The country exported more than 856,219 tonnes for US$347.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 101.89 per cent and 81.73 per cent, and Huynh Minh Hue, VFA general secretary, indicated there had been too many orders to handle last year, including some large government contracts with Indonesia and the Philippines.

At a regular meeting of the association last week, he said exports of common white rice accounted for 32.68 per cent of exports, up almost five times from the same period last year, and exports of glutinous rice also surged due to high demand from China.

Exports of fragrant rice continued to grow steadily thanks to increased exports to China and Africa, he said.

VFA anticipates exports to reach 1.3 million tonnes in the first quarter, 56 per cent up from the same period last year.

Hue said the number of contracts to be executed remains high at around 1.4 million tonnes.

But with inventories at export firms 81,140 tonnes lower than at the same time last year – at one million tonnes – they have to buy rice, he said.

Prices are currently high in the domestic market despite this being the peak harvest season and the association announcing no plans to stockpile the grain.

High demand from exporters coupled with a forecast of falling output in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta due to drought and saltwater intrusion has pushed up the prices.

The Ministry of Agriculture and rural Development reported that by March 5 around 139,000ha of the winter-spring rice crop in nine provinces had been damaged by drought and saltwater, with the loss estimated at one million tonnes.

In previous years the VFA proposed purchasing one million tonne of rice for temporary storage at the beginning of March to support domestic prices, but this time farmers can earn reasonable profits at current prices.

According to rice traders in the Mekong Delta, a kilogramme of IR 50404 paddy in the field costs VND4,600-4,650, VND300 higher than a year earlier, and high-grade paddies are priced much higher.

According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, exports to Japan rose by 5.3 per cent to US$1.11 billion last month from $1.05 billion in January, while exports to China increased 6.6 per cent to $945 million from $886 million in January.

“Exports to Japan and China have shown an improvement, an increase on a monthly basis,” BPS head Suryamin said at a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

However, accumulative export figures from the first two months of 2016 showed that Indonesia’s trade performance was still weak compared with the same period of 2015. Exports to Japan in January-February, at $2.16 billion, marked a 5.4 per cent decrease from the same month last year, while exports to China at $1.83 billion recorded a 9.65 per cent decline.

Japan is Indonesia’s second-biggest export destination, with an 11 percent market share, followed by China at 9.37 per cent. The United States, Indonesia’s biggest export market, has a 12.15 share.

The agency’s data showed that exports to the US in February dropped 6.8 percent month-on-month to $1.15 billion from $1.23 billion. Accumulatively, January-February exports to the US were down too, by 3 per cent to $2.38 billion compared with last year’s $2.45 billion.

In total, non-oil and gas exports in February were worth $10.19 billion, an increase of 8.67 per cent from $9.37 billion in January. Nevertheless, on a year-to-date basis, January-February exports were down 9.89 per cent to $19.56 billion from last year’s $21.7 billion.

Indonesia exports to the US, Japan and China were mainly textile and textile products, electronics, rubber and rubber derivatives, palm oil, forest products, footwear, automotive products, shrimps, cocoa and coffee. Seventeen of Indonesia’s total 24 commodities experienced an increase in February, Suryamin said.

The LSX on Saturday hosted the Investment Gateway: Opportunities to Wealth in AEC, with the aim of providing information on capital market investments and fundraising for people looking for opportunities to expand their business within the AEC.

Participants browsed various product exhibits set up by government and private organisations involved in the cap ital market. They also listended to a talk on investment opportunities in the stock market and learned from the experiences of the speakers.

The LSX invited experienced speakers on investment to share their knowledge and lessons, LSX CEO Vanhkham Voravong said at the opening ceremony.

The LSX offers choices among business units to pursue funds mobilisation for business expansion, the participants heard.

It also helps them to increase the efficiency of their busin ess operations and supply transparent services, and pursue greater modernisation, Vanhkham said.

The seminar also examined improvements to help the LSX move towards international standards in competition and relate with different stock markets in the region, he added.

