Singapore’s economic growth is predicted to grow by 1.9 per cent this year, lower than last year’s 2.2 per cent, according to the latest survey carried out by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in the first quarter of 2016.

As a result of the sluggish trend, players from the country’s manufacturing sector, one of the hardest-hit sectors, have intensified efforts to expand their business in the region, attempting to mull cooperation with manufacturers from Jakarta and Surabaya, respectively the first and second largest Indonesian cities.

“We chose Surabaya and Jakarta because their economic growth is always above the national average,” Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) president Douglas Foo said recently in Surabaya on the sidelines of the group’s meeting with the East Java provincial administration.

Representatives from dozens of Singaporean companies joined the delegation in a three-day visit to the two cities earlier this week.

“We [Singapore and Indonesia] can no longer rely on ourselves in the future,” Foo said.

“Indonesia has abundant resources exported in the form of raw materials, so a collaboration is a right business model to perform by the two countries to capture a potential market more competitively,” Foo elaborated.

During their meeting in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, the Singaporean businesspeople learned about the economic potential of East Java in a presentation by the provincial assistant secretary for economic affairs Hadi Prasetyo.

One delegation member, who represents an air-conditioner manufacturer, for example, expressed his company’s interest in working with a local partner to open up a new factory in East Java.

Singapore has become one of the main export destinations of East Java—after Japan, US, China, Taiwan and Malaysia—with gold, silver, metal, jewelry, cigarettes and palm oil as the main export commodities. Last year, the value of exports from East Java reached US$17.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, Ridwan Hassan, said that Singapore and Indonesia needed to complement each other.

“Indonesia needs foreign investment to drive its economic development, while Singapore needs Indonesia to develop its business,” he said.

Hassan said that this cooperation was also an opportunity for Indonesian business players to team up with their Singaporean counterparts as both countries were facing the economic slowdown.

Data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) shows that Singapore was the largest contributor of foreign investment in Indonesia in 2015 with $5.9 billion, a 20 per cent share of the total foreign investment coming in last year. In 2014, the country invested $5.8 billion in Indonesia.

Singapore’s manufacturing activity is at its lowest point since December 2012, as factory output, new orders and employment all fell last month, reported The Straits Times.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – an early indicator of manufacturing activity – contracted for the eighth straight month to post a reading of 48.5 in February, a level last seen in 2012.

A reading below 50 shows that more purchasing managers reported a deterioration in business than those noting an improvement.

The names of these two persons led to criticism as the approvals were announced only five days before the new government led by the National League for Democracy takes office.

The new government’s term starts today.

Given the number of projects approved, it was a speed unseen in past years.

Some companies had up to five projects approved on March 25. The MIC usually approves a maximum of 10 projects at each of |its meetings, and has sometimes only approved one project per meeting.

Among the 48 projects, 27 are local investments, 16 are foreign investments, and five are joint ventures.

A group of companies related to Khin Maung Aye, adviser to the former president and chairman of the Cooperative Bank, had five projects approved by the MIC.

The five projects are the construction of a 440-acre (178 hectares) light-industrial park in Yangon by New City Development Plc; the development of two industrial parks on 1,311 acres and 236 acres, respectively, in Bago by Kaytumadi Development Plc; the development of 2,456 acres of land by Hantharwady Development Plc; and the construction of a 20-acre wharf in Yangon by Kaung Myanmar Aung Shipping.

The MIC also approved a project of New Downtown Co, which is connected to former presidential adviser Ko Ko Gyi.

The former adviser is also related to companies that have already received permissions to build overpass bridges and housing projects in Yangon.

This particular project entails the construction of a commercial building at a central location in the city.

Other well-known companies with connections to the previous governments also received MIC approval for their projects.

Among them are Shwe Taung Cement, a subsidiary of the Shwe Taung Group, which was approved for a cement manufacturing and distribution project; June Cement Industry, which was approved for a cement manufacturing and distribution project in Mon State; KT Development, which was approved for a commercial building project on 11.753 acres of military-owned land; K Future Co, which was approved for a hotel project on 700 acres; and New Strand Development Co, which was approved for a commercial building project within a military-owned port in Yangon.

MIC approval brings many perks, including tax exemptions and reductions, as well as legitimacy and credibility, to companies doing business in Myanmar.

At the annual two sessions of national legislature and political advisory body, which wrapped up on March 16, some political advisors suggested that Hong Kong enterprises enjoy the same treatment as their mainland counterparts.

Currently treated as overseas investment, Hong Kong enterprises are facing limitations in accessing certain industries and difficulties in financing, said Chan King-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong China Chamber of Commerce.

He called for Hong Kong enterprises to be offered national treatment to allow them to integrate better into the country’s economic development.

