“These numbers are so exaggerated,” said a senior government official who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. “We’re scrambling right now to build stocks in case there’s a failed harvest in February and March.”

Only last month, supply shortages forced the government to import rice hurriedly from Thailand and Vietnam to avoid a surge in prices, which in the past has sparked civil unrest and contributed to the downfall of autocratic leader Suharto.

– REUTERS

We believe this hospital will greatly support Myanmar’s national health policy, Health Vision 2030, which aims to deliver world-class healthcare outcomes, research and services, and improve the health of the citizens of Myanmar. Leveraging our more than 40 years’

experience in operating premium hospitals across 9 countries, we are committed to working closely with the local Ministry of Health and our business partners to help achieve this noble vision and elevate national healthcare standards in Myanmar.”

The project will be developed and operated by a joint venture consortium, Andaman Alliance Healthcare. The shareholders are Parkway Healthcare Indo-China with a 52 per cent stake, Singapore-incorporated Macondray Holdings (10.5 per cent), Myanmar-incorporated

AMMK Medicare (21.5 per cent), and Myanmar-incorporated Global Star (16 per cent).

The hospital is located at downtown Yangon on a 4.3 acres plot of land leased for 50 years by the Health Ministry. It will be developed through a “build-operate-transfer” model. Investment for the project has obtained approval from the Myanmar Investment Commission.

According to IHH, the establishment of Parkway Yangon will be a catalyst for the training of healthcare professionals such as nurses and allied healthcare practitioners. This will create more jobs and uplift medical services to world-class standards.

Doctors from Mount Elizabeth Hospital, one of the key hospitals under the Parkway Pantai network, have been actively engaging with specialists in Myanmar in various community outreach initiatives like exchange of medical expertise and outreach to the masses through

disease prevention and health promotion activities. The presence of Parkway Yangon will further these corporate social responsibility efforts to include partnerships with training colleges, scholarships, and overseas training fellowships for local Myanmese.

IHH has been actively expanding its footprint in Asia. Earlier this month, it announced the plan to invest in a 350-bed hospital in Chengdu, China after leasing a space in Perennial International Health and Medical Hub there. It will be Chengdu’s first foreign tertiary hospital and IHH’s first hospital in Western China.

IHH is a major foreign-owned private healthcare operator in China with10 medical centres in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Hong Kong. Its 500-bed Gleneagles Hong Kong Hospital is on track to open in early-2017. IHH operates a global network of 49 hospitals across nine countries

That is why Vietnam needed a roadmap to harmonise SPS regulations to the EU’s standards to sustainably get access to their markets.

Le Thanh Hoa, deputy director of the SPS office in Vietnam, said that sanitation was of great concern today as Vietnamese firms regularly received warnings from the EU about contents of banned antibiotics, heavy metals, and excess pesticides.

For example, during the past five years, tra fish products from Vietnam have received warnings with regard to hygiene from Spain for 24 batches, and Germany for 14 batches.

Hoa said export firms must closely supervise the process from production to harvest and processing to minimise violations of chemical content. A production chain should be developed based on the connection with farmers to develop areas for raw materials to ensure supply of high-quality products, he added.

Regular and timely updates about sanitary regulations for each products were indispensable.

Statistics from the Department of Animal Health revealed that in the first 10 months of 2015, more than 8,000 tonnes of fisheries products were returned due to violations of sanitary regulations.

which include: 10th place in the Open for Business section, 8th place for Heritage, 6th place for Best Countries to Invest in, and 4th place for both Adventure and Movers (this category focuses on rising economies).

Dr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “This is great news for the Thai tourism industry as it affirms a positive perception of Thailand among the international community. This report and the favourable rankings will certainly help add the appeal of Thailand as a top destination to visit among travellers from the US as well as across the globe.”

The 2016 Best Countries report and rankings are based on how global perceptions define countries in terms of a number of qualitative characteristics, impressions that have the potential to drive trade, travel and investment, and directly affect national economies. Sixty nations were measured in the inaugural report.

The “Best Countries” study sampled the perceptions of more than 16,000 people in four global regions, asking them to rank 60 pre-selected countries on a range of criteria. Attributes were grouped into nine sub-rankings that rolled into the Best Countries ranking: Adventure, Citizenship, Cultural Influence, Entrepreneurship, Heritage, Movers, Open for Business, Power and Quality of Life. Six ASEAN countries are featured in the study.

Thailand is one of the world’s most visited countries. In 2015, Thailand attracted 29.88 million tourist arrivals to the kingdom.

EHRAN, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Iran is interested in buying over100 aircraft from Boeing, deputy transport ministerAsghar Fakhrieh Kashan told Reuters at Tehran’s first majorpost-sanctions gathering of global businesspeople.

Tehran has long said it will need to revamp an aging fleet,hit by a shortage of parts because of trade bans imposed byWashington and other Western countries. World powers last weeklifted sanctions against the Islamic Republic in return forTehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Editing by William Maclean)

Suspected bomb found in Poso

Ruslan Sangadji

The Jakarta Post

The Poso Police’s bomb squad detonated a bomb found in a black backpack that had been placed in front of a house in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Monday. The incident came amid the intensification of the hunt for Indonesia’s terror fugitive Santoso, suspected to be hiding out in the area.

Local people told thejakartapost.com that a silver Toyota Avanza car stopped in front of the house of M. Rundubelo in Kawua subdistrict, Poso, at around 10:30 a.m., on Sunday. At the same time, another car, an L-300, also stopped near the location.

“Suddenly, a passenger got out of the L-300 and put a bag on the side of the road. He then moved into the Avanza and left,” Kawua resident Nova Riatimogi told thejakartapost.com on Sunday.