Apart from that, the participants were able to open securities accounts and inquire about stock investments directly with securities companies during the event. The event received cooperation and was supported by various private and government organisations.

Vanhkham hoped that they would continue to provide cooperation and support to reveal knowledge about capital markets and stock markets among the Lao people.

The LSX currently has five companies listed, those being Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public, EDL Generation Public Company, Lao World Public Company, Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company and the Souvanny Home Centre Public Company.

This year there will be three more companies listing on the LSX and Vanhkham expects the local bourse to have reached 25-30 companies by 2020.

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Franky Sibarani said with regard to renewable energy, Belgium was interested in investing in the development of wind energy, while in the maritime sector it wanted to invest in the shipping industry and fisheries.

In tourism, the Belgian business community would like to develop hotels in Indonesia’s main tourist destinations, he said.

The BKPM said Belgium was the fifth-largest investor in Indonesia among EU members.

“The BKPM recorded US$ 132 million in investment between 2010 and 2015, not including in the upstream oil and gas and financial sectors,” said Franky after an inaugural event of the Belgium-Indonesia technology partnership in Jakarta on Monday.

Belgian investors, he added, had been supporting industrialization in Indonesia, as well as the transfer of knowledge and technology from generating power to producing chocolate. “We have also learned how to create jobs, especially at plantations, hotel and restaurants,” Franky added.

Princess Astrid of Belgium, as a representative of her brother, King Philip, heads the fifth economic mission to Indonesia from March 12 to March 19, aimed at strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries.

During the visit, Franky said, Astrid hoped the Indonesian government would guide Belgian investors in the investment process and facilitate in terms of fiscal incentives.

“There are several investors in clean energy that want to be facilitated because they are very serious about investing in Indonesia and they want to understand the regulations,” he mentioned.

Indonesia Benelux Chamber of Commerce (INA) director Elmar Bouma said Belgians were often reluctant to do business in Indonesia due to the economic climate, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“What they asked for is a stable legal framework to maintain their business in the country,” Bouma said.

Belgium is the sixth-largest importer of Indonesian commodities in the EU. In 2014, Belgian exports to Indonesia included chemical products, machinery, equipment and animal products.

According to Belgian Ambassador to Indonesia Patrick Herman, the economic mission comprises 301 participants from 127 Belgian companies and four trade promotion bodies. “This is the largest Belgian mission to Indonesia in decades,” he said.

During the economic mission, Belgian companies and authorities will sign 25 contracts with their Indonesian counterparts.

The 31-year-old man, who declined to be named, said he was thankful to be given a second chance and a job instead of being handed over to the police after last Wednesday’s incident.

He said he stole some food stuff worth 27 ringgit (US$6.50) from the Tesco hypermarket in Alma because his children were hungry and he did not have any money.

“I had quit my job as a contract worker after my wife fell into a coma during a birth complication last week. She is still warded at the Bukit Mertajam hospital,” said the man whose family is from Kuala Nerang, Kedah.

He is currently putting up at a relative’s house in Alma. He said he was walking to his relative’s house after visiting his wife at the hospital with his two-year-old son when they passed Tesco at about 6pm.

“After walking for more than an hour, we went to the food section and I grabbed the pears, apples and a few bottles of drinks,” he said, adding he was caught on the way out.

The store’s general manager Radzuan Ma’asan, who interrogated the man, decided to take a different approach in dealing with the crime.

Warning him never to steal again, he offered the man a job at the store.

“The man’s situation really touched our hearts. We visited his relative’s house. It was so empty and poor,” he said yesterday.

Radzuan said his staff visited the man’s wife who is now out of coma. The baby however did not survive the birth complication.

Radzuan said the store had yet to decide what type of job to offer the man. “He was not a regular thief. When we questioned him, he immediately confessed, saying that he stole the fruits and drinks because his son was hungry.

