emergency use such as rescue and resettlement of disaster-hit victims. The environmentalist also urged the government to strike a balance between economic policies and environmental protection.

“We need to make a choice. Will we be proactive or free-riding? How we will survive in our economy is really important. We should not depend too much on selling our natural resources. If we run out of natural resources, what are we going to do?” he asked.

He warned that industrialisation could lead to environmental impacts, along with urbanisation. Measures are needed to deal with related challenges.

While urging for the construction of more environmental-friendly hotels and promotion of responsible tourism, he said proper investment in research and development in agriculture was necessary. Rice output was important for the country, but high emission levels from rice plantations should also be taken into consideration, he said.

“Never assume that it is the duty of the government only. Each and every stakeholder needs to participate in environmental protection to ensure better life for all of us. In this regard, all the proposed projects must be carefully considered in the environmental perspective,” said Win Myo Thu.