Since Hong Kong and the mainland signed the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in 2003, economic cooperation between the two sides has strengthened significantly.

As of the end of last year, there were about 136,100 Hong Kong-funded enterprises operating on the mainland, accounting for 28 per cent of the total number of overseas-invested enterprises, according to official statistics. Investment by Hong Kong enterprises took up 49.5 per cent of total overseas direct investment on the mainland, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Financing and marketing are two major challenges for Hong Kong enterprises operating on the mainland, said Zhang Yuge, director of the Economic and Social Development Research Center at Shenzhen-based think tank China Development Institute.

“Although they are now able to enter the mainland market, many of them don’t know how to promote their products or services there,” he said.

“It is quite necessary to provide national treatment to Hong Kong enterprises. That’s a move with both economic and political meanings. Since we’re adopting the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, Hong Kong is part of our country. Therefore, it’s well-reasoned for Hong Kong enterprises to get national treatment,” he noted.

But the problem lies in what kind of national treatment should be granted to them. “Even mainland enterprises are subject to different levels of national treatment. In terms of financing, for example, treatment for State-owned enterprises and private ones is different,” said Zhang.

According to a 2015 agreement on liberalising mainland trade in services to Hong Kong, SAR (Special Administrative Region) enterprises can gain access to all service sectors on the mainland as long as they are not on the negative list. That means they are able to enjoy pro-establishment national treatment on the mainland.

“But when it comes to national treatment in the operation process, it becomes an issue concerning regulations and management of overseas investment of a (region). A number of changes, for example, overseas investment law, have to be made before Hong Kong enterprises can fully be treated as mainland enterprises,” pointed out Mao Yanhua, deputy head of the Free Trade Zone Research Institute at Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University.

However, the government is making efforts in that direction, he added.

Under the Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation program of the Qianhai special zone, released in December 2014, Qianhai said it was exploring ways to treat eligible Hong Kong enterprises the same as mainland enterprises. The policy was widely taken as a step toward granting national treatment to Hong Kong enterprises.

“‘National treatment’ can first be carried out in specific areas like Qianhai as a pilot program. But it needs more time and effort before it can be implemented on a national scale,” Mao said.SAR firms urged to adopt new strategies to fit mainland rules

As Hong Kong services trade providers secure an equal footing with their Chinese mainland peers, they’ve been urged to carve out new business strategies to suit the cultural tastes of mainland customers to enable their businesses to expand.

The accounting industry is one of the services sectors that’s liberalised under the Guangdong Agreement under the framework of CEPA — the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between Hong Kong and the mainland — with national treatment and a negative list with restrictive measures granted for Hong Kong-based accounting firms.

The Guangdong Agreement, known as the “Agreement between the Mainland and Hong Kong on Achieving Basic Liberalisation of Trade in Services in Guangdong”, came into effect in March last year. It adopted national treatment and a negative-list approach to facilitate market access for Hong Kong services suppliers in Guangdong province.

“The national treatment clause creates new mainland market opportunities for Hong Kong-based small and medium-sized accounting firms,” said Ivan Au, divisional deputy president for Greater China at CPA Australia.

“Even these accounting firms are now granted a level playing field in the mainland market — they must be fully aware of the operational requirements, such as the internal control process and composition of auditors, in order to establish their business offices on the mainland,” Au told China Daily. “More small and medium-sized enterprises, technological startups and cross-border e-commerce companies on the mainland have tremendous demand for professional accounting services provided by Hong Kong-based small and medium-sized accountants,” he said.

National treatment under the context of the Guangdong Agreement stipulates that Hong Kong service providers operating on the mainland are accorded the same rights as mainland companies provided they comply with all mainland rules and regulations.

In the context of an international agreement, a negative list refers to a list of business items to which the agreement will not apply, with a commitment to apply it to everything else.

“Once Hong Kong service providers gain a level playing field with their mainland competitors through national treatment, they should try to suit the tastes of mainland customers to gain more market share while keeping prices of services reasonable,” said Simon Lee Siu-po, senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Business Administration.

Following the signing of the Guangdong Agreement in 2014, Hong Kong and the mainland signed the Agreement on Trade in Services in November last year — a standalone and subsidiary agreement relating to trade in services under the CEPA framework that will basically achieve liberalization of trade in services between the two parties. The agreement, to start from June 1, allows 153 sectors to be opened up to Hong Kong’s services industry.

Regarding the mode of commercial presence, it extends national treatment to 62 sectors in the SAR, and implements a negative list covering 134 service trade sectors while reserving 120 restrictive measures that are inconsistent with the obligation of national treatment.

