# ASEAN Affairs Forum



## ahfatzia

ASEAN Countries.....Population....601 million ....Area......4.479 km sq


Brunei Darussalam........Bandar Seri Begawan................,409 population in thousand
Cambodia...................Phnom Penh........................ 14,952
Indonesia...................Jarkata..............................237,400
Laos..........................Vientiane.............................. 6,500
Malaysia.....................Kuala Lumpur........................28,300
Myanmar.....................Naypyidaw...........................60,280
Philippines...................Manila.................................92,338
Singapore...................Singapore..............................5,184
Thailand.....................Bangkok...............................66,720
Vietnam......................Hanoi..................................87,840


*ASEAN Economy by country in 2011 GDP million/USD nominal *

&#8212; ASEAN........2,153,919 
1 Indonesia......845,680
2 Thailand........345,649 
3 Malaysia........278,680 
4 Singapore......259,849 
5 Philippines......213,129 
6 Vietnam.........122,722 
7 Myanmar..........51,925 
8 Brunei.............15,533 
9 Cambodia.........12,861 
10 Laos................7,891

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## ahfatzia

*Chinese firms move ASEAN counties due to rising costs *

Chinese manufacturers are moving to neighboring Southeast Asian nations or seriously considering moving due to rising wages and shrinking export demand, according to a foreign trade official from the Ministry of Commerce.

In the fields of textiles, garments, shoes and hats, nearly one-third of manufacturers are working" under growing pressure and have moved all or part of their production outside China, said the official, who declined to be named.

Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are their favored destinations and the trend will continue with more traditional labor-intensive manufacturers transferring production, China Daily reproted.

But the foreign trade official said that while some job losses occurred during the transfer, the phenomenon is "basically positive," and is "in line with" government commitments to upgrade China's industrial power and change its model of economic growth.

The 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) urges exporters to produce more high-end goods.

Exporters are also actively seeking new ways to conduct business as export momentum declines due to a combination of negative factors at home and abroad, from higher labor costs to sluggish demand from the European Union and the United States.

China's labor costs have surged recently by 15 to 20 percent annually, squeezing margins and driving some companies to bankruptcy.

According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, from January to June this year, the minimum wage was raised, on average, by 20 percent in 16 provinces.

Many developing countries in Southeast Asia have lower labor costs.

The monthly wage for manufacturing jobs in Vietnam was, on average, 600 yuan in 2011, equivalent to the level of 10 years ago in Dongguan, an industrial town in South China's Pearl River Delta.

Partly because of China's rising costs, foreign direct investment has been suffering in recent months.

According to a survey by the Capital Business Credit, a US-based financial consultancy firm, 40 percent of major companies interviewed said they have plans to move factories from China to other locations, including Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

But lower costs in other countries could soon change, some said.

"The advantage (of labor and production costs) in Southeast Asian countries will only last for a few years," said Chen Jian, a general manager of a garment company headquartered in Foshan, on the Pearl River Delta.

"The trend is just like what happened some 10 years ago when many manufacturing industries in Hong Kong and Taiwan moved to the Pearl River Delta to chase cheap labor. But now you can see how much our labor costs have gone up."

Chinese firms to move overseas due to rising costs - China.org.cn


*Please fellows, post all ASEAN related economy, science & human developments and news on this thread unless your country has a thread of your own. Thanks*

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

*List of ASEAN countries GDP, International Monetary Fund 2011 estimates.*

Rank	Country	GDP (millions of USD) GDP (PPP) (Millions of USD) *GDP (PPP) per capita*
1 Indonesia......... 845,680..... 1,124,000..... 4,666
2 Thailand.......... 345,649..... 616,783 ..... 9,398
3 Malaysia.......... 278,680..... 447,279 ..... 16,240
4 Singapore....... 259,849..... 314,911..... 59,710
5 Philippines...... 213,129..... 390,408 ..... 4,080
6 Vietnam.......... 122,722..... 299,985 ..... 3,359
7 Burma............ 51,925..... 82,679 ..... 1,325
8 Brunei........... 15,533..... 20,969 ..... 49,536
9 Cambodia..... 12,861..... 33,463 ..... 2,239
10 Laos............ 7,891..... 17,433 ..... 2,768


There are too large gap between countries in the association

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## ahfatzia

^^^ Don't worry, at the end of this decade Vietnam, Myanmar and Philippines will catch up to parity in both GDP and per capita. Laos and Cambodia's per capita will rise too. Politic in this area is relative stable if you discount a little hiccups here and there.



*Myanmar president sees new investment law "within days"*

NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar's long-awaited foreign investment bill could be finalised within days, President Thein Sein said on Sunday as the regime woos overseas businesses to boost its struggling economy.

A draft of the much-delayed law was passed by parliament last month but Thein Sein - who must approve the bill - sent it back for amendments following signs of discord over how far the country should be opened up to outside investors.

"Job opportunities are rare in our country," the president told reporters on Sunday at his first domestic news conference since taking power 18 months ago.

"To get these opportunities, we definitely need foreign investment. So we revised the foreign direct investment law and submitted it to parliament. I think it will come out within days."

The law must "be in line with neighbouring countries", he said. "If so, investors will come."

The previous draft, which would have allowed foreign firms to own a stake of up to 50 percent stake in joint ventures with local partners, was seen by some as too protectionist. Details of the new draft have not yet been divulged.

Myanmar is seen by many investors as the next regional frontier market as businesses eye its huge natural resources, large population and strategic location between China and India.

As the West rolls back sanctions to reward the regime for a series of political reforms, corporate giants from Coca-Cola to General Electric are vying for a share of an expected economic boom.

Since taking office in March 2011, Thein Sein has overseen dramatic changes such as the release of political prisoners, the parliamentary debut of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ceasefire pacts with ethnic rebels.

The 67-year-old, who has a heart condition and uses a pacemaker, offered a fresh hint on Sunday that he might seek a second term, as his party looks ahead to elections in 2015 seen as a key test of the regime's reformist credentials.

"So far I have decided to serve one term because of my age and my health. But I will consider (serving a second term) if needed according to the country's situation and the people's desire," he said.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific_business/view/1232648/1/.html

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## yusheng

Nanning China-ASEAN Commercial Park 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It covers 170 hectares of land, 110 hectares of which are for international business affairs -- the rest for ASEAN bases.

With the China-ASEAN expo in Nanning, the city has played key roles in pushing forward exchanges between China and ASEAN countries.

Besides the ten ASEAN countries, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China's Hong Kong and Macao Special Administration Regions have set bases here.

In the park, 16 roads will be built in two phases. In the first phase, six roads, a total length of 7.84 km, have been built, with an investment of 334 million yuan (about 40.7 million US dollars).

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2005)

Well it's old news, but it is interesting to see what have been done in 6 years.
And yes, there a lot.














ASEAN country bases 






Buildings represent their country style and culture





Thailand

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## yusheng

Nanning China-ASEAN Commercial Park 

It covers 170 hectares of land, 110 hectares of which are for international business affairs -- the rest for ASEAN bases.With the China-ASEAN expo in Nanning, the city has played key roles in pushing forward exchanges between China and ASEAN countries.

Indonesia










Malaysia





Myanmar (Burma)





Cambodia





Lao





Vietnam





the map of park in Naning city:

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## yusheng

Nanning China-ASEAN Commercial Park 
All proposed, under construction and completed towers in ASEAN commercial park business district in one picture. 































timeline

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

I heard about the annual expo in Nanning: China-ASEAN Expo...


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## retaxis

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> I heard about the annual expo in Nanning: China-ASEAN Expo...


So? it goes contradictory to your anti vietnam and anti china standing?


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## ahfatzia

I read an article awhile back about how Guangxi elected to develop her economy alone within China rather than joined Guangdong's Pearl River bandwagon and the result was fell flat on her face. While Hunan, Jiangxi and western part of Fujian joined the bandwagon and is now thriving, but Guangxi remains behind. This shows politic, more often than not, can hurt the economy.

I hope this time around, with the central government aiming toward Southeast Asia and a rail link to Hanoi is up and running, Beihai Port and Nanning will benefit.

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

retaxis said:


> So? it goes contradictory to your anti vietnam and anti china standing?



Today, many Chinese are confused that Vietnamese anti-China. In fact, that's not true. We only against Chinese expansionism, greedy and bullying. We only expect China to respect the territory, territorial waters and islands of Vietnam. We hate China's U-shaped line, but not all Chinese...

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## ahfatzia

*ASEAN+6 set to launch world's biggest free-trade market*


ASEAN and six Asian leaders will this November announce the official establishment of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which will make it the biggest free-trade market on the globe.

"The leaders should come up with a formal statement to form the RCEP. The negotiations are expected to start early next year in order to wrap up the pact by 2015, just in time for the full implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community," Somkiat Triratpan, deputy director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said last week.

*The leaders from 16 countries will mainly discuss the RCEP or ASEAN+6 free-trade agreement amid concerns over slowing global economic growth, *he said.

The announcement is scheduled to be made during the ASEAN Leaders Summit in Cambodia from November 15-20. The RCEP will gather up the free-trade agreements between ASEAN and the six partner nations and then draw up further agreements to open up more trade, services and investment among the member states.

The RCEP countries will commit to liberalising almost 100 per cent of trade among them following many effective bilateral free-trade pacts between ASEAN and its partners. However, there is still a degree of protectionism for sensitive goods of some countries such as rice.

The region may also move slowly on freeing service and investment under the RCEP due to development disparity among the economies, so RCEP countries have to continue integrating to eliminate the barriers to opening up service and investment more deeply.

ASEAN countries and the private sector envision the RCEP as paving the way for stimulating the Asian economy and helping to balance expansion between Eastern and Western countries. *The pact worth US$17 trillion (S$20.7 trillion, Bt522.49 trillion) in trade will also offset the power of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which is gathering nine trade members in Asia-Pacific.*

*The RCEP will also act as an important stepping stone to achieving the Free-Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific before 2020.

ASEAN groups 10 countries in Southeast Asia. The six partner countries are China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.*

The other ASEAN countries and six partners together account for 56 per cent or $255 billion of Thailand's total trade. If this regional free-trade pact is successfully concluded, Thailand will be able to increase trade with those countries significantly, he added.

According to the Thailand Development Research Institute and the department's study, the RCEP will help boost the Thai economy by 4.03 per cent. Local products that stand to benefit the most are processed fruits and vegetables, electrical appliances and electronic goods, automobile parts, rubber and plastic.

ASEAN+6 set to launch world's biggest free-trade market


This will become the strongest and most vibrant economic block in the world.

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## INDIC

When will the Dawei Port going to complete, which ASEAN countries will be using that.


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## sweetgrape

In ASEAN countries, there are many chinese, they have had big achievement, China should strengthen the relationship with friendly countries, that's also indirectly help the chinese in there, you know!!




Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> Today, many Chinese are confused that Vietnamese anti-China. In fact, that's not true. We only against Chinese expansionism, greedy and bullying. We only expect China to respect the territory, territorial waters and islands of Vietnam. We hate China's U-shaped line, but not all Chinese...


So, when do you respect our territory, terriorial waters and islands? You think you are small, we are big, so we should obey your expect? I don't want to deceive myself, frankly, I dislike almost all vietnam!

Sorry to OP, I didn't want to involve the boring topic here, but see that comment, I can't help to!

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## ahfatzia

Only recently Dawei was connected to the rest of Myanmar by road and rail. There are plans to construct a deepwater port in Dawei. In November 2010, the *Myanmar Port Authority signed a USD $8.6 billion deal with Italian-Thai Development *to develop a deep sea port at Dawei. This development would become Myanmar's first Special Economic Zone, which includes plans to develop a 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi) industrial estate, *with sea, land (railway and road) infrastructure links to* *Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, as well as a gas pipeline to Thailand&#8217;s Kanchanaburi Province *and commercial and residential developments. The development of the SEZ has been linked to land confiscations and land grabs from farmers, upwards of 63,768 acres (258.06 km2) (direct) and 153,919 acres (622.89 km2), potentially displacing 500,000 Dawei natives.





(Dawai Port at extreme Southeast)


Going by the location of the port and the infrastructure that build along with it, I would say the usage of the port is localized and limited to the benefits of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos , Cambodia and Vietnam, especially the first two. Joint operate by Italy/Thai company? Perhaps.

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

sweetgrape said:


> So, when do you respect our territory, terriorial waters and islands? You think you are small, we are big, so we should obey your expect?



You see, we did not jump in China's EEZ to claim it as "our waters". And if you compare the official map of China in 1904 with the current map of China, China-Vietnam border has changed, it has moved towards Vietnam side.

You see, your "U shaped line" affects many ASEAN countries. Your country says that it is a map of "history", but actually it is only a private map drawn in 1947 after Chiang Kai-shek inherited claims of Japan empire.

China map 1904 under Qing:






A China map today:







sweetgrape said:


> I don't want to deceive myself, frankly, I dislike almost all vietnam!



This I can understand.

I heard, countries, the Chinese hate the most are: Japan, The US, Vietnam, India, Russia. This is also very easy to understand.

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## Zero_wing

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> Today, many Chinese are confused that Vietnamese anti-China. In fact, that's not true. We only against Chinese expansionism, greedy and bullying. We only expect China to respect the territory, territorial waters and islands of Vietnam. We hate China's U-shaped line, but not all Chinese...



Yup that's true for filipinos too

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## ahfatzia

*Vietnam urges ASEAN to enhance women&#8217;s role *


A Vietnamese representative has urged ASEAN countries to further strengthen the role of women in protecting the environment and promoting the sharing of experience in dealing with climate change.

Speaking at the first ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW1) held in Vientiane, Laos on October 19, Vietnam&#8217;s Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen stressed the need to strengthen cooperation between ASEAN countries and dialogue partners and UN organisations to further the role of women in building a sustainable environment, thus contributing to the sustainable development of each country, the region and the entire world.

The meeting, themed &#8220;Strengthening gender perspectives and partnership among ASEAN women for sustainable environment&#8221;, focused on assessing the implementation of the ASEAN Committee on Women&#8217;s 2011-2015 projects and plans to promote gender equality, women&#8217;s rights and social equality for regional women.

It also affirmed a commitment to push for the inclusion of gender issues in the building of the ASEAN Socio-Culture Community in the 2009-2015 period.

The meeting issued a Vientiane Statement pledging to improve women&#8217;s knowledge and skills in environmental conservation and adaptation to climate change and natural disasters as well as to enhance their role in building, implementing, supervising and assessing national, regional and international programmes on environment.-VNA

Vietnam urges ASEAN to enhance women


*The road to modernity is to let the other halves take on more social and political responsibilities, and hence, enjoy equal recognitions in the societies in this part of the world. *

............


*Meanwhile South Korea export to ASEAN rises but retracts in other regions of the world:* SK export in the first 9 months this year suffers a year-to-year decline of 1.5% to 408.4 bUSD. Of which, the SK&#8217;s exports to the EU have been sluggish with the current 9.4 percent, down from 10.3 percent in 2010, while the figure to China, the country&#8217;s biggest export market, also saw a gradual decrease.

Meanwhile, the SK&#8217;s exports to the ten ASEAN member countries have been gearing from 10.9 percent in 2010 to 11.6 percent in 2011 and to the current 12.1 percent, despite the global economic turbulence, according to the ministry&#8217;s statistics.

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## sweetgrape

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> You see, we did not jump in China's EEZ to claim it as "our waters". And if you compare the official map of China in 1904 with the current map of China, China-Vietnam border has changed, it has moved towards Vietnam side.
> 
> You see, your "U shaped line" affects many ASEAN countries. Your country says that it is a map of "history", but actually it is only a private map drawn in 1947 after Chiang Kai-shek inherited claims of Japan empire.


Do not put the selective crap here to persuade us, just like we can't persuade you, you also can't, you said we don't respect you, So is that you do not respect us! I have gave up the peaceful way that solving the problem, for me, only power, more frankly, war solve the problem.







Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> This I can understand.
> 
> I heard, countries, the Chinese hate the most are: Japan, The US, Vietnam, India, Russia. This is also very easy to understand.


Do not put you and other powerful countries together, do want to elevate yourself or degrade others?
And not every are qualified to be hated, among the countries you list, we just hate Japan; Russia, we don't; India, we don't, just *dislike* their big mouth; US, don't hate but* dislike *their annoying goverment; Vietcong, I have said it.


Sorry, OP, Again, I can't help to.
In ASEAN, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia are relative mature market, then I think indonisia is the next country, have big potential, there are many chinese merchant in ASEAN countries, less obstacles for both!

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## yusheng

Kunming-Singapore High-Speed Railway begins construction

The Kunming-Singapore High-Speed Railway began construction on April 25. The railway will shorten the travel time between Kunming and Singapore to only a little more than 10 hours in the future.

The Chinese government expects the railway to be put into operation by 2020. The line, starting from Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province; passes Mohan, a border town with Laos; and Wangrong, a popular Chinese tourist city; and ends in Vientiane, capital of Laos. Construction of the Mohan Railway Logistics Center has already started.

According to the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network, the Kunming-Singapore High-Speed Railway, which is in fact the central line of the southeast part of the Trans-Asian Railway Network, will also pass Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and end in Singapore, with a total distance of 3,900 kilometers. Once completed, it will take passengers a little more than 10 hours to travel between Kunming and Singapore by train.





Chen Tiejun, a researcher at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies under the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, said that the Trans-Asian Railway Network has a far-reaching impact on countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) occupies an increasingly important strategic position due to the acceleration of ASEAN integration. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area has removed man-made trade barriers, but the removal of natural barriers will require the construction of the Trans-Asian Railway Network and other infrastructure.

After the Trans-Asian Railway Network is completed, Vietnam and Cambodia will be linked with Thailand and Myanmar by train, and China will have a closer political and economic relationship with countries in the Mekong River Basin where the total population has reached 300 million people. 

Furthermore, energy and goods that Japan and South Korea need can also be transported to both countries through this railway network of global significance. 

The railway network will facilitate the movement of goods and people, improve the efficiency of economic activities, and help create a more peaceful and stable geopolitical environment.

By People's Daily Online



This is piece of last year news, old but meaningful: 




the red one and the green one is under constructure and will finish as planed, there is no other obstacles. however, the blue one is unknown.

then in 2020, there will be :




hige speed railway will connect these cities, the economic and political meanings donot need to say here.










in fact, there is plan to build a railway connecting Gwadar port to westnorth China. when all these railway finished, the oil, gas, and other cargo can be transported directly from india ocean to west China.

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## Sanchez

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> You see, we did not jump in China's EEZ to claim it as "our waters". And if you compare the official map of China in 1904 with the current map of China, China-Vietnam border has changed, it has moved towards Vietnam side.
> 
> You see, your "U shaped line" affects many ASEAN countries. Your country says that it is a map of "history", but actually it is only a private map drawn in 1947 after Chiang Kai-shek inherited claims of Japan empire.
> 
> China map 1904 under Qing:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A China map today:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This I can understand.
> 
> I heard, countries, the Chinese hate the most are: Japan, The US, Vietnam, India, Russia. This is also very easy to understand.



What do you know about others think about Vietnam. Great Nation? hhh, you are funny...


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## ahfatzia

*Indonesia shuts Christian, Buddhist places of worship*








JAKARTA - Authorities in Indonesia's only province that uses Islamic sharia laws said Tuesday they had closed some Christian places of worship and Buddhist temples following pressure from hardliners.

The closures in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, came after complaints from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), and are the latest sign of growing religious intolerance in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal, deputy mayor of provincial capital Banda Aceh where the closures took place, said the official reason was that the nine Christian sites and six Buddhist temples did not have permits.

But she told AFP that they were shut last week after complaints from the FPI and that "there had been some tension before we took a decision."

"We do not want any security trouble in Banda Aceh because of these illegal activities."

The FPI presents itself as an enforcer of morals and Islamic laws and sometimes accompanies police in some parts of the country on violent raids on bars and brothels.

Nico Tarigan, who led Christian services at a two-storey house until its closure last week, said the FPI had attacked the building in June and sent text message threats.

"What we've done was simply a religious activity. It's only once a week and lasts not more than two hours," he told AFP.

"They threatened through phone messages that if we continued to hold a Sunday service, they would ruin our places of worship," he said.

Theophilus Bela, chairman of NGO Christian Communication Forum, said that he had urged the central government in Jakarta to intervene.

But the interior ministry signalled it would not step in, with a spokesman saying that "there's no closure at all as those houses of worship have no permit yet".

Indonesia's constitution explicitly guarantees freedom of religion. But rights groups have said the country has become less tolerant over the past decade and the government is turning a blind eye to the problem.

Nearly 90 per cent of Indonesia's 240 million people are Muslims, but the vast majority practise a moderate form of Islam.

Indonesia shuts Christian, Buddhist places of worship


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## ahfatzia

*Singapore best place in the world to do business for 7th year*


SINGAPORE - Singapore is the best country to do business in the world, a World Bank report has stated.

This is the seventh year Singapore has taken top spot on the Doing Business report compiled by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The other economies with the *top 10 most business-friendly regulations were Hong Kong; New Zealand; US; Denmark; Norway; the United Kingdom; the Republic of Korea; Georgia; and Australia.*

Although Singapore came out tops, the Republic did not score top points across all 10 regulatory areas measured.

The top three rankings for Singapore were in trading across borders; dealing with construction permits; and protecting investors.

On the contrary, Singapore scored a low average rating of 20 for registering property; getting credit; and enforcing contracts.

In addition, the ease of doing business in developing countries is at a 10-year high, owing to reforms implemented across the world in this time.

Doing Business 2013 is the 10th edition of the report, which was first published in 2003.

The report uses 11 indicator sets to measure business regulation in 185 economies.

Singapore best place to do business for 7th year


.............

*900,000 National Servicemen to get $100m in freebies and hongbao (&#32005;&#21253*

SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced today that the Government will be giving out free movie and meal vouchers to all national service men (NSmen) in commemoration of 45 years of conscription in Singapore.

In addition, Operationally Ready NSmen who are currently serving out their cycles, as well as those who have completed their cycles, will also receive a year's free membership to enjoy the facilities of the SAFRA or HomeTeamNS clubhouses.

Combined, the freebies are expected to cost the Government about $100 million, and will benefit the more than 900,000 Singaporeans who have served in NS since the conception of the programme.

"These gestures will never fully compensate for your personal sacrifices, but I hope they help to express our appreciation for what you have done," PM Lee said, speaking at the 45th anniversary celebrations of NS held at the Float@Marina Bay tonight.

He said Singapore's transformation into a "dynamic, global metropolis" is thanks in part to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Home Teams, who provided the security and confidence that enabled Singapore to build its economy and improve the lives of its citizens.

This year's anniversary celebration theme is "From Fathers to Sons" - to symbolise the NS experience having bonded families together and strengthened Singaporeans' commitment to defend their home.

"NS has become a universal rite of passage for every male Singaporean, regardless of race, religion or social background," PM Lee said.

"During NS, everyone stands on an equal footing. We live, eat and train together. We overcome challenges as one unit, and help one another along. We forge enduring friendships and camaraderie through shared trials and tribulations," he added.

continue: 900,000 NSmen to get $100m in freebies

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## Reashot Xigwin

*5 Reasons to Believe in the Indonesian Miracle*
Why this amazing archipelago is on track to be the world's seventh largest economy.
BY RICHARD DOBBS, FRASER THOMPSON, ARIEF BUDIMAN
_____________________________________________________
When most people think of Indonesia today, they think of beaches and temples or of its famously teeming cities, but this country of 240 million and counting is a much more modern, diversified, and dynamic economy than many international investors and companies assume. To make the most of Indonesia's vast potential, they're going to need to change the way they think about the archipelago -- and putting these five myths to bed is a good place to start.

1. "Indonesia's economy is unstable."

Hardly. Far from being unstable, Indonesia has been growing steadily at an impressive rate of 4 to 6 percent over the past 10 years -- less volatile than the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, or any other developed country for that matter. Indonesian government debt has fallen by 70 percent in just a decade and is now at a level lower than in 85 percent of developed economies. Inflation, which was over 20 percent 10 years ago, now stands at 8 percent, comparable with more mature economies, such as South Africa and Turkey. Indonesia's overall economic management has also shown remarkable improvement. The World Economic Forum ranked Indonesia 25th out of 139 countries for macroeconomic stability in 2012, up sharply from 89th in 2007. For comparison, Brazil ranked 62nd and India ranked 99th.

2. "Not much happens outside Jakarta."

Not true anymore. Indonesia's sprawling capital city contributes up to one-quarter of the archipelago's entire gross domestic product (GDP). But Jakarta's dominance is waning. A large number of medium-sized or "middleweight" cities like Bandung and Medan are growing faster than the capital and will be ever more important hot spots for foreign investors and companies looking for opportunities. Urbanization is spreading in Indonesia and is an increasingly important growth stimulus. By 2030, more than 70 percent of the population is likely to live in an urban area, up from just over half today. Between 2010 and 2030, more than 30 million people are expected to move from rural to urban areas. Cities with populations between two and five million -- like Bekasi and Surabaya -- are growing the fastest and could together account for 27 percent of GDP by 2030. In fact, around 90 percent of Indonesia's fastest-growing cities will be outside the island of Java, where Jakarta is located, by 2030. 

3. "Indonesia is nothing without its natural resources."

Not when you look closely. There is no doubt that Indonesia is unusually rich in natural resources. It is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, the second-largest exporter of coal, and the second-largest producer of cocoa and tin. It has the fourth- and seventh-largest reserves of nickel and bauxite, respectively, according to the government. Indonesia also has the world's largest geothermal resources. And, yes, Indonesia has large endowments of crude oil and natural gas. But mining, oil, and gas *only account for 11 percent of Indonesia's nominal GDP* -- the same share as in Russia. In fact, Indonesia has been a net importer of oil since 2004. It may come as a major surprise to many observers that half of Indonesia's GDP comes from service sectors such as financial services -- specifically savings and investment -- retail, and telecommunications. Indonesia is already the fourth-largest user of Facebook in the world -- a promising platform for the development of e-commerce. 

4. "Indonesia is a typical Asian tiger."

Wrong. Indonesia's economy is not driven by exports -- a feature typical in most Asian tigers. Indonesia's exports only generate 35 percent of GDP, and, excluding commodity exports, only 16 percent. As the dominance of Indonesia's service sectors suggests, domestic consumption is the economy's driving force. And at a population growth rate of 5 to 6 percent a year, an additional 90 million Indonesians could join the "consuming class" by 2030. (Consumers are defined as individuals earning $10 a day or more, who therefore have enough money to spend on discretionary, not just basic, goods, and services.) That growth in consumer base is larger than any other economy in the world apart from India and China and stands as a testament to the growing market opportunity offered by Indonesia. Rising rates of consumption will bolster Indonesia's domestic market, bolstering growth in the long term. The fact that domestic consumption is already a large driver of Indonesia's growth has shielded the economy from the turbulence of the Asian financial crisis and the recent global recession. Catering to growing demand by developing its consumer services sector will ensure that the economy is even more insulated from future shocks. 

5. "Population growth is behind Indonesia's economic rise."

Yes and no. Indonesia does indeed have a young and expanding population that could total 280 million by 2030, up from 240 million today. And demographics are likely to support growth for some time to come, contributing 2.4 percent to overall economic growth until 2030. But it's not primarily people that are driving Indonesian growth -- it's productivity. In the last 20 years, increased labor productivity has been responsible for more than 60 percent of Indonesian growth, with the largest contributions coming from wholesale and retail trade, transport equipment and apparatus manufacturing, and transport and telecommunications. And contrary to the conventional wisdom that productivity improves at the expense of employment, both have risen in tandem in Indonesia for 35 of the last 51 years. 

To meet the government's ambitious target of 7 percent annual growth, Indonesia needs to do even better than it did in the past. Productivity growth needs to be 60 percent higher than it has been since 2000. That is challenging but achievable. If Indonesia boosts productivity and removes barriers to higher productivity and growth in three key sectors -- consumer services, agriculture, and resources -- and raises skills across the economy, it could accelerate growth and offer foreign investors a market opportunity worth $1.8 trillion opportunity by 2030. 

Indonesia is at a critical juncture. Its economy has performed more impressively over the past decade than many outsiders -- and even Indonesians themselves -- think. But to build on this performance, Indonesia will need a productivity revolution in key sectors of the economy. Today, the archipelago economy is the world's 16th largest, but with action now to unleash Indonesia's full dynamism, it could jump to seventh by 2030. That would eclipse Germany and the United Kingdom, two members of the G-7 group of the world's leading economies.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*RI economy remains resilient on strong investment: UOB*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Wed, October 24 2012, 8:56 AM

Indonesia will benefit from strong investment and domestic consumption that will continue to drive growth next year, the UOB Group says.

In its recently released economic outlook, the Singapore-based bank said that Indonesia&#8217;s economy, the largest in Southeast Asia, would continue to be resilient, expanding by 6.3 percent in 2013, slightly lower than the government&#8217;s target of 6.8 percent.

&#8220;As the world&#8217;s economy is slowing down, our forecast is a bit more moderate. We see that domestic consumption and investment remain the forces behind growth next year,&#8220; UOB Group head of research and investor relations Jimmy Koh said after a presentation in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Indonesia&#8217;s economy grew by 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and 6.4 percent in the second quarter.

The bank estimated that the nation&#8217;s economic growth rate would slow to between 6 percent and 5.8 percent in the last quarter of 2012 due to the prolonged worldwide slowdown.

In the January to September period, Indonesia has booked Rp 229.9 trillion (US$23.9 billion) in realized investments, up 7.02 percent from Rp 181 trillion last year, and has been inching closer to the government&#8217;s annual target of Rp 283.5 trillion.

UOB did not see major risks posed by trade to Indonesia. Unlike other Asian nations, Indonesia has relied more on intra-regional trade and has cut its dependency on traditional key buyers such as the US and the nations of the European Union, Koh said.

Asian markets accounted for 56.5 percent of the nation&#8217;s exports in 2011, up from 53.9 percent in 2000, while the share of its exports to the US plunged to 8.1 percent from 13.6 percent and the share of its exports to EU nations dropped to 9.3 percent from 14.3 percent.

As the Indonesian economy was on a &#8220;stronger footing&#8221; than it was during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the nation would also see lower risks from the financial channel, Koh added.

Quantitative easing in a number of advanced economies has caused higher inflows of liquidity to other countries with faster growth rates, creating concerns about overheating and asset price inflation.

&#8220;Indonesia&#8217;s foreign reserves today stand at more than US$100 billion, as compared with less than $20 billion at the end of 1997, and this brings a different dynamic compared to 1997,&#8221; Koh said.

Speaking during the release of the outlook report, University of Indonesia economist Faisal Basri expressed optimism that Indonesia&#8217;s economy would grow by 6.8 percent next year, as targeted by the government.

&#8220;Economic growth will be greatly supported by the expansion of domestic industry, which might grow above 7 percent and for the fi rst time will likely outpace our economic growth,&#8221; Faisal said.

With such growth rates, domestic-focused businesses would contribute around 25 percent to the gross domestic product, he added.

Other industrial sectors that will experience fast growth include the textile, food and beverage, transportation equipment and base metal sectors.

Growth in those areas would be driven by increased demand domestically and overseas, according to Faisal.

&#8212; JP/Linda Yulisman


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## Reashot Xigwin

*House approves five new autonomous regions*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Mon, October 22 2012, 9:53 PM

House of Representatives Commission II on home affairs and regional autonomy approved on Monday the establishment of five new autonomous regions, including the province of North Kalimantan which will be the 34th province in the country.

North Kalimantan will split from East Kalimantan after three years of preparation when it will have its own regional administration.

The Commission also approved four new regencies; Pangandaran in West Java, Manokwari and Arfak highlands in West Papua and West Pesisir in Lampung.

Commission chairman Agun Gunanjar said legislators used the Government Regulation considered the political and geo-strategical potential of each region before granting autonomy, as reported by tempo.co.

The committee is also examining four other new regencies, Musi Rawas Utara in South Sumatra Mahakam Ulu in East Kalimantan, Malaka in East Nusa Tenggara and Mamuju Tengah in West Sulawesi. (cor/lfr)


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## Battle of Bach Dang River

*India, ASEAN entrepreneurs pledge cooperation*
By Indo Asian News Service | IANS
Jakarta, Oct 25 (IANS) Over 200 business representatives from India, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries have pledged to promote cooperation at a seminar held here as part of a series of events being organised to mark the 20th anniversary of their friendship.
Events are also being planned in other ASEAN countries ahead of the ASEAN-India summit in New Delhi in December.
A car rally from Indonesia to India covering nine nations will kick-off Nov 25, while entrepreneurs from India and Myanmar will meet in Yangon to discuss trade relations.

The Jakarta conference follows the arrival of Indian naval ship INS Sudarshini in Indonesia which retraces the historic trade route among ASEAN member countries.
Addressing the inaugural session Wednesday, Indonesia's Vice Finance Minister Mahendra Siregar stressed the need to diversify markets and deepen trade relations. He said that there was a need for a broader engagement than the current FTA-based (free trade agreement) relationship.
India's Ambassador Gurjit Singh said while ASEAN-India trade was growing, the challenge now is to boost investment and diversify trade.

