Last month, the government announced its plan of producing 1.8 million units of hydrogen cars and installing 660 charging stations by 2030.

This year, it aims to produce 4,000 hydrogen cars and 86 charging stations. There are currently only nine stations nationwide, with only two in Seoul.

Since President Moon Jae-in observed a demonstration on fueling hydrogen cars in Paris in October, calls have been growing for Korea to deregulate to boost the hydrogen car industry.

“We decided to allow the request of Hyundai Motor to build its hydrogen-fueling stations in three areas, including the National Assembly,” according to a joint statement released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the speaker of the National Assembly, after holding the first committee meeting on deliberating special cases of regulations.

It will be the first such case in the world for hydrogen-fueling stations to be built at the legislature.

After the government adopted a regulatory sandbox last month, Hyundai Motor has applied for approval to build hydrogen-charging stations in five areas, including the National Assembly, in Seoul. A regulatory sandbox refers to a system that exempts or postpones existing regulations to help companies pursue new businesses.

Hyundai Motor will build the stations on a site of around 1,000 square metres within the National Assembly by the end of July. The charging stations will have the capacity to charge more than 50 hydrogen cars per day, according to the government.

The government will also allow hydrogen-charging stations to be built at the Tancheon water reclamation facility in Gangnam and the hydrogen-fueling station in Yangjae.

Under the current law, building hydrogen-charging stations in such areas is not allowed due to many regulations related to residential areas, commercial areas and cultural assets. With the regulatory sandbox, the related infrastructure can be installed without revising laws.

Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo said, “It has a significant meaning that hydrogen-fueling stations will be built at the National Assembly for the first time in the world amid difficult conditions in securing sites for the stations due to various complaints and regulations.”

Using this mobile VR application, called “Lunar VR”, anyone can experience landing on moon on Apollo-11 and walk around the satellite.

Team Olik, the winning team, used a 3D model and data from NASA resources to create the virtual demonstration. NASA also gave them some challenges to solve, said Abu Sabiq Mahdi, the team leader.

“I cannot express my feelings of winning this kind of global award and now we will get opportunities to meet the best space scientist in NASA and can experience the launching of satellites directly,” said Mahdi, a student of the geography and environment department of SUST.

The other three members of the team were Kazi Mainul Islam and Sabbir Hasan from the same department and SM Rafee Adnan from the physics department.

The team’s moderator Bishwapriyo Chakrabarty, assistant professor of Computer Science and Engineering department of SUST, will also accompany the team during the NASA visit.

Team Olik beat 1,395 teams from around the world.

The announcement was made on Saturday via an email sent to the winners. The team has been asked to visit the aeronautics and space science research centre of NASA soon, Mahdi added.

Earlier in the selection round, Team Olik made it to the top four along with teams from California, Kuala Lumpur and Yamaguchi in Japan on December 8.

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), under the initiative of BASIS students’ forum, has been organising teams from Bangladesh for the NASA Space Apps Challenge every year.

For this year, the BASIS had chosen eight teams to submit their projects to NASA, after a massive competition across the country where they selected the top 40 from 2000 projects.

Telecom and ICT minister Mustafa Jabbar and ICT state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak have congratulated the winning team.

The Mekong Delta, which is the country’s largest agricultural production area, has great potential to develop ecotourism. It has been listed among the best destinations to visit in 2019 by the US travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler.

The delta attracts millions of visitors each year thanks to its cultural diversity, natural beauty and a large range of tourism products.

According to Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Tourism, tourist demand to seek hands-on experiences has increased from 20-30 per cent compared to recent years.

 In many localities in the delta, organisations and individuals have begun to pour more investment in agri-tourism models.

The models help to both preserve traditional culture and increase farmers’ incomes.

Ph?m Van Hoang, 54, owner of Chin Hong Fruit Garden in Phong Dien district’s My Khanh commune, said he grows star fruit, mango, rambutan, coconut and guava on 1.8ha.

The garden started opening to serve visitors as an agri-tourism model in August 2016.

Tickets are 30,000 dongs (US$1.3, Bt41) per person. Visitors can pick fruit to eat while relaxing later in the garden.

“Visitors usually buy more fruits to bring home,” he said.

David Forrest, a French tourist, said he saw fruits that were never available in Europe.

“This place was very interesting to visit. I’m going to visit rice fields to understand how farmers grow rice.”

Hoang said that the eco-tourism model had helped him increase his income and expand production.