This has been made possible thanks to closer connections and exchanges, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam said while delivering the opening speech titled “Promoting National Entrepreneurship” during a National Start-up Initiative workshop took place in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Dam said suitable policies played an important role in creating a favourable environment and conditions for enterprises, including the start-up business community. However, just untying and removing obstacles to create a favourable environment and ecosystem was not enough. One needed to accelerate the implementation of these policies for everyone and all businesses to have opportunities to develop their start-up movement and strong growth.

The leader said that the strong growth of ICT today was making the world smaller. “We must change our thought process to grasp and bring into full play our advantages in science and technology.”

The Deputy PM said that the Vietnamese government was willing to invest and join hands with private investors to support the national start-up initiative from inventors.

Dam made a promise that he would always support start-up businesses and the government would address problems facing start-up businesses as soon as possible.

“The Vietnamese government would continue to work with you to develop policies to create the most favourable conditions for the start-up community and incubators.incubators,” Dam said.

Dean of Ha Noi University of Technology Hoang Minh Son told participants that to make a success of the national start-up one needed to have excellent innovative ideas and a firm base of knowledge.

Son said businesses should assist young people in R&D and make them a driving force in joining the national start-up initiative programme.

At the seminar, participants also discussed such topics as the role of each component in the start-up ecosystem, how to build a start-up ecosystem from the perspective of science and technology, spotting the key problem which needs solving in order to promote entrepreneurship in Vietnam, as well as proposing initiatives to make Vietnam a start-up nation.

Also in the framework of the programme, FPT and Dragon Capital Group, signed a co-operation agreement for the establishment of the Vietnam Innovative Start-up Accelerator (VIISA for short). VIISA will be an open-ended fund with the participation of many large enterprises and investment funds. FPT and Dragon Capital Group are the founders.

The fund aims to train, invest and support start-up groups in the fields of information technology, mobile, Internet and finance so that they would become successful businesses. The first start-up accelerator training course of VIISA is expected to officially open in the second quarter of 2016.

The establishment of VIISA was in response to the national programme to build Vienam’s start-up ecosystem launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology. VIISA will create a new start-up ecosystem to help ensure that Vietnam will have 5,000 technology companies by 2020. The founders affirmed that they would try their best to make VIISA a centre to connect Vietnam’s start-ups with businesses and investors around the world. Currently, FPT and Dragon Capital Group, are calling for more names among Top 500 enterprises in Vietnam as well as funds and start-up incubators worldwide to build and develop VIISA.

Executive Chairman of Dragon Capital Group, Dominic Scriven OBE, said, “We believe in the information technology and mobile revolution. We think the growth engine of the economy in the next decade will lie with innovative start-ups that we see today. By starting to work on this programme, we do hope to accelerate the commercialisation and the application of innovative technologies in Vietnam.”

After the declaration of the establishment of VIISA, the founding members signed a memorandum of agreement on the development of start-up activities at universities and high schools including VNU University of Engineering and Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, FPT University and Hanoi – Amsterdam Hanoi-Amsterdam High School.

The seminar was attended by around 50 guests from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education and Training, VINASA and representatives from other important components in the start-up ecosystem such as investment funds, enterprises, associations, and educational institutes.

FRIM director-general Dr Abd Latif Mohmod said he would make their intentions known to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) this June.

He said there were lots of stringent guidelines and processes they had to meet to be eligible for the title.

They have earmarked two possible areas for the Unesco title; the first is the oldest and biggest man-made forest in the world and the second is forestry park of endangered species.

“We have gathered all the necessary data and are in the midst of getting assistance from the consultants for this purpose,” he added.

He said he had requested for the scientists in FRIM to compile the necessary data in 2008.

Latif said this was the biggest gift he could give to the country as FRIM was public property.

“FRIM is a focal point internationally and everyone is watching us because we have never dropped from the fifth spot as the tropical forest research institution in the world,” he added, during his visit to the Star Media Hub in Bukit Jelutong recently.

FRIM is currently home to 15 million plants as well as trees which are more than 86 years old.

Present to receive them were The Star executive editor Brian Martin, technical services senior general manager Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Ali as well as technical services deputy general manager Wan Zuhairi Wan Yaakub.

Latif’s visit was in conjunction with International Day of Forests.

Even amid an economic downturn that is squeezing the sector on all sides, there is some cheer with at least one retailer defying the trend to grow here. But while Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo is preparing to expand in Singapore, a key theme was illustrated yesterday when Dubai-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group said it would shut 10 “loss-making” stores here.

The closures – likely in the second half of the year – will be made under its distribution and retailing arm RSH, which carries multiple brands and is represented in malls across Singapore. “We have to face the reality and be practical, and the loss-making stores have to be closed. They are in different malls and across various brands,” Al-Futtaim group chief executive for Asia Christophe Cann said. He blamed high operating costs and slower sales for the store closures.