India, ASEAN entrepreneurs pledge cooperation - Yahoo! News

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

Reashot Xigwin said:


> *5 Reasons to Believe in the Indonesian Miracle*
> Why this amazing archipelago is on track to be the world's seventh largest economy.
> BY RICHARD DOBBS, FRASER THOMPSON, ARIEF BUDIMAN
> _____________________________________________________
> When most people think of Indonesia today, they think of beaches and temples or of its famously teeming cities, but this country of 240 million and counting is a much more modern, diversified, and dynamic economy than many international investors and companies assume. To make the most of Indonesia's vast potential, they're going to need to change the way they think about the archipelago -- and putting these five myths to bed is a good place to start.
> 
> 1. "Indonesia's economy is unstable."
> 
> Hardly. Far from being unstable, Indonesia has been growing steadily at an impressive rate of 4 to 6 percent over the past 10 years -- less volatile than the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, or any other developed country for that matter. Indonesian government debt has fallen by 70 percent in just a decade and is now at a level lower than in 85 percent of developed economies. Inflation, which was over 20 percent 10 years ago, now stands at 8 percent, comparable with more mature economies, such as South Africa and Turkey. Indonesia's overall economic management has also shown remarkable improvement. The World Economic Forum ranked Indonesia 25th out of 139 countries for macroeconomic stability in 2012, up sharply from 89th in 2007. For comparison, Brazil ranked 62nd and India ranked 99th.
> 
> 2. "Not much happens outside Jakarta."
> 
> Not true anymore. Indonesia's sprawling capital city contributes up to one-quarter of the archipelago's entire gross domestic product (GDP). But Jakarta's dominance is waning. A large number of medium-sized or "middleweight" cities like Bandung and Medan are growing faster than the capital and will be ever more important hot spots for foreign investors and companies looking for opportunities. Urbanization is spreading in Indonesia and is an increasingly important growth stimulus. By 2030, more than 70 percent of the population is likely to live in an urban area, up from just over half today. Between 2010 and 2030, more than 30 million people are expected to move from rural to urban areas. Cities with populations between two and five million -- like Bekasi and Surabaya -- are growing the fastest and could together account for 27 percent of GDP by 2030. In fact, around 90 percent of Indonesia's fastest-growing cities will be outside the island of Java, where Jakarta is located, by 2030.
> 
> 3. "Indonesia is nothing without its natural resources."
> 
> Not when you look closely. There is no doubt that Indonesia is unusually rich in natural resources. It is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, the second-largest exporter of coal, and the second-largest producer of cocoa and tin. It has the fourth- and seventh-largest reserves of nickel and bauxite, respectively, according to the government. Indonesia also has the world's largest geothermal resources. And, yes, Indonesia has large endowments of crude oil and natural gas. But mining, oil, and gas *only account for 11 percent of Indonesia's nominal GDP* -- the same share as in Russia. In fact, Indonesia has been a net importer of oil since 2004. It may come as a major surprise to many observers that half of Indonesia's GDP comes from service sectors such as financial services -- specifically savings and investment -- retail, and telecommunications. Indonesia is already the fourth-largest user of Facebook in the world -- a promising platform for the development of e-commerce.
> 
> 4. "Indonesia is a typical Asian tiger."
> 
> Wrong. Indonesia's economy is not driven by exports -- a feature typical in most Asian tigers. Indonesia's exports only generate 35 percent of GDP, and, excluding commodity exports, only 16 percent. As the dominance of Indonesia's service sectors suggests, domestic consumption is the economy's driving force. And at a population growth rate of 5 to 6 percent a year, an additional 90 million Indonesians could join the "consuming class" by 2030. (Consumers are defined as individuals earning $10 a day or more, who therefore have enough money to spend on discretionary, not just basic, goods, and services.) That growth in consumer base is larger than any other economy in the world apart from India and China and stands as a testament to the growing market opportunity offered by Indonesia. Rising rates of consumption will bolster Indonesia's domestic market, bolstering growth in the long term. The fact that domestic consumption is already a large driver of Indonesia's growth has shielded the economy from the turbulence of the Asian financial crisis and the recent global recession. Catering to growing demand by developing its consumer services sector will ensure that the economy is even more insulated from future shocks.
> 
> 5. "Population growth is behind Indonesia's economic rise."
> 
> Yes and no. Indonesia does indeed have a young and expanding population that could total 280 million by 2030, up from 240 million today. And demographics are likely to support growth for some time to come, contributing 2.4 percent to overall economic growth until 2030. But it's not primarily people that are driving Indonesian growth -- it's productivity. In the last 20 years, increased labor productivity has been responsible for more than 60 percent of Indonesian growth, with the largest contributions coming from wholesale and retail trade, transport equipment and apparatus manufacturing, and transport and telecommunications. And contrary to the conventional wisdom that productivity improves at the expense of employment, both have risen in tandem in Indonesia for 35 of the last 51 years.
> 
> To meet the government's ambitious target of 7 percent annual growth, Indonesia needs to do even better than it did in the past. Productivity growth needs to be 60 percent higher than it has been since 2000. That is challenging but achievable. If Indonesia boosts productivity and removes barriers to higher productivity and growth in three key sectors -- consumer services, agriculture, and resources -- and raises skills across the economy, it could accelerate growth and offer foreign investors a market opportunity worth $1.8 trillion opportunity by 2030.
> 
> Indonesia is at a critical juncture. Its economy has performed more impressively over the past decade than many outsiders -- and even Indonesians themselves -- think. But to build on this performance, Indonesia will need a productivity revolution in key sectors of the economy. Today, the archipelago economy is the world's 16th largest, but with action now to unleash Indonesia's full dynamism, it could jump to seventh by 2030. That would eclipse Germany and the United Kingdom, two members of the G-7 group of the world's leading economies.



I have read the article on the Vietnamese newspapers. Very interesting!

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia-Singapore to hold joint tourist venture*
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | National | Wed, October 24 2012, 8:14 PM


Indonesia will work with Singapore to boost the tourist potential of both countries, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said during a ministerial meeting in Yogyakarta.

Marty said on Wednesday that millions of tourists visit Indonesia and Singapore each year. &#8220;We can encourage tourists who visit Singapore to also come to Indonesia and vice versa,&#8221; he said.

Marty said cruise ships from Singapore would sail to western parts of Indonesia such as Batam, Bintan and Karimun to promote tourism in the two countries.

&#8220;Indonesia-Singapore will also promote tourism with Taiwan,&#8221; he said, adding that both countries would form a working group who would routinely meet and discuss the implementation of the plan. (cor)

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## Zero_wing

Go ASEAN the Philippines is building its economy too


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## Battle of Bach Dang River

Updated : 10/25/2012
*Vietnam hopes for early start of COC negotiations*

(VOV) - Vietnam wants ASEAN and China to soon start official negotiations on a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) as a contribution to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi said this in reply to media question on Vietnam&#8217;s viewpoints over Indonesia&#8217;s draft COC at the ministry&#8217;s regular press briefing in Hanoi on October 25.

He said ASEAN has been speeding up official consultation between ASEAN and China for the building of a COC.

ASEAN has finalized fundamental documents on COC elements which were approved by ASEAN Foreign Ministers in July. Indonesia has made a draft with more specific and detailed contents of the elements, Nghi said.

The spokesperson also took this occasion to announce some major external activities in the coming time, including Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev&#8217;s upcoming visit to Vietnam from November 6-7.

He said this is an important visit in the context that the two countries have upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership level.

During the visit, the two sides will discuss measures to further strengthen relationship as well as international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Vietnam hopes for early start of COC negotiations | VOV Online Newspaper

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

*Vietnam&#8217;s economy to grow by 6pct in next 25 years: Ernst & Young*
26-Oct-2012 Intellasia | Ernst & Young | 1:46 PM 

As forecasted by Ernst & Young, Vietnam will grow by about 6 percent over the next 25 years.

Vietnam is a &#8220;rising star&#8221; and is one of the strongest economies along with Indonesia, a recent report by Ernst & Young said.

Director of emerging markets research centre at Ernst & Young, Alexis Karklins-Marchay, said: &#8220;Five years ago, our investors did not care about these economies but now they change. Turkey, Vietnam and Indonesia are good examples.&#8221;

In fact, Vietnam has attracted more than $6.5 billion worth of FDI capital per year since 2007. Ernst & Young also predicted that Vietnam will grow at about 6%/ year over a quarter of a decade.

Karklins-Marchay stressed two factors helping Vietnam attract the attention of investors. First, Vietnam has strategic geographical position. Second, Vietnam has abundant human resources. Vietnam has a population of 90 million people, of which 80 percent had graduated from high school, but the labour costs are equal to only by half comparing to that in China and Thailand.

As estimated by Ernst & Young, the number of households with incomes of over $30,000/ year will increase from 6,000 in 2011 to 60,000 in 2021. This promotes Vietnam to manufacture and export higher-value products. World Bank forecasts, in 2013, Vietnam&#8217;s export turnover from telephone and other related equipments will be higher than that of apparel products.

Report of Ernst & Young also focused on capital market and the banking sector of Vietnam and said that Vietnam has received strong investment opportunities from Russia, the Middle East and Asian banks.

Ernst & Young said, when confidence of investors is restored together with the government&#8217;s efforts to strengthen the banking system, the Vietnamese financial market can develop more other products and services such as monetary management and foreign currency risk reserve fund.

However, the report of Ernst & Young also warned apart from potentials, Vietnam is also facing the risks from investments.

Vietnam&#8217;s economy to grow by 6pct in next 25 years: Ernst & Young - Intellasia East Asia News

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

*Amid many challenges, Vietnam&#8217;s star continues to rise*
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, HaNoi | World | Mon, April 30 2012,

It may not yet be a tiger but it certainly is the new rising star in Asia. Vietnam is an emerging country with an average of above 7 percent economic growth during the first decade of the 21st century, despite facing major economic and security challenges. 

Even at the height of the current global financial crisis, Vietnam&#8217;s gross domestic product grew 5.89 percent in 2011, slightly lower than the 6.8 percent in 2010. 

&#8220;This growth level can be seen as relatively positive and high. It was quite close to the government&#8217;s adjusted target,&#8221; Vietnam&#8217;s Foreign Affairs Ministry stated in its Special Economic Bulletin 2012. 

Today (Monday), the people of Vietnam &#8211; both living inside the country and abroad &#8211; are celebrating the 37th anniversary of the historic Victory Day or Liberation Day. 

North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, on April 30, 1975 and reunited the country. The fall of Saigon put an end to the bloody war (Americans call it Vietnam War and Vietnamese call it American War), which claimed the lives of more than two million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans. 

Vietnam and Indonesia, Southeast Asia&#8217;s biggest economy, have so many similarities and work closely at regional and international levels. Both countries face same problems related to development, produce the same products and also compete for markets and foreign investment. Yet the relations between the two countries are rapidly growing. Both countries&#8217; businesspeople are investing in the opposite country. 

&#8220;Indonesia&#8217;s Ciputra group built a luxurious city on the outskirts of Hanoi. All the houses were sold out. Now they want to build a big shopping mall and a hotel in the center of Hanoi,&#8221; said Long Nguyen, who worked at the Vietnamese Embassy few years ago. 

In 2011, bilateral trade surged to US$4.73 billion, a remarkable increase of 53.38 percent from $3.08 billion. Starting from 2012, bilateral trade will grow much faster because Vietnam is going to buy Indonesia&#8217;s coal for power generation purposes. 

&#8220;We used to have coal but now our reserves are not enough. We are building so many new coal-fired power plants. 

&#8220;We will buy coal in large quantity from Indonesia,&#8221; Tong Van Tuan, a major coal importer and owner of Dong Son Group, told The Jakarta Post in Hanoi recently. 

Under its 1991 &#8220;Friendship with everyone&#8221; foreign policy, Vietnam opened its arms to friendships with even old enemies like the US, France and China. 

Today, the US is not only one of the biggest investors in Vietnam but also the biggest buyer of its products. In 2011, the trade between Vietnam and the US reached $21 billion, a slight increase from the $18.6 billion in 2010 due to the global financial crisis. 

Like China, Vietnam also realized that socialist economic policies didn&#8217;t bring prosperity and adopted market-friendly policies under Doi Moi in 1986. It opened doors for foreign investors, offered incentives and relaxed rules. 

In 2011, foreign direct investment (FDI) capital flow into Vietnam reached $11.6 billion, much less than $19.7 billion, the Special Bulletin said. The decrease was mainly due to the global financial crisis.

But on the negative side, Vietnam&#8217;s biggest enemy is inflation, which reached 18.58 percent on average in 2011. It is the single biggest problem the Vietnamese economy faces today. The country also faces problems like unemployment, poverty, lack of infrastructure and corruption.

Above all, Vietnam&#8217;s claim to a portion of South China Sea, an area rich in oil and gas and fishery resources, has led to tensions with its giant neighbor China and forging of new links with countries like the US, Russia, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, France, the UK and Taiwan. 

Vietnam also recently modernized its military program with upgrades in naval, air and electronic fighting capabilities. Hanoi recently ordered $1.8 billion worth of six diesel-powered Kilo-class submarines from its traditional supplier, Russia. 

It is also planning to buy four Sigma-class corvettes from the Netherlands. Indonesia also owns the Sigma-class corvettes, the most modern warships. Russian-made Su-30MK2 fighter planes are also on its shopping list this year.

Amid many challenges, Vietnam

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## ahfatzia

*Kalimantan no longer a sleeping giant: Yudhoyono*

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated eight mega projects in resource-rich East Kalimantan on Wednesday as part of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI).

"Don't underestimate the huge island of Kalimantan only as a sleeping giant any longer. Alhamdulillah [God willing], it is no longer so," the President said to an audience that included Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak and Balikpapan Mayor Rizal Effendi, among others.

Two of the projects have already been completed: Kariangau Port in Balikpapan and Kalimarau Airport in Berau regency in the north part of the province.

Still under construction are an expansion project for Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan; Pertamina's Lawe-Lawe Centralized Crude Terminal (CCT) in North Penajam Paser regency; twin bridges in Samarinda, East Kalimantan; an industrial estate and an international port in East Kutai regency; the development of PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur's Kaltim-5 urea fertilizer plant in Bontang regency, and a new airport for Samarinda.

Yudhoyono said that the eight projects had a combined price tag of Rp 19 trillion (S$2.4 billion).

The projects were implemented under the central government's MP3EI blueprint that calls for infrastructure development to improve connectivity throughout the archipelago. Development is slated to take place along six economic corridors throughout the nation: Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi, Bali and Nusa Tenggara and Papua-Maluku.

Kalimantan no longer a sleeping giant: Yudhoyono


Let there be no mistake Indonesia, with its policies, land, people and resources, will be the anchor for ASEAN's economy and every nation from within this group will be benefit if proper working relationships can be attained. 

.............


*Philippines hails new cardinal*









MANILA - Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said he and other Filipino prelates-Archbishop Jose Palma and Archbishop Romulo Valles-waited outside the Vatican synod hall after hearing the news that Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle had been named cardinal.

"When I hugged him, he cried on my shoulders. Tears of joy but also tears of fear! Every grace is also a responsibility, he told me later. We pray with joy now. Let us pray for Cardinal Tagle on the months and years ahead. Rejoice dear Philippines! One of our sons is now a cardinal!" Villegas said in a statement released in Manila.

Clerics and lay leaders echoed the same joy and fear that Villegas expressed following the surprise announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that the 55-year-old Tagle would be elevated to cardinal at the consistory on Nov. 24 in the Vatican.

Tagle is scheduled to return to Manila on Nov. 1. He will celebrate Mass on Nov. 3 in Paco, Manila, to launch the "Year of Faith" in his archdiocese.

"We are like John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness," said Tagle in an interview with Vatican Radio yesterday, a day after Benedict's announcement that he had joined the ranks of cardinals.

"You're not even sure if people will give you a fair hearing," said Tagle, who has been described as a "golden child," a rising "star," and a potential papal contender.

"You may be saying the right things but people will not listen to you if the manner by which you communicate reminds them of a triumphalistic know-it-all type of institution," said Tagle, who became head of the Manila archdiocese upon the retirement a year ago of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.

"I would like to thank the Holy Father for his trust and confidence not only in me but in the Church in Manila and in the Philippines. I take this not only as a gift but also as a call for the Church in the Philippines to take seriously our mission specially in Asia," he said.

"I am also consoled by the assurances of prayer and support from so many people. But I am terrified by the magnitude of the task at hand," Tagle said in his official statement issued from Rome, where he is attending the monthly synod of bishops on new evangelization.

"It requires a further broadening of the horizon, a careful study of worldwide developments in society and the Church and an intensification of the mission of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Church in the Philippines, even in different parts of the world, especially in Asia." 

more: Philippines hails new cardinal


...............


*Researcher unravels Angkor mystery*


JAPAN - In his new book, Yoshiaki Ishizawa, former president of Sophia University, has answered the longstanding question of how Angkor Wat, a huge complex of stone temples in northwestern Cambodia, was first established.

*Ishizawa, who has studied and worked to preserve the World Heritage Site of Angkor monuments for more than 50 years, recently published "Challenging the Mystery of the Angkor Empire: Realizing the Mission of Sophia University in the Asian World."*

*The Angkor civilization is known to have flourished for about 800 years from the early ninth century, but how it was established is still a mystery*. Ishizawa, 75, found that temples and roads related to the Angkor Empire had spread over the Indochinese Peninsula by *reading inscriptions written in Sanskrit and old Khmer, which were discovered in the Angkor monuments. He concluded this huge network of trade and logistics must have supported and nurtured the once-great civilization.*

Meanwhile, Ishizawa has fostered Cambodian experts in the preservation of the Angkor monuments since 1980, when he was asked to help with the restoration work by a Cambodian researcher. Most of the original Cambodian researchers were killed during the years of the Pol Pot regime.

His philosophy is that "the preservation and restoration of the site should be carried out by Cambodians, for Cambodians." The university established its Asia Center for Research and Human Development in 2002; six Cambodians had received doctorate degrees and 13 have received master's degrees from the university as of March 2009.

*In 2001, the university's investigation mission, including Cambodian trainees, successfully excavated 274 discarded Buddhist statues at the Banteay Kdei temple about 30 kilometers from Angkor Wat. According to Ishizawa, the discovery rewrote the history of the final days of the Angkor empire.
*
French researchers long maintained the empire perished due to fatigue from continuous constructions of temples.

According to Ishizawa, *the empire's throne was traditionally seized by force, not inherited through bloodline succession,* as is the case of the Japanese Imperial family. Ishizawa explained the discarded statues were evidence of political conflicts in which a king displayed his new power, and that the empire continued to flourish until its fall.

*"The discovery gave great confidence to the Cambodian trainees. They have overturned the negative image of the Pol Pot regime through the preservation and restoration of famous historical sites," *Ishizawa said.

Ishizawa, who visits Cambodia five or six times a year, said he intends to keep helping develop that country's human resources as much as possible.

Researcher unravels Angkor mystery

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## ahfatzia

*Two dead as Typhoon Son-Tinh hits Vietnam*







A resident of the nothern Vietnamese city of Nam Dinh looks at fallen trees after the passage of typhoon Son Tinh. (AFP Photo)


HANOI: Two people were killed and thousands of homes damaged as Vietnam's coast was lashed by Typhoon Son-Tinh, authorities said on Monday, after the storm caused deadly landslides and floods in the Philippines.

Strong winds destroyed large tracts of crops, brought down power lines and ripped the roofs off houses after Son-Tinh, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression, made landfall in the north of the country late Sunday.

Two people were confirmed killed, while two others were missing, an official from the National Committee on Flood and Storm Control in Hanoi told AFP, adding that it was the biggest typhoon to hit Vietnam since the start of the storm season, with wind speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour.

The wind also felled a 180-metre television tower, the tallest in northern Vietnam, in Nam Dinh City, according to state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Vietnam is hit by an average of eight to 10 tropical storms every year, often causing heavy material and human losses.

More than 50,000 people were evacuated in preparation for the bad weather, while authorities imposed a sea ban in some areas and dozens of domestic flights were cancelled.

Son Tinh left a total of 27 people dead and nine missing in the Philippines, according to figures from the government's civil defence office on Monday, after it tore down trees and caused flash floods and landslides.

Two dead as Typhoon Son-Tinh hits Vietnam - Channel NewsAsia


RIP to the deceased and hope everyone is alright.

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## Fil Pacifist

Moody's raises PH ratings anew
Moody's raises PH ratings anew - Yahoo! News Philippines

Affirming the Philippine economy's strong performance and stable financial system, debt watcher Moody's Investors Service has raised the country's local and foreign currency long-term bond ratings to *Ba1 from Ba2.*

This is seen to result in lower costs for the Philippines when it taps debt markets to bridge gaps between budget and spending.

Moody's follows two other major credit rating agencies that have earlier put the Philippines just one level shy of investment grade.

"It's been a decade since all three major ratings agencies rated the Philippines a notch below investment grade," Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said via his Twitter account.

"This is the 9th positive ratings action since President Aquino took office and has brought us on the cusp of investment grade rating," he added.

Full Article

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## Reashot Xigwin

This post is dedicated to the progress of our almost forgotten brothers in Papua 
New Mall open in Jayapura









List of investors










2 letter left until completion 

Grand opening in 1st November. Artists that will attend the grand opening

1. Vierra





2. Dewa 19





3. Noah





and many more....

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Papua to have sport school in 2013*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Indonesia | Archipelago | Tue, October 23 2012, 2:40 PM





*Titus Bonai*





*Patrich Steve Wanggai*





Last but no the least the legendary Octovianus known by his nickname *Otto*

In attempt to nurture talented young guns into the next Titus Bonai, Patrich Steve Wanggai or Octovianus Maniani-all rising soccer players from Papua- the Papua administration plans to build a sport school in 2013.

Papua Education, Youth and Sports Agency chief James Modouw said on Tuesday that the school, with levels equivalent to junior and senior high school, was aimed to find and develop promising young athletes as early as possible.

We will recruit talented teenagers from all over Papua as students, he said, adding that the administration plans to recruit 600 students.

According to Modouw, the school which would cost Rp 30 billion (US$3.12 million) in development, will be built at a camping ground in Waena, Jayapura. The budget will be taken from Education, Youth and Sports Ministrys budget.

Modouw said that the schools curriculum would comprise 60 percent of sports and 40 percent of regular classes.

Modouw added that the schedule of the regular classes would be adjusted to the students training sessions.

For example, they train from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., followed by regular classes until 3 p.m. After finishing the classes, maybe they will go straight to another training session until 6 p.m., he said, as quoted by tempo.co.

After undergoing trainings in the school, accomplished students will be further trained by the National Sports Committee (KONI), according to Modouw. (han/iwa)

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## ahfatzia

*Myanmar unrest could destabilise wider region: ASEAN*


JAKARTA - *ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan has warned that sectarian bloodshed in Myanmar could radicalise minority Rohingya Muslims there and destabilise the whole of Southeast Asia.
*
Surin called on the international community to help after clashes in the western state of Rakhine between Muslims and Buddhists this month killed at least 88 people and displaced more than 26,000.

The Rohingya in Myanmar face "tremendous pressure, pain and suffering", the Jakarta Post on Tuesday quoted Southeast Asia's top diplomat as saying at a human rights dialogue in the Indonesian capital.

*"If the international community, including ASEAN, are not able to relieve that pressure and pain (the Rohingya) could become radicalised and the entire region could be destabilised, including the Malacca Straits," Surin said.
*
The Malacca Straits are the main shipping lane between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

*ASEAN is in a position to offer humanitarian aid to Myanmar*, he said, as it did after Cyclone Nargis hit the country in 2008, killing 138,000.

"Let's see what we can do to relieve them from poverty, shortages of food, shelter and sanitation," added the head of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar.

Decades-old animosity between Buddhists and the Rohingya exploded in June after the apparent rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine woman sparked a series of vicious revenge attacks.

The total death toll since June has reached 180, although rights groups fear the actual number killed could be much higher.

*Other Muslims in Rakhine have also been swept up in the latest violence, including the Kaman*, one of Myanmar's officially recognised ethnic groups.

The unrest has prompted a growing international outcry, with the United Nations warning it could jeopardise the country's widely praised reforms.

Myanmar unrest could destabilise wider region: ASEAN


...............

*Indonesian anger over 'maids on sale' ad in Malaysia*








JAKARTA - An advertisement in Malaysia for cut-price Indonesian maids has gone viral online in Indonesia and sparked new outrage over an issue that has long divided the two countries.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has phoned his Malaysian counterpart to complain and web users have vented their anger over the flyers tacked to trees in Kuala Lumpur which read "Indonesian maids now on sale!!"

"Now your housework and cooking come easy. You can rest and relax. Deposit only 3,500 ringgit (US$1,150, S$1,403)" reads the ad, which was posted online at the weekend by an Indonesian campaigner for migrant workers' rights.

"Let's boycott travelling to Malaysia, they have become even more disrespectful," said Arifin Sutrisno on Twitter.

Labour ministry spokeswoman Dita Indah Sari told AFP: "Saying Indonesian workers are on sale is likening a human being to a commodity. This is unacceptable."

Relations have been strained by a series of cases of abuse of Indonesian women working as domestic helpers in Malaysia. Maids in recent years have been the victims of attacks with a hammer, scissors and a hot iron.

The abuse prompted Jakarta to impose a ban in June 2009 on new maids being sent to Malaysia. Indonesia announced last December the ban was being lifted after both countries agreed on a pay rise and measures to curb abuse.

However the furious reaction in Indonesia to the flyers and the government's swift response showed that the issue remains deeply sensitive.

As well as condemnation from Natalegawa, Indonesia's ambassador in Malaysia met a foreign ministry official to ask who was responsible for the advert.

Malaysian Labour Minister S. Subramaniam condemned the flyers. "We are going all out to trace the group responsible for the leaflets," he told AFP.

Indonesian anger over 'maids on sale' ad in Malaysia

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## Fil Pacifist

[/url]


ahfatzia said:


> *Two dead as Typhoon Son-Tinh hits Vietnam*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A resident of the nothern Vietnamese city of Nam Dinh looks at fallen trees after the passage of typhoon Son Tinh. (AFP Photo)
> 
> 
> HANOI: Two people were killed and thousands of homes damaged as Vietnam's coast was lashed by Typhoon Son-Tinh, authorities said on Monday, after the storm caused deadly landslides and floods in the Philippines.
> 
> Strong winds destroyed large tracts of crops, brought down power lines and ripped the roofs off houses after Son-Tinh, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression, made landfall in the north of the country late Sunday.
> 
> Two people were confirmed killed, while two others were missing, an official from the National Committee on Flood and Storm Control in Hanoi told AFP, adding that it was the biggest typhoon to hit Vietnam since the start of the storm season, with wind speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour.
> 
> The wind also felled a 180-metre television tower, the tallest in northern Vietnam, in Nam Dinh City, according to state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.
> 
> Vietnam is hit by an average of eight to 10 tropical storms every year, often causing heavy material and human losses.
> 
> More than 50,000 people were evacuated in preparation for the bad weather, while authorities imposed a sea ban in some areas and dozens of domestic flights were cancelled.
> 
> Son Tinh left a total of 27 people dead and nine missing in the Philippines, according to figures from the government's civil defence office on Monday, after it tore down trees and caused flash floods and landslides.
> 
> Two dead as Typhoon Son-Tinh hits Vietnam - Channel NewsAsia
> 
> 
> RIP to the deceased and hope everyone is alright.




This typoon also caused deaths and massive damages to property in the Philippines.

Typhoon Son-Tinh kills dozens in Philippines - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

The death toll from Typhoon Son-Tinh in the Philippines has risen sharply to 24, as casualty reports come in from isolated central islands and the far-flung south, the government said.

Drowning and landslides were given as the cause of 11 deaths on small islands in the country's mid-section, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in its latest tally on Saturday.

The other 13 victims were carried away by flash floods, buried by landslides, hit by falling trees and flying debris, electrocuted, or died from exposure to the cold, it added.

The official death toll from the typhoon, which was classed as a weaker "tropical storm" when it passed over the Philippines, had previously stood at six on Friday.

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## Fil Pacifist

HSBC Expat Survey 2012: Singapore has the largest proportion of wealthy expats of any country in the world.

"Asia is increasingly coming to the fore
as a top destination for both financial
opportunity and life experiences. While
the region has historically been a popular
choice for those looking for increased
quality of life, the dominance of Asian
countries at the top of this years Expat
Explorer Economics league table highlights
that it is fast becoming an all-round top
expat destination  *especially Singapore*,
which ranks well as a place for career
progression and financial gain as well as quality of life factors, demonstrating that
the country delivers across numerous
elements of expat life."

http://www.expatexplorer.hsbc.com/files/pdfs/overall-reports/2012/report.pdf

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## ahfatzia

*ASEAN Summit to boost regional integration process *







*The forthcoming 21 st ASEAN Summit will promote the ASEAN integration process and strengthen the bloc's central role in the region&#8217;s social architecture and economy,* Cambodia&#8217;s Prime Minister Hun Sen has said.

On his opening speech at the opening of an ASEAN Symposium in Phnom Penh on October 30, the PM said that ASEAN has made remarkable achievements since its establishment in 1967.

He added that* ASEAN is now known not only as a region of peace, stability and strong growth, but also a closely-integrated political and economic entity.*

Hun Sen also highlighted the important role played by the association in Asia and stressed that ASEAN is an indispensable strategic partner of a number of countries and organisations in the world.

According to Hun Sen, *ASEAN has made every effort in implementing the action plans identified in the three pillars of ASEAN Community, including political-security community, economic community, and socio- cultural community.*

The Cambodian leader said his country, as the ASEAN chair in 2012, would like to encourage the group&#8217;s members and development partners to further strengthen cooperation, towards the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. 

*At the upcoming ASEAN Summit, for the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN leaders will discuss important issues such as small-and medium-sized enterprises development, energy security, environment, trade, investment, infrastructure connectivity and sustainable development, he added.*

Cambodia will host the 21 st ASEAN Summit and related summits from November 15-20, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Apart from the heads of state and government of ASEAN member nations, *US President Barack Obama, Republic of Korea President Lee Myung-bak, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda* will also attend the events.-VNA 

ASEAN Summit to boost regional integration process -- Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)


...................


*ASEAN Chief stresses positive signs in East Sea issue*


*Sovereign disputes in the East Sea could become violent but China and ASEAN member countries are showing a sense of urgency in trying to ease tensions, said the ASEAN Chief.*

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia on October 30 that "good signs" have been seen during informal talks between the 10-nation group and China in the Thai resort of Pattaya this week.

*He said that both sides are now saying they want to get a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) done as soon as possible because &#8216;it doesn't serve anybody's interests if delay&#8217;.*

&#8220;It's a yo-yo but at least now they agree to talk," Surin was quoted as saying.

ASEAN announced the six-point principle on the East Sea at the end of July, reaffirming its commitment to fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) towards the COC.

*The parties vowed to continue to self-restrain and solve disputes by peaceful means and without violence* in conformity with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).-VNA 

ASEAN Chief stresses positive signs in East Sea issue -- Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)


..................


*China snubs SE Asia push for South China Sea deal*


PATTAYA, Thailand - *China is stonewalling attempts to start talks on a multilateral "code of conduct" *governing the strategically located South China Sea and an agreement could still be years away, Southeast Asian officials said on Monday.

*Beijing's assertion of sovereignty over the vast stretch of the water has set it directly against Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to other parts of the region, *making it Asia's biggest potential military troublespot.

Speaking on the sidelines of a regional meeting in the Thai resort of Pattaya, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh said there was no end in sight to the maritime dispute involving one of the world's main shipping routes and an area potentially rich in oil and gas.

"ASEAN thinks it is time to start talks to achieve a code of conduct as soon possible," said Pham, referring to the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, but added the grouping is meeting stoic resistance from China.

*China has resisted proposals for a multilateral code of conduct for the South China Sea, preferring to try to negotiate disputes with each of the far less powerful individual claimants.*

*Sihasak Phuangketkeow, a Thai foreign ministry official, told reporters at the ASEAN-China meeting in Pattaya it might take another two years to agree a formal code of conduct.*

Carl Thayer of Australia's University of New South Wales said China was unlikely to make any decision on the code of conduct until its once-a-decade leadership change is fully complete next year.

"I suspect because of *changes in personnel likely to occur nobody in China is willing to commit themselves to something of this **magnitude*. There can be no compromise at the moment, coming from China. Leaders would be seen to be weak," said Thayer.

China has stepped up activity in the region, including establishing a military garrison on one of the disputed islands, and accused Washington of seeking to stir up trouble far from home.

The stakes have risen in the area as the US military shifts its attention and resources back to Asia, emboldening its long-time ally the Philippines and former foe Vietnam to take a tougher stance against Beijing.

Unprecedented arguments over the sea prevented an ASEAN summit in July from issuing a joint communique, the first time this had happened in the bloc's 45-year history.

China snubs SE Asia push for South China Sea deal

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

*ASEAN to launch a new regional FTA with its partners*
Sri Wahyuni and Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Vientiane | Headlines | Mon, November 05 2012

ASEAN and its six dialogue partners of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, South Korea and China are set to launch a regional free trade agreement (FTA) later this month, an official said Sunday. 

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the so-called Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was part of the grouping&#8217;s architecture of economic partnership.

ASEAN to launch a new regional FTA with its partners | The Jakarta Post


--------------------

ASEAN joints a new regional FTA with China and India? If it OK, it becomes a very very vast market...

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

*ASEAN concerned by Myanmar unrest: Indonesia*
Posted: 05 November 2012

VIENTIANE: Deadly sectarian violence rocking western Myanmar is "an issue of concern" for the whole of Southeast Asia, Indonesia's foreign minister said on Monday.

Dozens of people have been killed and more than 100,000 displaced by clashes between ethnic Rakhines and Rohingyas since June, casting a shadow over a string of widely praised political reforms.

"Of course the matter to do with the Rohingya, the Rakhine state is an issue of concern for ASEAN countries, for individual ASEAN countries," Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said.

"We (Indonesia) wish very much for Myanmar to be able to address this problem in a positive way in the same way that it has on the overall democratic process," he told AFP ahead of an Asia-Europe summit in Laos.

*The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been accused by the West in the past of turning a blind eye to human rights abuses by the generals who ran Myanmar for decades.*

ASEAN concerned by Myanmar unrest: Indonesia - Channel NewsAsia

-----------------------------------------------------




This is because a rule of "non-interference in each other's internal affairs"?

This rule sometimes made &#8203;&#8203;me feel the association looks like useless!

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## ahfatzia

*China wealth fund eyes Asia "as Western protectionism rises"*


(Reuters) - *China's sovereign wealth fund will focus more of its $482 billion firepower on Asia in twin bids to beat a rise in protectionism in the West and boost exposure to rapid regional growth, chairman and chief executive Lou Jiwei said.
*
The man charged with stewardship of a slice of the *world's largest store of foreign wealth* lauded the British approach to overseas investment in public sector projects as one for the world to follow and said the policy response to Europe's debt crisis was a reason to stay underweight bonds and stocks there.

"There is *a rise in protectionism in both trade and investment in some Western countries*," the China Investment Corporation CIC.UL chief, speaking on the sidelines of the Communist Party congress to choose a new leadership line-up, told Reuters in a rare interview.

"As compared to other financial investors we feel that the scrutiny on us is a little more strict, because of issues like national security," Lou said, adding that while not a major issue yet, he detected rising concern among foreign regulators when CIC partnered with Chinese firms to make acquisitions.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington have recently ratcheted higher thanks to a series of trade actions against China by President Barack Obama, including his blocking of a privately owned Chinese company from building wind turbines close to a U.S. military site, and his challenge of Chinese auto and auto-parts subsidies in a World Trade Organization case.

The U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee warned last month that Beijing could use equipment made by Huawei, the world's second-largest maker of routers and other telecom gear, as well as rival Chinese manufacturer ZTE, the fifth largest, for spying.

Canada has twice delayed a decision over whether to allow a $15.1 billion bid by CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK), China's top offshore oil and gas producer, for Nexen Inc NCY.TO, despite shareholders giving it their backing.

Having tackled some concerns about acquisitions by sovereign wealth funds, such as CIC, in 2008 through the adoption of guidelines brokered by the International Monetary Fund, known as the "Santiago Principles", governments worldwide now bristle at the rising number of investment bids for strategic assets made by state-backed firms that fall outside that framework.

