Antton Nordberg, head of research at KMC MAG Group, offered his own eight-point economic agenda to incoming President Rodrigo Duterte, as he noted that some issues so far raised by the tough-talking mayor from Davao were not “urgent” or “necessary.”

“Duterte is promoting something not so urgent such as reducing crime, which is important, but not necessarily No. 1 and his attitude towards this has been aggressive,” Nordberg said Tuesday in a forum hosted by the Nordic Business Council Philippines (NBCP).

Stressing that new policies will dictate long-term growth prospects, Nordberg also included in his list education; actions to secure the competitiveness of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry such as setting up necessary telecommunication infrastructure, ensuring sufficient levels of labor and providing incentives and government subsidies; sustaining the current economic conditions of high employment, stable inflation and healthy external balance sheet; continued fight against corruption; and sustainable growth of the renewable energy industry.

Duterte earlier released his eight point economic agenda that included continuing current macroeconomic policies; accelerating infrastructure spending; ensuring attractiveness of the Philippines to foreign direct investments; pursuing a genuine agricultural development strategy; and improving land administration and management system.

Duterte’s economic priorities also included the strengthening of the basic education system; improvement of the taxation system; and expansion of the conditional cash transfer programme.

At a conference held by PanNature at the end of last month, experts said that budget collections from mineral mining activities were not proportional to the exploitation scales. Statistics of the Ministry of Finance revealed that natural resources exploitation (excluding oil) contributed merely between 0.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent to the State budget from 2011 to 2015.

Vietnam began to collect natural resources consumption tax in 1991, in accordance to the Ordinance on Natural Resource Tax 1990 which was amended twice in 1998 and 2008, and was replaced by the Law on Natural Resources Tax in 2009.

“There existed loopholes in the resource consumption tax policies which mining companies could take advantage of to avoid and evade taxes,” Le Xuan Truong, professor from the Academy of Finance, said.

Currently, the resource consumption tax calculation was based on output and prices, Truong said, and added that the output was declared by firms while the prices were set by the provincial authorities and were varied between different localities.

However, the management towards exploitation output was weak, coupled with inefficient co-ordination between tax and natural resource authorities, which was causing losses to the budget, Truong said.

Emanuel Bria, from the Natural Resource Governance Institute, was quoted by Cong Thuong (Industry and Trade) newspaper as saying that Vietnam could lose up to US$1 billion in budget collection due to gaps in resource consumption tax policies and a weak management.

While Vietnam still struggled to balance the budget, Emanuel said that amendments to the Law on Natural Resource Tax towards transparency and appropriateness was necessary to improve collection, he said.

Tran Thanh Thuy, from Vietnam Mining Coalition, urged Vietnam to apply the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global voluntary standard to ensure transparency of payments from natural resources.

Thuy said that the EITI, applied in 49 countries around the world, had helped them to collect taxes efficiently.

Nielsen said on Tuesday Malaysia maintained its ranking as 36th most confident country in the first quarter of 2016 (unchanged from last quarter). The average global consumer confidence is 98 pp. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

In the latest online survey, confidence levels in Southeast Asia continue to remain resilient with four out of six countries in the region scoring above the 100 pp mark.

The Philippines (119 pp), Indonesia (117 pp), Vietnam (109) and Thailand (105) are the bright spots in the region’s growing and emerging market as they retain their titles as the top 10 most confident countries globally while Singapore scored 88 pp.

“With no real changes in the economic outlook, Malaysians’ confidence remains low and we see that this trend will continue to be the case until the pressure on the ringgit ease. Only when the pressure of the ringgit improves, can consumers start to feel the burden of their day-to-day spending lessen,” Nielsen Malaysia country manager Richard Hall said in a statement.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, measures consumer confidence, perceptions of local job prospects, major concerns and spending intentions amongst more than 30,000 respondents with Internet access in 63 countries.

According to Nielsen, the economy and job security remained the top concerns of Malaysian consumers.

“While the nation’s fiscal status (52 per cent compared to 50 per cent in prior quarter) continues to top the list of major concerns among Malaysian consumers, nearly a quarter of the respondents have cited that job security is now their second top worry (22 per cent). Seven in 10 Malaysians feels that the local job prospects is not so good, even bad over the next 12 months (70 per cent compared to 64 per cent in previous quarter),” it said, adding that recessionary sentiments among Malaysians continued to remain high.

For the first time since starting the global online survey on consumer confidence and spending intentions back in 2005, terrorism made it to the nation’s top 10 list of major concerns (7 per cent). Other key concerns that also made the list include increasing food prices (20 per cent), political stability (19 per cent) and work/life balance (14 per cent).

The region’s consumers are the world’s most avid savers with all six countries securing the top 10 spots globally when it comes to saving.

