Bank Indonesia (BI) has shown its commitment to helping increase Indonesian coffee exports by facilitating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) taking part in a coffee expo in Singapore.

The SMEs were provided with facilities by BI as part of the central bank’s commitment to helping develop local economies.

Held from March 21- 23, The Cafe Asia Expo was participated in by 154 exhibitors from 25 countries.

The participation of the Indonesian SMEs was made possible through cooperation between BI, the Trade Ministry and Indonesian Embassy in Singapore.

“Cafe Asia Expo 2019 serves as a media showcase to introduce authentic Indonesian coffee produced by SMEs to the global community,” BI said in statement.

Singapore is seen as having potential as an end user and market hub for coffee. Bringing SMEs to the expo aimed to help local players market their products internationally and to reach more consumers. – The Jakarta Post

Sembcorp to solar-power YCH warehouses in Asia

Sembcorp Industries said it is working with YCH Group on supplying its warehouses across Asia with solar power, as it announced the completion of a rooftop solar farm at YCH’s Supply Chain City flagship building.

Sembcorp is now looking

to power other YCH facilities with solar energy in countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, it said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange .

Said Robert Yap, executive chairman of logistics group YCH: “The inauguration of the solar energy system with Sembcorp marks a new milestone in YCH efforts to build on our green initiatives. We look forward to collaborating with them and leverage their smart solar energy system to power our warehouses across the region.”

Koh Chiap Khiong, Sembcorp’s head of Singapore, Southeast Asia and China (Energy), said: “With the successful completion of the solar energy system at Supply Chain City, we are pleased to partner YCH in helping them to provide their clients a solution which instantly cuts their carbon footprint and gives them cheaper electricity.” – The Straits Times

PCC approves North Harbour plan from ICTSI

The antitrust body has cleared the bid of International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) to be the single biggest stakeholder in the local operator of North Harbour, after existing rules were found enough to keep the deal from being anticompetitive.

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has approvedthe company’s plan to get more shares in Manila North Harbour Port Inc (MNHPI) from Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc.

This paves the way for the company to be the single biggest stakeholder in MNHPI, since the approval will allow ICTSI to increase its share in the latter from 34.83 per cent to 50 per cent.

“The transaction approval was hinged on the concession agreements with the PPA (Philippine Ports Authority) and the current regulatory regime,” said PCC Chair Arsenio Balisacan.

PCC’s concerns revolve around the implications to the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), which ITCSI directly operates and manages. MICT is one of the three terminals in the port.

The Manila North Harbour Port Terminal, meanwhile, is operated by MNHPI. – The Philippine Daily Inquirer

Vo Thanh Thong, chairman of the People’s Committee of Can Tho City, made the statement at a meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s delegation in the city last week.

Logistics services for the transport of goods by air are very important for Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region because agricultural produce, especially farming and fishery items, must be fresh if they are to be sold at high prices, he said. Therefore, besides preservation, the moment of transport for these products is very important.

At present, the Can Tho International Airport is connected with Hanoi, Danang, Phu Quoc and Con Dao.

In 2019, the airport will be connected through five new domestic routes to Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Da Lat and Nha Trang as well as two international routes to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Can Tho expects to exploit these routes for the transportation of passengers and cargo, Thong said.

Municipal authorities are studying proposals from the four investors, Thong said.

He said the projects need support from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Transport to ensure efficiency, especially in terms of selecting partners.

Food processing

At the meeting, Industry and Trade Minister Trade Tran Tuan Anh said the MoIT is holding talks with a Japanese investor on the development of a food processing centre in the Mekong Delta region. An air logistics centre is needed for the project, he added.

The minister also asked Can Tho to pay more attention to attracting foreign enterprises, especially from South Korea and Japan.

The MoIT would cooperate with Can Tho in allocating sites for the projects of both local and foreign companies.

In addition, the ministry will seek help from domestic businesses, such as Vietjet and SHB, in promoting the initiative, he said.

This is a bridge connecting businesses with the city and creating value chains relating to market development in Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region, Anh added.

Neda Assistant Secretary Roderick Planta said the push for the creation of a Department of Water as well as a Water Regulatory Commission was a product of consensus among various national agencies.

“We’ve been advocating for this for a long time,” Planta said in a press briefing. “We have presented this to many agencies and have recommended it to the Office of the President for endorsement as a priority legislative measure.”

He said having these two bodies was critical to the use and management of our water resources and was as necessary as having a Department of Energy and an Energy Regulatory Commission when it came to electricity.

“There are so many agencies—32 in all—involved in water and there is no single point of accountability,” Planta said. “There are overlapping mandates, which will just lead to inefficient use of water resources.”

He said that on the regulation of water services, there were also many entities involved such as the NWRB itself as well as the Local Water Utilities Administration, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System-Regualtory Office, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enteprise Zone Authority and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

NWRB executive director Sevillo David said the need for such agencies was made more urgent by the fact that the Philippines has been experiencing water stress for the past several years.

“The international benchmark is that a country should have water supply of at least 1,700 cubic metres per person per year,” David said. “Our per capita supply is below that at 1,446 cubic meters per year.”

David said the National Capital Region and Calabarzon region—which includes Rizal and Cavite, both parts of the MWSS east zone concession— were the most water-stressed areas with water availability of no more than 500 cubic metre per person per year. Such a volume is categorised as “absolute scarcity.”

Ramon Alikpala, former chair of MWSS and former executive director of NWRB, said that while there was fragmented regulatory framework, water supply and sanitation was not a priority of local chief executives.

Alikpala, who now runs his own consultancy firm Futurewater Asia, also lamented that water was used as a political commodity.

“There are conflicts between local government units and their water districts,” he said. “And consumers are caught in the middle of opposing governors and mayors, who appoint unqualified water district members.”

Alikpala’s support for a national department and regulator for water supply and sanitation was echoed by former agriculture secretary William Dar—who is now president of the advocacy group Inang Lupa —and Christopher Ilagan, president of Philippine Water Partnership, which is also a non-profit group.

Alikpala, Dar and Ilagan were among the experts that NWRB tapped to help in extensive workshops and preparations of reports over the past two years, which culminated in the National Water Summit held in Quezon City last week.

Former environment secretary Elisea Gozun, who facilitated the summit, noted that the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 states that the primary strategy for the water sector is to address the governance and to create that apex water body, referring to the department.

“And when Pagasa raises the El Nio alert, who (which agency) is supposed to prepare the plans to mitigate the effects,” Gozun said. “The responses would be disparate, unlike when we prepare for an electricity crisis, the DOE is mobilized and there is clearly a focal entity.”

The EAEU – comprised of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, with 183 million people and a combined GDP of $2.2 trillion (Bt70 trillion) – would be a new market for Cambodian firms.

Speaking to reporters in a seminar to promote EAEU trade preferences to Cambodia, Ministry of Commerce secretary of state Tek Reth Kamrong said the EAEU has provided tariff-free access for 46 Cambodian products for three years due to the Kingdom’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) classification.

Though preferential status will last until Cambodia has graduated from its LDC rank, Reth Kamrong said the negotiation for an FTA with the bloc is a good initiative.

“When we can open the new market and expand it, we can ship more products abroad. Every new market is always a potential and to obtain a successful trade agreement, and effort is needed from all stakeholders, including government institutions and the private sector,” she said.