Lou said CIC would not change its strategy of partnering with Chinese firms simply to assuage concerns of foreign regulators - particularly if such a partnership presented the best-value proposition to the fund, which is mandated to boost returns on a substantial chunk of China's $3.29 trillion stash of foreign reserves.

*"We would avoid investing in countries that do not welcome us. There are other places to invest," Lou said.*

Asia is a particularly favored option for CIC, thanks to some of the fastest rates of growth and development in the world - which are themselves levered to China's own economic dynamism.

But *while Asia is a target, the region's relatively shallow and under-developed capital markets make investments harder and prevent CIC investing as much as it would like.

"We would have to do direct investment projects one by one. That is very time consuming and we cannot really deploy that much investment capital into it," Lou said.*

For now, liquidity makes Europe and the United States CIC's markets of choice for investments in publicly traded securities, while the UK is the fund's top infrastructure pick.

"We like the UK. It is very open on its infrastructure sector," he said, adding that Britain's use of private capital to build public sector assets was a model for other developed economies to follow - particularly those struggling to recover from the effects of the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

"Infrastructure investment can boost economic growth and employment and in fact it is fiscally neutral," said Lou, a former vice minister of finance regarded by Beijing insiders as either a future finance minister, or central bank chief.

Lou said the balance between growth and fiscal rectitude was key to Europe's ability to escape from a debt crisis that has dragged on for more than three years.

"Although people in Europe have agreed that they need a combination of growth and consolidation, in fact these two aspects are contradictory to each other and Europe hasn't really thought out a way to move forward," he said.

"The risk of the euro zone falling apart has now dropped to less than 20 percent, but it is still there. To look on the bright side, now Europe has an agenda compared to a while ago when there was only babbling."

UNDERWEIGHT EUROPE

That overhanging risk and the inability to persuade investors that a recovery plan is firmly in place are key to CIC being underweight on European bonds and equities, Lou said.

"That demonstrates somewhat our lack of confidence," he said. He added that the fund was on the lookout for assets in Europe's real economy - particularly among manufacturers.

"We believe that the manufacturing industry in Europe is still quite competitive and we believe that the European economy will recover some day," Lou said.

But European banks and peripheral euro zone sovereign debt were definitely off his shopping list.

"We dare not touch the banking sector there because we do not know how many more problems are there," he said.

"We would not buy peripheral country bonds because they do not fit our risk/return profile," Lou said. "Most importantly, the risk and returns of these bonds are determined by politics and it is very hard for us to make a judgment (on them)."

Judgment was becoming more important all round, Lou said, pointing out that easy pickings for investors had disappeared since 2009, when asset prices collapsed as the global financial crisis raged and buying cheap was an obvious strategy.

"We have to use more precaution and really watch the risks and how well the companies operate," Lou said.

China wealth fund eyes Asia as Western protectionism rises | Reuters


ASEAN nations, unarguably, will be the few growth stories in the world for the next decade what we need now is fluid capital markets to draw investors like China' sovereign wealth fund.


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## yusheng

Chinese premier to pay official visit to Cambodia, attend ASEAN Summits

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will make his official visit to Cambodia on Nov. 18 to boost bilateral ties and to attend the forthcoming 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits, according to Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

The visit is made at the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, said a ministry's press statement.

During the visit, Wen will hold official talks with Hun Sen and the two prime ministers will also preside over the signing ceremony of agreements on cooperation between the two countries, the press release said.

Wen will also pay his tribute to Cambodia's recently deceased King Father Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace.

Besides, he will attend the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan, and South Korea) Summit, ASEAN-China Summit, and East Asia Summit, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Thursday in a press briefing.

China is one of the most important strategic partners for ASEAN, he said, adding that during the ASEAN-China Summit, there will be the adoption of a joint statement on the 10th anniversary of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

The 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits will be held on Nov. 18-20 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The Summits will bring together all ASEAN leaders and ASEAN's dialogue country leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

Hor Namhong said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Summits because he has the most important obligations to do in his country.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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## Viet

Mr Putin will not come to the summit because he has more important things to do in Russia?
I doubt it is true. There are some media speculations that he has health problems.



> Hor Namhong said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Summits because he has the most important obligations to do in his country.


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## yusheng

Interview: U.S., Chinese leaders attendance reflects ASEAN's significance: Cambodia official
11-15-2012 17:34 BJT 

Special Report:Wen Visits Cambodia, Attends ASEAN Summits | 

Text:A A A |Email More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on facebookShare on myspaceShare on googleShare on twitter


PHNOM PENH, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- The participation of the newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the forthcoming 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits will mirror the bloc's important role on international arena, Cambodian government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said.

Obama will make a 3 Asian nation tour, which will bring him to Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia from Nov. 17-20, the White House announced last Thursday. In Cambodia, he will attend the 7th East Asia Summit and meet with the ASEAN leaders.

"It will be the first time that the incumbent U.S. president visits Cambodia. More importantly, it will be the first Obama's visit overseas after he was re-elected as the U.S. president in the 2nd term," Kanharith told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

"The presence of Obama in the forthcoming ASEAN Summits will bring closer ties between all countries in the region and the United States, and each side can learn from each other," he said.

However, some analysts said that U.S. active involvement with the ASEAN will be a future chance for the country to intervene into ASEAN internal affairs.

Kanharith said, "It is up to ASEAN. If ASEAN holds a firm stance, other countries will be unable to intervene into ASEAN's internal affairs."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will start his official visit to Cambodia from Nov. 18, according to a press statement from Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

Commenting on Wen's upcoming visit, Kanharith said that the visit will reflect the progress of the friendship relations and cooperation between China and ASEAN in general and between China and Cambodia in particular.

"China has showed its maturity of politics and has been increasing its friendship relations and cooperation with ASEAN," he said, adding, "Step by step, the ASEAN-China ties will be better in the future."

He also suggested that in order to boost further cooperation between China and ASEAN, both sides should exchange visits more often, organize joint events to promote culture, and accelerate economic ties for mutual interests.

The spokesman said that as the chair of ASEAN, Cambodia has been playing an important role to secure that the Southeast Asia region is a region of peace, friendship and cooperation.

"We hope that joint cooperation and formations of diplomatic mechanism, economic ties and cultural relations between China and the U.S., and China, ASEAN and the U.S. will motivate all countries to solve all issues in the region peacefully," he said.

Cambodia sets to host the 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits from Nov. 18-20 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The Summits will bring together all ASEAN leaders and ASEAN's dialogue country leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be unable to attend the forthcoming Summits because he has the most important obligations to do in his country, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said on Thursday.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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## scobydoo

I read somewhere that Myanmar Myanmar to release 450 prisoners ahead of Obama visit.


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## ahfatzia

scobydoo said:


> I read somewhere that Myanmar Myanmar to release 450 prisoners ahead of Obama visit.




Myanmar began releasing hundreds of prisoners Thursday under a mass amnesty that comes just days before a landmark visit by US President Barack Obama to the formerly military-ruled nation.

Relatives of political detainees were waiting anxiously to learn whether they would be among those freed. The government declined to reveal how many dissidents were pardoned.

A prison department official said 452 prisoners would walk free on Thursday.

"There are some foreigners included in the amnesty," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity, without giving details of their nationalities. The release was also announced in state media.

Myanmar has already freed hundreds of political prisoners, as part of reforms that have led to a dramatic thaw in relations between the nation and the West.

Obama will on Monday become the first sitting US president to visit Myanmar, where he will meet former general President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was herself released by the regime in 2010 after years under house arrest.

A spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) welcomed the latest amnesty but questioned its timing.

"It is strange that they released prisoners just before Obama's visit," Ohn Kyaing told AFP.

"They should have done it before and showed their genuine will to give the amnesty," he said, adding that it was unclear if any NLD members were among those being freed.

Other prominent pro-democracy figures called for an immediate release of all prisoners of conscience.

Kyaw Min Yu, a leader of 88 Generation, called a full amnesty "critical to national reconciliation." "The release of prisoners should not be related to Obama's trip. It's just something the government should do as quickly as possible," he added.

The last major amnesty in September saw dozens of dissidents freed just before a historic visit to the UN in New York by Thein Sein. But it left many political prisoners behind bars.

Estimates of their number vary but the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based campaign group, put the current figure at 283 in a list posted on its website on October 31.

The visit by Obama, fresh from his re-election victory, has been lauded by Myanmar as a sign of confidence in the reforms introduced under a nominally civilian government, which replaced the junta in March 2011.

It also comes as deadly communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the country's impoverished west casts a shadow over the political changes.

Myanmar begins freeing prisoners - Globaltimes.cn

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## ahfatzia

*Obama to showcase US clout in Southeast Asia*


WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama hopes to demonstrate rising US clout in Asia on his first foreign trip since his re-election, with a tour of three countries including a once unthinkable stop in changing Myanmar.

Obama, who has cast himself as the first "Pacific president" with his roots in Hawaii and boyhood years in Indonesia, will head on Saturday to longtime US ally Thailand and meet Asia's top leaders at a summit in Cambodia.

It will be the first trip by a US president spent entirely in Southeast Asia since the Vietnam War, part of Obama's effort to focus on the dynamic and largely US-friendly region where several nations worry about a rising China.

Obama in his first term launched a so-called "pivot" to Asia, which included greater military cooperation with Australia, Thailand and Vietnam and a plan to shift the bulk of the US navy to the Pacific by 2020.

"Continuing to fill in our pivot to Asia will be a critical part of the president's second term and ultimately his foreign policy legacy," Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, told reporters.

Tom Donilon, the national security adviser, said that Obama's trip showed that the United States was "not only rebalancing towards Asia; we're also rebalancing our efforts within Asia."

Donilon said it was "impossible to overstate Asia's importance" to the United States as the continent is expected to account for nearly half of the world's economic growth outside the United States through 2017.

"The fact is today that there is a tremendous demand and expectation of US leadership in the region," Donilon said.

Surprising skeptics, Myanmar launched reforms after its nominal end to nearly half a century of army rule last year. President Thein Sein, a former general, released political prisoners, opened dialogue with ethnic rebels and allowed once-confined opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi to enter parliament.

Some human rights groups said that Obama should have waited, arguing that he could have dangled the prospect of a visit as leverage to seek more progress such as the release of remaining political prisoners estimated to number in the hundreds.

Danny Russel, Obama's top aide on Asia, countered: "This is not a victory celebration, this is as barn raising."

"We want to show the people of Burma that there are benefits to be had from the hard work and move some of the leaders off the fence and into the reform program," he said.

Thailand is the oldest US ally in Asia, famously offering elephants to Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War. But the kingdom has been consumed by internal disputes, which escalated in 2010 into violence that left more than 90 people dead.

Michael Green, who held Russel's position under former president George W Bush, said that Thailand -- which proudly preserved independence even in World War II -- has historically kept a balance between major powers.

"Thailand has always sort of gone with the breeze. And China's very much the breeze now," said Green, the senior vice president for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The three nations that Obama will visit are "sort of the three troubled children of 'the pivot'. Each has a complicated relationship with the US and with China," Green said.

While few expect Thailand to shift wholescale to Beijing, Cambodia has been China's staunchest supporter in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and was seen as scuttling an initiative on disputes in the South China Sea when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited for regional talks in July.

Obama will be the first sitting US president to visit Cambodia. Samantha Power, his adviser on human rights, said Obama was visiting for the East Asia Summit and was concerned about Cambodia's "very worrying" direction on rights.

On the summit's sidelines, Obama will meet China's former premier, Wen Jiabao, and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan, whose relations with Beijing have grown tense due to territorial claims.

Japan is one of five treaty-bound US allies in the region. In a veiled reference to China, Donilon said Washington's alliances were a key asset.

When "you think about our competitors and possible competitors around the world, you come to the conclusion that no other nation in the world has the set of global alliances that the United States has," he said.

Obama to showcase US clout in Southeast Asia - Channel NewsAsia


Looks like Uncle Barack is coming to claim his domain and let's hope he doesn't mess the area up like his predecessors did in other parts of the world.

................


*Panetta to outline US policy shift to Asia at ASEAN*









BANGKOK: *US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will outline Washington's strategic shift to the Pacific and a tentative rapprochement with Myanmar when he meets with his Asian counterparts at a conference in Cambodia on Friday,* according to officials.

Wrapping up a week-long tour of Southeast Asia that comes before President Barack Obama visits the region next week, Panetta will join 10 fellow defence ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Cambodian resort of Siem Reap.

In his talks, *Panetta is expected to discuss America's careful steps toward reopening ties with Myanmar's military as well as Washington's bid to "rebalance"* to the Asia-Pacific.

The US tilt to Asia as well as warming relations with Myanmar reflect a concerted effort by the Obama administration to assert American influence in the face of China's growing economic and military might.

A senior US defence official told reporters travelling with Panetta that the *United States was open to reviving military ties with Myanmar*, but that the Pentagon would proceed at a deliberate pace.

US officials are considering cooperating with Myanmar's armed forces on non-lethal programmes focused on military medicine, education and disaster relief exercises.

The activities would be "limited in scope" at the outset, the official added. "We'll grow as appropriate over time. We need to see reform, we need to see continued progress."

The overtures to Myanmar's leaders are a source of concern for China, as Myanmar -- along with North Korea -- had remained firmly in Beijing's orbit and off-limits to the Americans until now, analysts and officials said.

*"From China's perspective, enhancing US-Burma (Myanmar) security ties takes on greater significance because it was one of the few countries in China's periphery that Beijing had a near monopoly on military, economic, and diplomatic relations,*" Andrew Scobell, an expert at the US-based RAND Corporation think tank, told AFP.

In his discussions in Cambodia, Panetta also is expected to renew US appeals for a peaceful, multilateral resolution of territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China, which have tended to pit China against its neighbours over potentially resource-rich waters.

"We continue to be closely monitoring both the situations in the South China sea and the East China Sea," said the senior defence official.

*"Our message is going to be consistent with what we've said in the past, which is we don't take sides, we want these disputes solved peacefully in accordance with international law *but we do take issue with coercion," the defence official said.

On Thursday, Panetta signed a "joint vision" statement in Bangkok reaffirming the US-Thailand military alliance for what he called a new era.

Panetta's trip came as China unveiled a new leadership team headed by Xi Jinping, a transition closely followed in Washington.

Next week, President Obama will be the first sitting US president to visit Cambodia as well as Myanmar, following a series of dramatic political changes in a country emerging from decades of military rule.

Panetta to outline US policy shift to Asia at ASEAN - Channel NewsAsia


Obama will go to bed will a military regime if it suits his agenda

..............


*Special Report: Myanmar military's next campaign: shoring up power*








(Reuters) - Aung Thaw was a teenager when he joined Myanmar's armed forces, which seized power in 1962 and led a promising Asian nation into half a century of poverty, isolation and fear.

Now 59, he has a new mission as deputy minister of defense: explaining why the military intends to retain a dominant role in a fragile new era of democratic reform.

In a two-hour interview with Reuters, the first by a leader of the armed forces with the international media since Myanmar's historic reforms began last year,* Aung Thaw depicted the military as both architect and guardian of his country's embryonic democracy.*

*That's why the military has no plans to give up its presence in parliament, he said, where its unelected delegates occupy a quarter of the seats. Nor will the military apologize for its violent suppressions of pro-democracy protests in 1988 and 2007 that led to crippling Western sanctions.*

*"The government is leading the democratization," said Aung Thaw. "The Defense Services are pro-actively participating in the process."*

*The military will also retain a leading role in Myanmar's economy through its holding companies, according to the firms, which are among the country's biggest commercial enterprises.
*
Aung Thaw's comments came ahead of Barack Obama's visit to Myanmar on November 19 - the first by a serving U.S. president to the country also known as Burma.

The generals' reluctance to loosen their grip on power and acknowledge past abuses raises fundamental questions for this strategic country at Asia's crossroads: Can Myanmar be reborn after decades of dictatorship without the military itself also undergoing profound change? And is the United States too quickly embracing the generals?

full story: Special Report: Myanmar military's next campaign: shoring up power | Reuters


It sounds like the military leaders want to get in on the get rich schemes and hold onto power as well. Can the west, through various NGOs, installs their favorite daughter in the form of regime change?

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## ahfatzia

*U.S., Chinese leaders attendance reflects ASEAN's significance: Cambodia official*


PHNOM PENH, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- The participation of the newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the forthcoming 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits will mirror the bloc's important role on international arena, Cambodian government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said.

Obama will make a 3 Asian nation tour, which will bring him to Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia from Nov. 17-20, the White House announced last Thursday. In Cambodia, he will attend the 7th East Asia Summit and meet with the ASEAN leaders.

"It will be the first time that the incumbent U.S. president visits Cambodia. More importantly, it will be the first Obama's visit overseas after he was re-elected as the U.S. president in the 2nd term," Kanharith told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

"The presence of Obama in the forthcoming ASEAN Summits will bring closer ties between all countries in the region and the United States, and each side can learn from each other," he said.

However, some analysts said that U.S. active involvement with the ASEAN will be a future chance for the country to intervene into ASEAN internal affairs.

Kanharith said, "It is up to ASEAN. If ASEAN holds a firm stance, other countries will be unable to intervene into ASEAN's internal affairs."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will start his official visit to Cambodia from Nov. 18, according to a press statement from Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

Commenting on Wen's upcoming visit, Kanharith said that the visit will reflect the progress of the friendship relations and cooperation between China and ASEAN in general and between China and Cambodia in particular.

"China has showed its maturity of politics and has been increasing its friendship relations and cooperation with ASEAN," he said, adding, "Step by step, the ASEAN-China ties will be better in the future."

He also suggested that in order to boost further cooperation between China and ASEAN, both sides should exchange visits more often, organize joint events to promote culture, and accelerate economic ties for mutual interests.

The spokesman said that as the chair of ASEAN, Cambodia has been playing an important role to secure that the Southeast Asia region is a region of peace, friendship and cooperation.

"We hope that joint cooperation and formations of diplomatic mechanism, economic ties and cultural relations between China and the U.S., and China, ASEAN and the U.S. will motivate all countries to solve all issues in the region peacefully," he said.

Cambodia sets to host the 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits from Nov. 18-20 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The Summits will bring together all ASEAN leaders and ASEAN's dialogue country leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be unable to attend the forthcoming Summits because he has the most important obligations to do in his country, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said on Thursday.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

Interview: U.S., Chinese leaders attendance reflects ASEAN's significance: Cambodia official - People's Daily Online

.............


*World leaders head to ASEAN summits*


Key world leaders including re- elected US *President Barack Obama* and *Chinese Premier* *Wen Jiabao* along with estimated *1,700 foreign media persons* are arriving for the ASEAN summits with the expectation of strengthening ties, officials said here on Friday.

The 21st Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related Summits will be held from Nov. 18-20 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The events will bring together all ASEAN leaders and ASEAN's dialogue country leaders including US President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, *South Korean President Lee* *Myung-bak*, *Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda*, *Indian Prime Minister* *Manmohan Singh*, *Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard*, and *New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.*

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a notable absentee from the conference.

The host of world leaders is expected to discuss economic and political issues during the three days.

There will also be several agreements to be signed between the host country and China during Prime Minister Wen's visit, Cambodian government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told media.

ASEAN integration, economic and financial issues, regional security, among others, will be on top agenda in the forthcoming summit.

One of the main highlights of the meeting will undoubtedly be the adoption of a human rights declaration aimed at fighting torture and illegal arrests in a region notorious for violations, despite criticism that the pact falls short of international standards.

ASEAN leaders are scheduled to formally adopt the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration on Sunday, according to Cambodian Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong. "This is the first time ASEAN has had this declaration and I think it is a good move," he told media here adding, "in the future in case it is necessary, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights can hold more meetings with civil society to improve the current declaration."

Signing the ASEAN Agreement on Movement of Natural Persons and the launch of negotiating for a comprehensive regional economic partnership will also take place.

The launching of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation together with ASEAN Regional Demining Centre will address common concerns among the members.

Global financial issues and pushing the agenda on ASEAN's connectivity goal to be a European Union-like bloc by 2015 will also top the agenda.

The large number of international media expected to cover the meeting is an indication of world attention. The Cambodian government has worked hard to provide the necessary infrastructure with banks of computers and tents prepared for the media

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/744783.shtml


Of course all the leaders of ASEAN counties will be here too. The ASEAN+ Forum is getting more important day by day.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*East Asia economic integration and ASEAN centrality*

Yose Rizal Damuri, Jakarta | Opinion | Fri, November 16 2012, 8:07 AM


One important economic agenda item at the ASEAN summit this weekend is the launch of the ASEAN Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This proposed economic alliance is a vehicle to engage interested ASEAN members and its six partners in creating a free trade area with comprehensive economic cooperation.

The alliance aims to significantly improve the existing ASEAN+1 trade agreements by integrating them into a comprehensive package. ASEAN RCEP will also signify ASEAN centrality in the region.

While countries in East Asia have been actively engaged with each other in international trade and production for several decades, formal economic integration is a relatively new initiative. ASEAN countries have managed to position themselves as a hub by forming bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with each of six partners, i.e. Australia, China, India, Korea, Japan and New Zealand.

Prior to RCEPs introduction, countries in the region had initiated region-wide agreements known as ACFTA, involving ASEAN+3 partners, and CEPEA, which included three other nations. Those two attempts failed mostly due to rivalry between China and Japan, which each favored one-to-another arrangements.

There are reasons to stress the importance of region-wide cooperation over the existing hub and speak of arrangements between ASEAN and each partner. First, the potential benefit from such an arrangement is large; some calculations estimate that the benefits may reach three times higher than the benefits from the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Second, and more importantly, is that such an arrangement has a potential to reduce the complexity of the current situation. Currently there are five FTAs/EPAs between ASEAN and its partners, while some are also complemented by bilateral agreements between individual ASEAN members and their partners.

Dozens of trade deals in the region are intermingled in an unorganized fashion, raising what is known as the Noodle Bowl Syndrome. It has reduced the potential benefits from economic integration since business sectors have to pay attention to different rules of different FTAs, while at the same time it has also increased the cost of utilizing preferential concessions.

The noodle bowl situation is partly a result of a lack of vision toward East Asia economic integration. While it took more than a decade for European countries to discuss the continents trade arrangement, dozens of bilateral agreements among East Asian nations have mushroomed in the past few years; placing them in a race to form FTAs without having a vision for greater and deeper integration.

The future ASEAN RCEP could act as a catalyst for more harmonized regional integration initiatives, given that the economic partnership is being built on the best practices of existing ASEAN+1 FTAs and not only to serve the lowest common denominator.

The name ASEAN RCEP indicates the key role of ASEAN and its centrality in determining the direction of future regional integration. This makes is a significant difference from the former attempts of the EAFTA, which was favored by China, or the Japan-initiated CEPEA. ASEAN centrality provides a better chance for the nations to find common ground for high-level regional integration. A well-defined agenda for the implementation of the ASEAN AEC also enables countries in the region to learn from the experience of ASEAN integration.

In addition, the greater prospect of having an FTA between China, Japan and Korea (CJK FTA), although still subject to many conditions, can fulfill the existing gap of regional integration. Better understanding between the three Northeast Asian nations provides robust support for regional integration.

However, there are many challenges for ASEAN in playing its important role in RCEP. One is members commitment toward integration, both at the ASEAN level or with partners. Despite a comprehensive and clear road map of the AEC, recent progress on implementation is far from satisfactory.

The latest AEC Scorecard, which measures progress of implementation compared to scheduled measures in the AEC Blueprint, reveals that ASEAN members only managed to implement 70 percent of targeted actions during the 2007-2011 period. In order to be a constructive drive of East Asia integration, ASEAN members should first strengthen their commitments toward economic integration.

Another thing that may affect the completion of RCEP is the presence of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The current arrangement of the TPP, which excludes several ASEAN members and several partners, may distract the focus on East Asia integration.

It has potential to increase the complexity of economic arrangements in the region, therefore undermining the benefit of integration. There should be clearer positioning of the TPP and future RCEP so that the two arrangements complement each other.

The recent slowdown in AEC implementation indicates the declining enthusiasm of ASEAN members toward regional integration. ASEAN members should realize that integration among countries in the region is necessary to enhance their competitiveness in the current globalized system.

It is even more important for Indonesia in order to increase its position in the global production network. As the biggest economy in ASEAN, Indonesia should promote the successful implementation of the AEC Blueprint and should maintain ASEANs important position in the driving seat of regional integration.

The writer is the head of the economics department at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.

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## yusheng

Economic issues to dominate ASEAN Summit: Secretary-General

11-17-2012 16:45 BJT 


PHNOM PENH, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Economic issues are likely to be high on the agenda of the upcoming 21st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related summits, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said Saturday.

Speaking at a press briefing on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Pitsuwan said that the gathering is important not only for ASEAN, but also for East Asia and global community as a whole.

The Phnom Penh summit will witness the emergence of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Through the initiative, "ASEAN's five existing free trade agreements with six countries (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand) in the region would be brought under one umbrella agreement, " Pitsuwan said.

Apart from economic integration, issues such as maritime security, energy, climate change, education, human resource development will also be discussed.

A forum held annually by leaders of initial 16 countries in the East Asian region, East Asia Summit expanded its membership last year to include the United Statesand Russia.

Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obamawill arrive in Cambodia on Monday to hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen and attend a summit meeting with ASEAN leaders and the 7th East Asia Summit.

Being an open and free forum, any issues could be brought forward at the summit, said ASEAN secretary-general.

He also expressed hope that related talks could be conducted in a constructive, supportive, encouraging and hopeful way.

"We'll focus on positive advance into the future about cooperation and coordination, mutual confidence-building and carrying forward the spirit of cooperation," Pitsuwan said.

The 21st ASEAN Summit and related Summits will be held on Nov. 18-20 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, gathering heads of state and government from 10 ASEAN nations and eight ASEAN dialogue partners.

The heads of the Asian Development Bank, the United NationsConference on Trade and Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization will also take part in the meeting series.

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## ahfatzia

*ASEAN urges 'hotline' with China over sea row*


PHNOM PENH: Southeast Asian nations will propose opening a "hotline" with China aimed at defusing tensions over the South China Sea, ASEAN's chief on said Saturday.

Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said after a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers that they had agreed to back the plan first mooted by Indonesia.

ASEAN urges 'hotline' with China over sea row - Channel NewsAsia


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## yusheng

Sino-Cambodian friendly ties set good example: Wen

11-19-2012 06:29 BJT Special Report:Wen Visits Cambodia, Attends ASEAN Summits | 




Watch Video

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says that the relationship between China and Cambodia has set a good example of friendly ties between neighboring countries. Wen made the remarks while meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen in Phnom Penh. 

Wen said the two countries have treated each other with respect, mutual trust and strongly supported each other over issues bearing each other&#8217;s core interests. They have also strengthened coordination in regional affairs. The Chinese premier said the two countries should make a success next year&#8217;s events marking the 55th anniversary of bilateral ties and speed up efforts to work out an action plan for strengthening their comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation. He pledged China will continue to offer Cambodia support in socio-economic development. 





_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) shakes hands with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 18, 2012. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) _

Hun Sen noted that Cambodia is willing to make concerted efforts with China to expand economic and trade cooperation, and increase people-to-people exchanges. Premier Wen arrived in the Cambodian capital Sunday afternoon to attend a series of meetings for East Asian leaders and pay an official visit to the country. He also noted all parties should focus on the theme of cooperation and development and build up consensus to address difficulties and challenges. 

After their talks, the two leaders attended the signing ceremony for agreements on economic and technological cooperation.

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## Viet

yusheng said:


> Sino-Cambodian *friendly *ties set good example: Wen




Nothing against your friendship with Cambodia, as long as you don´t misuse them as a tool against us. The Cambodians know, they share a land border with the Vietnamese.


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## yusheng

VIDEO: PREMIER WEN JIABAO MEETS INDIAN PM
11-19-2012 16:12 BJT 



Watch Video
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has held talks with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the 21st ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. Premier Wen says China and India should grasp the strategic opportunities for development by fostering a favorable environment for investment. 

India&#8217;s Prime Minister Singh congratulated the CPC on the successful completion of the 18th CPC National Congress, and expressed his desire that China and India take their relations to a new level. This was the 14th meeting between the two leaders in the last eight years. 

Singh stressed on the importance of these meetings in building a strong foundation of trust and friendship between the two nations. The Chinese Premier last visited India in 2010 at the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.





Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has held talks with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on the sidelines of the 21st ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. 






Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has held talks with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on the sidelines of the 21st ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.

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## yusheng

China to boost ties with Malaysia, Indonesia


11-19-2012 08:55 BJT 




Play Video


Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Phnom Penh during the 21st ASEAN Summit.

During the meetings, Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to boost economic cooperation with Indonesia and Malaysia. Noting China has become ASEAN&#8217;s largest trading partner, Wen said China would like to make more efforts to help create closer trade and economic ties between ASEAN member countries. 





_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) meets with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Phnom Penh,
capital of Cambodia, Nov. 18, 2012. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) _

Leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia both expressed their willingness to share common interests with China and boost cooperation in international trade and investment.





_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) meets with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in
Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, Nov. 18, 2012. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) _





_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) meets with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Phnom Penh,
capital of Cambodia, Nov. 18, 2012. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) _





_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) meets with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in
Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, Nov. 18, 2012. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo)_

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## ahfatzia

*South China Sea issue should not define ASEAN-China ties, says PM Lee*








PHNOM PENH: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has made a strong call to both ASEAN and China that the South China Sea issue should not define ties between the 10-member grouping and China.

He said it is important to maintain confidence in East Asia and noted that territorial claims have heightened tensions in East Asia and dominated the news this year.

Mr Lee was speaking during the ASEAN-China Dialogue, attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and ASEAN leaders.

Mr Lee cautioned that prolonged tensions will affect investor confidence in the region and therefore it is important to ensure that regional discourse is positive.

Turning to the South China Sea disputes, Mr Lee called on all parties to the Declaration of Conduct to implement the provisions in entirety and said it is a good step towards building trust and confidence amongst the countries.

He noted that the informal consultations between ASEAN and China on a Code of Conduct have already started and urged that formal discussions on the Code should begin soon.

Mr Lee said this would signal ASEAN's and China's resolve to maintain peace and stability, and show the international community that both sides can work together even on difficult issues.

He also urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from provocative actions or the use of force.

The South China Sea issue was a sticking point in July during the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh, which led to the ASEAN foreign ministers not issuing their communique.

South China Sea issue should not define ASEAN-China ties, says PM Lee - Channel NewsAsia


Hey Bro! Daddy smiles if you can be the go between.

............


*PM Lee says US-China ties will underpin regional stability and growth*


PHNOM PENH: Ties between the United States and China will underpin regional stability and growth in the future.

Making the point was Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the ASEAN-US Leaders meeting in Phnom Penh held during the 21st ASEAN Summit.

Joining the ASEAN leaders from his Thailand and Myanmar visits was US President Barack Obama.

The dialogue also touched on economic issues.

Mr Lee stressed that US recovery was a major factor to restoring global growth and US fiscal issues affected not only America's economic balances but also global fiscal balances and monetary conditions.

Mr Lee is confident that the US Congress can bridge partisan lines and tackle long-term fiscal problems decisively so that the US will climb back, as it has done many times before.

US-ASEAN ties is entering its 35th anniversary and Mr Lee noted that ASEAN-US relations are strategic and longstanding, and go back well before formal relations were established in 1977.

He said US security presence has underpinned regional peace and stability since World War II.

Also, the US economy has been a key driver of the region's economic progress.

Furthermore, the dialogue relations have expanded to cover a wide range of areas, including education, science and technology, and development.

Mr Lee thanked Mr Obama for personally driving stronger ASEAN-US relations.

The ASEAN-US Leaders' Meeting has convened annually since 2009.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/1238233/1/.html

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## scobydoo

Personally i hate free trade area... I think its one way for the manufacturer nation to expand its market.

Those who not ready and do not produce anything would only be a market for the producers.


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## ahfatzia

scobydoo said:


> Personally i hate free trade area... I think its one way for the manufacturer nation to expand its market.
> 
> Those who not ready and do not produce anything would only be a market for the producers.




You have to look at it from a different angle. China is the biggest manufacturer among the ASEAN+3 but she also has the biggest consumer market and that market is growing exponentially. Within a decade she'll have bigger market than ASEAN+2 combined. When that day comes she can absorb all merchandizes the ASEAN+2 produces with minimal tariffs where she can't refuse entry. This scenario also pushes the governments of smaller producing countries to provide incentives for their respective companies to produce more in order to compete. 

The beneficiaries are actually the smaller countries that can compete and if they do the skies are the limits for them. I think most countries in ASEAN can compete and the few that'll have troubles, like Cambodia and Laos, China's probably going to help them. Win win all around and that's why every country is pushing for it.


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## nufix

scobydoo said:


> Personally i hate free trade area... I think its one way for the manufacturer nation to expand its market.
> 
> Those who not ready and do not produce anything would only be a market for the producers.



Don't be worry, the first year of FTA agreement was hard but countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore can actually survive and amazingly for Indonesia, the Industrial and manufacturing sector aren't dead as some analyst predicted so, but continue to rise. That's why around half of Indo's GDP per annum came from Industrial sector where only around 11% came from oil and mining sector. Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore have been doing good too. The FTA agreement have given a bigger chance for our local manufacturer and industrialists to expand their markets, our labor force got new jobs too, The FTA agreement have indirectly motivated our businessman, and if we continue to look the FTA agreement only from the dark side, we will not be able to survive like some of ASEAN members who keep on arguing about how bad the FTA is, but never learn and do anything to gain benefits from it.


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## xuxu1457

In 2011, China-ASEAn trade 362.3billion$, export to ASEAN 169.86billion$, import from ASEAN 192.47billion$.

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## nufix

xuxu1457 said:


> In 2011, China-ASEAn trade 362.3billion$, export to ASEAN 169.86billion$, import from ASEAN 192.47billion$.



FTA with China is a win win agreement for those who can take the benefits from it, I'd say we should expand economy cooperation with China.

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## ahfatzia

*Obama Asia tour doesn't go exactly according to plan*


(Reuters) - It may have sounded good on paper: Win re-election, fly to Asia, soak up the adulation of fellow world leaders, then go home with at least a few tangible rewards to show for a legacy-shaping U.S. strategic shift eastwards.

*But U.S. President Barack Obama's first post-election trip abroad did not work out exactly according to plan.
*
To be sure, he had a chance to tout a foreign policy success with a landmark visit to the former pariah state of Myanmar, demonstrate he was serious about improved U.S. ties with nations in China's backyard and take in a travelogue's worth of iconic religious and cultural sights.

But even as Obama sought to strengthen his administration's "Asia pivot,"* he came face-to-face with the tough realities of what it will take to counter China's influence in the region.*

At the same time, he found his attention constantly diverted back to the world's biggest hotspot, the Middle East, where a Gaza crisis raged on.