Vietnam (78 per cent) maintains its first ranking followed by Indonesia (75 per cent) and Philippines (69 per cent) in second and third, respectively. Both Malaysia (67 per cent) and Singapore (67 per cent) are ranked fourth while Thailand (66 per cent) takes the sixth spot. On average, only half of global consumers priorities saving any spare cash (51 per cent).

About one third of Malaysians are also focused on building their financial nest by channelling extra cash towards investing in shares of stock/mutual funds (32 per cent) and retirement fund (27 per cent) while two in five respondents use any extra monies to clear debts, credit cards or loans (41 per cent).

Prime Minister Najib Razak, in his keynote address at the Malaysia-UK Investor Show­case, also said they should deepen bilateral ties with Malaysia, especially in new growth areas.

He said that in May last year, Malaysia had introduced the principal hub scheme to make the country even more attractive for global companies, and to be well-positioned to take advantage of its competitive location in Asean and the Asia Pacific region.

“I am delighted to say we have already approved 12 principal hub projects,” he said.

Najib said the new growth areas were in emerging technology, high technology, capital-intensive, high value-added, knowledge-based, skills-intensive and export-oriented sectors.

There was an overwhelming turnout at the showcase at Marlborough House, Pall Mall, with many new interested investors.

Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) chairman Lord Marland, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, Minister of State for Trade and Investment UK Lord Price, senior government representatives and officials attended the showcase organised by the Malaysian Inves­tment Development Authority and the CWEIC.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said that at the end of last year, British investments in Malay­sia amounted to 3.4 billion pounds (US$4.88 billion).

About half of the investments were in the chemicals and petroleum products industries while another 14 per cent are in electrical and electronics.

The prime minister stressed that Malaysia was focused on the big picture and the fundamentals to get things right.

According to Najib, in 2015, there were 43 new projects which would create an additional 3,700 jobs for Malaysians.

Notable projects from Britain include Owen Mumford – with its new regional hub – and Smiths Detection, the world-leading designer and manufacturer of advanced detection systems, with its new facility, Both will be located in the south of Malaysia.

Malaysian investments in the UK included hotels – Tune and Thistle hotels; healthcare iGene and Spire; retail Laura Ashley; and leisure with Genting and Hong Leong owning casinos and leisure centres across the country.

Malaysian companies and institutions are also among the largest investors in London’s commercial and residential property market.

“Malaysia’s involvement in the Battersea Power Station Project has generated a great deal of interest. Close to 2 billion pounds worth of property has been sold across the first three phases,” said Najib.

He also said the launch of the Battersea and Beyond initiative by Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to Kuala Lumpur last July would further expand the Malay­sian investment to the rest of the UK.

The Prime Minister also spoke on Asean which is predicted to become the fourth largest economy by 2050 at the latest.

Najib also said Asean was now actively negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partner­ship Agreement (RCEP) which would become a reality soon with Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

RCEP nations accounted for 49 per cent of the global population, 29.3 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product and 25.2 per cent of global trade.

“For Malaysia, economic integration and strengthening our economic ties with other countries are a necessity.

“Preferential arrangements such as Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and Asean Free Trade Agreements have a critical role in spurring productivity growth, accelerating structural reforms and creating a diversified, competitive and resilient Malaysian economy,” he said in his opening address at the World Bank Conference here yesterday (May 16).

Entitled “The Rise of the South at a Crossroads: A view from East Asia and Latin America”, the forum was jointly organised by the Latin America and Caribbean Chief Economist Office and the Development Research Group in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Sukhdave, while the resilience of Malaysia’s domestic demand in the current challenging environment was a noteworthy achievement, the reduced contribution of the external sector had clearly pushed Malaysia on to a lower growth trajectory.

“Since the financial crisis, Malaysia’s growth has become more dependent on domestic demand and less dependent on external demand,” he said. He added that since 2007, the contribution of net exports to real GDP growth had been negative with the sole exception of 2014.

“Over the longer term, the contribution of the external sector will need to expand to support a healthy and sustainable economy,” Sukhdave said.

He noted that greater economic integration – regionally and globally – could well be one of the more effective alternatives means of creating sustainable growth, as policymakers around the world were running out of ways to boost growth.

“Policymakers have not been successful in generating strong sustainable growth. The traditional tools for nursing the economy back to health don’t seem to be working as well – possibly because of overuse or misuse,” Sukhdave said.

“We have to look at alternative means of creating more sustainable growth. One of those alternatives may be greater economic integration, regionally and globally,” he added.

Sukhdave noted that economic and financial integration, whether regional or global, was already happening, hence it had become increasingly difficult for individual countries to determine their independent path to prosperity.

