In an interview yesterday, Civil Aeronautics Board executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the Philippines had sent requests for air talks to Indonesia and Thailand. Outside Asean, the country has sought air talks with Japan, India, Italy and Canada.

“We have identified a list of priority countries and we wrote them,” Arcilla said in an interview.

Arcilla said Thailand and Indonesia had yet to respond. However, the Philippines has received similar request from the government of Laos. Arcilla said talks with Laos could happen in the second quarter of 2016.

“We are keen on strengthening our bilateral relationship with Laos,” he said.

On Feb. 3, 2016, President Aquino signed the Protocols 5 and 6 of the Asean Multilateral Agreement in Air Services, or MAAS.

With the signing, Philippine air carriers will be allowed to fly “unlimited frequencies to and beyond the capital cities” of the Asean. This was expected to lead to better and more efficient connectivity and translate to more competitive fares and services.

Delays in the signing of the said protocols were earlier credited to limited slots in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which suffers from congestion due to growing air and passenger traffic and limited expansion space. These limitations are currently being addressed by several government agencies.

In line with the MAAS signing, the CAB is assisting Philippine air carriers in securing additional flight schedules with each of the nine other member states of the Asean.

The Philippines targets to have new flights operational within the next six months, the Department of Transportation and Communications announced earlier.

Arcilla said the country was also seeking expanded flying rights to Canada, but he said the Northern American country had begged off.

“Canada said they are not yet ready to have air talks this year,” Arcilla said.

He said the country was likewise seeking to hold negotiations with Italy in the second quarter of 2016, although this had yet to be finalized. Italy is among the routes being targeted by domestic carriers like Philippine Airlines as a second destination in Europe.

PAL’s only direct European route is between Manila and London. Arcilla said there was also a need to update flying rights with the United States government.

“With respect to designation and route structure [ to the US], it is still very restrictive,” he said.

Some analysts say it is a potential coming of age for the relatively isolated country, still run by an opaque old guard communist regime with Cold War memories of being bombed by the United States during the Vietnam War. This year will see world leaders meeting in its riverside capital.

In September, a US president will visit for the first time as Vientiane hosts the Asean summit. The US has donated millions of dollars to clear unexploded ordnance left behind by the Indochina War, and been supporting Laos’ education system.

Because of its strategic position, Laos is emerging as a magnet for competing powers. Most recently, it has flirted with China, signing on to a US$6 billion railway linking China with Thailand and allowing rampant Chinese investments in the north.

Japan is also an increasingly major player in Laos. At the Mekong Summit last year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled 750 billion yen (US$6.6 billion) in official development assistance (ODA) to the Mekong region over the next three years. A few months earlier, Japan announced a $110 billion commitment to support infrastructure in Asia.

“China supports north-south linkages, Japan supports east-west linkages,” said a diplomat based in the region. “It is widely acknowledged that Japan is the largest ODA donor in Laos, possibly in the entire Mekong region.”

Not to be outdone, China launched the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework last November at a meeting with Asean in Jinghong, Yunnan province. The idea: to promote sustainable development and regional integration, including people-to-people exchanges.

This year, with changes at the top in the secretive Politburo, Laos appears to have returned from a seemingly pro-China stance to balance major powers and lean towards old ally Vietnam again. Current Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith is expected to be elevated to Prime Minister on March 20.

“Thongloun… is viewed as somewhat of an internationalist who wants to promote closer ties not only with Laos’ Asean neighbours, but also with the United States and Japan,” Murray Hiebert, senior fellow and deputy director of the Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, wrote last month in the CSIS blog. “Thongloun is not anti-China but wants to hedge Laos’ foreign policy with broader regional and international ties.”

CSIS associate fellow Phuong Nguyen said in an interview: “The chairmanship… is a very big deal for Laos. Apart from dynamics with the major powers, this is the first year that the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is in effect and it is on Laos’ watch.

“They see their job as also helping to implement to the extent that they can, the goals of the AEC and even own some of the items, for example trade facilitation and small and medium enterprises.”

But even as the nation of seven million is courted by major powers, some analysts are cautious not to overstate Laos’ case.

“Laos has gained prominence this year because it chairs Asean at a time of heightened geopolitical tension in the region,” said Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Security and International Studies, in an e-mail interview.

Last week’s Asean foreign ministers retreat – the first of a series of meetings culminating in the September summit – saw little dissonance among Asean ministers as Laos worked hard to balance all interests, sources say. But Laos still walks a tightrope.