As if that weren't enough, Obama was reminded regularly of the biggest problem facing him back home - a looming "fiscal cliff" of year-end tax increases and spending cuts that would shake the U.S. economy and reverberate worldwide, including economically dynamic Asia - unless he and Congress can avert it.

As a result, Obama's three-day tour, which ended on Tuesday, *seemed be more symbolism than substance.*

At a regional summit in Phnom Penh, Asian leaders no longer seemed starry-eyed in his presence, as they did when he first swept into took office and was feted globally like a rock star.

Though Obama was roundly congratulated on his re-election, which would appear to strengthen his hand internationally, *no one seemed eager to offer up major concessions.*

*A one-on-one meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who will retire next year, yielded no immediate sign of progress on economic issues that have especially bedeviled relations between the world's two biggest economies.*

And* China sometimes looked like the one setting the agenda at the East Asia summit.*

Obama urged Asian leaders to reduce tensions in the South China Sea and other disputed territory, but *stopped short of firmly backing allies Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in their disputes with China.*

Possibly *not wanting to further antagonize China in the midst of its once-in-a-generation leadership change, he steered clear of the kind of tough public rhetoric he used against Beijing during his last Asia tour a year ago.*

Obama did give what the White House described as closed-door browbeating to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen over the need to improve his human rights record just minutes before the long-ruling authoritarian leader opened the summit on Monday night.

But Obama aides offered no sign that Hun Sen had promised any major reforms like the ones that Myanmar's quasi-civilian government undertook to win suspension of U.S. sanctions and a first-ever U.S. presidential visit.

The summit was not a complete bust. Progress was made of efforts to forge a trans-Pacific trade area, promises were issues against protectionism and there was talk of fighting climate change.

HELD HOSTAGE TO MIDEAST CRISES?

It was the Gaza conflict that may have crystallized for Obama that despite his preferred focus on fast-growing Asia after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, *his global agenda in his second term may be destined to be usurped by one Middle East crisis after another.*

After dining with Asian leaders on Monday, Obama stayed up until 2:30 a.m. working the phones on Gaza amid growing U.S. alarm that Israel would follow through on its threat to launch a ground invasion of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave.

He finally decided to dispatch Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday for talks in the Middle East.

Asked whether this was distracting Obama from his Asia focus, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters: "We believe that the United States can walk and chew gum at the same time."

But the fact remains the time a president can devote to foreign policy is limited by domestic reality, and the Middle East is continuing to gobble up a large portion of his schedule.

Also dogging Obama's travels was uncertainty about whether he will be able to put America's fiscal house in order after bouts of political dysfunction shook international confidence

Obama took time on his Asia trip to call senior corporate chieftains, including JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon and legendary investor Warren Buffett, to lobby them to back his fiscal plans.

But there was a definite undercurrent of concern. A development bank official who addressed the leaders on Tuesday spoke of the fiscal cliff as a threat to the world economy.

And even an aide to a monk who guided Obama in a tour of the centuries-old Wat Pho temple in Bangkok on Sunday sympathized with Obama's fiscal challenges, telling him: "Good luck with the fiscal cliff."

Obama Asia tour doesn't go exactly according to plan | Reuters


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## yusheng

Chinese Premier Wen, Obama hail US-China relationship

11-20-2012 17:08 BJT Special Report:Wen Visits Cambodia, Attends ASEAN Summits | 




Watch Video
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has discussed bilateral relations with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the seventh East Asia Summit in Cambodia. 

The two sides hailed the cooperative and constructive US-China relationship, saying it is important for the two countries to promote trade and investment. Wen Jiabao said he hoped the two countriess continuing partnership would send a positive message to the world. He added China would look to build new relations between major powers and enhance other mechanisms for bilateral talks. 

For his part, Obama said he is committed to working with China. The US President said cooperation between the two countries is of vital importance to the security and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the world. 



Related stories
Chinese premier meets US president on ties 2012-11-20 

Premier Wen calls for ASEAN consensus 2012-11-20 






_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) meets with U.S. President Barack Obama (R) 
before they attend the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, 
Nov. 20, 2012. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng) _





_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (2nd R) meets with U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) before they attend the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, Nov. 20, 2012. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) _





_Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (1st R) meets with U.S. President Barack Obama (1st L) before they attend the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, Nov. 20, 2012. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng) _


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## Viet

*ASEAN looks to a united community: new Sec. Gen.*
21/11/2012 VietNamNet Bridge






VietNamNet Bridge &#8211; The newly-appointed ASEAN General Secretary *Le Luong Minh* says his primary task in his five-year term is to realise the grouping&#8217;s goal of building a* united, strong ASEAN* community by 2015.

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## Fil Pacifist

*Pinoys most emotional, Singaporeans emotionless *

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines topped the list of most emotional societies in the world, revealing the Filipinos expressive nature and how they feel about their lives.

A Bloomberg BusinessWeek report said US pollster Gallup surveyed more than 140 countries. The Philippines garnered a 60 percent rating, followed by El Salvador with 57 percent and Bahrain with 56 percent, for second and third place, respectively.

Oman and Colombia were tied in fourth spot with 55 percent while Chile, Costa Rica, Canada, Guatemala, Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Peru, Nicaragua and the United States all received 54 percent and ranked fifth on the list.

Meanwhile, Singapore was named the worlds most emotionless society with 36 percent, closely followed by Georgia and Lithuania at 37 percent. Russia, Madagascar, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Nepal were all tied at 38 percent.

Read more: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2012/11/22/870473/pinoys-most-emotional-singaporeans-emotionless

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## ahfatzia

*S'pore most emotionless society in world: survey*


SINGAPORE: Singapore has been ranked as the most emotionless society in the world, according to a Bloomberg News report on a Gallup survey.

The survey polled more than 140 countries to compare how people felt about their lives. Respondents were asked questions such as "Evaluate your life on a scale of zero to 10" and whether their life would be better or worse five years from now.

Singapore came in ahead of countries such as Georgia, Lithuania and Russia, for being the most emotionless society.

"If you measure Singapore by the traditional indicators, they look like one of the best-run countries in the world," Gallup partner Jon Clifton was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. "But if you look at everything that makes life worth living, they're not doing so well."

According to the report, not many Singaporeans answered "yes" to negative questions, and to questions measuring happiness, such as, had they smiled yesterday, had they learnt something interesting or felt respected or well-rested?

Only 36 per cent of Singaporeans responded affirmatively to either the positive or negative questions.

According to Gallup's research, only 2 per cent of the country's workers feel engaged by their jobs. The global average is 11 per cent.

"We are taught to keep going and not make too much of a fuss," research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies Leong Chan-Hoong told Bloomberg.

Singaporeans still "take ourselves a bit too seriously," said general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement William Wan.

Other results from the survey showed that the Danes are the most satisfied, while people from Togo in West Africa are least satisfied, according to the news report. The most pessimistic society is Greece, while people most likely last year to report feelings of stress, anger, sadness, worry or pain were Iraqis.

S'pore most emotionless society in world: survey - Channel NewsAsia


We're a bunch of robots even have to schedule our intimated activities.

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## Fil Pacifist

@ahfatzia:

What are your views on the many FTs in Singapore coming from China, India and Southeast Asia?
I've been reading a couple of Singaporean forums and most I've read were resentments towards foreigners and growing disappointments on your PAP-led government. Do you think PAP (which I read was more liberal to FTs) will still be the majority after elections (is it this coming 2016?)?


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## ahfatzia

Fil Pacifist said:


> @ahfatzia:
> 
> What are your views on the many FTs in Singapore coming from China, India and Southeast Asia?
> I've been reading a couple of Singaporean forums and most I've read were resentments towards foreigners and growing disappointments on your PAP-led government. Do you think PAP (which I read was more liberal to FTs) will still be the majority after elections (is it this coming 2016?)?




When it come to foreigners in Singapore I'm probably more liberal than the PAP, mainly because I travel out of the country quite often. Singapore is a multi ethnic society and we need foreign workers for many jobs we can't handle them ourselves so such workers should be welcomed. Our government has had set many rules in dealing with foreign workers and we should follow those policies. Just like when two different people come together there are frictions and these frictions should be understood and deal with them maturely. People always complain but I think these complain would come and go until the next topic occupies their conversation piece.

Singapore voters are very pragmatic so I don't see any reason as to why the PAP will lose their majorities.


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## ahfatzia

*Obama, Asia's peacekeeper?*








The recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) East Asia Summit, which this year took place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, once again highlighted the maritime tensions that have blighted the East Asian region over the course of the past year. And in a similar fashion to how previous maritime dispute storylines have played out, the United States of America remained on the periphery throughout, overlooking discussions while quietly reasserting its regional presence.

The summit was overshadowed by talks of territorial disputes, much to the chagrin of Chinese officials. The summit, which brings together the 10 ASEAN nations along with other regional and international leaders, is intended to strengthen political and economic ties. This year, the United States participated in the summit; a forum originally regarded as belonging to East Asia. ASEAN nations are attempting to strengthen economic ties with the goal of achieving an economic bloc similar to that of the EU over the next three years. However, dialogue between ASEAN nations and their surrounding neighbors has repeatedly hit a stumbling block due to an inability to resolve or shelve security issues in favor of economic ones.

At the summit this year, US President Barack Obama urged his Asian counterparts to decrease the level of tension that has slowly been mounting within the region. Ultimately, Obama is attempting to be all things to all people; trying not to contradict the claims and expectations of its allies, and trying not to antagonize Chinese officials. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed frustration over the direction of talks during the summit, stating, "We do not want to bring disputes to an occasion like this". Premier Wen further noted, "We do not want to give over emphasis to the territorial disputes and differences."

Against such a backdrop, President Obama is attempting to frame his role as that of peacekeeper for the Southeast Asian region; preventing tempers from flaring up and safeguarding economic ties. However, the reality is the US cannot influence the way that their involvement in the East Asia summit, or in East Asia in general, is being interpreted within China, despite the fact that Obama managed to appear neutral while still calling for China to "establish clear rules of the road" on trade and investment. Ultimately, US involvement within a traditionally East Asian forum may be regarded by some as yet more proof of a US expansionist policy.

The so-called "pivot" of the Obama administration has been painted by the US a part of a broader security platform which it helped to create and maintain over the past several decades. As US National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon recently stated at a talk prior to the President's Southeast Asian visit, "The United States function of providing the security platform has been absolutely essential for the social development and economic development of Asia."

However, as *Robert S. Ross, one of the foremost US specialists on Chinese foreign and defense policy, pointed out in Foreign Affairs, "the Obama administration's pivot has not contributed to stability in Asia. Quite the opposite: it has made the region more tense and conflict-prone." Ross notes that the irony of the pivot is that, "a strategy that was meant to check a rising China has sparked its combativeness and damaged its faith in cooperation." *To some extent, this is almost certainly true, as the pivot has at the very least provided China's state media with more material to analyze, rightly or wrongly, US motives and thus influence nationalistic opinion.

In terms of how the US views China, and vice versa, underestimating the capabilities or overestimating the intentions of the other party breeds insecurity and has served to increase instability within the region. The traditional view within China of Western strategic culture as militaristic and expansionist is being confirmed, in the eyes of many Chinese analysts, by the pivot. Yet, the policy itself has so far delivered very little other than long-term promises of resource allocation and US claims of neutrality in territorial disputes. Unfortunately, such promises have spooked officials within China's People's Liberation Army. Despite the axiom that prosperity requires stability, it is difficult to say whether US military hedging can truly deflate regional tensions or whether US officials will be able to truly convince Beijing that the pivot is not intended as a form of containment.

Following the summit, news that trade ministers from China, South Korea and Japan agreed to begin negotiations in 2013 to create a trilateral free trade area (FTA) came as a welcome sign of the possibility of economic cooperation away from the issue of regional disputes. Results are obviously not guaranteed, but the desire from each country to maintain stable economic ties is evident. One would assume that a trilateral FTA would play into the US wishes for peace and stability throughout Asia. However, if the creation of an FTA is possible, it will be interesting to see whether US policymakers will interpret this as evidence of its traditional allies moving closer to China and, ultimately, whether it will have an impact upon the pivot.

Obama, Asia's peacekeeper? - China.org.cn

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## Zero_wing

ahfatzia said:


> *Obama, Asia's peacekeeper?*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) East Asia Summit, which this year took place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, once again highlighted the maritime tensions that have blighted the East Asian region over the course of the past year. And in a similar fashion to how previous maritime dispute storylines have played out, the United States of America remained on the periphery throughout, overlooking discussions while quietly reasserting its regional presence.
> 
> The summit was overshadowed by talks of territorial disputes, much to the chagrin of Chinese officials. The summit, which brings together the 10 ASEAN nations along with other regional and international leaders, is intended to strengthen political and economic ties. This year, the United States participated in the summit; a forum originally regarded as belonging to East Asia. ASEAN nations are attempting to strengthen economic ties with the goal of achieving an economic bloc similar to that of the EU over the next three years. However, dialogue between ASEAN nations and their surrounding neighbors has repeatedly hit a stumbling block due to an inability to resolve or shelve security issues in favor of economic ones.
> 
> At the summit this year, US President Barack Obama urged his Asian counterparts to decrease the level of tension that has slowly been mounting within the region. Ultimately, Obama is attempting to be all things to all people; trying not to contradict the claims and expectations of its allies, and trying not to antagonize Chinese officials. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed frustration over the direction of talks during the summit, stating, "We do not want to bring disputes to an occasion like this". Premier Wen further noted, "We do not want to give over emphasis to the territorial disputes and differences."
> 
> Against such a backdrop, President Obama is attempting to frame his role as that of peacekeeper for the Southeast Asian region; preventing tempers from flaring up and safeguarding economic ties. However, the reality is the US cannot influence the way that their involvement in the East Asia summit, or in East Asia in general, is being interpreted within China, despite the fact that Obama managed to appear neutral while still calling for China to "establish clear rules of the road" on trade and investment. Ultimately, US involvement within a traditionally East Asian forum may be regarded by some as yet more proof of a US expansionist policy.
> 
> The so-called "pivot" of the Obama administration has been painted by the US a part of a broader security platform which it helped to create and maintain over the past several decades. As US National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon recently stated at a talk prior to the President's Southeast Asian visit, "The United States function of providing the security platform has been absolutely essential for the social development and economic development of Asia."
> 
> However, as *Robert S. Ross, one of the foremost US specialists on Chinese foreign and defense policy, pointed out in Foreign Affairs, "the Obama administration's pivot has not contributed to stability in Asia. Quite the opposite: it has made the region more tense and conflict-prone." Ross notes that the irony of the pivot is that, "a strategy that was meant to check a rising China has sparked its combativeness and damaged its faith in cooperation." *To some extent, this is almost certainly true, as the pivot has at the very least provided China's state media with more material to analyze, rightly or wrongly, US motives and thus influence nationalistic opinion.
> 
> In terms of how the US views China, and vice versa, underestimating the capabilities or overestimating the intentions of the other party breeds insecurity and has served to increase instability within the region. The traditional view within China of Western strategic culture as militaristic and expansionist is being confirmed, in the eyes of many Chinese analysts, by the pivot. Yet, the policy itself has so far delivered very little other than long-term promises of resource allocation and US claims of neutrality in territorial disputes. Unfortunately, such promises have spooked officials within China's People's Liberation Army. Despite the axiom that prosperity requires stability, it is difficult to say whether US military hedging can truly deflate regional tensions or whether US officials will be able to truly convince Beijing that the pivot is not intended as a form of containment.
> 
> Following the summit, news that trade ministers from China, South Korea and Japan agreed to begin negotiations in 2013 to create a trilateral free trade area (FTA) came as a welcome sign of the possibility of economic cooperation away from the issue of regional disputes. Results are obviously not guaranteed, but the desire from each country to maintain stable economic ties is evident. One would assume that a trilateral FTA would play into the US wishes for peace and stability throughout Asia. However, if the creation of an FTA is possible, it will be interesting to see whether US policymakers will interpret this as evidence of its traditional allies moving closer to China and, ultimately, whether it will have an impact upon the pivot.
> 
> Obama, Asia's peacekeeper? - China.org.cn



Sorry sir chinese propaganda not real news al jazeera makes better news than this


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## Pak2

ahfatzia you saying some thing with out any crucial knowledge,and no evidence to supporting the claim,it will be a misleading, in this particularly matter.


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## ahfatzia

Robert S. Ross: *"The Obama administration's pivot has not contributed to stability in Asia. Quite the opposite: it has made the region more tense and conflict-prone." Ross notes that the irony of the pivot is that, "a strategy that was meant to check a rising China has sparked its combativeness and damaged its faith in cooperation." *

Robert S. Ross is a professor of political science at Boston College, associate of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, senior advisor of the security studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is one of the foremost American specialists on Chinese foreign and defense policy and U.S.-China relations.

Robert S. Ross is Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Associate, John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University. He received his B.A. in History from Tufts University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1984. He also received graduate training in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has taught at Columbia University and at the University of Washington and in 1989 was a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1994-1995 he was Fulbright Professor at the Chinese Foreign Affairs College and in 2003 he was a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Strategic Studies, Qinghua University, Beijing. In 2009 he was Visiting Scholar, Institute for Strategy, Royal Danish Defence College. He is currently Visiting Professor, Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College.

Robert S. Ross - Political Science Department - Boston College


LOL Robert S. Ross's credentials are miles long. How dare you two trolls, who can't even write a complete sentence, criticize such a learned man?

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## Viet

Can we have less Chinese propaganda pls?

Thanks to the recent unilateral Chinese step by putting disputed teritories in new passports, ASEAN is now deeply divided. A new Anti China front consists of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam is in making.

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## ahfatzia

Viet said:


> Can we have less Chinese propaganda pls?
> 
> Thanks to the recent unilateral Chinese step by putting disputed teritories in new passports, ASEAN is now deeply divided. A new Anti China front consists of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam is in making.




How can it be Chinese propaganda? Robert S. Ross is an American and his criticism is toward his government which has nothing to do with China.

I just don't know how Vietnam is going to settle with Philippines. Last time I looked Vietnam occupies 16 islands within the Filipino EEZ and 2 within the overlap EEZ of Philippines and Malaysia. Even as Vietnam is trying to divert all the attention toward China and Aquino, I hate to use the word, is dumb enough to go along but the honeymoon between you two is going to be over soon or later. Mark my word the fallout between you two is a matter of time because it's a marriage based on the convenience of timing.

Two mistakes over here: 1) Aquino is barking at the wrong tree and 2) both of you make the wrong alliances. Both of you should settle, separately, with China first. It's too late now so be prepared for the shyte to hit the fan with your alliances.

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

ahfatzia said:


> How can it be Chinese propaganda? Robert S. Ross is an American and his criticism is toward his government which has nothing to do with China.
> 
> I just don't know how Vietnam is going to settle with Philippines. Last time I looked Vietnam occupies 16 islands within the Filipino EEZ and 2 within the overlap EEZ of Philippines and Malaysia. Even as Vietnam is trying to divert all the attention toward China and Aquino, I hate to use the word, is dumb enough to go along but the honeymoon between you two is going to be over soon or later. Mark my word the fallout between you two is a matter of time because it's a marriage based on the convenience of timing.
> 
> Two mistakes over here: 1) Aquino is barking at the wrong tree and 2) both of you make the wrong alliances. Both of you should settle, separately, with China first. It's too late now so be prepared for the shyte to hit the fan with your alliances.



The biggest difference is: while all ASEAN member countries around SCS who are always willing to sit down together and with China to resolve the disputes by peaceful negotiations, China always tries to prevent that. Cambodia is the latest witness for this.

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## ahfatzia

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> The biggest difference is: while all ASEAN member countries around SCS who are always willing to sit down with each other and with China to resolve the disputes by peaceful negotiations, China always tries to prevent that. Cambodia is the latest witness for this.




You can sit down all you want but you two aren't going anywhere because the Aquino and del Rosario duo know where the troubles, I hope, lie soon or later. They couldn't be that dumb, can they?

As I said 16+2 islands in the Filipino EEZ. Would Vietnam willing to give half back or, to put it differently, would the Filipinos willing to lose half of the islands if Vietnam's going to return the other half. 

Have fun guys and buy plenty of fireworks for the meantime for you'll need them, again, soon or later. The next trouble spot.

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

ahfatzia said:


> You can sit down all you want but you two aren't going anywhere because the Aquino and del Rosario duo know where the troubles, I hope, lie soon or later. They couldn't be that dumb, can they?
> 
> As I said 16+2 islands in the Filipino EEZ. Would Vietnam willing to give half back or, to put it differently, would the Filipinos willing to lose half of the islands if Vietnam's going to return the other half.
> 
> Have fun guys and buy plenty of fireworks for the meantime for you'll need them, again, soon or later. The next trouble spot.



No problems too difficult to solve disputes through dialogue peacefully and mutual respect between Viet Nam - Philippines - Malaysia - Indonesia- Brunei.

VN-PH Navies have friendly football matchs together in Spratly Islands.
VN-Malaysia have jointly submitted a map of maritime border between the two nations to UN.
VN-Indonesia joint patrol frequently in border waters between the two nations.

No any ASEAN countries above trying to find ways to prevent diplomatic efforts to resolve the disputes like as China has done...

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## ahfatzia

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> No problems too difficult to solve disputes through dialogue peacefully and mutual respect between Viet Nam - Philippines - Malaysia - Indonesia- Brunei.
> 
> VN-PH Navies have friendly football matchs together in Spratly Islands.
> VN-Malaysia have jointly submitted a map of maritime border between the two nations to UN.
> VN-Indonesia joint patrol frequently in border waters between the two nations.
> 
> No any ASEAN countries above trying to find ways to prevent diplomatic efforts to resolve the disputes like as China has done...




You wrong, for years China called for peaceful resolutions. It's your country that was playing a dangerous game otherwise you wouldn't occupy 40 islands. It's Vietnam that's trying to divert all the attentions toward China all these time. Sure the western countries couldn't see it that way but the countries in this area see what's going on and that's why they care less to back you up. 

You can use all kind of lip services but at the end how you're going to keep all your islands from the Filipinos? They'll let you keep them just because you're playing football with them?

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

ahfatzia said:


> You wrong, for years China called for peaceful resolutions. It's your country that was playing a dangerous game otherwise you wouldn't occupy 40 islands. It's Vietnam that's trying to divert all the attentions toward China all these time. Sure the western countries couldn't see it that way but the countries in this area see what's going on and that's why they care less to back you up.



China called to talk bilaterally with each ASEAN nations, but in fact Spratlys is a disputed area of overlap between many countries, how can resolve the disputes by negotiating with China?
Moreover, the Chinese always says that talks to jointly operate but under Chinese sovereignty, that was not welcomed by other countries. OK, we will agree to such negotiation if it talks on some areas near the coast of Hong Kong or Fujian or Shanghai or Dalian...



ahfatzia said:


> You can use all kind of lip services but at the end how you're going to keep all your islands from the Filipinos? They'll let you keep them just because you're playing football with them?



VN-PH Navies play football together in Spratlys that will help us understand each other better, strengthen the friendship between the two countries. It will help resolve the dispute peacefully better.


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## ahfatzia

^^^Last time I looked Vietnam occupies 16 islands within Philippines EEZ and 2 within both Philippines and Malaysia EEZ which is far away from home. That's a hard cold fact in which you can not spin to your favor so don't tell the ASEAN leaders you're innocent of infringing others' territories. You're judged on what you do, not what you say.

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## EastSea

ahfatzia said:


> ^^^Last time I looked Vietnam occupies 16 islands within Philippines EEZ and 2 within both Philippines and Malaysia EEZ which is far away from home. That's a hard cold fact in which you can not spin to your favor so don't tell the ASEAN leaders you're innocent of infringing others' territories. You're judged on what you do, not what you say.



Island belong to Vietnam from long time in the past. You can change your flag for what chinese can do first.


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## ahfatzia

EastSea said:


> Island belong to Vietnam from long time in the past. You can change your flag for what chinese can do first.




LOL don't tell me who they belong because I really don't care. The Filipinos still have many islands within the Sprately group, do you want those too?

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## NiceGuy

ahfatzia said:


> LOL don't tell me who they belong because I really don't care. The Filipinos still have many islands within the Sprately group, do you want those too?


At least, we agree that Scarborough isl belong to Phil unlike greedy China

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Consortium expects govt approval on East Natuna*
Amahl S. Azwar, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Mon, November 26 2012, 11:45 AM







A business consortium seeking to develop the East Natuna gas field in the South China Sea expects the Indonesian government to conclude an assessment on its business proposal before the end of the year.

*Pertamina* president director Karen Agustiawan told reporters last week that the company, along with other consortium members: US-based *ExxonMobil*, Frances *Total* SA and Thailands *PTT Exploration and Production* (PTT EP), had set a target of Dec. 10 for the conclusion of the so-called principles of agreement (PoA) with the government.

We hope all of the discussions relating to plans to develop the East Natuna block are finalized before Dec. 10, she said in Jakarta.

The agreement on the PoA related to the development of the East Natuna field, formerly known as the Natuna D-Alpha block, is an essential point before the production sharing contract (PSC) for the block can be signed.

The East Natuna gas field is expected to begin production in 2020 with peak production expected to reach 4,000 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas and last for at least 20 years before it starts to enter a declining stage.

The East Natuna block has *total proven reserves of 46 trillion cubic feet (tcf)making it the biggest gas reserve in Asia*but with a high level of carbon dioxide content it will take several years to study how to manage the carbon dioxide waste.

The condition pushes the consortium members to ask for a number of incentives or special treatment from the government in order to ensure that companies can plan their investment for the block.

Earlier, Pertamina upstream operation director Muhammad Husen said that there were several issues in exploring and exploiting the block the government had yet to agree on, including contractual and fiscal matters.

The consortium members had, he added, requested for the length of the contract to be extended from 30 to 50 years as well as a five-year tax holiday and 150 percent of investment credit, among other requests in the proposal.

Other problems include Pertaminas plan to build pipelines as the infrastructure for East Natuna, with an estimated investment of US$24 billion. Earlier reports said that the massive gas project would require about $40 billion for development in total.

The government had earlier expected the gas block to be developed under the scheme of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, as it would be easier for the domestic market to absorb the gas that the field would produce.

Separately, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministrys director general for oil and gas affairs, Evita Herawati Legowo, said the government expected the PSC for the East Natuna block to be signed by the end of this year.

Personally, I hope it can be signed before I retire from the ministry by the end of November, she said in a text message sent to The Jakarta Post.

As widely reported, *Pertamina currently holds a 35 percent* participating interest in the consortium, while *ExxonMobil holds a 35 percent interest* and *Total SA and PTT EP each own 15 percent*.

In November, ExxonMobil Indonesia vice president for public and government affairs, Erwin Maryoto, confirmed the number of participating interests in an interview with the Post.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While you guys bitching like a bunch of girl having their period .A group of Corporations is planning to drill for oil in East Natuna. Now get back to the Topic!

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## ahfatzia

*Hundreds of Thai schools shut over militant attacks*






It's good to be kids with no cares in the world.


BANGKOK: Teachers in insurgency-wracked southern Thailand decided Monday to suspend classes at hundreds of schools in the region *over the killings of education workers by Muslim militants.
*
"We want to put pressure on security forces and the government to take greater care of our safety," Boonsom Thongsriply, chairman of the teachers association in the region, told AFP.

The move means 321 schools will temporarily shut from Tuesday in Pattani, one of several southernmost provinces plagued by an eight-year-old insurgency. It is *unclear when they will reopen.*

*The unrest has claimed more than 5,300 lives, with near-daily bomb or gun attacks.
*
Teachers working in non-religious schools are frequently targeted because they are seen as a symbol of government authority. Militants view the school system as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist culture on the south.

*More than 150 education workers have been killed in the Thai south since 2004. The latest victim was a head teacher who was gunned down last week.*

Critics accuse the government of failing to address the grievances of Thailand's Malay Muslim minority, including alleged abuses by the military and a perceived lack of respect for their ethnic identity, language and religion.

Hundreds of Thai schools shut over militant attacks - Channel NewsAsia

...........

*Thai demonstrators told to confront police*








THAILAND - Claiming to be fighting for the monarchy, leaders of the Pitak Siam group twice told protesters to confront a police cordon and to try to break through it yesterday - the second time just before 2pm at the Misakawan Intersection near Government House.

full story: Thai demonstrators told to confront police


We all have our own wars to fight so keep us out of your petty disputes.


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## Viet

ahfatzia said:


> ^^^Last time I looked *Vietnam *occupies 16 islands within Philippines EEZ and 2 within both Philippines and Malaysia EEZ which is far away from home. That's a hard cold fact in which you can not spin to your favor so don't tell the ASEAN leaders you're innocent of infringing others' territories. You're judged on what you do, not what you say.



I can´t hear what you cry! Can you cry louder?
Last time when I checked the former Han´s teritory, it was much smaller than it is today. And Singapore as nation did not exist.

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## ahfatzia

Viet said:


> I can´t hear what you cry! Can you cry louder?
> Last time when I checked the former Han´s teritory, it was much smaller than it is today. And Singapore as nation did not exist.




You don't know how silly you sound and no wonder my grandpa told me never argue with Viets, they can nag you to death with their repeated nonsenses.

The facts stand TODAY: China is a country so is Singapore and Vietnam occupies 18 island inside Philippines' EEZ. Gute Nacht

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## Reashot Xigwin

ahfatzia said:


> How can it be Chinese propaganda? Robert S. Ross is an American and his criticism is toward his government which has nothing to do with China.
> 
> I just don't know how Vietnam is going to settle with Philippines. Last time I looked Vietnam occupies 16 islands within the Filipino EEZ and 2 within the overlap EEZ of Philippines and Malaysia. Even as Vietnam is trying to divert all the attention toward China and Aquino, I hate to use the word, is dumb enough to go along but the honeymoon between you two is going to be over soon or later. Mark my word the fallout between you two is a matter of time because it's a marriage based on the convenience of timing.
> 
> Two mistakes over here: 1) Aquino is barking at the wrong tree and 2) both of you make the wrong alliances. Both of you should settle, separately, with China first. It's too late now so be prepared for the shyte to hit the fan with your alliances.



There's something that I just realized "IF" China back away from their claim on the SCS won't Vietnam & Philippines Headbutt on their Territorial dispute?

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## ahfatzia

Reashot Xigwin said:


> There's something that I just realized "IF" China back away from their claim on the SCS won't Vietnam & Philippines Headbutt on their Territorial dispute?




As long as Vietnam claims the whole SCS I don't think China is going to back out and I believe that's one of the most important reason as to why China is so vocal on her claims - to deter any hegemony in the area which include the US and anyone else. Freedom of navigation in SCS sea is more important to China than other nations combined because more than half of her commercial sea route goes through here.

LOL I don't want to jinx anyone here but I think, soon or later, Aquino is going to realize he's sleeping with the wolf.

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

Reashot Xigwin said:


> While you guys bitching like a bunch of girl having their period .A group of Corporations is planning to drill for oil in East Natuna. Now get back to the Topic!



Not only Indonesia, the oil and gas exploration activities of ASEAN countries around SCS that are still going on normally. But while Vietnam and the Philippines regularly harassed by Chinese ships, seems to Malaysia and Indonesia are still safe (because they are farer from China).

Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia is the most powerful. This makes the Chinese avoid Indonesia.
If Indonesia is in position such as Vietnam's or the Philippines', they will also have to stand up against the ridiculous claims of China as we are doing.

But if China successfully invade the waters of Vietnam and the Philippines, who can be sure it does not continue claiming on the waters of Indonesia?

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## Rechoice

ahfatzia said:


> As long as Vietnam claims the whole SCS I don't think China is going to back out and I believe that's one of the most important reason as to why China is so vocal on her claims - to deter any hegemony in the area which include the US and anyone else. Freedom of navigation in SCS sea is more important to China than other nations combined because more than half of her commercial sea route goes through here.
> 
> LOL I don't want to jinx anyone here but I think, soon or later, Aquino is going to realize he's sleeping with the wolf.



Aquino is chinese in etnichity but he defend sovereignity of his country, don't like you chinese with singapore flag but troll here like brainwashed chinese mainland with lies.

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## ahfatzia

Rechoice said:


> Aquino is chinese in etnichity but he defend sovereignity of his country, don't like you chinese with singapore flag but troll here like brainwashed chinese mainland with lies.




Smarta$$ which sentence of mine is a lie?


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## Rechoice

ahfatzia said:


> Smarta$$ which sentence of mine is a lie?



You lies about Aquino, he is working for his people, no sleeping.

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## ahfatzia

Rechoice said:


> You lies about Aquino, he is working for his people, no sleeping.




Ha ha ha what a smart man! (You also thanked a sarcastic post on top too)


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## ahfatzia

Indeed it's a very good picture! Perhaps I'll save it for another day to post on some ASEAN government websites to show them there are greedy people out there who want them to fight for their ambitions.







Do You Want To Fight This Greedy Man?

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

@ahfatzia,

I see you're babbling about 16 islands in Philippines EEZ and +2 Islands in PH and ML EEZ, which occupied by Vietnam.
You're wrong, We occupy most of islands of the archipelago, but today only remaining about over 40 islands and reefs in Spratly Islands.
We have come there from many centuries ago, peacefully, without any clash with the Filipinos, Malaysian or Chinese.
Chinese are the lastest people coming there, it was only in 1988, and by used of force to steal some corals from Vietnam.

Have you ever wondered why the Vietnamese occupy of over 40 islands, while your China did not occupy any island except some reefs which stolen from Vietnam in 1988? [And one island that Chiang Kai-shek had stolen from Vietnam in 1946 by advantage it was tasked "disarm of Japanese army"]






Do you know why the archipelago called "Spratly Islands", the name of an island that is controlled by Vietnam, although it is not the largest island of the archipelago? Iam sure you dont know.

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## Rechoice

ahfatzia said:


> Indeed it's a very good picture! Perhaps I'll save it for another day to post on some ASEAN government websites to show them there are greedy people out there who want them to fight for their ambitions.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do You Want To Fight This Greedy Man?



He do what ordinary Vietnamese do to protect sovereignty of his country. Islands belong to Vietnam from long time and we controlled it peacefully in the past until recent time when reported that gas and oil is available there.

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## Reashot Xigwin

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> Not only Indonesia, the oil and gas exploration activities of ASEAN countries around SCS that are still going on normally. But while Vietnam and the Philippines regularly harassed by Chinese ships, seems to Malaysia and Indonesia are still safe (because they are farer from China).
> 
> Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia is the most powerful. This makes the Chinese avoid Indonesia.
> If Indonesia is in position such as Vietnam's or the Philippines', they will also have to stand up against the ridiculous claims of China as we are doing.
> 
> But if China successfully invade the waters of Vietnam and the Philippines, who can be sure it does not continue claiming on the waters of Indonesia?



That's a Big "IF." The Issue with China should be solved between each member states & if possible, come to an agreement that can satisfy each claimants.