He earns a profit of about 400 million dongs ($17,245) each year, with revenue from tourism accounting for 70 per cent of the total.

Previously, he sold all the fruit directly to traders at cheaper rates, but now he sells 70 per cent of fruits to visitors.

The garden welcomes about 130-150 domestic and foreign visitors daily, and up to 200 visitors on weekends and holidays.

Popular traditional dishes can be prepared to visitors’orders with accompanying drinks served in the garden.

Hoang plans to open a homestay service in the near future to meet demand of visitors.

Cao Van Hoa, deputy director of Tien Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the most profitable model was agri-tourism, which contributes to sustainable agricultural development.

The province’s 77,000ha of fruit trees produce about 1.5 million tonnes of fruits each year.

Among these, durian trees are one of the key fruits with more than 12,000ha. Other fruits grown in the area are blue dragon, pineapple, mango, grapefruit, star apple and many others.

Fruit farmers earn an annual profit of about 400 million dongs ($17,245) per ha, with durian farmers earning about 1 billion dongs ($43,000) per ha per year.

The value of fruit trees accounts for 64 per cent of the total value of agricultural production in the province.

Combining agricultural production with tourism, farmers can raise their incomes by two to three times compared to production and consumption of agricultural products, Hoa said.

“We plan to develop specialty fruits as the province’s key agri-tourism products in the coming years,” he said.

The department is working with the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to design tours that will include visits to flower gardens, fruit and vegetable fields cultivated with high-tech methods, new rural areas, historic and cultural relic sites, and traditional craft villages.

“Agencies should cooperate more closely to help the tourism industry exploit agriculture,” Hoa said.

Tran Anh Tuan, 58, owner of Thach Thao Garden in Tien Giang Province’s My Tho City, said when he had noticed the growing desire of tourists to explore nature and agricultural products, he switched from growing vegetables, oranges and lemons, which are not economically efficient, to gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) fruit and many kinds of flowers.

Tickets for visitors to his garden are 30,000 dongs($1.3) per person.

“My garden brings higher income now and I can see the number of visitors has been increasing,” he said.

Luu Le Phuong, a visitor from Vinh Long Province, said she had heard of gac fruit but had never seen the plant before. “It’s really beautiful.”

The garden also rents traditional dresses of ao dai and ao ba ba for visitors to wear for photos taken in front of beautiful flowers.

Besides income from tourism, four times a week, Tuan sells 300-400kg of fruit each time, for 10,000 dongs ($0.43) per kilo, earning 3-4 million dongs ($130-170) a week.

Despite the progress, many experts said that agri-tourism models in the Mekong Delta had developed haphazardly without coordination. Many are small and overlap in function, and not commensurate with the potential of the region, they said.

Limited connection between destinations and travel businesses, and a shortage of human resources are other challenges facing agri-tourism development.

Vo Huong, deputy director of Kien Tri Human Resource Training Co, Ltd in Can Tho City, said the most difficult task was training human resources.

“Most of them lack skills and knowledge about conducting tourism and being a tourist guide, while tour guides who have graduated from tourism schools lack experience and knowledge about agricultural production,” she said.

Localities in the delta should work more closely with tourism schools to improve the quality of staff for agricultural-based tourism, she said.

Each year, the delta welcomes millions of domestic and foreign visitors, but only about 10 per cent of the total extend their stays.

“New agricultural tourism products should be created to attract more tourists who will stay longer and spend more money,” said Nguyen Hoang On, deputy head of the Centre for Tourism Development under the Can Tho City’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In recent years, the city has helped farmers and artisans develop fruit gardens and traditional craft villages to enhance eco-tourism combined with agriculture, he said.

However, the services and products are still basic and on a small- to medium-sized scale. Many locals and provinces offer similar products.

In addition, facilities at many agricultural tourism sites have not been fully developed.

“Lack of effective policies and strategies has hindered development in agri-tourism,” he said.

Brand promotion and the use of information technologies are also needed.

To achieve sustainable development, authorities in the Mekong Delta should strive for improved efficiency, On said.

Each locality in the region should improve connections between farmers, travel agents, local authorities, and agencies that represent tourism, agriculture, and trading activities.

This follows Axiata Group Bhd’s acceptance of their joint offer of S$2.06 per share (Bt47.5) for its entire stake of 28.6 per cent. Axiata is a long-term shareholder of M1.

The joint offer for M1 has now turned unconditional and the remaining shareholders will have till 5.30pm on March 4 to accept the $2.06-a-share offer.