It has been “easy prey for Chinese economic expansionism”, wrote Prof Thitinan. Without the chairmanship, Laos would “revert to its small-state dilemma of having to straddle contentious bigger neighbours”.

He cautioned: “That Laos gets a lot of bandwidth now is rotational and ephemeral. Its external challenges of maintaining some geopolitical space, and internal upward pressure for reform, will persist after its chairmanship ends.”

AMBD’s Managing Director Yusof Hj Abd Rahman said the central bank is collaborating with the Ministry of Finance to set up the country’s own bourse and the exchange “can act as a significant catalyst” to grow Brunei’s economy.

In a speech delivered at Wednesday’s appreciation dinner organised by the Brunei Association of Banks, he said the stock exchange is expected to boost the financial industry and increase the financial services contribution to the sultanate’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as envisioned in “Wawasan 2035” or Brunei Vision 2035.

“Companies in the country will have alternative funding avenues other than bank loans. It will also provide a platform for Bruneians to invest in shares conveniently,” he said.

Yusof said the finance industry needs to increase its contribution to the GDP to eight per cent to attain the goals of Vision 2035. Citing latest GDP figures, he said the financial sector’s contribution to GDP improved to an average of five per cent in 2015 compared with the 3.3 per cent recorded in 2012.

“This is supported by a positive growth in credit by 7.6 per cent from BN$5.7 billion (US$4.1 billion) in 2014 to BN$6.1 billion in 2015 of which the greater growth was seen in the corporate sector by 10.8 per cent from BN$2.7 billion in 2014 to BN$3.0 billion in 2015,” said Yusof.

He said the improvement would not have been possible without the financial institutions’ initiatives and commitment.

“I hope that this positive growth will further motivate the banking industry to double its efforts in achieving the Wawasan 2035 target,” he said.

Yusof said falling oil prices is hurting Brunei’s economy, noting that as a key exporter of oil and gas, the sultanate “cannot avoid the negative impact of the low hydrocarbon prices in terms of export earnings affecting the government revenues and spending”.

“With the dominant role of the government in the economy, this has affected Brunei’s domestic economy as we face rough times ahead,” he said.

But Yusof said the banking industry remains resilient in spite of such challenges. The aggregate capital adequacy ratio for the banking sector is more than 20 per cent and the net non-performing financing ratio is less than two per cent as of end-2015.

Yusof warned against complacency and encouraged financial institutions to explore new opportunities.

“They must identify productive areas that could help to materialise this national commitment which will contribute to the goal of economic diversification away from the oil and gas industry,” said Yusof.

He said as a regulator, AMBD will continue to implement measures to ensure financial stability. These measures include strengthening the regulatory and supervisory framework of the financial system in line with global best practices.

US$1 = BN$1.37

Citing the latest Asia Network Quality Report of JP Morgan Securities issued last month, Smart Communications said 3G mobile data download speed in the country increased to 2.09 Mbps in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 1.77 Mbps in the third quarter.

The report said the country even outpaced Thailand (1.46 Mbps), Japan (1.56 Mbps) and Hong Kong (2.05 Mbps). The report used crowd-sourced data gathered by wireless coverage research firm OpenSignal.

Among Philippine carriers, Smart Communications, a unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., saw its download speed increase to 2.54 Mbps in the fourth quarter last year from 1.66 Mbps in the third quarter.

PLDT and Smart allocated P43 billion for capital expenditures in 2015, largely for their network infrastructure. The two companies expected to set aside a similar amount for 2016.

“We’ve paid specific attention to enhancing our 3G capacity and resiliency because about 90 per cent of our subscribers who go online use 3G handsets. Improving our 3G data service delivers immediate benefits to the largest number of people in our subscriber base,” Ariel P. Fermin, head of PLDT and Smart’s Consumer Group, said in the statement.

“At the same time, we are also building for the future. So we continue to roll out our 4G/LTE network because we expect more and more people to start using 4G/LTE handsets,” he added.

As part of the Asean Women Entrepreneur Network’s (AWEN) activities, the forum included discussions on the potential for women’s economic participation, the pressures they face and business support solutions that will enable them to further develop their wisdom and talents to contribute to economic development in their respective countries and throughout the Asean region.

In her opening remarks, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan hailed the practical significance of this event, saying that it partly shows Viet Nam’s contribution to the development of the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

“Asean women entrepreneurs, including Vietnamese women entrepreneurs, need to focus on competitiveness enhancement, co-operation and linkages with other businesses in order to develop their own potential and strengths for deeper integration,” Doan said

She said women entrepreneurs play an important role in the process of policy review and consultation of Aseangovernments, helping the association promote integration and creativity and affirm its prestige in the international arena.