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## EastSea

Reashot Xigwin said:


> That's a Big "IF." The Issue with China should be solved between each member states & if possible, come to an agreement that can satisfy each claimants.



It reported that Base on invitation of Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam deputy foreign minister-level talks on the dispute over the South China Sea will hold on 12/12 at Manila.

Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vi

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## ahfatzia

*Post-US world born in Phnom Penh*
By Spengler 


It is symptomatic of the national condition of the United States that the worst humiliation ever suffered by it as a nation, and by a US president personally, passed almost without comment last week. I refer to the November 20 announcement at a summit meeting in Phnom Penh that 15 Asian nations, comprising half the world's population, would form a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership excluding the United States.

President Barack Obama attended the summit to sell a US-based Trans-Pacific Partnership excluding China. He didn't. The American led-partnership became a party to which no-one came.

Instead, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, will form a club and leave out the United States. As 3 billion Asians become prosperous, interest fades in the prospective contribution of 300 million Americans - especially when those Americans decline to take risks on new technologies. America's great economic strength, namely its capacity to innovate, exists mainly in memory four years after the 2008 economic crisis.

A minor issue in the election campaign, the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative was the object of enormous hype on the policy circuit. Salon.com enthused on October 23,

This agreement is a core part of the "Asia pivot" that has occupied the activities of think tanks and policymakers in Washington but remained hidden by the tinsel and confetti of the election. But more than any other policy, the trends the TPP represents could restructure American foreign relations, and potentially the economy itself. 

As it happened, this grand, game-changing vision mattered only to the sad, strange people who concoct policy in the bowels of the Obama administration. America's relative importance is fading.

To put these matters in context: the exports of Asian countries have risen more than 20% from their peak before the 2008 economic crisis, while Europe's exports have fallen by more than 20%. American exports have risen marginally (by about 4%) from their pre-2008 peak. 

*Exhibit 1: Asian, European and US exports *





China's exports to Asia, meanwhile, have jumped 50% since their pre-crisis peak, while exports to the United States have risen by about 15%. At US$90 billion, Chinese exports to Asia are three times the country's exports to the United States.

After months and dire (and entirely wrong) predictions that China's economy faces a hard landing, it is evident that China will have no hard landing, nor indeed any landing at all. Domestic consumption as well as exports to Asia are both running nearly 20% ahead of last year's levels, compensating for weakness in certain export markets and the construction sector. Exports to the moribund American economy are stagnant. 

*Exhibit 2: China's exports to Asia vs USA *




in 2002, China imported five times as much from Asia as it did from the United States. Now it imports 10 times as much from Asia as from the US. 

*Exhibit 3: Chinese imports from the US and Asia *





Following the trade patterns, Asian currencies began trading more closely with China's renminbi than with the American dollar. Arvind Subramanian and Martin Kessler wrote in an October 2012 study for the Peterson Institute:

A country's rise to economic dominance tends to be accompanied by its currency becoming a reference point, with other currencies tracking it implicitly or explicitly. For a sample comprising emerging market economies, we show that in the last two years, the renminbi (RMB/yuan) has increasingly become a reference currency which we define as one which exhibits a high degree of co-movement (CMC) with other currencies.

In East Asia, there is already a RMB bloc, because the RMB has become the dominant reference currency, eclipsing the dollar, which is a historic development. In this region, 7 currencies out of 10 co-move more closely with the RMB than with the dollar, with the average value of the CMC relative to the RMB being 40% greater than that for the dollar. We find that co-movements with a reference currency, especially for the RMB, are associated with trade integration.

We draw some lessons for the prospects for the RMB bloc to move beyond Asia based on a comparison of the RMB's situation today and that of the Japanese yen in the early 1990s. If trade were the sole driver, a more global RMB bloc could emerge by the mid-2030s but complementary reforms of the financial and external sector could considerably expedite the process.

All of this is well known and exhaustively discussed. The question is what, if anything, the United States will do about it.

Where does the United States have a competitive advantage? Apart from commercial aircraft, power-generating equipment, and agriculture, it has few areas of real industrial pre-eminence. Cheap natural gas helps low-value-added industries such as fertilizer, but the US is lagging in the industrial space.

Four years ago, when Francesco Sisci and I proposed a Sino-American monetary agreement as an anchor for trade integration, the US still dominated the nuclear power plant industry. With the sale of the Westinghouse nuclear power business to Toshiba, and Toshiba's joint ventures with China to build power plants locally, that advantage has evaporated.

The problem is that Americans have stopped investing in the sort of high-tech, high-value-added industries that produce the manufactures that Asia requires. Manufacturers' capital goods orders are 38% below the 1999 peak after taking inflation into account. And venture capital allocations for high-tech manufacturing have dried up. 

*Exhibit 4: Venture capital allocations for export-related industries collapse *





*Exhibit 5: US capital goods orders nearly 40% below 1999 peak in real terms*





Without innovation and investment, all the trade agreements that the Washington policy circuit can devise won't help. Neither, it should be added, will an adjustment in exchange rates.

It is hard to fathom just what President Obama had in mind when he arrived in Asia bearing a Trans-Pacific Partnership designed to keep China out. What does the United States have to offer Asians?
It is borrowing $600 billion a year from the rest of the world to finance a $1.2 trillion government debt, most prominently from Japan (China has been a net seller of Treasury securities during the past year).
It is a taker of capital rather than a provider of capital.
It is a major import market but rapidly diminishing in relative importance as intra-Asian trade expands far more rapidly than trade with the United States.
And America's strength as an innovator and incubator of entrepreneurs has diminished drastically since the 2008 crisis, no thanks to the Obama administration, which imposed a steep task on start-up businesses in the form of its healthcare program.

*Washington might want to pivot towards Asia. At Phnom Penh, though, Asian leaders in effect invited Obama to pivot the full 360 degrees and go home. *

Asia Times Online :: Post-US world born in Phnom Penh

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## ahfatzia

I'm sick and tired, which is not my normal self, of these posters keep saying they owned ALL these islands for a long long time. The fact remains Vietnam didn't proceed the occupancies until 1974 when everyone was busy trying to fix their economies. 

Also name me one nation agrees that Vietnam owns all the islands in the SCS which are much closer to the Philippines and Malaysia by any measure. Self serving much?

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## yusheng

ahfatzia said:


> I'm sick and tired, which is not my normal self, of these posters keep saying they owned ALL these islands for a long long time. The fact remains Vietnam didn't proceed the occupancies until 1974 when everyone was busy trying to fix their economies.
> 
> Also name me one nation agrees that Vietnam owns all the islands in the SCS which are much closer to the Philippines and Malaysia by any measure. Self serving much?



Afhatzia, have a rest.

we all know that speaking loud means little.

i think you can read Chinese, maybe i can introduce some famous Chinese military political forum to see how Chinese see the world.

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## ahfatzia

yusheng said:


> Afhatzia, have a rest.
> 
> we all know that speaking loud means little.
> 
> i think you can read Chinese, maybe i can introduce some famous Chinese military political forum to see how Chinese see the world.




Thanks, I've been in some of them and am also a sometime regular in Sino Defense but I like to read politics and geopolitics with my coffee. 

I don't like to argue and usually don't even bother to read posts by known trolls but sometimes they need to be told they're fooling nobody.

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## Viet

ahfatzia said:


> Thanks, I've been in some of them and am also a sometime regular in Sino Defense but I like to read* politics and geopolitics* with my coffee.
> 
> I don't like to argue and usually don't even bother to read posts by known trolls but sometimes they need to be told they're fooling nobody.




I agree with your countryman, relax and don´t take things too serious. You are very reasonable, in contrast to many Chinese trolls here in the forum. Well, Yusheng is really another rare exception. If you like reading heavy stuffs such as politics and geopolitics, I can recommed you some unwritten Vietnamese books how we see the world. 

You see, Vietnam has reasons to catch up with other nations, we want to get there where Singapore (rich) and China (big) are already there. We are still poor and small, that´s not good for our pride.


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## ahfatzia

Viet said:


> I agree with your countryman, relax and don´t take things too serious. You are very reasonable, in contrast to many Chinese trolls here in the forum. Well, Yusheng is really another rare exception. If you like reading heavy stuffs such as politics and geopolitics, I can recommed you some unwritten Vietnamese books how we see the world.
> 
> You see, Vietnam has reasons to catch up with other nations, we want to get there where Singapore (rich) and China (big) are already there. We are still poor and small, that´s not good for our pride.




I'm take things serious? LOL If I do I probably have a heart attack with 'Niceguy' who openly called to kill all Singaporeans that don't submit to the Dai Viet hegemony. 

Like I told you once, you should take sometime off yourself because I sense your recent comments are a bit harden and leaning toward militancy.


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## yusheng

Ahfatzia&#65292;

let it be if they love own-enjoyment and self-delusion.

this one you may not know:

&#19996;&#26041;&#26102;&#20107;&#35780;&#35770;

this is periodical report issued by subordinate office of Chinese diplomacy association, it is pay as you see report, however, "someone" publishs it here in his blog.

the original is here: &#19996;&#26041;&#26102;&#20195;&#20027;&#39029;

Could you tell me: did you read this before, or how do you think after reading one of such article, thanks

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## ahfatzia

Few years ago I acquired a huge hunger of wanting to know everything about China and Chinese people living inside China, so I visited many Chinese sites like baidu, sohu, sogou and ifeng etc and spent hours perusing them whenever I had leisure time. I particularly love to read baidu regional &#36148;&#21543; where I can feel the moods of the people from different regions or cities. I had many urges to participate and wanted to ask thousand questions, however my being not proficient in 'pinyin input method' &#25340;&#38899;&#36755;&#20837;&#27861; prohibits me to be that part of society. Lately I found &#25163;&#20889; method that gives a limited form of participation, however slow.

The trouble with me in reading Chinese newspaper is 1) I'm not familiar with the translated names, 2) take me a little bit of extra time to reorient myself on some idioms and 3) some insinuated names/terms to bypass the firewall simply beyond me. 

I thank you and will save the 2 links. I believe I'll enjoy reading &#19996;&#26041;&#26102;&#20107;&#35780;&#35770; blog because it gives me Chinese perspectives on many issues around the world today. First I'll have to get to know the writers though. Right now I'm relying on Asia Times Online :: Asian news hub providing the latest news and analysis from Asia , which has many guest writers, and a few writers from different source to read neutral opinions.

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## shuttler

*&#20013;&#36234;&#37002;&#22659;&#37504;&#34892;&#37002;&#36031;&#32080;&#31639;&#26989;&#21209;&#37327;&#24555;&#36895;&#22686;&#38263;*
www.gx.xinhuanet.com&#12288;&#12288; 2012&#24180;11&#26376;24&#26085; 09:15:26 &#26143;&#26399;&#20845;&#12288;&#12288;&#20358;&#28304;&#65306; &#26032;&#33775;&#32178;&#24291;&#35199;&#38971;&#36947;

*The rapid growth of border trade settlement business volume of the Sino-Vietnamese border bank*

Xinhuanet







11&#26376;23&#26085;&#65292;&#37002;&#27665;&#22312;&#22320;&#34389;&#20013;&#36234;&#37002;&#22659;&#30340;&#24291;&#35199;&#26481;&#33288;&#24066;&#37002;&#27665;&#20114;&#24066;&#32080;&#31639;&#20013;&#24515;&#36774;&#29702;&#26989;&#21209;&#12290;

&#38568;&#33879;&#20013;&#36234;&#37002;&#22659;&#36031;&#26131;&#19981;&#26039;&#25844;&#22823;&#65292;&#20013;&#36234;&#37002;&#22659;&#37504;&#34892;&#37002;&#36031;&#32080;&#31639;&#26989;&#21209;&#37327;&#20063;&#24555;&#36895;&#22686;&#38263;&#12290;&#25818;&#32113;&#35336;&#65292;2012&#24180;1-9&#26376;&#37002;&#36031;&#37504;&#34892;&#32080;&#31639;&#38989;&#28858;52&#20740;&#32654;&#20803;&#12290;
&#26032;&#33775;&#31038;&#35352;&#32773;&#38515;&#29790;&#33775; &#25885;


November 23, border residents in Guangxi Dongxing border trade settlement center is located in the Sino-Vietnamese border to transact business.

*With the expanding Sino-Vietnamese border trade, border trade settlement business volume of the Sino-Vietnamese border banks is also growing rapidly. According to statistics, from January to September 2012, the border trade amounted to $ 5.2 billion bank settlement. Xinhua News Agency reporters Chen Ruihua Photo






&#19968;&#21517;&#22312;&#22320;&#34389;&#20013;&#36234;&#37002;&#22659;&#30340;&#24291;&#35199;&#26481;&#33288;&#24066;&#20570;&#29983;&#24847;&#30340;&#36234;&#21335;&#22993;&#23064;&#22312;&#25512;&#20171;&#36234;&#21335;&#29986;&#21697;&#12290;
A Vietnamese girl in a business is located in the Sino-Vietnamese border city of Dongxing, Guangxi promote Vietnamese products.

google translation

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## gpit

ahfatzia said:


> *Obama, Asia's peacekeeper?*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...



A sort of precise picture reflecting some ASEAN country's mentality! 

That mentality can only fatten the wolf and does no good to any of the ASEAN.

US must not subject to being hijacked by any country.

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## gpit

Viet said:


> Can we have less Chinese propaganda pls?
> 
> Thanks to the recent unilateral Chinese step by putting disputed teritories in new passports, ASEAN is now deeply divided. A new Anti China front consists of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam is in making.




Dude, that's not a Chinese propaganda. That is an American's study.

Do you have difficulties in comprehending the simple thing?

On the other side, you seem to have particular fond of Vietnamese history-less propaganda.

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## gpit

Battle of Bach Dang River said:


> China called to talk bilaterally with each ASEAN nations, but in fact Spratlys is a disputed area of overlap between many countries, how can resolve the disputes by negotiating with China?
> Moreover, the Chinese always says that talks to jointly operate but under Chinese sovereignty, that was not welcomed by other countries. OK, we will agree to such negotiation if it talks on some areas near the coast of Hong Kong or Fujian or Shanghai or Dalian...



Why don't you Viet and Phil solve your islands dispute first between you two, then come together to China?



> VN-PH Navies play football together in Spratlys that will help us understand each other better, strengthen the friendship between the two countries. It will help resolve the dispute peacefully better.



LOL!

I believe China played more games than just football with you before when China helped you go against USA.

What is the result now?



EastSea said:


> Island belong to Vietnam from long time in the past. You can change your flag for what chinese can do first.



Vietnam was part of China for long time, too.

Hope it helps.


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## gpit

Rechoice said:


> He do what ordinary Vietnamese do to protect sovereignty of his country. Islands belong to Vietnam from long time and we controlled it peacefully in the past until recent time when reported that gas and oil is available there.



As I told you, Vietnam belongs to China for long time. Does that help?


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## Rechoice

gpit said:


> As I told you, Vietnam belongs to China for long time. Does that help?



Chinese aggressors invaded in to Vietnam and ran back to China at the end. Does it help ?

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## JSCh

ahfatzia said:


> Few years ago I acquired a huge hunger of wanting to know everything about China and Chinese people living inside China, so I visited many Chinese sites like baidu, sohu, sogou and ifeng etc and spent hours perusing them whenever I had leisure time. I particularly love to read baidu regional &#36148;&#21543; where I can feel the moods of the people from different regions or cities. I had many urges to participate and wanted to ask thousand questions, however my being not proficient in 'pinyin input method' &#25340;&#38899;&#36755;&#20837;&#27861; prohibits me to be that part of society. Lately I found &#25163;&#20889; method that gives a limited form of participation, however slow.
> 
> The trouble with me in reading Chinese newspaper is 1) I'm not familiar with the translated names, 2) take me a little bit of extra time to reorient myself on some idioms and 3) some insinuated names/terms to bypass the firewall simply beyond me.
> 
> I thank you and will save the 2 links. I believe I'll enjoy reading &#19996;&#26041;&#26102;&#20107;&#35780;&#35770; blog because it gives me Chinese perspectives on many issues around the world today. First I'll have to get to know the writers though. Right now I'm relying on Asia Times Online :: Asian news hub providing the latest news and analysis from Asia , which has many guest writers, and a few writers from different source to read neutral opinions.


FYI, you can use google translate to translate english to chinese, it is not perfect, but maybe it could somewhat help.
Personally I found &#19996;&#26041;&#26102;&#20107;&#35780;&#35770; to be very cryptic. The logical process is simply beyond me.
Asia Time Online is good for reading views from many angle. But very little if any of those view are authentically from China proper.

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## Battle of Bach Dang River

ahfatzia said:


> *Obama, Asia's peacekeeper?*



Eat him, eat him!
he's here, he's here:

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## ahfatzia

^^^It's funny you guys are always quiet on your claims and they aren't small either:






And i think China might have a plan to just claim the deep water like this:


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## EastSea

ahfatzia said:


> ^^^It's funny you guys are always quiet on your claims and they aren't small either:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And i think China might have a plan to just claim the deep water like this:



You can understand chinese Hanji. Here is map of Vietnam, Islands belong to Vietnam.

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## yusheng

JSCh said:


> FYI, you can use google translate to translate english to chinese, it is not perfect, but maybe it could somewhat help.
> Personally I found &#19996;&#26041;&#26102;&#20107;&#35780;&#35770; to be very cryptic. The logical process is simply beyond me.
> Asia Time Online is good for reading views from many angle. But very little if any of those view are authentically from China proper.




Ahfatzia and JSCh, thanks for comments

there are several softwares for &#25340;&#38899;&#36755;&#20837;&#27861; , you dont need to type all letters of a &#25340;&#38899; to input Chinese characters, when most of us input Chinese we just type the beginning letter of &#25340;&#38899; for Chinese vocabulary rather than single Chinese character, software will help you to find the vocabulary and input it. 


Asia Time Online is good, i like it , and &#19996;&#26041;&#26102;&#20107;&#35780;&#35770; is written by professional diplomatic group then you may need some backgroud knowledges and their basic logic thread to understand though i may not totally agree with them.

may be this article can help you: here

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that is why America capitalists outsourced to China and sacrificed U.S. 's interests as country. and why China can invest so huge to construct giant national project.

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## Viet

ahfatzia said:


> *Obama, Asia's peacekeeper?*




LOL America or *China*? do You think you are better?


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Local mobile phone shipments hit record high on rising demand*
Mariel Grazella, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Wed, November 28 2012, 11:37 AM






Soaring middle-class demand led mobile phone shipments in Indonesia to hit a record high of 15.5 million units in the third quarter, up 13.3 percent from 13.6 million units in the same quarter last year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

According to the IDCs most recent Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker online report, feature phones maintained their dominance, comprising 87.3 percent, or 13.5 million units, of all mobile phones shipped in the third quarter, as demand from rural and sub-urban areas continued to surge.

However, smartphone shipments recorded a sharp 29 percent quarter-on-quarter rise, making the handsets the star of the third quarter, according to the IDC.

Sudev Bangah, the head of IDC Indonesia, said that the nations expanding middle class contributed to the record growth in mobile phone shipments.

The rise of the middle-income group in Indonesia, as well as the continued push toward an information based society, has caused many individuals to embrace mobile devices, Bangah said.

A recent study by McKinsey Indonesia reported that the number of people in Indonesias consumer class, which is comprised of people with annual net incomes above US$3,600, would hit 90 million by 2030, providing business opportunities worth more than $1.8 trillion.

Darwin Lie, a market analyst at IDC, said that smartphones shipped in Indonesia fell between the price range of $100 to $200, with screen sizes of 4 inches and above, which he said was suitable for the Indonesian market, which is comprised of consumers who use their devices for social media and entertainment purposes.

The size is roughly that of the iPhone 4S, manufactured by Apple, and the Galaxy II, produced by Samsung. The current trend of affordable smartphones with large screens has caused excitement within the market. IDC expects that smartphone shipments will continue to increase throughout next year, during which smartphones will constitute 22 percent of total shipments by the end of 2013, he said.

He added that intensifying competition between smartphone manufacturers would bring prices further down, benefiting customers.

Meanwhile, the IDC said in its newsletter that the top five vendors shipping phones in Indonesia in the third quarter were Nokia, Research in Motion (RIM) and Samsung, as well as local brands Cross and Mito.

RIM, with its BlackBerry smartphone line, defended its ground by boosting shipments in the third quarter, while Nokia maintained its presence in the local market with a strong foothold in the feature phone segment, IDC reported.

Meanwhile, IDC said that Samsung feature phones, especially those priced around $200, saw a modest growth in shipments, contrasted with the high growth recorded by its Galaxy series smartphones.

IDC also said that local brands that focus on feature phones have booked healthy market growth through product differentiation, lower pricing and sharp choice of target markets.

Shipments of Mito mobile phones, for example, grew 44 percent between the second and third quarter of the year, partly by maintaining their slight dominance in eastern Indonesia.


*Mito and Cross: Indonesian Mobile Brands vs International Names*
Posted by Ferdinand Zebua on Fri, Sep 21, 2012 @ 05:56 AM

Cross and Mito are two of the five top selling mobile phone brands in Indonesia. They are local brands going toe-to-toe against powerhouse world brands such as Nokia, Samsung, and Blackberry. This in a country where monthly phones sold runs into the hundreds of thousands if not millions. And these local phone brands, they're just not making cheap toy phones; they are experimenting with Android smartphones running 2.3 Gingerbread and even 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich models sometimes. But where these local brands really shine, is in feature phones.

But Cross and Mito are not the only local phone brands that Indonesia have. There's also S-Nexian and TiPhone, where are they? And recently comsumer electronics outfit Polytron has been re-energizing their phone game with the Polytron Wizard series. S-Nexian has recently partnered with local telco provider Indosat and Indonesian rock band Slank to produce their S Nexian Slank series bundling program with Indosat.

Feature phones make up somewhere around 80% of phones sold & shipped in Indonesia, according to some reports. Smartphones are making inroads of course but it will be at least three or four years until they become ubiquitous. At the earliest.

Value conscious buyers choose local 
One insight that we can gain here is that value conscious phone buyers in Indonesia don't really mind buying local brands, and may even prefer local brands since the perception is since they're closer to home they can pack more features at the same price point compared to foreign brands. And most practical people on a tight budget don't really see the need for a full-featured smartphone when an adequately powerful feature phone can be used to get Twitter and Facebook alerts from friends and associates when needed.

Indonesian consumers are getting more social media-savvy but it doesn't necessarily mean that they need smartphones at the moment. And not relatively expensive, imported foreign smartphones either one might even say. Not yet at least, anyway.

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## S10

Viet said:


> LOL America or *China*? do You think you are better?


We do whatever is in our best interest, just as any country. Sometimes those interests conflict and wars break out. When it does, there has to be a loser.

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## Viet

*Cambodia greets 2.86 mln foreign visitors in 10 months*
English.news.cn 2012-11-28 12:53:26 








PHNOM PENH, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia attracted approximately 2.86 million international tourists in the first ten months of this year, up 24 percent over the same period last year, a report of the tourism ministry showed Wednesday.

The report said *Vietnam remains the largest source of foreign visitors to Cambodia with 638,560 tourists*, up 24 percent, followed by *South Korea* with 337,700 visitors, up 23 percent, and *China *with 265,330, up 34 percent.

Its neighboring countries, Laos and Thailand were ranked at No. 4 and 5 respectively with 201,250 Laotians and 160,030 Thais visiting Cambodia, up 90 percent and 75 percent respectively.

The country has two world heritage sites, one is Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap province and the other is Preah Vihear Temple in Preah Vihear province.

The report showed that during the January-October period this year, about 1.64 million foreign visitors had visited Angkor Wat Temple, up 28 percent over the same period last year, whilst Preah Vihear Temple attracted 14,360 foreigners, up 84 percent.

The ministry predicted that the country could attract about 3.3 million foreign tourists in the whole year of 2012. Tourism is one of the major four pillars supporting the economy. Last year, the sector received 2.88 million foreign tourists, earning revenues of 1.91 billion U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, the report also recorded that during the first ten months of this year, about 656,240 Cambodians had travelled abroad, up 14 percent compared with the same period last year.

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## Viet

*Cambodia inaugurates China-funded road in eastern part - linking Cambodia with Vietnam*
English.news.cn 2012-11-22 14:03:58






_Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (C) cuts the ribbon on the inauguration of national road No. 8 in Prey Veng, Cambodia, Nov. 22, 2012. Cambodia on Thursday inaugurated a 133-km China-funded national road No. 8 in Prey Veng province, hoping that the road will contribute to promoting social and economic development in the country's eastern part. (Xinhua/Sovannara)
_

PREY VENG, Cambodia, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Thursday inaugurated a 133-km China-funded national road No. 8 in Prey Veng province, hoping that the road will contribute to promoting social and economic development in the country's eastern part.

The road, which connects from Prek Tamak Mekong River Bridge to Vietnam border, cost about 107 million U.S. dollars including 83 million U.S. dollar concessional loan from Chinese government and the rest covered by Cambodian government.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue presided over the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by senior government officials, foreign diplomats, about 5,000 residents and students.

Hun Sen said the road was a new achievement resulted from good and close relationship between Cambodia and China.

"The road not only connects travelling inside the country, but also links to *Vietnam*," he said. "It is very important to boost economic development and improve rural lives."

"On behalf of the government and people of Cambodia, I'd like to express gratitude to the government of China and her people for providing both grants and loans to Cambodia for social and economic development," the premier said.

Ambassador Pan said that China was pleased to see this new achievement because the road is crucial for farmers to travel or transport their products to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, or to Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Pan also congratulated Cambodia for successfully hosting the 21st Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and related Summits early this week.

The official visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Cambodia and his participation in the ASEAN Summits from Nov. 18-20 had reflected China's willingness to boost closer ties with Cambodia in particular and with ASEAN in general, he added.

National road No. 8 was built by the Shanghai Construction ( Group) General Company. It took 4 years to be completed.

Prey Veng province is situated about 78 km in the east of Phnom Penh.

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## Viet

*Song Mang Bridge open to traffic - linking Vietnam with Cambodia*
11/27/2012 11:12:27 AM | The Voice of Vietnam








(VOV) - Song Mang Bridge linking *Vietnam*&#8217;s southern Binh Phuoc province to *Cambodia*&#8217;s eastern Mondulkiri province opened to traffic on November 26.

The bridge, 27.3m long and 12m wide, was built at a cost of more than VND12 billion funded by Binh Phuoc province.

Vice Chairman of the Binh Phuoc provincial People&#8217;s Committee Nguyen Huy Phong said the bridge will contribute to promoting trade exchange between Binh Phuoc and Mondulkiri, improving local people&#8217;s living condition and creating more opportunities for tourism development.

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## auspice

*PHL economy surges 7.1% in third quarter, fastest growth in ASEAN*

Beating expectations, the domestic economy accelerated for the third consecutive quarter to 7.1 percent this year from the 3.2 percent last year, the National Statistical Coordination Board reported on Wednesday.

The third quarter growth was driven by the services sector with robust performances of the transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, and real estate, renting and business activities, and supported by the five consecutive quarters of sustained accelerated growth of the industry and the seemingly weather-tolerant agriculture sector. 

&#8220;We posted the fastest economic growth within ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations],&#8221; said Arsenio Balisacan, director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority, during a briefing on Wednesday.

NSCB data showed the comparative growth rates among the Philippines&#8217; ASEAN peers as follows: 
6.2 percent for Indonesia
5.2 percent for Malaysia
4.7 percent for Vietnam
3.0 percent for Thailand
0.3 percent for Singapore

&#8220;Our efforts at good governance are beginning to bear fruit. But we know that our task is far from over,&#8221; said Balisacan.

&#8220;With the upwardly revised second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) estimate, the growth for the first nine months of 2012 at 6.5 percent surpassed the upper end target of the 6.0 percent for the whole year,&#8221; Jose Ramon G. Albert, NSCB secretary-general, said in a separate statement.

On the demand side, increased consumer and government spending, increased investments in construction, and the third consecutive quarter of growth in external trade contributed to the highest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2010, said Albert.

The stock market immediately went on &#8220;a feel good rally and was up 30 points from yesterday&#8217;s closing on this news, which the market already knows,&#8221; said Jonathan Ravelas, BDO Unibank market strategist.

*The Philippine Stock Exchange index hit an intra-day, all-time high of 5,619.24, up 30 points or 0.54 percent as of 10:27 a.m.

&#8220;I think this growth was already highlighted, but with this development we see expectations of over 6 percent GDP growth for the fourth quarter and overall for the year of 6.5 to 7 percent, at least,&#8221;* said Ravelas.

&#8220;It&#8217;s really an upbeat economy,&#8221; he added. 

The NSCB valued the third quarter output at P1.525 trillion at constant 2000 prices from P1.424 trillion a year earlier. The third quarter results bought the total output, as measured by the GDP, to P4.607 trillion in the first nine months of the year from P4.327 trillion in the same 2011 period.

"With projected population growing by 1.7 percent to 96.0 million, per capita GDP grew by 5.3 percent," Albert noted. 

The third quarter growth not only surpassed the momentum set since the beginning of the year, it also exceeded the expectations for Philippine's fiscal performance, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad noted in a separate statement.

*"Over the last 10 months, the Philippines demonstrated extraordinary fiscal strength, even in the face of a bleak global economy,"* said Abad.

"While we have always been confident in our ability to sustain our economic pace, the remarkable 7.1-percent growth in the third quarter is a resounding affirmation of the resilience of our fiscal position, especially when transparent, accountable, and participative governance lies at its foundation," he added. &#8212; With reports from Edgardo Tugade and Amanda Fernandez/OMG/KG/HS, GMA News

PHL*economy surges 7.1% in third quarter, fastest growth in ASEAN | Economy | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere

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## ahfatzia

*Thai PM, Yingluck Shinawatra &#37041;&#20161;&#20048;, survives no-confidence vote*








BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Wednesday easily survived a no-confidence vote orchestrated by her opponents in parliament who accused her of failing to crack down on graft.

Yingluck, Thailand's first female premier, won 308 of the 467 votes, securing support even from outside her six-party coalition which commands about three-fifths of the seats in the lower house.

The former businesswoman took office in August 2011 after a decisive election victory by her Puea Thai party which has close links to her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

"Parliament has voted for Prime Minister Yingluck to continue her work," house speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont announced after the vote, which followed three days of debate by MPs.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat and Deputy Interior Minister Chat Kuladilok also survived censure motions.

Yingluck was accused by the main opposition Democrat Party of overseeing corruption -- particularly in a controversial government rice purchase scheme -- and of being the puppet of her brother.

Thaksin was toppled by royalist generals in a coup in 2006. He lives overseas to avoid a jail sentence imposed in his absence for corruption charges that he contends were politically motivated.

His overthrow unleashed years of rival political street protests.

Two months of mass rallies against the previous government in 2010 by "Red Shirt" Thaksin supporters sparked a deadly military crackdown that left about 90 people dead and nearly 1,900 wounded.

Thaksin's opponents staged their own anti-government protests in Bangkok on Saturday, sparking clashes with the police.

Thai PM survives no-confidence vote - Channel NewsAsia

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## Viet

Congrat Ms. Yingluck! I believe she likes Vietnam.


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## ahfatzia

Viet said:


> Congrat Ms. Yingluck! I believe she likes Vietnam.




I think your PM Nguyen is infatuate with her. Almost all the pictures when the two are in together he's right next to her and I don't alphabetically lineup is the main reason.


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## cirr

infatuated? A good choice of the word. 

Thai politicians of Chinese descent:

Category:Thai politicians of Chinese descent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yingluck is 1/4 Chinese from her grandfather's side.


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## Viet

both met several times this year alone: ASEAN summit, Vietnam-Thailand joint cabinet meeting, Vietnam-Thailand strategic partnership agreement, etc...so they come closer.


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## yusheng

Viet said:


> both met several times this year alone: ASEAN summit, Vietnam-Thailand joint cabinet meeting, Vietnam-Thailand strategic partnership agreement, etc...so they come closer.




Could you introduce some detailed results when you are so close? or just like this summit, sitting together and then going home.


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## Viet

yusheng said:


> Could you introduce some detailed *results *when you are so close? or just like this summit, sitting together and then going home.



One of the most important agreements were to establish a cartel of rice and rubber producers. Further as strategic partners Vietnam and Thailand will coordinate their interests on regional and international forums.







http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/215289-vietnam-thailand-hold-joint-cabinet-meeting.html

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## ahfatzia

*ASEAN chief says China plan on disputed seas escalates tension*


(Reuters) - China's plan to board and search ships that illegally enter what Beijing considers its territory in the disputed South China Sea is a very serious turn of events, the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Friday.

"My reaction is (this is) certainly an escalation of the tension that has already been building. And it is a very serious turn of events," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"It is extremely important to exercise restraint and to try to approach this development with a level head and be open to listen to concerns of all parties, all sides," he said.

The South China Sea is Asia's biggest potential military trouble spot with several Asian countries claiming sovereignty over waters believed to be rich in oil and gas.

China claims virtually the entire sea. The Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia claim various parts.

The shortest route between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the South China Sea has some of the world's busiest shipping lanes. More than half the globe's oil tanker traffic passes through it.

New rules, which come into effect on January 1, will allow police in the southern Chinese province of Hainan to board and seize control of foreign ships which "illegally enter" Chinese waters and order them to change course or stop sailing, the official China Daily reported.

"It certainly has increased a level of concern and a level of great anxiety among all parties, particularly parties that would need the access, the passage and the freedom to go through," said Surin, speaking from Thailand.

"The problem is that you can stake the claim, you can initiate measures and policies but there is that potential of misunderstanding, miscalculation that could lead to major tension and major incidents," he said.

The move, if mishandled, could undermine confidence in East Asia as a locomotive of global economic growth, he said, adding that whether or not it was legal depended on the positions of the parties involved.

ASEAN chief says China plan on disputed seas escalates tension | Reuters


Even though it's going to be non naval operations but it has serious implications, more so than the visa matter.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*The New War on Drugs: ASEAN Style*
November 30, 2012
By Tom Fawthrop





*ASEAN nations are stepping up their fight against illegal drugs as other parts of the world are taking a much different approach.*

The pledge by ASEAN leaders to intensify campaigns to create a drug-free ASEAN by 2015 is increasingly out of step with international trends which, according to the recent findings of The Global Commission on Drug Policy, increasingly favor drug policy reforms like decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health issue.

Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy told a Bangkok forum that the war on drugs is a failure. Citing the commission&#8217;s recent report, Kazatchkine said, &#8220;We recommend immediate major reforms of the global prohibition regime to halt the spread of HIV infection&#8230;&#8221; and other health problems.

Many countries around the world seem to agree. In Latin America, for instance, many governments have declared that the war on drugs has failed and are instead searching for a new, more common sense approach to the problem.

