AEC Feed

The Indonesian government plans to facilitate the import of salt in order to boost investment in related businesses, Trade Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Friday.

“The supply of salt cannot be disrupted, according to Government Regulation No. 41/2015. So we will facilitate the import of salt for [various] industries,” Airlangga said after a meeting on the issue held with Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution in Jakarta, as reported by kompas.com.

He was referring to the regulation on the development of industry resources.

Airlangga did not explain the details of the plan but said the government would coordinate with those agencies that were authorised to issue recommendations for salt imports.

The requirement to obtain a recommendation from various institutions to import salt has discouraged investors from putting their money into the sectors that need salt, he added.

“Meanwhile, we need investment to boost [economic] growth, which is targeted at 5.4 per cent this year,” he said, without disclosing how much salt the government would have to import.

Each relevant sector would be required to submit a report on the amount of salt it required, he said.

Indonesian Salt Farmers Association (APGRI) chairman Jakfar Sodikin said that Indonesian salt production was estimated to have reached 1.2 million tonnes by early November, an amount that could fulfil the country’s needs until next month. This year’s harvest time, however, is estimated to not arrive until June. 

He added that certain industries could not use local salt due to its lower content of sodium chloride. – The Jakarta Post

Foreigners flock to Malaysia for treatment

Medical tourism generated 5 billion ringgit (Bt40.5 billion) of income for Malaysia last year with more than 920,000 foreign tourists from various countries seeking medical treatment there, said Deputy Finance Minister Lee Chee Leong. The availability of halal food, mosques, medication and other factors enabled Malaysia to overtake Thailand in this sector, even though the country’s medical tourism industry had yet to be fully developed.

More than 921,500 foreign tourists received medical treatment in Malaysia, generating an income between 4 and 5 billion ringgit, Lee added.

Foreign tourists from Indonesia, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan and the United Kingdom underwent medical treatments in Malaysia, said Lee, while the number of tourists from Saudi Arabia and UAE was also increasing.

Lee said the government had allocated 30 million ringgit for the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council to help shape Malaysia into an Asian hub in fertility treatment, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and heart ailments. Medical tourism programmes had been launched to attract foreigners and private hospitals were also offering incentives. 

The government had also extended the 100 per cent tax exemption for medical tourism until December 31, 2020. Dental treatments and outpatient treatments receive double rebates on certification, he said.

The International Living portal has ranked Malaysia’s medical system 3rd in the world.

“This is because our healthcare services are the best and affordable,” said Lee.

Since 2011, healthcare industry in Malaysia have expanded substantially, with 16 per cent to 17 per cent growth each year. – Sin Chew Daily

Jokowi calls on banks to expand credits to small businesses 

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on banks to diversify their loans business to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to help them expand their businesses.

“I see that the debtors [of banks] are the same people over the years. I want more people to have access to banks,” he said at a Financial Services Authority (OJK) gathering event in Jakarta.

According to an OJK report, in 2017 the loan disbursement only grew 8.35 per cent year-on-year while the third-party fund grew 9.35 per cent.

Jokowi said by providing MSMEs with more access to banks, they were expected to be able to upgrade themselves to become bigger business players. “We have to put forth extra effort to help them from micro to medium businesses, etc,” Jokowi said.

He stressed that several government programmes had paved the way for low-income families to have access to banks.

He cited the non-cash social assistance that required the recipients to have bank accounts to receive the assistance, and the land certification programme that provided free land certificates to people.

The programme would help people obtain bank loans by using the certificates as collateral, Jokowi added.

Meanwhile, University of Indonesia economist Andi Fahmi Lubis said it was not easy for the banks to find loan-worthy MSMEs, particularly in rural areas.

He said many banks were too “lazy” to find deserving recipients of the government’s microcredit program, known as the People’s Business Credit (KUR) – The Jakarta Post

Ride-hailing app Grab signs MoU with anti-corruption body

Ride-hailing giant Grab has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Cambodian government’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), agreeing to immediately report any future incidents of corruption or bribery to the state body.

The MoU between Singapore-based Grab and the ACU comes less than a month after the company entered the Cambodian market, and the agreement complements the company’s existing anti-corruption policies, according to Wee Tang Yee, Grab’s head of operations in Cambodia and Thailand.

Kheang Seng, vice president of the ACU, presided over a ceremony that also saw law firm Tilleke & Gibbins sign an MoU with the body. During his prepared remarks, Seng said the two companies’ MoUs brought the total number of agreements signed with the ACU to 88.

“These companies clearly have a strong will to fight against corruption, and now these companies are protected by the law,” he said, urging more companies to sign similar agreements.

The ACU launched in 2010 with Om Yentieng, a long-time adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, as its head.

In the most recent Corruption Perception Index report published by global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in January 2017, Cambodia ranked 156 out of 176 total countries, the worst ranking for any country in the region. – The Phnom Penh Post