Another resident named Sugeng Rundubelo said that he saw two people get out of the L-300 car, one of them wearing a white cap and the other one wearing a white undershirt.

A few hours later, Poso Police’s bomb squad arrived to handle the possible bomb.

The police have yet to deliver a statement on the incident.

The National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) are hunting Santoso, alias Abu Wardah, the country’s most wanted terrorist, in the forested areas around Poso. Santoso and his 45 followers of the East Indonesia Mujahidin terrorist group are believed to be hiding in the forests where they hold military training camps and arrange attacks against the police.

ThaiBev joins battle for foreign beer brands

Thai Beverage is one of four companies vying for three beer brands put on sale by Anheuser-Busch InBev, according to Financial Times.

The newspaper reported last week that along with ThaiBev, the other three companies qualified for the next round of bidding are Japan’s biggest brewer Asahi, Bain Capital and PAI Partners. The brands are reportedly worth 2.5 billion pound.

The Belgian brewer which is the world’s largest beer company by sale volume is selling Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime beer brands to facilitate its takeover bid for SABMiller, the world’s second largest. AB InBev’s US$108 billion takeover bid raises concerns for regulators in a number of countries like the United States and European Union.

This brought great opportunities for countries which are under threat from climate change, such as Viet Nam, to access greater international financial assistance to thoroughly resolve climate change-related issues, including changing the development model toward a low-carbon economy and promoting the application of clean technologies, Tan said.

Franky said the BKPM would expedite the implementation of its three-hour business licensing procedure, in which it would also allow potential investors to obtain land-procurement letters issued by the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry.

In addition, the government is reviewing options to slash income taxes for labour-intensive industries.

Under current regulations, a taxpayer with annual income of less than Rp 50 million (US$3,606) is subject to 5 percent income tax, while a tax of 15 percent is applied to annual income between Rp 50 and Rp 250 million, 25 percent for Rp 250 to Rp 500 million and 30 percent on annual salaries of more than Rp 500 million.

Franky said the BKPM expected a new regulation to slash income tax to be issued this year.

Investment realization in labour-intensive industries had remained low last year, despite investment commitments in the sector having grown strongly, he said.

labour-intensive industries performermed poorly last year, with actual investment in the segment plunging by 12 percent to Rp 55.5 trillion, while investment in other industries rose, according

to BKPM data.

However, investment commitments in the sector recorded the strongest growth last year with a 274 percent increase to Rp 214 trillion, the data show.

Franky said the surge in investment commitments was mainly due to the government’s shake-up of business regulations and the country’s intention to join trade partnerships like the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Business players believe joining the TPP, which is currently in the process of ratification in the 12 signatory countries, would benefit Indonesia’s textile and garment industry, as it would make domestic industries competitive against those of signatory parties like Vietnam.

Indonesia recorded a 17.8 percent increase year-on-year to Rp 545.45 trillion in realized investment, surpassing the target of Rp 519.5 trillion. This year, BKPM eyes investment of Rp 594.8 trillion.

Azhar Lubis, BKPM’s deputy director for investment monitoring and implementation, said the largest chunk of foreign direct investment last year was from Singapore, followed by Malaysia and Japan.

“We will also push forward practical action on various targets and review the AEC Blueprint 2015, along with a review of trade implementation between Asean and its trade partners,” Dr Laohoua said.

Asea n also pla ns to organise a roadshow to America next month in the hope of promoting bilateral trade ties betwee n the two sides, a senior official said.

A series of meetings, which kicked off on January 18 and ended on January 22, aimed to facilitate economic discussion between Asean members and Asean with the EU in the field of economic cooperation, a nd a presentation of the AEC Blueprint from now until 2025.

During the meetings, as the chair of Asean in 2016, Laos took the opportunity to propos e initiatives and priorities to be integrated in the AEC Blueprint 2015, which will also support the 8th National Socio-economic Development Plan for 2016-20.

Muliaman said efforts to empower SMEs by giving them better access to funding, in the case of Indonesia, was one of the keys to minimizing economic volatility and restoring public confidence amid a global slowdown.

According to OJK data, SMEs in Indonesia, including start-up businesses, contribute approximately 60 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and represent 97 percent of the nation’s total workforce.

“Startups in Indonesia, in particular, have started to become quite widespread, operating in such diverse fields as transportation, tourism and online trading. Moreover, they have now become a major employer in their own right,” Muliaman said.

Tito said the upcoming regulation was expected to provide a comprehensive structure, in which the OJK would ensure liquidity, as doubts would remain among investors about investing in SME stocks once they were traded in a regular market, given the companies’ small scale.

“We want to ensure there is an incentive for investors and prospective listed SMEs, in order to avoid high costs and increase liquidity [of the SME stocks],” he said.

Previously, OJK commissioner for the stock market Nurhaida said the OJK acknowledged the doubts among investors and was mulling a new board for SMEs to allow their shares to be traded outside the regular market.

The new board, called a “secondary board”, would be separate from the main market.

Nurhaida said it was important for shares of small companies to be traded on their own board, as their stocks were feared to be illiquid if they had to compete with bigger firms on the main board.

According to Muliaman, the OJK will seek input from the IDX regarding the best scheme to ensure liquidity of SME stocks, saying that “there are some versions in various countries, where they either form a special bourse for SMEs or manage one stock market with a number of boards”.

As an effort to promote SME access to the capital market, Muliaman said the OJK was also providing input to the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to create regulations where stock exchanges, especially in emerging markets, become more “SME-friendly”.

The IOSCO, consisting 170 members of governmental bodies, self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and other institutions, is recognized as the global standard-setter for the securities sector.