In Argentina and Mexico the possession of small quantities of certain drugs has recently been decriminalized. This followed Brazil partially decriminalizing drugs through a series of laws in the middle part of last decade.

Similarly, a majority of voters in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington recently approved referendums legalizing the personal use of marijuana (marijuana is still illegal under federal statutes, which technically takes precedence over state laws). Many other states have legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, while others, like New York State, are considering decriminalization. Meanwhile, many European countries&#8211; including the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain have also decriminalized drugs

Doing so has often proved remarkably successful, resulting in lower HIV rates and even, in some cases, a decline in drug usage. For example, a 2009 CATO Institute study of Portugal's decision to decriminalize drugs in 2001 concluded: "In virtually every category of any significance, Portugal, since decriminalization, has outperformed the vast majority of other states that continue to adhere to a criminalization regime." 

ASEAN stands in stark contrast to these examples as member nations are clinging to tough anti-drug laws that champion aggressive law enforcement measures and the detention of 300,000 drug users and sex-workers outside the normal court system in compulsory rehabilitation centers.

Most shockingly, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore still impose the death penalty for narcotic offenses. In some cases, narcotic crimes require mandatory death sentences. Not surprisingly, many drug-addicts are afraid to seek treatment for fear of being jailed&#8230; or worse.

Nor does change appear to be imminent. In Thailand last year the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (sister of ousted PM Thaksin) declared a new &#8220;war on drugs&#8221; in the name of a &#8220;zero tolerance&#8221; policy. Gen. Adul Saengsingkaew deputy national police chief was quoted by the Bangkok Post as stating, &#8220;The war on drugs now is going much better than it was under the previous government. Actually, it is even better than under the Thaksin Shinawatra administration which initiated this policy in 2001.&#8221;

The fact that the police chief cited Thaksin&#8217;s harsh crackdown on drugs in 2002 that led to as many as 2,700 deaths as a benchmark of success, is emblematic of the issue. Amnesty International and other human rights groups condemned the policy that encouraged this spate of extra-judicial killings, and undermined basic legal principles of bringing suspects before a court.

Thai police statistics show that arrests for drug related charges have risen by 14% this year, while drug-related prosecutions have increased by 8%. Already drug offenders constitute 65% of Thailand&#8217;s incarcerated population. With prisons overflowing in the country, it&#8217;s unsustainable to continue increasing the number of imprisoned drug offenders.

Read more: http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/30/the-new-war-on-drugs-in-southeast-asia/


Legalize the damn things!  If you can't stop it, control it by slapping tax on them. Then sit back and watch as the economy soar

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## Viet

*Vietnam Airlines launches direct route to Indonesia*
Updated : Mon, December 3, 2012,9:39 AM (GMT+0700) | Tuoi Tre News






The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, has launched a direct route linking Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta in Indonesia. Flights are scheduled for every *Tuesday*, *Wednesday*, *Friday *and *Sunday*.



*VietJetAir to launch air route to Bangkok*
Updated : Mon, December 3, 2012,10:24 PM (GMT+0700) | | Tuoi Tre News






The budget carrier VietJetAir has announced it will open its first international route linking Ho Chi Minh City and Thailand&#8217;s capital city of Bangkok in the first quarter of 2013.

With the new service, VietJetAir will become Vietnam&#8217;s first holdings airlines joining the international aviation market.

The HCM City-Bangkok route will start on February 10, 2013 with a *daily fight* in the first stage. The 90-minute flight will depart from HCM City at 11:00 am and from Bangkok at 13:30 pm.

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## Zero_wing

Viet said:


> *Vietnam Airlines launches direct route to Indonesia*
> Updated : Mon, December 3, 2012,9:39 AM (GMT+0700) | Tuoi Tre News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, has launched a direct route linking Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta in Indonesia. Flights are scheduled for every *Tuesday*, *Wednesday*, *Friday *and *Sunday*.
> 
> 
> 
> *VietJetAir to launch air route to Bangkok*
> Updated : Mon, December 3, 2012,10:24 PM (GMT+0700) | | Tuoi Tre News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The budget carrier VietJetAir has announced it will open its first international route linking Ho Chi Minh City and Thailand&#8217;s capital city of Bangkok in the first quarter of 2013.
> 
> With the new service, VietJetAir will become Vietnam&#8217;s first holdings airlines joining the international aviation market.
> 
> The HCM City-Bangkok route will start on February 10, 2013 with a *daily fight* in the first stage. The 90-minute flight will depart from HCM City at 11:00 am and from Bangkok at 13:30 pm.



good then keep up with the good work and screw chinese Investments ASEAN should invest in its own bloc and non arrogant countries to screw the chinese over! 

Meanwhile 

FAA level 2 lifted, PAL-Canada routes restored after 15 years; US, Europe Flight Aimed | Rebuilding for the Better Philippines
Philippine economy shines in third quarter, highlights Southeast Asia resilience | Rebuilding for the Better Philippines
3rd Quarter 2012 Philippine Economy Growth 7.1% higher than expected - $17 billion of investment in roads and airports | Rebuilding for the Better Philippines
Philippines top 4th Best Market in FORBES Top countries to do business: ahead of China, India | Rebuilding for the Better Philippines

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## Viet

Yes, good to see the Philippines well developing 




> "*The Philippines is going to rock,*" said Trinh Nguyen, a Hong Kong-based economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. "The central bank and the government have made timely policy adjustments that are boosting trend growth. With momentum so strong, we think BSP will hold rates and mark the end of the easing cycle."


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## Reashot Xigwin

*New export markets too small*
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Wed, December 05 2012, 9:52 AM





Despite significant growth, exports to new markets are still unable to offset demand for Indonesia&#8217;s goods and commodities from the country&#8217;s existing major trading partners.

From January to October this year, non-oil and gas exports to 10 non-traditional and emerging markets, such as South Africa and Colombia, expanded by 115 percent on average to US$3.7 billion, according to statistics from the Trade Ministry. This compared to a 6.2 percent in exports growth, to $86.6 billion, to 10 key export markets.

Indonesia saw its largest export growth of 337.62 percent to $58.58 million to Libya during the period, followed by a 264.50 percent growth to $57.76 million to Mauritania, and a 200.16 percent growth to $82.12 million to Ivory Coast.

*Exports mainly comprised coal, books and printed materials, pharmaceutical products, paper, rubber, palm oil, soap, automobiles and parts, and processed meat and fish.*

Ahmad Erani Yustika, an economist at the Indonesian Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), said on Tuesday that although exports to several new markets had increased by more than 100 percent, the result was not significant enough to counter weakening sales to traditional markets because in terms of volume as well as value, they were still very small.

&#8220;The government&#8217;s claims of a successful export diversification push are too early. Expansion to non-traditional markets goes beyond changing destinations and it takes a lot of time, as exporters should fit their products with the needs of consumers in new markets,&#8221; he told The Jakarta Post.

&#8220;We must be consistent in executing our measures to push up exports to new markets and for this goal, we need a road map,&#8221; he added.

Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi earlier said that the government had already considered designing a road map for export diversification, but it was not clear whether the plan has progressed.

In previous years, the government has tried to shift its focus from major trade partners, such as Japan and the US, to new markets, particularly in the Middle East, South America and Africa. Those efforts increased last year as exports to traditional markets slumped.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) economist Latif Adam echoed Erani&#8217;s argument, saying that one of the main indicators of successful diversification would be a noticeable absorption of exports in new markets that had previously sold well in existing markets.

&#8220;The $3.76 billion figure is not comparable to $86.6 billion. Real success will happen only if non-traditional markets can replace the role of traditional markets in terms of volume or value,&#8221; he said.

The government should be more proactive in disseminating information about export-related regulations, non-tariff barriers and consumer interests in new markets, he added.

Exports plunged by 7.61 percent to $15.67 billion in October from a year earlier, worse than market expectations of only 4 percent, particularly due to a drop in palm oil prices, while imports grew steadily by 10.82 percent to $17.21 billion from the past year, resulting in a record monthly deficit of $1.55 billion.

Cumulatively from January to October, exports dropped by 6.22 percent to $158.66 billion from the past year, while imports surged by 9.35 percent to $159.18 billion, generating a deficit of $516.1 million.


*RI to expand ICT-based education*
by Wasti Atmodjo on 2012-12-05





Underprivileged: School children play with their friends in this rural, isolated village in east Bali. Seeing their school equipped with information and communication technology is a vague dream for these children, who are still struggling to get decent uniforms and shoes. BD/Anggara MahendraUnderprivileged: School children play with their friends in this rural, isolated village in east Bali. Seeing their school equipped with information and communication technology is a vague dream for these children, who are still struggling to get decent uniforms and shoes. *BD/Anggara Mahendra Indonesia has pledged to strengthen its education networks by utilizing information and communication technology (ICT) in 100,000 schools across the country by 2014.
*
Taufik Hanafi, a professor of education and expert on social and economic issues at the Education and Culture Ministry, said when opening the International Symposium on Open, Distance and E-Learning (ISODEL) 2012 in Kuta on Tuesday that Indonesia would benefit from using ICT-based education in its school curriculums, especially when reaching schools in remote regions.

&#8220;Indonesia is an archipelagic country with 13,000 islands, but we are optimistic that we can provide the best education to all school-age students despite any geographical obstacles,&#8221; the professor said.

This year&#8217;s ISODEL meeting, taking place from Dec. 4 through Dec. 6, will bear the theme &#8220;Enhancing Lifelong Learning for All: Achieving Global Welfare.&#8221;

The three-day gathering, bringing together no less than 500 education experts from around the world, will be aiming at sharing knowledge, experiences and thoughts in the field of open, distance and e-learning worldwide.

It is also a forum in which all participating countries will learn and disseminate best practices, breakthroughs and innovations in the field of open, distance and e-learning methods.

Taufik went further that Indonesia currently had 54.8 million school students, 44 million of whom were elementary and junior high school students. &#8220;Indonesia ranks third in Asia and fourth in the world in terms of the number of school-age students,&#8221; Taufik said.

According to a report released by UNESCO in 2012, Indonesia is categorized as middle-income country based on its gross domestic product (GDP).

The report also says that Indonesia&#8217;s school-life expectancy (the length of time children should be in education) is between 13-16 years.

There are several countries with higher GDPs, such as Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Greece, Poland and Mexico, which have similar levels of school-life expectancy. Some countries, including Turkey and Oman, which have high GDPs, have a lower level of school-life expectancy compared to Indonesia&#8217;s.

&#8220;Reaching out to faraway places will be our main focus. We will expand the use of information and communication technology when disseminating lessons in every subject,&#8221; Taufik added.

To implement the ICT-expansion program, the central government has gradually increased the education budget from Rp 2.98 trillion (US$309.6 million) in 2012 to Rp 3.36 trillion in 2013.

Around Rp 162 billion will be allocated to develop the national education network (Jardiknas) as part of the National School Net program.

Ari Santoso, head of the ministry&#8217;s center for information, communication and technology, said that currently the ministry had developed Internet connections in 23,000 out of 254,000 elementary schools under the ministry, including those in Bali.

In 2013, the ministry will again develop its Internet connections in 40,000 to 100,000 schools.

&#8220;Training for teachers to apply ICT-based education methods will be our main priority,&#8221; Santoso said.

The ministry has plans to develop solar or wind energy systems to provide electricity for schools located in remote areas.

&#8220;Instead of providing desktop computers, we prefer to give them laptop computers to save energy,&#8221; Ari added.

Distinguished speakers from the World Bank, China, Russia and other countries will present their papers today (Wednesday) at the symposium.

*
This is the one I wanted to see succeed the most *

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## ahfatzia

*Thai group buys $9.4 billion Ping An (15.6%) stake from HSBC*








Reuters) - A conglomerate controlled by Thailand's richest man has bought a minority stake in China's Ping An Insurance (2318.HK) for $9.38 billion from global bank HSBC, a bold move that ranks as Asia's second-largest deal this year.

*Dhanin Chearavanont's Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) bought the 15.6 percent stake in a deal that marks a departure from its core food businesses, such as poultry and animal feed, but appears to strengthen the 73-year-old's ties to Beijing.*

HSBC (HSBA.L) (0005.HK), which announced the transaction on Wednesday under its recovery plan to sell non-core assets, said CP Group's purchase was being partly financed by state-run China Development Bank.

*Dhanin - worth $9 billion according to Forbes magazine - already has major business interests in China ranging from agriculture to retail to auto manufacturing.*

"This is phenomenal for HSBC shareholders because the bank is now sitting on at least $8 billion in profit," said Jim Antos, an analyst at Mizuho Securities in Hong Kong.

"I'm not sure what CP Group would do with the stake though. I was joking earlier that every Ping An shareholder will now get a 
bucket of fried chicken for their insurance policy."






_Dhanin Chearavanont's Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group)_


*HSBC said it will make a post-tax gain of $2.6 billion *on the deal.

*CP Group has a long history in China: it was the first multinational to invest in China's agri-business in 1979 and, under Beijing's latest five-year plan, it was tasked with helping to modernize China's farm sector. It also operates Lotus supermarkets in Shanghai, according to the company's website.
*
Also on Wednesday, *China's biggest carmaker, SAIC Motor Corp, said it would start making cars in Thailand with CP Group.
*
CP Group has only limited experience in insurance, though. In May this year, it sold out of a Thai joint venture with German insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE) for about $9.8 million.

CP Group could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, a public holiday in Thailand to mark the Thai king's birthday.

The Ping An deal is Asia's second-biggest acquisition so far this year, behind Chinese oil company CNOOC's planned $15.1 billion purchase of Canada's Nexen.

Founded in 1988 as China's first joint-stock insurer, *Ping An has grown into one of the world's largest, with 74 million clients, more than 175,000 employees, and about 500,000 agents.*

*SENSITIVE SALE FOR HSBC*

HSBC's global strategy is to divest holdings to improve its profitability, exiting the decade-old Ping An investment as it looks to sell non-core assets.

"The investment in a Chinese insurer branching into pan-financial services has looked at odds with management's focus ever since the new strategy was launched in 2011," said Chirantan Barua, analyst at BernsteinResearch in London.

The bank earned $946 million from its Ping An stake last year, but analysts said the capital boost was more important and should underpin dividend prospects and offer greater flexibility at a time when UK regulators are taking a hard line on capital. The sale will add 0.5 percentage points to HSBC's core Tier 1 capital ratio, which was 11.7 percent at the end of September.

Ahead of the Ping An sale, HSBC had already sold about $6.7 billion worth of assets, according to Thomson Reuters data, including its non-life insurance operations and retail banking branches in places such as Thailand and the United States.

Thailand's outbound acquisitions have soared this year, fuelled by a hot local stock market - up nearly 30 percent year to date - and cash rich Thai tycoons. Thai M&A deals have hit a record $18.7 billion so far this year, more than 2010 and 2011 combined, Thomson Reuters data shows.

HSBC sold its stake for HK$59 per Ping An (2318.HK) share, for a total of HK$72.74 billion ($9.4 billion). Ping An's Hong Kong shares closed up 4.9 percent, beating the Hang Seng Index's .HSI 2.2 percent rise.

By 7:15 a.m. EDT HSBC's London shares were up 0.6 percent, in line with a firmer European bank index .SX7P.

The bank said the sale would complete in stages, with a fifth of the stake transferred to the Thai buyer on December 7. The remainder will be transferred upon approval by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

"CDB is a state-owned policy bank with a certain chemistry with Beijing, so it's reasonable to conclude that this Ping An deal has received the go-ahead by regulators," said Olive Xia, an analyst at Core Pacific-Yamaichi Securities in Shanghai.

The Ping An stake, given its size, was an important and sensitive sale for HSBC - one that was rumored to be up for grabs ever since the 2008 financial crisis.

HSBC had spent $1.7 billion building its stake in Ping An, China's second-largest insurer, between 2002 and 2005. It confirmed it was in talks to sell the stake on November 19.

The deal was personally overseen by a three-man team headed by HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver. The bank's group M&A chief, Stephen Moss, and strategy head John Flint were the principal deal-makers, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter. UBS advised CP Group, the source said. UBS declined to comment.

Some analysts expect HSBC's stake in Bank of Communications (3328.HK), China's fifth-largest lender, to be next on the list, although the bank has said that is core to its Chinese plans, and other analysts expect it to increase the holding if allowed. That stake stands at 19.9 percent and is worth about HK$79 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.

HSBC also still owns 8 percent of unlisted Bank of Shanghai and 62 percent of Hong Kong's Hang Seng Bank (0011.HK), which in turn owns 13 percent of China's Industrial Bank (601166.SS).

As part of its Ping An investment, CP Group agreed to hold any shares it buys for at least six months, HSBC said.

Thai group buys $9.4 billion Ping An stake from HSBC | Reuters


*Good buy, Ping On is a cash cow!*

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## kawaraj

the Philippines economy is just leading the growth race in past quarters, for the latest news.

anyone has any insight on that?


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## auspice

Despite the rosy output and sterling performance shown by the Philippine economy this year marked by &#8220;record highs, increase in equities, and outstanding GDP (gross domestic product) growth,&#8221; President Benigno S. Aquino III called on the Filipino people not to rest on one&#8217;s laurels and bask in the glory of this global achievement but continue working even harder in order to &#8220;build even greater things on top of the foundations we have already laid down.&#8221;

Speaking at the 20th anniversary of the Philippine Stock Exchange, Incorporated (PSEi) held at the Makati Shangri-la on Monday, the President said that the Philippines has come a long way since he assumed the reins of government two and half years ago.






*He said that as of July 2012, the PSEi has recorded 56 record highs (closing at an all-time high of 5,672.70, up by 32.25 points or 0.57%, largely led by property and banking issues) with the average daily turnover pegged at P7.61-billion. This, the President said, coupled with the 7.1 percent GDP growth for the third quarter of 2012, has &#8220;surpassed all expectations&#8221; and showed that the Philippines has come a long way since then.*

&#8220;While we certainly have much to be thankful for, I have always believed that every achievement must not only be cause for celebration, but must also motivate us to work even harder. After all, the record highs, increase in equities, and outstanding GDP growth are symbols of the potential we have to create a broader and more dynamic Philippine economy,&#8221; the President stressed.

He noted that other countries have started to take notice at the remarkable performance of what has been dubbed, the &#8220;sick man of Asia&#8221; and has begun to show interest at investing here.

&#8220;The entire world has begun to train their spotlight on us. Let us prove to them: we are not yet done, we have more to show, and we will build even greater things on top of the foundations we have already laid down. It is up to all of us to harness our potential and steer the economy towards inclusive growth that satisfies the pursuit of profit, promotes equal opportunity, and elevates the standard of living of every Filipino,&#8221; the President said.

The President lauded the Philippine Stock Exchange for partnering with the government in coming up and implementing various anti-corruption programs &#8220;to show prospective and active investors alike that the Philippines is open for business under new management ---management that is putting an end to backroom deals and suspect transactions, so that business, trade, and investment can flourish in an honest and level playing field.&#8221;

He pointed out that the PSEi has taken the initiative to reciprocate government programs to end graft and corruption such as the Investor Protection and Surveillance Department of the Securities and Exchange Commission to guard against insider trading and other illegal investment schemes and a Capital Market Development Blueprint to improve and expand the Philippine capital market, including proposals to strengthen investor education, through an integration of various programs already offered by the SEC, PSEi and other similar entities, and to improve the equity market by promoting online trading, among others.

These PSEi initiatives include extending trading hours significantly to expand opportunities for the Philippine market and launching the PSEi trade which will open up direct access to our stock exchange; thus speeding up the execution of trades.

The Capital Markets Integrity Corporation, or CMIC, which was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary and tasked with monitoring the activities of trading participants; and the PSEi Bell Awards for Corporate Governance, which contributes to the promotion of integrity by recognizing outstanding listed companies and trading participants are two other PSEi-led initiatives &#8220;to uphold the integrity of operations in your sector.&#8221;

&#8220;Measures like these are important because investors need to know we are serious about protecting their interests, especially now that confidence in the Philippines is growing by leaps and bounds,&#8221; the President said.

&#8220;In a sense, your efforts mirror the reforms we are undertaking in government. You are demonstrating that good governance is a winning strategy, and that by fostering it in your industry, we are able to level the playing field; we are able to establish an atmosphere where outcomes are predictable, where uncertainty is minimized, and where stability allows business to function smoothly,&#8221; he added.

&#8220;This makes our country a more attractive destination for investments, which creates jobs, empowers consumers, and sustains the virtuous cycle that we are determined to institute&#8212;a virtuous cycle whose results we have seen in your achievements,&#8221; the President said.

Joining the President during the event were Vice President Jejomar Binay, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

(Presidential Communication Operations Office)

PNoy urges Filipinos to continue working harder to build greater economic progress for the country

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## auspice

*PHL sees 2013 exports growing 7-8% on credit rating upgrade*

As the economy continues to grow and the Philippines stands to get an investment grade status from credit rating agencies, the Department of Trade and Industry on Wednesday said it expects exports to to expand by 7 to 8 percent next year.

Such developments serve to lure more foreign investments that would eventually result in higher exports, said executive director Senen Perlada of the department's Bureau of Export Trade Promotion. 

Credit rating agencies Fitch Rating, Standard & Poor's, and Moody's Investor Service have upgraded the Philippines to one notch below investment grade.

"Because most sectors are investment-led, the investment grade status will make easier for us to convince the higher-value existing activities here to expand or invest more," Perlada said at the sidelines of the National Export Congress at Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City.

"We can even surpass the highest level posted in 2010," he said, noting that even if electronics exports fell this year, "there is no other way but to go up next year."

Merchandise exports in 2010 breached the $50-billion mark, largely lifted by electronics exports &#8211;up 33.7 percent to $51.39 billion from $38.43 billion in 2009. 

*Despite a decline in shipments to China, banana exports would continue to grow,* Perlada noted, saying that while exports to China fell, shipments to the Special Administrative Region Hong Kong actually increased.

"But we really have to find nearby markets for bananas," he added, urging exporters to take advantage of the existing free trade agreements to expand their shipments.

PHL sees 2013 exports growing 7-8% on credit rating upgrade | Economy | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere

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## ahfatzia

*Cheap loans, market surge fuel record year for Thai M&A*








(Reuters) - *Thai corporates armed with cheap debt and record stock prices have spent a record $27 billion shopping for overseas assets this year,* putting the Southeast Asian nation firmly on the region's M&A map for the first time.

The land of exotic beaches has emerged as an unexpected fee pool for deal-starved bankers in the region, with the nation ranking No. 3 in Asian outbound deal volumes this year, behind Japan and Greater China.

The second-half surge in Thai purchases this year has been fuelled by a steady stream of loans, which carries an added layer of risk compared with all-cash acquisitions.

Thailand's M&A spree has catapulted some of the country's reclusive tycoons into the media spotlight and made them formidable competitors in auctions for overseas assets.

Gutsy bids for *London's Cove Energy* and Singapore conglomerate *Fraser & Neave Ltd* (F&N) (FRNM.SI) underscore the ambition of these tycoons, who have been bolstered by a surging stock market and the first period of relative political stability in more than six years.

With the latest transaction, *total Thai M&A volumes could exceed the combined total of the previous four years,* with more action in the country this year than Australia, Malaysia and South Korea combined.

"This could be the best time for Thai companies to get capital or funding cheaply and pursue growth where they are good at," said Daphne Roth, head of Asia equities research at ABN AMRO Private Banking.

Some analysts and bankers say the flurry of deal activity in Thailand is a one-off event, with little chance of matching its M&A volumes next year.

Still, after three domestic insurance auctions launched this year, plus several major cross-border deals, yet another major Thai deal emerged with just a few weeks left in the year.

On Wednesday, a group linked to Thailand's wealthiest businessman, Dhanin Chearavanont, agreed to buy HSBC's (HSBA.L) entire stake in China's Ping An Insurance (601318.SS) for $9.38 billion.

"Myriad Thai corporates across industry segments are seeing greater opportunities to expand their footprint, both across the region as well as on a global basis," said David Aronovitch, co-head of Southeast Asia investment banking at Morgan Stanley, which is advising the Thai group involved in the F&N bid.

"Whilst Asia-Pacific is the natural focus for many of these businesses, there is an increasing appetite to identify and pursue opportunities beyond the region, and in particular in Europe."

*CHEAP FUNDING*

In addition to an equity boom that is helping fuel the activity, the ambition for Thai corporates to grow outside their saturated home market is another major factor behind the money.

Many of these deals are backed by cheap bank loans.

Companies linked to beer mogul Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi lined up S$11.8 billion ($9.7 billion) to buy a 34 percent stake in F&N and bid for shares they do not already own. China Development Bank is financing CP Group's purchase of Ping An.

"After a decade-long slumber, Thailand's M&A scene has burst into life over the last 12 to 18 months and is now one of the most vibrant and interesting M&A markets in the Asia-Pacific region," said Citigroup's Asia-Pacific M&A head Colin Banfield.

"Personally, I am spending more time in Thailand now with our local clients than at any time since the Asian Crisis back in 1997-98," said Banfield, who expects the M&A trend to continue next year, given the pipeline of deal activity.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai Party swept to victory in a general election in July 2011 and Thailand has since enjoyed a period of relative calm after the convulsions that followed the ousting of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, from the premiership in a 2006 coup.

But the country remains politically fractured between the pro- and anti-Thaksin camps, and Thai billionaires may be moving money overseas to reduce their dependence on their home market.

"Usually when you see tycoons do this, they try to move money overseas," said an investment banker who asked not to be named. "They want to de-risk themselves from any one geography."

The banker said he does not expect the same pace of dealmaking next year, but identified Thailand's Central Group as one of the groups which could still seek retail assets abroad.

Last year, the group's Central Retail Corp bought Italian department store chain La Rinascente SpA.

The banker said Malaysian companies have also been pursuing a similar strategy, buying real estate and other assets to reduce their reliance on one market.

*SURPLUS*

Mark Matthews, head of Asia research at Bank Julius Baer, said Thai offshore deals had accelerated in the last two years as prior to the fourth quarter of 2010 Thai companies were heavily restricted in their overseas investments by the Bank of Thailand.

"*Thailand runs a current account surplus* so if the central bank didn't let the private sector re-cycle some of the inflow, it might create unhealthy distortions in the domestic economy," he said.

*Thailand had a current account surplus of $11.9 billion by the end of last year*, IMF data shows.

Acquisitions can bring growth, but also risks.

ABN AMRO's Roth pointed to Thai coal producer Banpu Pcl's BANP.BK acquisitions in China and Australia over the last few years, some of which have not gone smoothly.

"We have seen that when the tide turns and when coal prices started to fall, then we don't get the visibility from both demand and supply, then that could also cause the stocks to underperform," she said.

Roth said weakened valuations in Europe might throw up a lot of opportunities for Thai companies, but she would take a cautious view on firms making acquisitions outside their core area of business.

*Thai equities have been among the best performers in Asia and globally, with the benchmark index .SETI trading at a 16-1/2 year high on Tuesday. The index has surged 30 percent so far this year.*

Last month, HSBC strategists retained their overweight call on Thai equities and said the country was on "cruise control". A tight labor market and low household leverage supported resilient domestic consumption, the brokerage said.

"If I talk to ASEAN companies, in general, many of these Thai companies are more proactively thinking of entering their hinterland - Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, but also thinking about the business implications of the ASEAN (economic plan) whereby some of the trade restrictions go away," said Herald van der Linde, head of Asia Pacific equity strategy at HSBC.

Cheap loans, market surge fuel record year for Thai M&A | Reuters

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## Viet

Great news for Burma and Vietnam. Hope more to come.




*Myanmar licenses US$300 mil Vietnam project*
12/7/2012 11:22:52 | VOV Online








(VOV) - The Myanmar Investment Commission has granted an investment license to a US$300 million housing project to *Hoang Anh Housing Development *and Construction Joint Stock Company (HAGL Land).

The company will build a trade centre-hotel-apartment complex called *Hoang Anh Gia Lai Myanmar Centre* on an area of 8 hectares in the former capital city of *Yangon*.

HAGL Land leaders said that after a long time for negotiations, legal procedures have been completed and land clearance has been carried out.

*The project is divided into two phases*, with the first to be implemented within three years, focusing on building a trade centre, offices for lease and a five-star hotel. In the second phase, a residential area and the second office block will take shape in three to four years.

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## ahfatzia

*Analysis: SE Asian governments gamble on making cheap labor less cheap*






_Auto spare part workers in Ayutthaya Province, Thailand_


(Reuters) - *After years of profiting from cheap labor, Southeast Asian businesses paying wages low enough to undercut China are being forced to accept it is time they paid people a bit more.*

In *Thailand, minimum wages will jump by 35 percent in some regions from January, on top of a nationwide increase of 40 percent **last April. *Big percentages that add up to just a few dollars more in pay packets each month.

The country's finance minister says it will be good for workers and industry.

*"People getting higher wages will not want to lose their jobs and employers will not want to increase wages for nothing. They will have to work together to boost efficiency and productivity,"* Kittirat Na Ranong told Reuters this week.

Economists also point out that if you pay people more they'll buy more. But the nagging worry is that everyone could eventually lose out *if wages rise too fast, resulting in higher inflation* and job losses as firms lose competitive edge.

While the political benefits are easy to see in a region where a vast majority of people are clamoring for a better life, the economic calculation is a harder sell to a business community whose margins depend on cheap labor.

The chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries was ousted last month for failing to lobby hard enough to convince the government to go back on a promise to voters, and the surrender to higher wages left the federation riven with factions.

Similar social and economic tensions are evident elsewhere in Southeast Asia, a region that has otherwise come through the global slowdown better than most.

*DYNAMIC ECONOMIES, CHANGING SOCIETIES*

The emerging market boom that characterized the first decade of the millennium saw growth rates surge and profits multiply, but now countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia face pressure from workers for a bigger share of the wealth.

The World Bank designated Thailand an upper-middle-income country in 2011 after national income per capita almost doubled in a decade but it has fretted about wealth inequality.

After years of political turmoil, broadly pitting the lower classes against Bangkok's middle class and "old money" elite, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government was elected in July 2011 with a promise to bring in a nationwide minimum wage of 300 baht a day.

At $9.80, it is hardly a princely sum, but it equates to an increase of up to 90 percent, in two stages, by January for workers in the poorer provinces.

Similar trends are evident elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

*In Indonesia, trade unions have rallied in several cities in recent weeks to protest at employers using contract labor to circumvent employment regulations.*

*And in the capital, Jakarta, a newly elected mayor has announced a 44 percent increase in the monthly minimum wage to 1.5 million rupiah ($160).*

Apindo, the employers' association, has warned it will cause "waves of layoffs".

"This is a populist decision that doesn't take account of reality," said Apindo official Hariyadi Sukamdani.

*MALAYSIA'S NEW MINIMUM*

*Malaysia plans to bring in a minimum wage in January of up to $300 a month*, which will give some 3 million workers an increase averaging 5 percent.

The change comes in the run-up to an election that should be held in the first half of next year.

Singapore, wealthier, tightly controlled and more capitalist-oriented than most of the region's states, doesn't have a minimum wage and has no plans to introduce one.

But pay strains are showing there, too.

*Bus drivers from China went on strike last month over pay and working conditions, complaining they were less well paid than drivers from Singapore and Malaysia.*

Singaporeans, in turn, have complained about the competition for jobs and the government has made it harder for low-skilled foreigners to get jobs, which could exert upward pressure on wages.

*In Vietnam, the prime minister signed a decree on December 4 raising the minimum wage for laborers by 16 to 18 percent, lifting laborers' wages to anywhere between 1.65 million to 2.35 million dong ($79-$113) per month.
*
That was a compromise figure after business associations kicked back against plans for a 20 to 35 percent rise.

Cao Sy Kiem, head of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, acknowledged workers were struggling to make ends meet but said companies, too, would have struggled with the original proposal after rises in fuel, power and other prices.

Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said nearly 100,000 businesses folded in 2011 and 2012, half of the total business failures in the past 20 years.

Vietnam's annual inflation was still running over 7 percent in November, having been reduced from double digits in 2011.

*PRICE PRESSURES*

*Inflation elsewhere in ASEAN, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has been fairly well contained,* allowing central banks to loosen monetary policy to support their economies as global weakness hit export markets.

Any general increase in wages could complicate coming policy decisions.

Credit Suisse forecast this week that wages in Thailand would rise 10 percent in 2013 after 12 percent this year, pushing average inflation up to 3.7 percent next year from 3.0 percent.

In Indonesia, it forecast wages would rise 10 percent next year after 6 percent this year. Credit Suisse saw inflation averaging 5.7 percent in 2013 after 4.3 percent in 2012.

It noted in a quarterly report that many districts in Indonesia were being granted big rises in minimum pay for next year. "With the minimum wage already roughly two-thirds of the national average wage, we see a good chance that upcoming increases will impact wages higher up the spectrum as well."

*CHINA COMPARISON*

The other big worry is that a rise in wages could hurt ASEAN's exports, especially in markets where it competes with China.

But *China's wages are higher, and rising.* And demographics work in ASEAN's favor, said Citigroup economist Wei Zheng Kit, with China's working-age population likely to decline as a proportion of the overall population from 2015.

The cost of industrial land, utilities and transport in ASEAN also compare favorably with China.

Thai Finance Minister Kittirat highlighted the boost to domestic consumption from higher wages.

"It's a shame that we produce many good products but our people don't have purchasing power ... If our people are able to buy those goods, they will want to do that. It will be good for producers, better business and sales," Kittirat said.

The argument is all the more valid for Indonesia, by far the most populous ASEAN country.

"Foreign direct investment is drawn to Indonesia for reasons beyond cheap labor," said HSBC economist Su Sian Lim.

"Its population of 240 million represents not just a resource but also a significant market," she wrote in a report.

*"Rising incomes -- helped along by minimum wage hikes -- only raise its allure."*

Analysis: SE Asian governments gamble on making cheap labor less cheap | Reuters

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## ahfatzia

*ASEAN to send aid to typhoon-struck southern Philippines*






_Relief items being loaded into a Hercules C130 at Subang military air base to be sent to southern Philippines. _


SUBANG: *ASEAN's Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance has sent relief items to southern Philippines through its logistics hub at Subang military air base.*

This includes three generators deployed to southern Philippines to serve hospitals after strong winds brought down power lines and cut off roads and bridges.

*Other relief items are also on their way to Davao City in Mindanao.*

Subang military air base in Malaysia is being used by ASEAN countries as a regional logistics hub.

The hub will give member states quick access to emergency relief items such as tents, body bags and utensils when disasters strike.

The facility was activated after Typhoon Bopha hit southern Philippines on Tuesday.

Relief goods will be dropped off at Davao airport in the Philippines then brought to disaster hit areas.

"Right now the most important thing is to provide body bags&#8230; For those who are living, the need is for them to be placed in secured centres so that they have access to food," said Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN's Socio-Cultural Community Alicia Dela Rosa Bala.