“While not downplaying the importance of keeping our house in order and the need to promote competitive and transparent economies, it is nevertheless obvious that the fates of economies are increasingly linked to those of others,” Sukhdave said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s interests in sensitive areas, specifically the affirmative policy and state-owned enterprises, will not be jeopardised under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, said Ministry of International Trade and Industry secretary-general Dr Rebecca Sta Maria.

“We have negotiated a package that took on board our concerns, specifically the affirmative policy and issues related to state-owned enterprises,” she said at a panel discussion on “The TPP as an opportunity for Integration” at the World Bank Conference yesterday.

Sta Maria stressed that the TPP would not result in any member country conceding its sovereignty to another, specifically the US.

Rather, she said the agreement was expected to create more opportunities for growth.

“This is an agreement of 12 parties… there’s nothing about surrendering our sovereignty to another, ” Sta Maria said.

“But in the process of negotiation, each party ensured that their interests are taken on board, ” she explained.

A forestry expert from Phongsaly province, Thongsavan Thammavong, told Vientiane Times yesterday that villagers quickly lost interest when they learnt what the sale price of rubber was.

“Many people here have wasted their time and lost opportunities by growing rubber as they can earn more by growing other crops,” Thongsavan said.

Thousands of farmers in the province switched to planting cardamom after earning a good income from this crop, which they sold to Chinese traders.

Paeng Phongsone, 56, from Mokyon village in Phongsaly province’s Samphan district said people there detest rubber.

“Rubber makes our lives very difficult,” he said.

“Many people in this district are starting to grow cardamom instead. Some families have earned as much as 40 million kip a year from growing cardamom, enabling them to send their children to school and to build new houses.”

Phongsaly provincial authorities announced a halt to rubber plantations in 2012 following the government’s decision to suspend investment in mining, rubber and eucalyptus plantations.

The slowdown has given the government time to review its policies and assess the effectiveness of existing projects and make sure that Laos can maximise its benefits from these sectors.

Despite the government’s decision to halt rubber plantations, many people continued to plant rubber until last year, hoping to profit from the crop.

Thongsavan said Phongsaly province planned to plant only 18,000 hectares of rubber but the real figure has risen to 23,000 hectares as many villagers thought they would earn a decent income.

“Now nobody wants to plant rubber because its sale price is too low,” he said.

Rubber currently sells for 3,000-4,000 kip (37 to 50 US cents) per kilogramme, down from 9,000 kip per kg in 2012 and 17,000 kip in 2008.

A researcher at the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), Dr Palikone Thalongsengchanh, said rubber not only destroyed the environment and ecosystem but also saw villagers lose opportunities to earn more money in other ways.

At present, villagers in Phongsaly are enjoying the high price of cardamom but many are very concerned about fluctuations in the market price, particularly when more people start growing the crop, as the price might go down.

A painful lesson has been learnt by farmers in mnay provinces who grew rubber and then lost out when the price slumped. Some farmers even resorted to pulling up their trees so they could grow other crops instead.

Critics say it’s vital for the authorities to help farmers diversify, ensuring that they grow crops in line with market demand and reasonable prices.

US$1 = 8,080 kip

The 30% Club Malaysia said this figure was a testament to the foresight of these companies to pursue their value creation through the “women agenda”.

The Malaysian Chapter of the 30% Club, launched by the Prime Minister in May 2015, is a movement that champions diversity in the workplace, and seeks to break the glass ceiling for women in the top management and board levels.

The 30% Club movement began in the UK to induct women leaders into the upper echelons of corporate service.

The movement recently held its first series of breakfast roundtable meetings at Lanai Kijang here, attended by its chairpersons, board directors and CEOs representing over 30 public-listed companies and government-linked investment companies.

“The power of business leaders lobbying for change must not be under estimated, as this is exactly what drove the exponential growth for Women on Boards (WOBs) in the UK over the last 5 years,” said one of the founding chairs of 30% Club Malaysia, Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar.

Another founding chair of the movement, Tan Sri Megat Zaharudin said: “As the boards start to proactively recruit more women, these women could inspire others to do the same through showing how they cope with board work and time commitments, whilst assisting their companies build foundations for more all-round gender inclusiveness in future”.

She first went to prison when she was 29, barely four months after giving birth to her son, and has been in and out of jail thrice in around 15 years.

She struggled to stay free of drugs and alcohol, despite a stint at a halfway house, three detoxification programmes with the National Addictions Management Service (Nams) and the support of her family.

Her efforts paid off only after almost a year-long stay at transitional shelter iCare Hub, nestled in a quiet housing estate in Balestier.

It is among the first of its kind to offer a secular residential programme for former offenders who are women, supporting them as they rebuild their lives.

And there is demand for its services, said Grace Wong, 54, who is the centre’s co-founder and executive director.