However, he stressed that the company will continue to invest in Singapore and has extensive plans to upgrade some outlets, including more food and beverage offerings at its Robinsons store at The Heeren.

“We are here to stay,” he added.

Al-Futtaim owns the Robinson Group of Companies, which comprises Robinsons, John Little and Marks & Spencer. The RSH banner includes fashion labels such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, Ted Baker, Mango, Stradivarius, Bershka, Pull&Bear as well as sports brands Reebok, Lacoste and Royal Sporting House.

Cann declined to identify the 10 stores that will be shut, but ruled out Zara and Royal Sporting House as likely candidates. Staff affected by the closures will be offered jobs at other stores in the group, he said.

Making an exit from Singapore is American smoothie chain Smoothie King, which is believed to have closed all its seven outlets here in the past few weeks. However, the company’s spokesman said it is still keen to operate in Singapore within a franchise agreement.

The smoothie chain had expanded rapidly since it opened its first store here in December 2012.

But while many are finding the retail trade tough going now, Japan’s Uniqlo has signalled its vote of confidence here with a flagship store due to open in Orchard Road in the third quarter. The 2,700 sq m outlet will occupy three levels at Orchard Central and offer high-tech displays and an extensive range of products, including the latest fashion lines.

Uniqlo’s chief executive of Southeast Asia, Taku Morikawa, said the opening of the store will create more than 300 jobs.

The casual wear label said the new mega outlet will be modelled after its successful flagship stores around the world. It has similar stores in 13 other key locations, including New York’s Fifth Avenue, London’s Oxford Street and Ginza in Tokyo.

The central government has agreed to revise regulations to strengthen legal protection and so the administration has scheduled the LRT groundbreaking for June, Ahok said on Wednesday, citing the route designed to service the Asian Games as a priority.

“President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has agreed to the prompt revision of those regulations which have become our legal basis in the construction of the LRT. We will be able to kick start the construction soon,” Ahok said, adding that Jakartans could expect to see the initial construction work on the route connecting Asian Games venues, such as the Velodrome Sports complex in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, the Britama basketball court at Kelapa Gading Sports Mall in North Jakarta and the athletes village in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta begin in September.

He explained that Jokowi had agreed to revise Article 8 of Presidential Regulation No. 99/2015 on Acceleration of Railway Operation in Jakarta, as well as Government Regulation No. 79/2015 on Implementation of Construction Services.

With the revision, a governor will also be able to appoint both state and or city-owned companies to carry out the construction, Ahok added.

Hence, he said, the administration had appointed state-owned developer Adhi Karya to work with city-owned PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro), which is responsible for the construction of the city’s LRT.

Previously, the administration had doubted a prompt start to construction as the regulations had been deemed to not provide certainty for the administration nor Jakpro, in the selection of partners.

On Tuesday, the city administration met with the central government and the Palembang administration, as Palembang in South Sumatra will also host the 2018 Asian Games, to discuss various transportation projects to reduce traffic congestion in both cities throughout the duration of the event.

After the meeting, Jokowi informed reporters that he had demanded that the governors begin the construction of LRT in both regions so that the transportation would be operational before the start of the 2018 Asian Games on Aug. 18, 2018.

“This is the fifth [Cabinet] meeting to discuss LRT. I don’t want to see another [Cabinet] meeting because all [matters hindering construction] should have been completed this afternoon,” he said, citing data that suggests congestion had caused the country to suffer losses of around Rp 28 trillion (US$1.2 billion).

The President further said that, in a bid to ease mobility, he expected the LRT lines to reach the airport in both regions.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that the government expected the Jakarta LRT project to be finished by April or June 2018. Therefore, people from satellite cities, such as Tangerang in Banten and Bekasi in West Java, would be able to travel to the capital to witness the games in a speedy fashion.

The Jakarta administration are expected to build 123.7 kilometers of intra-city LRT lines, which will be integrated with 142 kilometers of LRT lines to be built by the Transportation Ministry from the capital to other regions in West Java, like Karawang, Walini and Tegalluar.

However, in the initial phase, the administration plan to set 83 kilometers of LRT lines, serving nine corridors.

The routes that have been named as a priority will connect Asian Games venues, such as the Velodrome Sports complex in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, the Britama basketball court at Kelapa Gading Sports Mall in North Jakarta and the athletes village in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

The capital will also benefit from a “Greater Jakarta LRT” built by PT Adhi Karya. The first route is under construction and will run between Cibubur/Bekasi Timur in West Java to Cawang in East Jakarta, and will expand to Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta. The first phase is slated for completion in December 2017.

Meanwhile, the capital’s mass rapid transit (MRT) from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta is targeted for completion in August 2018.