*Malaysia will send more than 9000 kg of relief items including mats, towels and blankets as well as food items like rice, biscuits, and milk powder.
*
*Japan has also sponsored thousands of family kits that were handed over to the ASEAN Coordinating Centre* for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.

Referring to Japan's experience with the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, its ambassador to ASEAN said aid given in times of disaster helps to draw nations closer.

"This is what we felt at the time of disaster, we felt much closer to the people of the global communities and the people of ASEAN when we have this kind of cooperative effort among ASEAN countries. I think this will be a good basis for ASEAN to move forward in community building," said Kimihiro Ishikane, ambassador of Japan to ASEAN.

Based in Jakarta, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance was set up in 2011 to improve the region's disaster preparedness and response capacity.

The centre monitors disaster risks daily and can deploy its team within hours to conduct rapid assessment and deliver aid to affected ASEAN countries quickly upon request.

"We believe (there are) a lot of challenges ahead but... when we are together as ASEAN we are stronger," said Said Faisal, executive director of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.

*Almost 40 million of ASEAN's 600 million population are exposed to risks of typhoons and landslides, which cost the region billions of dollars in losses each year.*

ASEAN to send aid to typhoon-struck southern Philippines - Channel NewsAsia

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Local shipping industry eyes 20 percent growth in the next year*
Nurfika Osman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Sat, December 08 2012, 12:47 PM






The Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA) predicts that Indonesia will see around 20 percent growth in the shipping industry next year on the back of the countrys healthy economic performance.

INSA chairwoman Carmelita Hartoto said that most local players, especially those involved in coal and offshore oil and gas, will add more vessels to expand their business in 2013.

We will have 560 new ships to support national and international trade next year, especially in the coal and offshore oil industries. Despite the eurozone crisis and decreasing demand from China, we are confident that our shipping business will grow because of strong domestic demand, Carmelita said in Jakarta on Friday at the Indonesia Shipping Outlook Seminar.

The additional 560 ships, including tug boats, bulk carriers, platform service vessels diving service vessels, and tankers, will increase the number of Indonesian flagged ships to 12,600 in 2013.

By operating 12,600 ships, Indonesian shippers are expected to be able to deliver up to 1.2 billion tons of cargo, for both the domestic and international market, she said.

For the year to date, the figure is still below 1 billion tons.

We predicted that the one billion ton target would be only achieved in the next two to three years. But growth is faster than the estimate. The cabotage policy has also helped Indonesian shippers, she added.

The government implemented the cabotage principle through a Presidential decree in 2005 requiring all vessels operating in Indonesian waters to be domestically owned.

The rules have brought a number of benefits to the shipping industry indicated by the increasing number of national flagged vessels for domestic maritime transportation and the amount of cargo delivered by the national fleet.

According to INSA data, Indonesias shipping fleet has nearly doubled from only 6,041 in 2005 to 12,000 ships in the current national fleet.

Despite the cabotage policy, several types of foreign vessels will be allowed to operate in oil and gas drilling and production activities until 2014, as local companies still cannot provide the technologically advanced facilities and personnel needed for sophisticated extraction activities.

Indonesias economic growth has attracted foreign shippers to collaborate with local shipowners to deliver cargo.

Korea, Germany and Japan are among the countries that have strong interests in working with Indonesian shipping companies next year, she said, adding that joint venture shipping companies were anticipated in 2013.

The fact that state-owned port operators Pelindo I to IV are now expanding their major ports has encouraged local shipowners to buy more ships.

One of the ports that the shippers are waiting for will be the countrys largest, Kalibaru in North Jakarta, expected to commence first phase operations in 2014 with a capacity of 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units.

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## ahfatzia

*Yingluck's rice problem in Thailand*








*After years as the world's top rice exporter, Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra's populist policies are causing serious problems. *

*As the elected senator of northeastern Nakhom Phanom province, Dr. Vitthaya Inala is in a difficult position.*

The majority of his roughly 750,000 constituents, many of them poor paddy farmers, are in full support of a year-old *government scheme that promises them 15,000 baht ($488) per ton of white rice,* he says, far more than they earned in the past.

&#8220;*If this is a success, and poor farmers get the benefits, it will be very good for the Thai people*,&#8221; says Dr. Vitthaya. Except the government&#8217;s rice-pledging policy is already proving to be a monumental failure, he adds.

Last week, the Senate Committee on Economics, Commerce and Industry, of which Dr. Vitthaya is vice-chairman, filed a damning report *blaming the scheme over rampant corruption and a rising mountain of debt as big as the piles of unsold rice fill **warehouses across Thailand*. *A populist policy that was part of the platform propelling the relative unknown Yingluck Shinawatra to power last May, the scheme now threatens to severely damage the government. *Some say it could even bring the Prime Minister&#8217;s coalition down.

The chairman of the central bank has already criticized the scheme &#8211; so too have academics, economists and even the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the latter of whom warned of the policy&#8217;s effects on international rice prices &#8211; and at the end of this month Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra&#8217;s Pheu Thai party faces a two-day grilling from the opposition and the Senate all asking the same question: How did it go so wrong?

*In theory, the policy makes perfect sense*. If you pay farmers above the market rate for paddy they will earn more, Thai rice &#8211; already known for its quality &#8211; will rise in price and in turn force up prices on world markets.

*But at 15,000 baht a ton, and 20,000 baht for high-quality Hom Mali jasmine, critics argue that Thai rice has simply become too expensive.* As* the government has struggled to sell rice to foreign governments at cost price, an increasing stockpile has accumulated costing the taxpayer a spiraling bill.*

A recent Senate report said *public debt, which was 42.4% of GDP *at the end of April, *would rise by an average of 4% **per year if the scheme continues*, and the Prime Minister has already admitted as much. Having *spent 300 billion **baht on its rice-pledging scheme this year,* the government has e*armarked an additional 405 billion baht for 2013, a combined roughly U.S. $33 billion.*

Meanwhile, *the rice needed to fund this policy remains holed up in storage slowly going bad,* according to rice millers. With Thailand in the middle of its second harvest, *the government is under pressure to either sell off as much as possible or risk running out of warehouse space*. An estimated 14 million tons of rice are currently in storage across Thailand, a new record, and more than the country can sell in a year, even by the government own ambitious goal to export 8.5 million tons of rice in 2013.

Last month, Thai press reports said the Ministry of Commerce had made a deal &#8220;in principle&#8221; to store rice in an aircraft hangar at Bangkok&#8217;s Dong Muang Airport in a bid to find somewhere to put the incoming harvest.

*&#8220;We are looking for warehouses anywhere,&#8221;* says Amraporn Suntivong, vice president of the government&#8217;s Public Warehouse Association. &#8220;We are inviting warehouse owners to come forward.&#8221;

When the Democrat Party quizzes the government on the scheme at the end of this month, it is widely expected to point to mounting evidence that warehouse owners are benefiting from the scheme with storage rents having risen sharply in recent months.

Critics also say that coalition politicians are taking kickbacks on contracts from the millers and exporters to whom they have chosen to sell quotas of rice overseas, all while many of the poorest farmers are seeing their prices reduced significantly by the time the money filters down the food chain, albeit while still earning more than before Yingluck Shinawatra took power.

*&#8220;We don&#8217;t know how much rice is in the warehouses, how much is being exported and how much the farmers are actually making &#8211; we don&#8217;t know anything,&#8221;* says Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut.

Kreetha Charatkulangkun, director of Tek Seng Rice Mill, a rice export company based in Bangkok, says* the scheme has proven devastating for the country&#8217;s rice industry.*

For years, *Thailand was the world&#8217;s number one exporter in the world, but is expected to slip to the third position this year,* with the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimating *it will export 6.5 million tons of rice in 2012 compared with India&#8217;s 9.75 million tons and Vietnam 7 million tons.*

&#8220;In my and many other opinions, the government&#8217;s rice-pledging scheme is very extreme and is clearly a vote-buying policy,&#8221; says Kreetha. &#8220;It is the worst political policy in the history of Thailand.&#8221;

As enemies of the state&#8217;s rice scheme have queued up to criticize Yingluck&#8217;s government, most have pointed fingers squarely at her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has calmly defended the policy in exile where he remains on the run from a two-year prison term for corruption. A day rarely passes without a Thai newspaper reporting on efforts by Yingluck to smooth her brother&#8217;s passage back to Thailand.

Meanwhile, the main farming areas in the north of the country remain as supportive of the current government as they were of Thaksin when he was in power from 2001 to 2006.

In a poll last month by Khon Kaen University in the northeastern Isan region (which includes Nakhom Phanom province), 81% of respondents said they supported the government&#8217;s overall performance, even if only 46.8% backed its performance on the economy, a figure much lower than in many other areas including the coalition&#8217;s handling of democratization, social issues like crime and drug use, foreign policy, and environmental protection.

Suthin Wainwiwat, director of E-Saan Poll which conducted the survey, said as long as the Shinawatras continue their populist policies aimed at the millions of families who farm in the north they will remain unstoppable at the ballot box, no matter the criticism in Bangkok.

*&#8220;They support Yingluck because they hope that Thaksin will be able to come back and help them again,&#8221; *he said.

How Rice is Causing a Crisis in Thailand - The Diplomat

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Selling to China & Indias Middle Class  Its a Vietnam Manufacturing Play*

Op-Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis





Mar. 20  Later this week, Ill be speaking at the U.S. Department of Commerce Hot Market Watch event in Cincinnati. My (two) keynote lectures are about China and Vietnam, and with a little bit of India thrown in for good measure. The reasons for this are that the market dynamics over the global supply chain, the subsequent manufacturing base for that, and the opportunity to sell to more Asian consumers than ever before are all shifting. Its something Im looking forward to  having seen our firm, Dezan Shira & Associates, through 20 years of foreign investment advisory work in China. Six years ago we moved to do the same in India and, four years ago, to Vietnam. We spotted these changing dynamics way back, invested ourselves in these markets, and are now primary advisers to foreign investors throughout the emerging Asia region

Read more


*Private equity looks to Vietnam and Indonesia - survey*

By Costas Pitas

LONDON | Sun Dec 9, 2012 7:01pm EST

Dec 10 (Reuters) - Higher prices for companies in North America and political and regulatory risks in China are leading private equity investors to consider the emerging markets of southeast Asia, a survey has found.

Private equity firms that raised money from pension funds, insurers and endowments on the promise of delivering superior returns, have unearthed few deals in China and have competed fiercely for the businesses they can find, pushing up prices.

The trend to higher prices is echoed in private equity's largest market, the United States, where the supply of cheap financing from lenders has given buyout firms the firepower to pay more for companies.

Nascent Asian economies such as Indonesia and Vietnam were favoured by one fifth of investors over the region's more mature markets including China and India, according to a survey conducted by private equity firm Coller Capital.

Over half of the 131 investors questioned said the industry had been too optimistic about China and 69 percent felt the same about India citing issues around politics, corruption and regulation.

"It's partly a matter of people understanding the risks better and partly a matter of increasing competition, as more and more money, both domestic and international, chases deals in China," Jeremy Coller, Chief Investment Officer at Coller Capital told Reuters.

The Coller findings, based on a survey of investors in private equity funds from North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, also reflect concerns over the long-term future of investment in the United States.

Two thirds of North American investors said that the poor performance of initial public offerings (IPOs) - when a company is first floated on the stock exchange - was likely to last for the foreseeable future.

"One of the universals is certainly the weight of legislation and the extra cost. Becoming a public company is more costly and more onerous in terms of regulation than it used to be," Coller said.

Global IPO activity has been weak following the 2008 financial crisis although an improvement in new share issuance towards the end of the third quarter could pave the way for a rebound in 2013, bankers have said.

U.S. leveraged buyout deals were up 27 percent in the first three quarters of 2012 compared with the previous year, and 96 percent higher in the third quarter at $28.9 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Private equity firm CVC last month hired banks to sell a stake in Indonesian department store Matahari, hoping to double the value of its investment within just two and a half years.

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## ahfatzia

*Farming in the sky in Singapore*


SINGAPORE - With a population of five million crammed on a landmass of just 715 square kilometers, the tiny republic of Singapore has been forced to expand upwards, building high-rise residential complexes to house the country's many inhabitants.

Now, Singapore is applying the vertical model to urban agriculture, experimenting with rooftop gardens and vertical farms in order to feed its many residents.






Currently only 7% of Singapore's food is grown locally. The country imports most of its fresh vegetables and fruits daily from neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as from more distant trading partners like Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Chile.

An influx of immigrants has resulted in a rapid crowding of Singapore's skyline, as more and more towering apartment buildings shoot up. And meanwhile, what little land was available for farming is disappearing fast.






The solution to the problem came in the form of a public-private partnership, with the launch of what has been hailed as the "world's first low carbon, water-driven rotating vertical farm" for growing tropical vegetables in an urban environment.

The result of a collaborative agreement between the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and a local firm, Sky Green, this venture aims to popularize urban farming techniques that are also environmentally friendly.

With a robust economy that boasts a gross domestic product of US$239.7 billion, Singapore has plenty of money. "But money (is) worthless without food," according to Sky Green Director Jack Ng.







_full story_: Asia Times Online :: Southeast Asia news and business from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam

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## ahfatzia

*Retailers leave China for Southeast Asia *






_Lotte Mart&#8217;s third store in Vietnam, which opened on Nov. 29._


*Department stores, discount store chains and other retailers,* which rushed to set up presence in China over the past few years, *are increasingly turning their eyes to Vietnam and other rapidly growing Southeast Asian nations.*

Some retailers have decided to downsize their operations in the world&#8217;s second largest economy, with others completely pulling out due to falling sales and rising costs. *Korean and other foreign firms doing business in China have been hit by excessive competition, growing regulatory risks, and soaring labor and other expenses.*

In contrast, Southeast Asia, which has been growing at a steady pace despite the ongoing global economic downturn, has emerged as the Eldorado for local retailers seeking to find new consumer markets. They have begun establishing operations in the region to target tens of millions of increasingly wealthy consumers there.

According to retail industry sources, Thursday, *Shinsegae and Lotte _ Korea&#8217;s two largest retail giants *_ have decided to scale down their operations in China, which have failed to make money.

*E-Mart, the country&#8217;s largest discount store chain *affiliated with Shinsegae Group, used to run 27 outlets in China. But over the past two years, it has shuttered 11 money-losing stores. The remaining 16 are still in operation but unlikely to post profits this year.

&#8220;We have completed the overhaul of our China business. So, things will be much better for our unit there this year and beyond,&#8217;&#8217; an E-Mart spokesman said. &#8220;We will focus more on rapidly growing urban centers in southeastern and northern parts of China.&#8217;&#8217;

*E-Mart also plans to enter Vietnam for new business opportunities. In cooperation with Vietnamese investment group U&I, it will open the first E-Mart store in Hanoi in 2013.*

&#8220;We will place top priority on expanding our presence in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations to capitalize on the growing consumer market and foreign business-friendly environment. We look forward to doing business there,&#8217;&#8217; the spokesman said.

The situation is not much different for retail units of Lotte Group. Lotte Department Store plans to complete the sale of its Beijing outlet early next year. The store has been incurring losses since opening in 2008. In 2011, it lost 28.1 billion won ($26 million).

In contrast to its shrinking China operation, Korea&#8217;s largest department store operator plans to build new branches in Southeast Asia. *Lotte will open a store in Jakarta next year and in Hanoi in 2014.*

*Lotte Mart, the group&#8217;s discount store unit that currently operates 100 outlets in China, 30 in Indonesia and three in Vietnam, has also begun putting greater emphasis on Southeast Asia.*

&#8220;The region holds a huge potential for growth. We will focus more on Indonesia and Vietnam to take advantage of growing consumer markets,&#8217;&#8217; a Lotte Mart spokesman said. &#8220;We just opened our third store in Vietnam and plan to set up two more next year. We have seen faster sales growth in the two countries than China.&#8217;&#8217;

*Bakeries in Southeast Asia*

Korea&#8217;s bakery franchises have also established a strong presence in the region to seek new revenue sources with the local market having reached saturation point.

*Paris Baguette of SPC Group, the country&#8217;s largest bakery operator,* *set up its first Southeast Asian store in Ho Chi Minh City in March. It opened its second store in Singapore in September.*

It operates 102 stores in Beijing, Tianjin and other Chinese cities. In the U.S., 21 Paris Baguette bakeries are run by local units in Los Angeles and New York.

Another major local bakery *CJ Foodville&#8217;s Tous les Jours, *which entered the region in 2007, *aims to become the largest bakery franchise in the region by sales in 2013.*

*It has set up bakery shops in Vietnam and Indonesia and is expanding its business in the Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia.*

The company currently operates a total of 42 outlets in the region and will open more to cater to young consumers, many of whom are hallyu fans.

Retailers leave China for Southeast Asia | THEAsiaN

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## ahfatzia

*Asean Chair Urges North Korea to Call Off Rocket Launch*


Phnom Penh. Cambodian Prime Minister and Asean chairman Hun Sen urged North Korea Monday to scrap a planned rocket launch, saying it would bring "fear and tension" to the region.

Pyongyang on Monday pushed back the window for the controversial planned launch by a week to December 29, but stressed it was pressing ahead with the mission in the face of international condemnation.

"In the name of the Asean chair, I appeal to North Korea to postpone the launch forever," Hun Sen said in a speech on national radio. "The launch will bring no benefits but only fear in the region and tension."

The premier said he had "the right to speak out" after foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations failed over the past week to reach agreement on a draft statement about the launch.

Hun Sen said his Foreign Minister Hor Namhong had been in talks with Asean counterparts but they could not reach "a consensus" on Cambodia's draft. He did not elaborate.

Pyongyang extended the December 10-22 window for the launch by a week due to a "technical deficiency," the Korean Committee of Space Technology said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea says the rocket launch is a peaceful mission aimed at putting a satellite in orbit.

The United States and its allies view it as a disguised ballistic missile test banned under UN resolutions prompted by the North's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

Asean Chair Urges North Korea to Call Off Rocket Launch | The Jakarta Globe


It's good to see ASEAN participation in international geopolitical matters.

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## nufix

s


ahfatzia said:


> *Retailers leave China for Southeast Asia *
> 
> 
> In contrast to its shrinking China operation, Korea&#8217;s largest department store operator plans to build new branches in Southeast Asia. *Lotte will open a store in Jakarta next year and in Hanoi in 2014.*
> 
> *Lotte Mart, the group&#8217;s discount store unit that currently operates 100 outlets in China, 30 in Indonesia and three in Vietnam, has also begun putting greater emphasis on Southeast Asia.*
> 
> &#8220;The region holds a huge potential for growth. We will focus more on Indonesia and Vietnam to take advantage of growing consumer markets,&#8217;&#8217; a Lotte Mart spokesman said. &#8220;We just opened our third store in Vietnam and plan to set up two more next year. We have seen faster sales growth in the two countries than China.&#8217;&#8217;
> 
> 
> Retailers leave China for Southeast Asia | THEAsiaN




There are already many local retails such as Indomart and Alfamart which have retail stores up to village and sub-district level. They are not going survive long in Indonesia, Carrefour Indonesia has been bought by Indonesia's firm Trans corp, and soon Giant mart will be acquired too. That's why in Indonesia, it is hard to find foreign retail stores like walmart.

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## Zero_wing

Philippine Exports up&#8593; 6.1% to $4.4 Billion USD in October 2012 | Rebuilding for the Better Philippines


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## ahfatzia

*China Seeks &#8216;Good Relationship&#8217; With ASEAN*


*China,* the world&#8217;s most populous nation,* is not likely to take any hard-line economic policy toward Indonesia and other **Southeast Asia nations that make up Asean*, as its incoming president, Xin Jinping, takes power in March.

*&#8220;China needs to make a good relationship with Asean. Since 2000, China has seen Asean as one potential trading bloc,&#8221; *Richard Tan, executive board chairman at the Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association said on Friday.

*&#8220;It shook hands with Asean for a free-trade pact before Asean had set up one with Japan and Korea,&#8221;* he spoke after a seminar attended by Indonesian graduates of Tsinghua University in Beijing at the Borobudur Hotel.

China Daily reported on Sept. 22 on its website that* Xi*, in addressing the annual China-Asean Business Investment Summit in Nanning, Guangxi province, *wanted a stronger trade and economic relationship between China and the Association of* *Southeast Asian Nations* despite a dispute over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Asean&#8217;s 10 members are Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Richard was confident that the rising tension would not derail China&#8217;s intention to forge a stronger economic tie with the bloc. The Philippines and Vietnam protest intrusions by China into areas that the two nations claim are part of their territories. 

*Xi Jinping will be more moderate ... his country is getting bigger, it means a bigger responsibility and more difficult to govern. It will be hard to make any sharp maneuver, including derailing the already good relationship with overseas partners,&#8221; *Richard said.

ICEA was established in Indonesia by prominent ethnic-Chinese enterpreneurs like Liem Sioe Liong, who is the founder of Salim Group; Eka Tjipta Wijaya, who is the founder of Sinar Mas; and Sukanto Tanoto, who is the founder of Royal Golden Eagle International.

The organization has played an important role in promoting Indonesia in China and abroad through trade fairs, investment and trade seminars, publications, education and training.

*Asean has been among the top destinations for Chinese companies. Bilateral trade jumped to $292.78 billion in 2010 from $7.96 billion in 1991,* according to Xinhua, the Chinese state media. *The two economies seek to achieve $500 billion in trade by 2015, through a free-trade pact that was signed in 2004 and was implemented in 2005,* according to a report by China Daily.

China confirmed its economic strength on Sunday with the release of some economic figures. Its *National Bureau of Statistics announced that there was a double-digit increase in production at factories, workshops and mines for the first time since March, suggesting that the world&#8217;s second-biggest economy is weathering the effects of global slowdown.*

*Rizal Sukma, the executive director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies &#8212; a Jakarta-based think tank *&#8212; *said Asean should take advantage of a chance to boost trade with China, just as growth in western economies is slowing. China&#8217;s influence is rising and is challenging the United States&#8217; economic dominance, he said. *

*&#8220;We should maintain all economic cooperations that are possible,&#8221; *he said.

Indonesia had good relations with China during the presidency of Sukarno in the 1950s and early &#8217;60s. That relationship turned under President Suharto, a strong anti-communist, but has strengthened in the past decade.

China Seeks ?Good Relationship? With Asean | The Jakarta Globe

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## Reashot Xigwin

What's happening to the ASEAN we know & love 

*Experts Suggest Asean Take a Vote To Make Decisions*
Jakarta Globe | November 20, 2012





_
Seven of the 10 Asean leaders, including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, far right, join hands for a photo at the 21st leaders summit in Phnom Penh on Monday. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad) Seven of the 10 Asean leaders, including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, far right, join hands for a photo at the 21st leaders summit in Phnom Penh on Monday. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)	_

*With leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the brink of failing to agree on how to handle the South China Sea disputes, experts here have suggested that the 10-nation bloc abandon its consensus decision making to allow it to decide on divided issues.*

*&#8220;It could be the end of Asean as we know it. There will be too many divided issues for them to get a consensus every time. Different positions toward South China Sea has proven it,&#8221; said Bantarto Bandoro, an international relations expert from the Indonesia Defense University.*

*&#8220;To be able to survive, Asean must use non-Asean ways, such as voting to reach a decision.&#8221;*

*Bantarto said by adopting a voting system to make decisions, the bloc could become a more credible organization as it would always be able to come out with a solution.*

&#8220;Having a vote for a decision-making process would make them stronger from outside influences that can tear them apart, such as from China and the United States,&#8221; he said.

*In its 45 years of existence, Asean has followed the so-called &#8220;Asean way,&#8221; which has been based on consensus decision-making in a sense that rejection of any one member would prevent the group from making a decision.*

*Meanwhile, Aleksius Jemadu, dean of Pelita Harapan University&#8217;s School of Social and Political Sciences, said that by the end of the day all Asean members would prioritize their perceived national interests and abide by domestic pressure rather than following loose regionalism such as Asean.*

*&#8220;What has Asean offered? Many people within the Southeast Asian region don&#8217;t feel the benefits of having Asean around. So, it&#8217;s pretty clear that the members would put their respective interests, in this case their territorial integrity, over Asean unity,&#8221; he said.*

Both Bantarto and Aleksius agreed that when it came to national interests, such as territorial claims, Indonesia could not do much to bridge the gap.

*Asean members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, have claims to parts of the sea. But China insists it has sovereign rights to virtually all of the sea. In an attempt to challenge China, the Philippines and Vietnam have relied on US support while Cambodia, the current chair of Asean, has been a close ally of China.*

In a display of polarizing between China and the United States, the 10 Asean members have been divided during their summit on Sunday and Monday in Phnom Penh, on whether or not to come out with a legally-binding code of conduct for the South China Sea.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in their meeting on Monday that all 10 members of the bloc had agreed at a leaders&#8217; summit on Sunday to not &#8220;internationalize&#8221; their disputes over rival claims to the South China Sea.

*However, Philippine President Benigno Aquino abruptly raised his hand and tersely interjected. &#8220;There were several views expressed yesterday on Asean unity which we did not realize would be translated into an Asean consensus,&#8221; he said, according to his spokesman. &#8220;For the record, this was not our understanding. The Asean route is not the only route for us. As a sovereign state, it is our right to defend our national interests.&#8221;*

Alternative diplomatic routes for the Philippines would likely involve the United States, a close ally that has said it has a national interest in freedom of navigation through the South China Sea&#8217;s vital shipping lanes. Cambodia&#8217;s political and economic ties with China have strengthened in recent years. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s very difficult to reach a consensus for the South China Sea issues. The Philippines will not budge while Cambodia will continue to protect China&#8217;s interests. It will end up like the July meeting,&#8221; Bantarto said.

An Asean foreign ministers&#8217; meeting in Phnom Penh ended in July without issuing a joint communique for the first time in the bloc&#8217;s 45-year history because of divisions over how to handle the issue.

Additional reporting from Reuters, AFP

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## nufix

*Indonesia's Wheat Imports Set to Jump at Least 19% on Flour Tax*

Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was a chilly afternoon in 1993 at a rubber plant forest in Kampong Cham. Soehardjono Sastromihardjo, now Indonesian ambassador to Cambodia, was riding with a United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia convoy on a mission to supervise the country&#8217;s first general election, when a group of Khmer Rouge guerrillas appeared and stopped the convoy. 

*AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers were pointed at the trucks, ready to fire;* a slight misstep could have resulted in disaster. 

Without thinking, Soehardjono *shouted: &#8220;Indonesia, Indonesia!&#8221; *

Almost instantly *the guns were lowered and the guerrillas retreated.* 

&#8220;That shows how high our name was held in Cambodia,&#8221; Soehardjono said in Siem Reap over the weekend, recalling the incident. &#8220;And it is still true now particularly among the political elites.&#8221; 

Indonesia was involved in advanced talks in Cambodia during the late 1980s. Known as the *Jakarta Informal Meeting,* Indonesia was trying to help put an end to *Vietnam&#8217;s invasion of Cambodia,* in what some observers called the Third Indochina War (1978-91). 

Despite these close ties, however, *Indonesia has been slow to benefit from trade and investment with Cambodia,* often finding itself behind other countries eager to get a foothold in the country. Indonesia&#8217;s exports to Cambodia last year were worth about $220 million, according to Soehardjono. That is a tiny drop in the *$12.3 billion in total trade *that Cambodia did last year. 

China and Thailand made up more than half (52.5 percent) of Cambodia&#8217;s imports of $6.9 billion last year, while the United States accounts for the lion&#8217;s share of Cambodia&#8217;s exports (41.5 percent), according to the CIA World Factbook. 

&#8220;We must capitalize on our close political assets for better economic ties,&#8221; Soehardjono said. He spoke in an interview with the Jakarta Globe, which was invited by the Indonesian government to attend an Asean meeting this week. 

Mohamad Helmi, business development director of Galuh Prabu Trijaya, an Indonesian trading company, echoed the sentiment. 

&#8220;I came to start a business here seven years ago,&#8221; Helmi recalled, *&#8220;I found Cambodians disappointed. They wondered why, right after peace, Indonesians stopped coming here.&#8221; *

Helmi said the Cambodian government has been very accommodating to investors, and encourages more Indonesian businesses to come to the country. 

Talks to push business ties between the two countries have been held. Soehardjono said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen asked three things of Indonesia on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Bali, last November. He wanted Indonesia to import rice from Cambodia, have direct flights between the countries and invest in its telecommunications sector. 

Cambodia has exported rice to Vietnam, Thailand and Europe. 

&#8220;Ironically, we import rice from those two countries,&#8221; Soehardjono said. &#8220;Why don&#8217;t we import directly from Cambodia?&#8221; 

Hun Sen asked for direct flights between Indonesia and Cambodia to boost tourism in the two countries. A province in Central Java has a &#8220;sister temple province agreement&#8221; with Cambodia&#8217;s Siem Reap province. As part of the agreement, the Central Java government suggests that tourists at Borobudur Temple visit Angkor Wat Temple, and vice versa. 

&#8220;That arrangement won&#8217;t work if it takes a whole day to travel between the two places,&#8221; Soehardjono said. 

A tourist flying on Malaysia Airlines from Jakarta to Siem Reap, for example, would have to spend four hours on the plane and another four hours in transit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. 

The third request from Hun Sen was for Indonesian telecommunications company *Telekomunikasi Indonesia to invest in Cambodian telecommunications provider CamGSM.* Telkom pulled out of the bidding in October last year prior to the talks, partly because of price differences. 

*Cambodia&#8217;s economy has been growing at 6 percent annually for the last two years, pointing to a promising future for investors in the country. *

Soehardjono said it was now up to the Indonesian business community to enter the Cambodian market. &#8220;Our consumer products are in high demand, in particular our pharmaceuticals, which they regard as having good quality,&#8221; he said, adding that agricultural machinery, fertilizer and tires from Indonesia were also well received. 

Helmi said the agricultural sector in Cambodia was lucrative with low labor costs and improving yields. 

And foreign investors can hold up to a 100 percent stake in Cambodia, though that could change in 2015. &#8220;So, if my fellow Indonesians want to come to Cambodia, the time is now,&#8221; he said.

Indonesia Bonding With Cambodia in Trade | The Jakarta Globe


I wish Indonesia's businessman would stop thinking that business prospect in Cambodia is low. In the meantime, Cambodia has great agriculture products which Indonesia needs because Indonesia can't provide them by itself, many of Indonesia's agricultural fields were turned into rails, road links, power plant, and Industrial parks following industrialization plan by Mr. Vice President. If Indonesia able to invest modernized plantation and farming like in Nigeria, Indonesia may be able to gain benefit from crop sharing.

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## nufix

*Indonesian Firm Seeks to Build Nuclear Medicine Factory in US*

Indonesia&#8217;s state-owned nuclear technology firm Batan Teknologi (BatanTek) plans to build a nuclear medicine factory in the United States by 2013 to produce radioisotopes for the US market.

Indonesia&#8217;s State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said on Tuesday that BatanTek&#8217;s president director, Yudiutomo Imardjoko, was currently in the United States to negotiate details of the plan with US officials, among others.

He said the subsidiary of the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) has been exporting radioisotopes for medical purposes to several countries in Southeast Asia, and will start shipping them to China and Japan as well next month.

The US market has also expressed interest in BatanTek products. However, shipping is problematic due to radioisotopes&#8217; nuclear instability, thus the plan to build a production factory in the United States.

&#8220;I&#8217;ve approved of [the factory proposal]; we expect to conquer the US [radioisotope] market,&#8221; Dahlan said, adding that BatanTek had developed a new radioisotope technology that even the United States did not yet have.

He further said construction of the factory was expected to be completed in 2013, and that BatanTek was in the process of recruiting Indonesian graduates with nuclear expertise to prepare for its operations.

&#8220;We will also coordinate with the state minister for research and technology [to support the operations],&#8221; Dahlan said, as quoted by the Indonesian news portal vivanews.com.

Indonesian Firm Seeks to Build Nuclear Medicine Factory in US | The Jakarta Globe

Despite the news, having decades of experience in nuclear technology, and exporting radioactive materials, yet Indonesia hasn't put interest in building Nuclear Power Plant.

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## ahfatzia

*ASEAN launches disaster emergency logistics system *








*The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) has officially launched a Disaster Emergency Logistic System for ASEAN.*

The launch of the system indicates an ongoing process for improving disaster management in the region and its existence will complete AHA Centre&#8217;s roles.

*&#8220;The Disaster Emergency Logistic System is developed to ensure a quick availability of emergency relief items that can be accessed by member states following medium to large-scale disasters&#8221;, Executive Director of AHA Centre, Said Faisal said *in a press release.

According to Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN for Socio-Cultural Community, Alicia Dela Rosa Bala, the fact that an operational AHA Centre, which is ready to complement the efforts of governments and lead in a regionally-coordinated disaster response if such an action is requested and becomes necessary, is quite remarkable. It is a testament to the commitment of ASEAN leaders to realising the vision of a disaster-resilient community.

*After its establishment on 17 November 2011, the Jakarta-based AHA Centre has been functioning conducting disaster risk monitoring on daily basis, generating and sharing information to the National Disaster Management Organisations (NDMOs) in ASEAN member states.*

*Soon after disaster strikes, AHA Centre deploys its team to conduct rapid assessments, and to deliver aid to affected ASEAN member countries*./.VNA

ASEAN launches disaster emergency logistics system -- Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)


ASEAN nations are prone for many natural disasters and, hopefully, AHA Center can alleviate some of the sufferings.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*ASEAN services to flood RI*
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Thu, December 13 2012, 12:02 PM

Indonesia is slated to ratify the eighth package of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) next year, which will further open the country&#8217;s service sector to regional players.

The deal is a prelude to the establishment of the ASEAN single market in 2015 that will see free flows of labor, trade and services among the association&#8217;s member nations.

AFAS ratification will affect sectors related to telecommunications, business services, education, tourism, health, recreation and logistics, covering around 22 subsectors, according to the Trade Ministry.

The agreement is expected to strengthen Indonesia&#8217;s commitment to the liberalization of the sectors by 2015.

&#8220;In 2015, companies [from other ASEAN nations] will be able to have as much as 70 percent of foreign equity participation in Indonesia,&#8221; said the ministry&#8217;s director for trade and service negotiations, Sondang Anggraini, on Wednesday during a workshop hosted by the ministry.

The government is preparing several legal frameworks to further regulate the service trade that will help local firms to achieve greater gains from liberalization, such as by selling services to other countries, according to Sondang.

&#8220;The policy will help shift the country&#8217;s source of foreign currency from the export of goods to the export of services,&#8221; Sondang said.

In recent years, Indonesia has seen a rise in the contributions made by the service sector to its economy.

Service-related sectors accounted for 53.13 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, up from 48.20 percent in 2006.