Konnectivity, a joint venture company which is majority owned by Keppel, said obtaining majority control of M1 is the first step in the transformational journey that M1 will embark on to enhance its competitiveness.

 As of 5pm on Friday, the shares owned, controlled or agreed to be acquired by Konnectivity and the valid acceptances of the offer amounted to 707 million shares, representing 76.35 per cent of the total number of shares and 75.52 per cent of the maximum potential issued share capital of M1.

Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel Corp, said: “We are very pleased that we will, together with SPH, be in a position to steer M1 during this critical period in its journey.

“The increasingly challenging and competitive market conditions in the Singapore telecommunications sector requires M1 to take bold steps to transform.”

Keppel and SPH are making the voluntary general offer for the remaining M1 shares that they do not own via joint venture company Konnectivity, which is majority owned by Keppel.

The latest milestone comes after Keppel Corp and SPH announced in December last year their “firm intention” to make a voluntary general offer of $2.06 per share for the remaining M1 shares they do not own.

At the time of the voluntary general offer, Keppel Corp, one of the founding shareholders of M1, owns 19.3 per cent of M1 through its subsidiary Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation, while SPH has a 13.45 per cent stake.

Ng Yat Chung, CEO of SPH, said: “We see opportunities to leverage on M1’s mobile platform to offer on demand and ready digital content to better serve our customers. This transaction is part of SPH’s ongoing objective to enhance long-term value for our shareholders.”

Loh added: “We will work with M1’s management to develop and implement new strategic and operational plans to sharpen its competitive edge, increase its momentum in digital transformation and undertake growth initiatives.”

He also said that M1 complements Keppel Corp’s mission to provide solutions for sustainable urbanisation.

The measure, considered a priority bill of the Duterte administration, will effectively open the country’s doors to unimpeded importation of rice and provide an annual subsidy of 10 billion peso (Bt6 billion) for the development of the rice industry.

Economic managers and 13 business organisations had thrown their support for the law, noting that its enactment would help temper the country’s inflation, bring down retail prices of rice in the market and harness the country’s ability to ensure food security.

However, industry groups, including the Federation of Free Farmers, Alyansa ng Magbubukid and Bantay Bigas, had urged Duterte to veto the bill, citing issues of smuggling and corruption in the rice trade as well as the limited role of the National Food Authority (NFA) under the law.

Under the tariff regime, the NFA would be limited to maintaining the country’s emergency stocks in time of calamities and would not be allowed to license importers and regulate the entry of imported rice in the market.

It was not clear if it would still be allowed to sell subsidised rice in the market.

Acting NFA Administrator Tomas Escarez said details of the agency’s function would be tackled in the implementing rules and regulations of the law, which has yet to be released.

The Rice Tariffication Law allows the market to be flooded with rice imports so long as these are slapped a tariff at 35 per cent if coming from Asean members and 50 per cent for non-Asean states.

Around 28 billion peso in revenues are expected to be collected by the government from these imports, which would be used to subsidise rice farmers to ensure their competitiveness.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate committee on food and agriculture and the proponent of the bill, said that the money should be used to mechanise and modernise the sector, which has been lagging behind other rice-producing countries.

Unlike in Vietnam and Thailand where farmers can produce a kilo of rice at 6 peso, Filipino farmers incur a production cost of 12 peso a kilo, making local rice costlier than imported rice.

Whether or not relying on rice imports would benefit both local producers and consumers of the staple remains to be seen.

Right now, the challenge is to make sure that rice farmers can compete at a price 35-per cent higher than imported rice, and give consumers the option to avail themselves of the staple at a more affordable price.

It is the first shrimp farm in the country to apply a non-use chemical-based antibiotic and water filtration recirculation system, said QNTek Joint-Stock Company’s technology director Tran Ba Cuomg.

He said garlic and other natural antibiotic agents were mixed into food to prevent the whiteleg shrimp from becoming infected.

Cuong said the farm also applied nano-tech in its water treatment process.

 The project was designed to produce 9 tonnes of shrimp from each 1,000sqm pool in the first stage of investment.

According to Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee, the project will act as an example of hi-tech aquaculture development before the practices are spread throughout the province.

The committee said Japan and Korea would be two key export markets for the province’s whiteleg shrimp in 2019.

Earlier this year, the province also approved hi-tech farming and agriculture park projects in Thang Binh district and the township of Dien Ban on 425 hectares of land with planned investment totalling 5.4 trillion dongs ($239 million) by 2024.