Asean’s Secretary General Le Luong Minh said that the coherence of the Asean entrepreneur community, especially women entrepreneurs, would create more motivation for the development of the AEC as well as help enterprises in the region share interests and seek business opportunities in the context of international economic integration.

“However, each entrepreneur needs to be more proactive in addressing the problems and difficulties existing in production and business, as well as further increase the application of science and technology and actively participate in improving the environment,” Minh said.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc said many women-run businesses have overcome difficulties and made notable achievements in recent years.

Loc said the Asean community’s growth model is gradually shifting towards in-depth development, which would create a favourable environment for women entrepreneurs to develop and affirm their positions in the region.

At the event – organised by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Viet Nam Women Entrepreneurs Council (VWEC) – attendees shared lessons and experiences pertaining to the economic empowerment of women. Many co-operation opportunities were also discussed.

AWEN was created in April 2014 with the target of supporting businesswomen with start-ups and developing their businesses, especially to elevate the role of women in society.

“We hope that more visitors will come here for river boat trips after our advertisements spread on social media as well as through leaflets and brochures that are being distributed by the district and provincial tourism authorities,” Chiengkham Philavanh, a boat ser vice manager in Hangkone village told Vientiane Times recently.

At present, 2 6 families offer boat trips from Hangkhone village. They each have a boat ready and take it in turns to run a trip on the river. This brings them in at least 2 million kip a year.

“It’s not a large sum of money, but people can also earn more from selling goods, food and drinks,” Chiengkham said.

The people of Hangkhone village are not heavily dependent on the money they earn from boat trips because they mainly rely on fishing and the cultivation of rice and other crops.

“If one person wants to take a boat to see the dolphins, he or she will also be charged 70,000 kip because our group agreed to run the service on a chartered basis,” he added.

Boat trip operators charge according to a chartered rate, with five people in one boat paying 70,000 kip. The fee is the same for both Lao and foreign customers.

Every day the group has about 50 customers, who go on trips that take them close to the Cambodian border where dolphins swim in a protected area. The visitors come from all over the world, mainly Europe, Asia and America.

Another group of villagers also offers boat trips in the area. They operate out of Donsadam village where a large number of people turn up every day because this village has better road access than Hangkhone.

People who have already made it to Don Det islands can take a truck to Hangkhone village, which is close to the Cambodian border.

Cambodians also provide similar services, with most of their clients coming from the Cambodian side of the Mekong.

Now part of the Asean Community, the people of the two countries on either side of the MekongRiver share their water resources and jointly benefit from tourism, fishing and water transportation.

Under the pilot programme, HCM City together with other localities or provinces will upgrade infrastructure for IT development.

The first QTSC was built in HCM City’s District 12 more than 13 years ago.

Other software parks include QTSC 2, which is now waiting for land allocation, as well as an IT park at Viet Nam National University in HCM City’s Thu Duc District, a VNPT complex in District 10, and an IT park at HCM City University of Technology.

The PM said that other Quang Trung Software City parks have been approved for Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and the northern province of Nam Dinh.

QTSC will at first include two members, the QTSC in District 12 and the National University of HCM City IT Park in Thu Duc District.

The alliance can receive other members such as centralised IT zones, software and IT parks, among others.

All the parks in the alliance will be expected to follow the standards of the first QTSC.

QTSC will benefit from a government decree that regulates incentives for investment in centralised IT zones, which went into effect in January.

A centralised IT Zone focuses on research and development, training, production and sales of IT products and services, providing IT services to organisations, businesses, and other activities related to IT.

Under the decree, organisations and enterprises in a centralised IT zone will receive preferential tax, investment credit and customs procedures.

In addition, businesses will be exempt from import duties on goods used as fixed assets and for production activities.

According to PM Dung, creating such an alliance would be significant to the city’s development in science and technology, especially IT.

There are 120 companies with total registered capital of 2.4 trillion dong ($109.5 million) operating in the QTSC.

They are involved in software, IT services and human resource training, including four leading global companies: HP, IBM, KDDI, and HITACHI and 10 others nominated among the top 50 companies in the country.

The companies employ 18,260 people and last year had combined revenue of $220 million, a surge of more than 30 per cent year on year.

QTST has attracted substantial investment from leading firms in the industry and become a model that could be expanded elsewhere in the country.

It has spurred economic restructuring in the city by promoting the role of the knowledge-based economy with high-quality and added-value products and services.