“In my 23 years of experience in the retail line, I had never come across thieves who admitted their act so easily. Most would give all kinds of reasons. He also told us that he was unable to work as he has to look after his three children, aged two to seven.

“So, we decided not to lodge a police report as this was a genuine case of extreme poverty.

“For now, our priority is to ensure that he enrols his seven-year-old son in a school,” said Radzuan, who handed the man cash to cover his current expenses.

According to statistics provided by Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Agency, Singapore-based firms implemented 30 new projects and increased investment levels in six existing projects in the first two months of 2016. Total investment in newly-registered projects, and additional capitalisation of existing ones, reached $470 million.

To date, Singapore has invested in nearly 1,570 projects in Vietnam, ranking third out of 112 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

The average capital investment per Singaporean project in Vietnam is $23 million, which is much higher than the average foreign investment of $14 million per project.

In the processing and manufacturing sector, Singaporean firms have invested a total of $15.6 billion in 480 projects, accounting for 43 percent of Singapore’s total investment in Vietnam.

Singaporean capital is also invested in real estate ($11 billion), entertainment ($1.8 billion), construction ($1.7 billion) transportation and storage ($1.4 billion).

HCM City is an attractive destination for Singaporean investors, who funded nearly 780 projects there with $9.6 billion. These investments account for 50 per cent of the total projects in HCM City and 27 per cent of Singapore’s total investments in Vietnam.

About 74 per cent of total Singaporean investment in Vietnam is in the form of wholly foreign-owned projects. There are 1,163 such foreign-owned projects, worth a total of $23.4 billion. The rest of Singaporean investment in Vietnam exists in the form of joint ventures, such as joint stock companies and business cooperation contracts.

Co-operation in seaport industry

Singapore also expects to further co-operation with Vietnam in maritime services and sea ports, Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Ng Tech Hean said in a meeting with Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong in Ha Noi last week.

The ambassador has witnessed development co-operation between Vietnam and Singapore during his term of office. During his service in Vietnam, the ambassador has tracked privitisation of State-controlled businesses in Vietnam.

Singaporean businesses have invested in many big projects, including Cái Mép – Thi Vai and Sai Gon Port. Singaporean businesses expect to be given further information about the privitisation process of the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), according to Hean.

Truong says that Singapore has a lot of experience in transportation management and seaport development, which Vietnam is eager to learn and study

Vietnamese State-controlled maritime businesses under the transport ministry, are already in the process of being privatised, according to the deputy minister. Vinalines has also submitted its privatisation plan to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for approval.

The PM had recently asked the transport ministry to build an overall plan for a seaport system. As soon as possible, the PM also wants to recoup all State capital investment in the nine seaports which are now to be privately owned, including including Khuyen Luang, Da Nang, Vinalines – Dinh Vu, and Cam Ranh, apart from Nam Can, NgheTinh, Can Tha and Cái Lân.

Truong said he hoped Singaporean businesses would invest in these ports. With the SP-PSA joint venture port, the dredged system can now handle vessels weighing 50,000 tonnes.

The ministry has also submitted the proposed new fee structure for seaport use. The proposed charges would apply to seaports in Cái Mép-Thi Vai area and HCM City, according to Truong.

Mobius, who is Templeton Emerging Markets Group’s executive chairman also noted that Malaysia’s GDP growth has been very good.

He said on Tuesday while the country’s foreign reserves have came down it was still at a good level while its public debt level was manageable.

At midday, the ringgit was at 4.1240 compared with the previous close of 4.1059 following the decline in crude oil prices. Brent crude fell 33 cents to US$39.20 a barrel.

However, year-to-date, the ringgit has strengthened to 4.16 per cent against the greenback.

Mobius also pointed out emerging markets (EM) are at a “turning point” with funds expected to flow back into EMs.

He said fund managers were “underweight” on EMs and it was now at a turning point and prices could jump rapidly, adding that EMs were in “very good shape”.

On China, Mobius said while China’s growth was decelerating, it was still an enormous economy. He added China’ services sectors were now powering the economy.