More than 20 women completed stays at iCare last year, Wong said, but it received more than 40 referrals in the same period, and over 100 inquiries. Such referrals may come from organisations such as family service centres or the Institute of Mental Health.

In line with a rise in drug abusers nabbed last year, the number of female drug abusers arrested rose from 452 in 2012 to 524 last year, based on data from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).

The increase last year was largely due to more new, young abusers. The CNB said most new drug addicts, as well as new female drug abusers, are below 30 years old.

Goh, 46, quit heroin about six years ago, after her last prison stay, and has stayed clean so far – the longest stretch ever.

She stayed at iCare two years ago on the recommendation of Wong, who was her counsellor.

The centre, which opened in 2013 and officially introduced a residential programme last year, can take up to 12 residents. Residents may stay for a few months to a year as they try to secure permanent housing and a stable job. Within a month, the centre helps to find employment for former inmates as well.

Many of its residents are hardcore former drug offenders who have been through at least one long-term sentence, said Wong.

This means at least five years’ jail and three strokes of the cane. Close to 80 per cent are former addicts, many with multiple addictions.

Wong said that while there are many drop-in centres and temporary shelters for former offenders, a residential facility with minimal supervision can be “extremely helpful” in the first six months after release from prison or a halfway house, when they may be tempted to return to their old ways.

Goh resolved to start anew after her release, wanting to repay her family who raised her son while she was in jail. He is now a 17-year-old student at the Institute of Technical Education.

For almost a year, she worked from home as an events coordinator while caring for her elderly mother who has dementia.

But she soon found herself buckling under the pressure of being a caregiver while adapting to her new job and life.

She started drinking again, thinking: “I cannot take drugs, so… maybe I can drink.”

From one to two cans of beer a day, she said, she was soon finishing a six-pack every day, spending around half her monthly salary of about $1,200 on alcohol.

This added strain to her relationship at home. While she took up stay-in programmes at Nams, the three-week stints were too short for her.

She later decided to move into iCare and, after her stint there, has kicked the addiction.

“I knew that I could not break the house rules and became more self-aware,” she said.

“Some might find this restrictive, but it is to help us understand that in life, we also need to have some structure and discipline.”

Now, she visits the centre occasionally and hopes to encourage others with her story. Learning about addiction over the years has helped her realise that it can be controlled, she said.

“It is not easy, but it is a journey. Every day, every time, every minute, I have to overcome it.”

Investors have cheered the outcome, pushing the benchmark stock market index to its highest levels in nine months. The peso has also strengthened against the US dollar, marking its best performance in six weeks.

There were widespread concerns going into this week’s polls that a win for Duterte, a tough- talking mayor from the southern city of Davao more concerned with crime busting, would undermine the strong gains in the economy over the last six years under current President Benigno Aquino.

Those worries are now giving way to cautious optimism.

“He has not laid out any clear economic plans but, generally, we are positive about the economy under him (Duterte),” says Joyce Ramos of SB Securities in Manila.

“Duterte is pragmatic and he isn’t going to run the economy to the ground. He will appoint the right people to the Cabinet to handle the economy and focus on peace and security,” said David T. del Rosario of CLSA Philippines in Manila.

But details remain sketchy about Duterte’s economic vision.

In recent days, he has made some remarks that he would favourably look at reviewing limits on foreign ownership in some sectors to attract foreign direct investment and push for the award of infrastructure projects to generate economic growth.

He has also identified close friend and businessman Carlos Dominguez as his leading choice for either the finance or transportation portfolio. Dominguez – who served in the Cabinet under former presidents Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino – is highly regarded to deal with these tough portfolios, particularly transportation, which analysts say is riddled with corruption and needs urgent attention.

Some economists have suggested that Duterte opt for continuity in key government portfolios to try and heal the rifts following a very divisive election. They noted that he secured only approximately 38 per cent of the popular vote while two of his closest rivals, who are aligned to Mr Aquino, together accounted for more than 45 per cent.

The closely watched portfolios are the Department of Finance headed by Cesar Purisima, the Department of Budget and Finance chaired by Florencio Abad and the Department of Trade and Industry led by Adrian Cristobal. Amando Tetangco, whose term as central bank governor expires next year, will not be affected in any post-election reshuffle.

Duterte will be inheriting a robust economy that is expected to expand by 6.5 per cent this year. Many analysts say the economy will continue on its expansion track because remittances from Filipinos working abroad and the country’s robust business process outsourcing sector, often referred to as BPO, are likely to be immune from any post-election hiccups.

“Our big concern is politics,” said CLSA’s Mr del Rosario, referring specifically to Duterte’s avowed plan to amend the Constitution, which could lead to a very nasty public backlash and trigger impeachment moves.

Duterte is due to be sworn into office on June 30 for a six-year term.