Two investors – Truong Huong Hai Joint Stock Company and Hoang Anh Gia Lai – have agreed to a joint-venture agroforestry project with an investment of 13.8 trillion dongs ($611 million) in the province.

The province has 857,628ha of protected forest and farm land – 82 per cent of the province’s area – 115,000ha of which is reserved for agricultural production.

According to the latest report, the export value of agricultural, forestry and fishery products was estimated at about $40 billion in 2018.

Social Security System (SSS) members and their employers in the Philipines will shell out more for their contributions as the rate will increase to 12 per cent, a move that the state-run pension fund’s chief said would replenish the fund life by six years.

SSS president and chief executive Emmanuel Dooc told the Inquirer that the second tranche of pension hike would unlikely be implemented this year even as it will still be granted within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

A source said the amendments to the SSS’s charter was signed by Duterte last week.

Dooc said the SSS will immediately craft the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR), so that the provision mandating a 1-percentage point increase in the contribution rate every two years, until it reaches 15 per cent, can be implemented this year.

At present, the contribution rate stands at 11 per cent.

As such, this year’s contribution rate hike will be followed by three more 1-percentage point increases in 2021, 2023 and 2025.

Under the SSS Rationalisation Act, the Social Security Commission (SSC) — the pension fund’s highest policymaking body — can implement contribution rate increases even without the President’s approval, unlike the current charter wherein only the chief executive can approve rate adjustments.

Two-thirds of the contribution rate increase will be shouldered by the employer. – The Philippine Daily Inquirer

Aust targets March signing of stalled Indonesia trade deal

Australia said a long-awaited trade deal with Indonesia will be signed in March, following months of diplomatic tension over Canberra’s contentious plan to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

The multi-billion-dollar deal will include improved access for Australian cattle and sheep farmers to Indonesia’s 260 million people, while Australian universities, health providers and miners will also benefit from easier entry to southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

Greater access to the Australian market is expected to spur Indonesia’s automotive and textile industries, and boost exports of timber, electronic and medicinal goods.

“This a strong deal for both our countries, which will increase the two-way flow of trade and investment, creating more opportunities for farmers, businesses and economic development,” Australia’s minister for trade Simon Birmingham told AFP.

Bilateral trade was worth US$11.7 billion (Bt366 billion) in 2017.

The deal has been in negotiations since 2010 and was expected to be signed before the end of last year before it stalled when Prime Minister Scott Morrison proposed the relocation of Australia’s embassy to Jerusalem. – The Jakarta Post

Vietnam set to probe Grab-Uber deal again

VIETNAM’S authorities plan to conduct further investigations into the merger of Grab and Uber last year over possible antitrust regulations violations, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Competition Council announced that after examining documents and working sessions with relevant parties, it had discovered a number of new details related to possible violations of competition law in Grab’s acquisition of fellow ride-hailing platform Uber last March.

These discoveries prompted the council to return the case dossiers to the Ministry’s Competition and Consumer Protection Department for further investigation. The investigation is expected to run until April this year.

Last year, Grab announced its acquisition of Uber’s operations in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the investigation into Grab and Uber’s merger was initiated in May last year.

The Competition Council in December 2018 announced Grab’s acquisition of Uber had signs of violations in terms of failure to notify market regulators of its purchase of Uber. The deal was also thought to have threatened Vietnamese taxi companies by cutting their market shares and changing customer habits. – Viet Nam News

iPhone maker Pegatron to start operating in Batam

Pegatron Corporation, the maker of Apple’s iPhones, is scheduled to start operating in Batam, Indonesia, in April this year after the Taipei-based manufacturer agreed to rent a factory in a specially designated economic zone.

The company is planning to invest up to US$300 million (Bt9.4 billion) in the long run.

The general manager of Batam’s Batamindo Industrial Park, Mook Sooi Wah, confirmed the company would rent a 2-hectare manufacturing plant in the park.

“The company will officially start operations in April,” Mook told The Jakarta Post recently.

Batam Development Industrial Authority (BP Batam) chief Edy Putra Irawadi said Pegatron’s total investment could reach $300 million with an initial investment of $40 million. However, he said his side had not heard of confirmation from the company regarding its plan to build a manufacturing plant in Batamindo.

“The company wants to build a large manufacturing plant in Batam as the city has the spare land it needs,” Edy said. – The Jakarta Post