Indonesia Logistics and Forwarders Association (ALFI) executive director Theo Kumaat was cautious about liberalization in the logistics sector, as it would severely impact local logistics players still struggling with output inefficiency.

According to Theo, Indonesia&#8217;s high costs of doing business had undermined its performance relative to its regional peers.

Indonesia ranks 59th on the World Bank&#8217;s 2012 logistics performance index, lower than fellow ASEAN members Vietnam and the Philippines

Despite the low ranking, Indonesia has seen a significant improvement in logistical handling competency and tracking systems, according to the World Bank.

&#8220;Most of our local companies are not yet ready to compete with regional players. If the government insists on liberalization, I am afraid that local players will only deal with subcontracting work to serve foreign companies,&#8221; Theo said.

The logistics sector, according to Theo, was still grappling with a shortage of skilled local workers. Opening more doors for more skilled foreign workers could result in jobs filling up once liberalization takes place.

In anticipation of changes in labor regulations, local stakeholders are planning to set up an institution that will establish standards and certifications for both local and foreign workers.

Liberalization of logistics services under the eighth AFAS comprises two major sectors: packaging and freight transportation, including maritime, freight, rail and road transportation; cargo handling services; storage and warehousing; freight transportation agency services; and courier services.

Indonesian Logistics Association (ALI) chairman Zaldy Masita said the government should keep the 49 percent cap for foreign ownership in local firms ahead of 2015.

&#8220;In general, our domestic players are not ready because there are so many issues that have yet to be addressed by the government. Only big local firms will thrive under liberalization,&#8221; he said.

At present, several foreign companies own majority stakes of up to 95 percent in local logistics firms as they operated before the government included logistics on a list of investments restricted for foreign entities in 2010. At present, foreign ownership is capped at 49 percent.






*Papua to enjoy broadband next year*
Mariel Grazella, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Wed, December 12 2012, 11:48 AM





Indonesia&#8217;s easternmost province of Papua will connect to high-speed Internet later than scheduled after the Communications and Information Ministry said that broadband would make headway into the province in 2013.

Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said that as many as 27 provinces across Indonesia now had access to broadband Internet via the Palapa Ring.

*The Palapa Ring is a project aimed at linking Sumatra, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua to eight existing network connections, or backhauls, via approximately 35,380 kilometers of undersea and 2
1,870 kilometers of underground fiber-optic cables.*

*Fiber optics, unlike copper cables, enable fast data transmission, a prerequisite for broadband Internet. The ministry and a consortium of telecommunication companies kicked off the project, worth US$700 million, in 2009 and targets its completion by 2014.*

&#8220;The establishing of broadband connections has been carried out across the provincial capital cities located on Java island,&#8221; he said on Tuesday.

He added that major cities and industrial hubs including Jakarta and its surrounding areas, as well as Bandung and Semarang, were already connected to broadband Internet.

*However, five cities still have to wait until next year for broadband connections. &#8220;The cities include Jayapura, the capital of Papua, Manokwari [West Papua capital], and Ternate [in North Maluku], in addition to Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi and Ambon [Maluku capital],&#8221; he said.*

He added that broadband penetration across the 27 provinces was &#8220;still low, lower than 12 percent&#8221;. &#8220;Ideally, the penetration rate should be at 100 percent,&#8221; he said.

*He added that the government aimed to connect all major cities and industrial hubs in Indonesia with broadband connections by 2015.*

*&#8220;Our target is to even connect homes with fiber optic cables,&#8221; he said.*

*Under the national broadband plan, the government plans to transform Indonesia into a knowledge-based society by 2015 by improving Internet access. By 2020, the government expects the country to have gone digital through the application of e-government initiatives.*

However, besides the still low Internet penetration rates, e-government schemes have lagged. Several regions have pushed back the disbursement dates for electronic identification, or e-KTP.

Tifatul said the contribution of information technology, which includes the Internet, toward the gross domestic production (GDP) has risen in the last decade.

*A study by the World Bank shows that a 10 percent rise in broadband penetration would increase GDP by 1.38 percent.*

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## ahfatzia

*Cambodia snubs critical UN envoy*








*The UN human rights envoy to Cambodia voiced regret Friday at an apparent snub by government officials adding he was also "surprised" by criticism he has received for highlighting rights abuses.*

Surya Subedi, UN special rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Cambodia speaks to the media in Phnom Penh on May 9, 2012. Subedi voiced regret Friday at an apparent snub by government officials adding he was also "surprised" by criticism he has received for highlighting rights abuses.

*"I very much regret that I was not able to interact with government interlocutors this time," *Surya Subedi told reporters in Phnom Penh, after a trip to Cambodia concluded without the usual meetings with senior officials.

*"I would be looking to hear directly from the government, from appropriate channels, as to the reasons why,"* he said.

The snub comes after Subedi published reports this year expressing concern over an uptick in violent land conflicts, freedom of speech restrictions and a perceived lack of independence in the court system.

*Strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen indicated on Thursday that he had no intention of meeting Subedi, warning against people acting "like the bosses of Cambodia".
*
*"I don't have time to meet him and listen to his advice,"* he said in a speech on national radio. *"Why is it for me to take responsibility before foreigners?"*

*It marks the second time Hun Sen has openly lashed out at Subedi, after urging the Nepal-born envoy in October to "go and help his own country"*.

Subedi, who became UN special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia in 2009 after his predecessor resigned amid a war of words with Phnom Penh, said he was taken aback by the personal attack.

*"I must say I am a little surprised by the reaction to some of my recommendations," he said. "The focus should remain on the substance of what I am recommending, and not on me as a person."
*
But he added that he was "hopeful" of returning to a normal working relationship with the government soon.

*The Cambodian government has faced mounting criticism from rights groups in recent years for allegedly cracking down on dissidents and protesters in cases that are often linked to land disputes.*

Subedi expressed "serious concern" in the high-profile case of jailed government critic and radio station owner Mam Sonando who was denied bail by a court of appeal on Friday.

*US President Barack Obama told Hun Sen last month that his government's human rights violations were "an impediment" to better bilateral ties.*

Cambodia snubs critical UN envoy | Bangkok Post: news

...............


*Thailand militants vow more attacks on teachers*






_Bomb squad members inspect the site of a roadside bomb attack by suspected separatist militants on an army vehicle in Thailand's restive southern province of Narathiwat. _


BANGKOK: *Thailand pledged on Friday to tighten security for teachers in its restive south as a leaflet campaign threatened further violence against educators amid widespread school closures over safety fears.*

*Two teachers were shot dead on Tuesday *in the latest in a spate of attacks on educators. Lessons have been halted at around 1,200 schools this week in the Muslim-majority south, where nine years of unrest have cost thousands of lives.

*Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana told reporters that "officials must intensify security measures" for teachers, often targeted by militants who see the education system as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist culture.
*
Leaflets threatening further violence against educators, timed to coincide with a visit to the region on Thursday by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, have also raised the stakes, said Phongthep.

"We have to seriously beef up security for teachers," he said, adding that authorities hoped increased safety measures for some 20,000 teachers in the region would enable schools to reopen on Monday.

*The leaflets, which were not signed by any group, read "The war is not yet over, don't count the teachers' corpses yet", said Sanguan Intarak of the local teachers' association.
*
He said they were believed to have been distributed in Songkhla province, which borders the restive region, because security is lighter in the area.

*Near daily attacks - including shootings, bombings and even beheadings - mean violence is a part of life for many in Thailand's southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
*
*More than 5,300 people, both Buddhist and Muslim, have been killed since the unrest reignited in 2004, *according to Deep South Watch which monitors the unrest.

*The violence has left 157 educators dead and the United Nations this week said it had claimed the lives of more than 50 children.*

Tuesday's violence saw a headmistress and teacher shot dead at a school in Pattani, while a separate attack at a teashop in Narathiwat left five dead, including a baby girl.

Last week in Narathiwat a 32-year-old teacher was killed by gunmen as she left school on Monday and another teacher was shot and wounded the following day.

In the latest attack in the region, Narathiwat police said six soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the province early Friday.

Thailand militants vow more attacks on teachers - Channel NewsAsia


Thailand must safeguard her students and teachers.


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## Reashot Xigwin

> *Government must end cheap wages policy to compete globally*
> Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post | Reportage | Tue, December 11 2012, 11:26 AM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Tofu heaven: Several workers make tofu at a factory in Duren Tiga, South Jakarta. Many tofu producers are categorized as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but so far they are not exempt from having to pay the newly increased minimum wages. All companies are permitted to file a request to postpone paying the higher wages in certain conditions.JP/Nurhayati Tofu heaven: Several workers make tofu at a factory in Duren Tiga, South Jakarta. Many tofu producers are categorized as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but so far they are not exempt from having to pay the newly increased minimum wages. All companies are permitted to file a request to postpone paying the higher wages in certain conditions.JP/Nurhayati_
> 
> *While executives have complained that recently approved wage hikes smell of populism and capitulation to unions, several economists say that the increases reflect a needed update of the cheap labor policy of previous decades.*
> 
> *Cheap wages are no longer suitable with global standards, according to economist Payaman Simanjuntak, a professor at Krisnadwipayana University in Jakarta.*
> 
> Indonesia, one of a few countries recording growth of 6 percent or more, must meet industrial and labor standards set by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and other world financial institutions to maintain its economic performance and to compete with other developing countries, Simanjuntak said.
> 
> Decent work and decent pay are prerequisites, because its economic performance will be considered unreal if ISO standards in management and human resources development are not fulfilled, Simanjuntak said.
> 
> *Indonesias neighbors are also being pressured to pay workers higher, including Vietnam, which employers often refer to as a more competitive place to invest compared to Indonesia. In early December, its government agreed to an increase by 16 to 18 percent, or between US$79 to $113 a month.*
> 
> The ILO and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will continue to watch the details of the nations economic development, he told The Jakarta Post recently. Among other things, the ADB has warned Asian nations of the need to reduce growing income gaps to avoid social and political troubles.
> 
> Simanjuntak, who also served as director general of industrial relations and labor standards at the Manpower Ministry from 1993 to 1995, hailed the local decisions to raise the minimum wage as significant.
> 
> He said the increases were a starting point for ending the nations cheap labor policy and to implement ILO Convention No. 131/1970 on the minimum wage and other basic conventions, such as those covering overtime compensation, equal treatment, decent work and pay.
> 
> *Simanjuntak said the cheap labor policy was inherited from the New Order, when Soeharto and his authoritarian regime attempted to court foreign investment to speed development and ease
> unemployment.*
> 
> In a fierce competition with China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, the New Order government offered investors various facilities such as tax incentives, tax holidays and cheap labor, Simanjuntak said. To implement the pro-investment policy, the manpower minister was given full authority to set the minimum wage across regions and investors were allowed to call on the military and police to settle industrial disputes and strikes, leading to many protests from national and international labor and human rights bodies.
> 
> During the 32-year New Order era, foreign investment generated millions of job opportunities and domestic investors also enjoyed a pro-investment development policy, Simanjuntak said. However, the global community is currently more sensitive to human rights and democratization, he added.
> 
> *Simanjuntak acknowledged that regents, mayors and governors have used the minimum wage issue for their personal political gains, with some resorting to setting much higher levels for the minimum wage for 2013 than was recommended by local commissions comprised of workers and business representatives that were tasked with advising the leaders.*
> 
> *Under the New Order, Soeharto also set sectoral minimum wages to support workers employed in growing sectors, such as mining, manufacturing and services.*
> 
> Irianto Simbolon, the director general of industrial relations and social security affairs at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, said that the minimum wage, first implemented in 1963 under Sukarno, was aimed at providing a social safety net. It was necessary to avoid abuse, with too many unemployed people ready to fill the jobs of complaining workers.
> 
> In the reform era, the government can no longer continue to spoil investors by maintaining its cheap labor policy and giving away various facilities and incentives.
> 
> Irianto and Simanjuntak separately said that the government should reform its wage policy for civil servants in accordance with the minimum wage policy.
> 
> They said that the government was also violating the 2003 Labor Law and the minimum wage policy, as most civil servants holding senior high school and university diplomas had been paid far below the minimum wages.
> 
> Civil servants with an S-1 [university diploma] and zero job experience are paid only Rp 1.8 million [US$186.92] per month, while high school graduates working in private companies in Jakarta will be paid Rp 2.2 million in minimum per month, Simanjuntak said.
> 
> Annual schedule of setting minimum wages
> 
> Agustus-September: Pre-surveys of basic commodity prices
> 
> Early October: Survey of 60 wage components in local markets
> (revised Ministerial Decree No. 17/2005)
> 
> Mid October: Provincial tripartite wage committees start discussing wage hikes based on survey results, inflation, economic growth and employers financial capability; committees then submit recommendations to provincial governments.
> 
> November:
> 1. Governors issue decrees on provincial minimum wages and sectoral minimum wages
> 2. Governors with provinces hosting industrial estates usually agree to recommendations from regencies and municipalities
> 3. Employers can submit official objection to the provincial minimum wages
> (Ministerial Decree No 231/2003)
> 
> December:
> 1. Tripartite wage committee in regencies and municipalities discuss market survey results, and factor in inflation, economic growth and companies average financial capability. They then submit recommendations on wage hikes in the regions.
> 2. Governors officiate wage hikes in regencies and municipalities
> 3. Employers can submit official objection to regional minimum wages
> 
> January in following year:
> 1. Provincial or regental/municipal minimum wages takes into effect
> 2. Government accepts or rejects employers objection to wage hikes
> 
> 
> _Source: Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration_





> *Workers greet new wages*
> Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post | Reportage | Tue, December 11 2012, 11:18 AM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Palace protest: Workers rally in front of the Presidential Palace. The strike on Nov. 21 was part of a series of rallies on labor welfare ahead of when the new minimum wage takes effect on New Years Day. JP/Ricky YudhistiraPalace protest: Workers rally in front of the Presidential Palace. The strike on Nov. 21 was part of a series of rallies on labor welfare ahead of when the new minimum wage takes effect on New Years Day. JP/Ricky Yudhistira_
> 
> Ongoing pressure to increase the minimum wage will be a disadvantage to everybody in the long run, employers say  while workers have greeted the new decisions on the new minimum wages, to be effective in the New Year.
> The Jakarta Posts Ridwan Max Sijabat looks at the controversy in the following reports.
> 
> Workers in industrial estates in Riau Islands, West Java and Jakarta hailed the significant raises in wage as a starting point to live decently  like other people, workers said they can now save a little and have a bit of recreation.
> 
> Enny Chorifah, 19, who works at an electronic spare parts manufacturer in Muka Kuning industrial estate in Batam, said if her labor contract was extended she might be able to save, or to shop a little more, with the wage increase by 46 percent to Rp 2.04 million (US$220) from the current Rp 1.4 million.
> 
> Unlike those living in rented bedrooms outside the industrial estates, we stay at the companys dormitory, so I can go shopping at least once in two weeks for groceries or other things, she told The Jakarta Post by telephone.
> 
> Enny, a senior high school graduate from Magelang, Central Java, has been employed for six months on a contractual basis, with monthly pay of Rp 1.4 million. She and her fellow workers get meals but do not receive any transportation allowance in compensation for the dormitory.
> 
> *With the wage going up to Rp 2.04 million from January and with overtime payments, I could earn around Rp 3 million per month and put aside around Rp 500,000, or send it to my parents in my village, she said.
> 
> The Batam mayor has approved the increase in the minimum wage from the current Rp 1.4 million to Rp 2.04 million.*
> 
> *Winda Salmona, 20, a garment worker in Pulogadung industrial estate, East Jakarta, said she appreciated the first-ever significant increase from the current Rp 1.5 million to Rp 2.2 million 43 percent.*
> 
> *With an expected promotion to permanent status in December, thanks to the newly issued Ministerial Decree No. 19/2012 on outsourcing, as many as 300 contract-based workers in the garment factory will be promoted to permanent workers with a basic salary of Rp 2.2 million, she said. With transportation and meal allowances, we can take home a total of Rp 3 million each month while workers will be registered with the Jamsostek social security programs, she said.*
> 
> Windas friend Danny Wirastati, a fellow high-school graduate from Indramayu, West Java, said with the real wage increase, they would be able to rent a larger room outside the industrial estate, purchase higher quality belongings, enjoy recreation centers at least once a month and save.
> 
> The two workers appreciated new Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo. Despite the soaring price of basic commodities in the city, low-wage workers will survive and enjoy economic progress, said Danny, secretary of the textile and garment unit of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (KSBSI) in the company.
> 
> Danny thanked the Jakarta administration, which considered not only basic prices, but also economic growth, companies financial capacity and the inflation rate to uphold social justice.
> 
> Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar appreciated the decision made by regional heads to endorse the significant increases in provincial, regental and municipal minimum wages.
> 
> He said they would improve workers purchasing power and stimulate national economic growth through more consumption.
> 
> *We could no longer maintain the cheap labor policy, which in the end has created vulnerable groups with no access to good nutrition, better education, better health care and social justice. If the poor condition continues, we will be creating an uneducated, unhealthy and underdeveloped society, he said, citing the higher minimum wage in neighboring Malaysia.*
> 
> The minister said the minimum wages were the minimum salary level in regions allowed by the labor law for a single worker without any considerations of competence, job experience and productivity.
> 
> *The minimum wage is a social safety net for individuals to allow them to meet their basic needs, and to live as individual human beings, the minister said. Employers paying below the minimum level were exploiting their workers, he said.*




You guys don't know How Happy I am right now.  At last the Indonesian laborer is finally treated like a human being. I'm from a family of upper middle class, but during a college field trip I work as a laborer and proud of it. I know the hardship of the working class because I experienced it & finally they have taken the first step toward it

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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> You guys don't know How Happy I am right now.  At last the Indonesian laborer is finally treated like a human being. I'm from a family of upper middle class, but during a college field trip I work as a laborer and proud of it. I know the hardship of the working class because I experienced it & finally they have taken the first step toward it



Personally, The first I heard the government agree to elevate the minimum wage for laborers, I was afraid that the companies, foreign companies to be precise, will leave Indonesia immediately to find another source of cheap labor force in countries without strict work regulations, namely Cambodia, Laos, or maybe Vietnam, the same thing happened during the end of Soeharto's era that kicked our butt down to the poorest countries in the region. But then I realized that nowadays, foreign companies share in Indonesia's stock market are declining fast down to minority stake holders , and Indonesian local companies hold almost half of total shares in the market, now I am sure that the government have done the right thing, because those local companies will not going anywhere but Indonesia and will be encouraged to produce more goods because its consumers now have more money to be spent, and more more potential costumer from the new members of middle income class.


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## Reashot Xigwin

nufix said:


> Personally, The first I heard the government agree to elevate the minimum wage for laborers, I was afraid that the companies, foreign companies to be precise, will leave Indonesia immediately to find another source of cheap labor force in countries without strict work regulations, namely Cambodia, Laos, or maybe Vietnam, the same thing happened during the end of Soeharto's era that kicked our butt down to the poorest countries in the region. But then I realized that nowadays, foreign companies share in Indonesia's stock market are declining fast down to minority stake holders , and Indonesian local companies hold almost half of total shares in the market, now I am sure that the government have done the right thing, because those local companies will not going anywhere but Indonesia and will be encouraged to produce more goods because its consumers now have more money to be spent, and more more potential costumer from the new members of middle income class.



What haven't you heard the news the same thing happen everywhere in SEA, even in Singapore.


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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> What haven't you heard the news the same thing happen everywhere in SEA, even in Singapore.



Yes I have, and that what made me think that the government was making a good decision for the laborers and the workforce.


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## ahfatzia

*Death toll from Typhoon Bopha tops 1,000 in the Philippines*



_Residents gather their belongings after their house was destroyed by strong winds brought about by Typhoon Bophal earlier this month._


(CNN) -- The grim toll from a typhoon that devastated southern Philippines earlier this month continues to climb, with 1,020 reported dead as of Sunday morning, authorities said.

Officials fear the toll from the December 4 storm will rise further. Because while rescue crews continue searching, the chances of finding people alive dim with each passing day.

With 844 still missing and 1.2 million families displaced, Bopha is the strongest and deadliest storm to hit the Philippines this year, according to the country's emergency management agency.

Among the missing are hundreds of fishermen who went to sea before the storm hit. Officials hope that they could yet be found sheltering on small islands out at sea.

If the death toll continues to rise, Bopha could eventually prove deadlier than Tropical Storm Washi, which killed 1,268 people a year ago.

But its toll would still remain far below that of Tropical Storm Thelma, the country's most lethal storm on record that left more than 5,000 people dead in 1991.

The worst of the death and destruction from Bopha took place on the southern island of Mindanao, where the storm hit first and hardest with gusts as strong as 220 kph (138 mph).

The storm, known locally as Pablo, was the most powerful typhoon to hit Mindanao in decades. It set off flash floods and landslides that engulfed people sheltering in their rickety houses in remote, unprepared regions of the island.

Death toll from Typhoon Bopha tops 1,000 in the Philippines - CNN.com


More contributions by ASEAN nations are needed. Poor souls, RIP for the dead and fast recoveries for the livings.

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## Zero_wing

ahfatzia said:


> *Death toll from Typhoon Bopha tops 1,000 in the Philippines*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Residents gather their belongings after their house was destroyed by strong winds brought about by Typhoon Bophal earlier this month._
> 
> 
> (CNN) -- The grim toll from a typhoon that devastated southern Philippines earlier this month continues to climb, with 1,020 reported dead as of Sunday morning, authorities said.
> 
> Officials fear the toll from the December 4 storm will rise further. Because while rescue crews continue searching, the chances of finding people alive dim with each passing day.
> 
> With 844 still missing and 1.2 million families displaced, Bopha is the strongest and deadliest storm to hit the Philippines this year, according to the country's emergency management agency.
> 
> Among the missing are hundreds of fishermen who went to sea before the storm hit. Officials hope that they could yet be found sheltering on small islands out at sea.
> 
> If the death toll continues to rise, Bopha could eventually prove deadlier than Tropical Storm Washi, which killed 1,268 people a year ago.
> 
> But its toll would still remain far below that of Tropical Storm Thelma, the country's most lethal storm on record that left more than 5,000 people dead in 1991.
> 
> The worst of the death and destruction from Bopha took place on the southern island of Mindanao, where the storm hit first and hardest with gusts as strong as 220 kph (138 mph).
> 
> The storm, known locally as Pablo, was the most powerful typhoon to hit Mindanao in decades. It set off flash floods and landslides that engulfed people sheltering in their rickety houses in remote, unprepared regions of the island.
> 
> Death toll from Typhoon Bopha tops 1,000 in the Philippines - CNN.com
> 
> 
> More contributions by ASEAN nations are needed. Poor souls, RIP for the dead and fast recoveries for the livings.



They will be fine they will rebuild they will start all over again


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## Viet

*PH, Vietnam set to hold joint bilateral cooperation meeting next year*
By Fat Reyes - INQUIRER.net
6:59 pm | Friday, December 14th, 2012






_Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh_






_Erlinda Basilio INQUIRER PHOTO_


MANILA, Philippines  Officials from the Philippines and Vietnam met on Friday and talked about preparations for the *7th Joint Commission Bilateral Cooperation* (JCBC) to be held next year, which would involve discussions on defense cooperation and maritime issues, among others.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy and newly-delegated Philippine ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio met with Vietnams Vice Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Quang Vinh in Manila to talk about the preparations.

The JCBC will discuss the implementation of the *Philippines-Vietnam Action Plan 2011-2016*, which covers cooperation on political, defense, security, economic, fisheries, agriculture, forestry, environment, science and technology, energy, education, cultural and tourism, social welfare and development, and maritime and ocean concerns and issues, it said.

DFA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez said that issues on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) were always tackled in the context of maritime cooperation.

Hernandez noted that on maritime cooperation, the meeting discussed the establishment of hotline communication channels between the *coast guards *of the two countries, a memorandum of agreement in search and rescue at sea, and another memorandum of agreement in oil spill preparedness and response.

Hernandez also stressed that the meeting was only in preparation for the JCBC, which he said was being conducted regularly by the two countries to discuss and review their bilateral relations.

*China *claims nearly the entire West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), believed to be rich in oil and gas resources, while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, have overlapping claims to some or all of those same areas. Recent weeks have seen a rise in tensions in the sea disputes, with the Philippines asking China to clarify media reports saying Chinese authorities had authorized its forces to interdict ships entering what Beijing considers its territorial waters.

Both the Philippines and Vietnam have also refused to stamp Chinese electronic passports bearing the image of a map of its nine-dash sea claims as part of their protests to Chinas sovereignty claims to nearly the entire West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

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## Viet

ahfatzia said:


> *Death toll from Typhoon Bopha tops 1,000 in the Philippines*
> More contributions by ASEAN nations are needed. Poor souls, RIP for the dead and fast recoveries for the livings.



Indeed ASEAN nations shall think of establishing of emergency funds and rescue wrokers for such cases.


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## Zero_wing

Viet said:


> Indeed ASEAN nations shall think of establishing of emergency funds and rescue wrokers for such cases.



Well we do the Emergency system of ASEAN and we been getting help from every expect china hahahaha


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## nufix

*Indonesia's state oil company Pertamina to acquire ConocoPhillips Algeria unit.*

Amahl S. Azwar, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Tue, December 18 2012, 9:51 PM

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina announced on Tuesday that it had signed the sales and purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire the Algerian unit of the Texas-based energy company ConocoPhillips.

Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post that the acquisition would allow the firm to take over North ConocoPhillips Algeria Ltds stake in Block 405A in the North African country.

Block 405A comprises of three main oil fields: Menzel Lejmat North, Ourhoud and EMK.

North ConocoPhillips Algeria currently has a 65 percent participating interest in Menzel, of which the firm is also the operator. The company, a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, owns a 3.7 percent and 16.9 percent stake in the Ourhoud and EMK fields respectively.

This year, Block 405A has produced 35,000 barrels of crude oil per day, of which 23,000 barrels of oil per day go to ConocoPhillips.

The acquisition is expected to boost Pertaminas oil output significantly from 23,000 barrels of crude oil per day to 35,000 barrels of oil per day in 2013 as the EMK field is projected to begin its production, she said.

Karen declined to reveal the total investment for the plan as negotiations were ongoing.

Pertamina, who also has the chance to increase its reserves by 100 million barrels of oil from the purchase, expects the acquisition process to be finished in the first half of 2013.

Currently, the planned acquisition is still dependent on the Algerian government-owned oil company Sonatrach, which is the partner of ConocoPhillips at the block, and has the first right of buying stakes.

In addition, Pertamina is also waiting for the agreement of the Algerian government before finalizing the planned acquisition.

We are ready to form a strong, close partnership with Sonatrach in a bid to maximize the output from the oil block, Karen said. (lfr)

Pertamina to acquire ConocoPhillips

Surely Pertamina has awaken from its long sleep after 1998 crisis and started to acquire more oil companies.

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## nufix

*Analysis: Yet another record-setting jump in (Indonesian) consumer confidence*

Debnath Guharoy, Roy Morgan | Business | Tue, December 18 2012, 11:15 AM







The KADIN-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index jumped up, yet again, in the month of November. Touching 154.5, the rating climbed by 3.9 points to another *new record high since surveying began in 2005.* Confidence is now 9.3 points higher than it was a year ago in November 2011 when it stood at 145.2.

This month&#8217;s gain was driven by two major indicators. The first, increasing confidence in future economic conditions in Indonesia. The second, increasing confidence that now is a &#8220;good time to buy&#8221; major household items.

*A large and increasing majority of Indonesians, now 92 percent up 4 points, expect Indonesia will have &#8220;good times&#8221; economically over the next five years.* This is now at the* highest level *ever recorded, compared to only 8 percent, down 4 points, who expect &#8220;bad times&#8221; economically. 

*In terms of the short term economy, 82 percent up 2 points, expect Indonesia will have &#8220;good times&#8221; financially during the next 12 months.* This compares most favorably to the 17 percent down 3 points who think we have &#8220;bad times&#8221; ahead of us.

*Today, 61 percent of Indonesians say &#8220;now is a good time to buy&#8221; major household items.* Up by another 3 points over the previous month, this too is a new record high. In contrast, 34 percent down 2 points, believe &#8220;now is a bad time to buy&#8221; major household items. This is the lowest level for over seven years, ever since June 2005. Coincidentally, but not surprisingly, the number for &#8220;main income earners&#8221; who earn less than Rp 1 million (US$103.73) each month as a percentage of all principal breadwinners, is exactly 34 percent. Spare a thought for them, Indonesia&#8217;s under-privileged, who continue to do it tough each month. These are the extended families, with multiple earners helping several generations under the same roof eke out an existence. For them, it is never a good time to buy a big-ticket item for the home.

But some of them also believe their lot will improve. That&#8217;s because 67 percent of Indonesians, up 1 point, expect their family to be &#8220;better off&#8221; financially this time next year. In comparison, only 2 percent down 2 points, expect to be &#8220;worse off&#8221; financially. As for the here and now, a robust 42 percent down 2 points, continue to say their family is &#8220;better off&#8221; financially than a year ago. A mere 10 percent of the population down 1 point, feel their family is &#8220;worse off&#8221; financially than a year ago. Most of them hail from the poorest sections of our society. The good news is that this measurement is also at the lowest level ever recorded. For the rest, about half the population, the situation today is neither better nor worse. That&#8217;s the perception. More often than not, perception is reality.

Commenting on the latest KADIN-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence results, KADIN chairman Suryo Sulisto said yesterday: &#8220;*Exports are down. Commodity prices are down*. But *Indonesia&#8217;s consumer economy keeps on pushing forward*. The *local *consumer continues to *behave as if the global financial crisis is an alien*, foreign, anything-but-Indonesian problem. It is this kind of confidence, this kind of spending that puts Indonesia&#8217;s consumer economy in a class of its own. Where else would anybody want to invest?&#8221;

That is a good question for many prospective investors, both local and foreign, to mull over. Those who read yesterday&#8217;s supplement on Indonesia&#8217;s economic outlook published by this newspaper would also conclude *there isn&#8217;t another marketplace quite like Indonesia.*

Investors came in droves during 2012. Foreign Direct Investments were at record levels, at pace with consumer confidence. Much of those investments were in new factories, assembly lines and offices for consumer goods and services. *This year&#8217;s history looks set to repeat itself next year.* If it does, we can expect these good times to keep on rolling at least for Indonesia. That will make the slogan &#8220;Remarkable Indonesia&#8221; ring true again. On the world stage, Indonesia&#8217;s consumer economy will be one of very few exceptions. Among G20 nations, it is the exception. Everywhere you look, there is opportunity.

Even Indonesia&#8217;s problems are opportunities, more so because they are not insurmountable. The country&#8217;s central bank, Bank Indonesia, has kept a firm hand on the till and moving it in the right direction as and when required. The military has conducted itself with grace, silent in the barracks, lending a helping hand when called upon to assist the people. The media has kept a watchful eye on the goings-on, exposing the rich and powerful. If the judiciary, the legislature, the police and the provincial bureaucracies did their jobs to similar standards, the nation would be in better shape. If infrastructure development and the fight against corruption get the attention they deserve, the results would put Indonesia at the top of the heap of major developing economies. These are all big &#8220;ifs&#8221; but the wish-list is neither long nor daunting. Democracy has taken root firmly in Indonesia. Lamentably, it has brought with it all of its systemic evils.

The monthly KADIN-Roy Morgan Indonesian Consumer Confidence Rating is based on 2,069 face-to-face interviews conducted throughout Indonesia, not just a handful of cities. The survey includes the Top 21 cities, smaller cities and towns as well as many more villages in the rural hinterland, reflecting all of Indonesia. Men and women aged 14 and over were randomly selected during the month of November 2012.

The writer can be contacted at Debnath.Guharoy@roymorgan.com

Analysis: Yet another record-setting jump in consumer confidence | The Jakarta Post

Indonesia's economic development relies on its own people, global financial crisis seems to have a little impact to Indonesia's export sector but that doesn't harm Indonesia's growing percentage as Indonesians consume what are produced in Indonesia, the money is circling inside the country will not be affected by the global money which is financially worsening day by day.

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## nufix

*Indonesia's Waskita Karya to begin road, bridge projects in Timor Leste*

Tassia Sipahutar, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Thu, December 20 2012, 10:31 AM

State construction firm PT Waskita Karya will expand its operations to Timor Leste in 2013. It has entered into talks with the Timor Leste government on carrying out several projects in the country, the company announced in Jakarta on Wednesday.

This would be Waskita&#8217;s first foray into Timor Leste since the latter&#8217;s secession from Indonesia, according to Waskita president director Mohammad Choliq. &#8220;We have a historical and emotional connection with Timor Leste because we undertook much construction work there in the past. Now, we are planning to commence new operations in the country,&#8221; he said.

The planned works, which will connect the capital Dili to neighboring districts, will include the construction of a 20-kilometer road, a steel-framed bridge and a 15-kilometer medium voltage transmission line.

It expects to begin the Rp 500 billion (US$51.82 million) projects in the second half of 2013. Unlike its other foreign construction work, Waskita will act as the main contractor in Timor Leste.

The company began expanding its operations overseas in 2006. So far, it has carried out projects in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which include a financial center in Abu Dhabi and an apartment tower in Dubai.

In those two countries, it always acted as a subcontractor to construction firm the Saudi Binladin Group due to Waskita&#8217;s limited foreign contacts, Choliq said, adding that it considered its overseas projects to be a training ground.

Waskita&#8217;s finance director, Tunggul Rajagukguk, said that between January and November 2012, overseas projects contributed Rp 500 billion to the company&#8217;s total revenues, which amounted to Rp 7 trillion.

The company has also secured two new projects for next year in Saudi Arabia. It will build an office and apartment complex, and a parking area in Riyadh. Each project will cost around Rp 120 billion and will take up to 12 months to complete.

Waskita expects its revenue to grow by 26.4 percent to Rp 11.5 trillion by the end of 2013, excluding income from the Timor Leste work. 

On Wednesday, the newly publicly listed Waskita saw its share price climb 10.5 percent on its first day of trading at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The price then rose to Rp 490 apiece, a 28.9 percent increase from the Rp 380 initial public offering (IPO) price.

The shares, traded as &#8220;WSKT&#8221; closed at Rp 445 apiece on Wednesday, 17.1 percent higher than its IPO price. Waskita became the 23rd and final company to be listed on the IDX this year. It is also the 18th formerly state-owned enterprise that has gone public.

The company gained Rp 1.17 trillion by selling 3.08 billion, or 32 percent, of its enlarged shares to the public. About 75 percent of the shares&#8217; buyers were local investors.

As previously reported, Waskita plans to use 60 percent of the IPO funds as working capital and the remaining 40 percent to finance its business expansion. Of the planned business expansion funds, it will allocate 15 percent to the development of its precast concrete factory in Benoa, Bali; 15 percent for its realty business; and 10 percent for toll road investment.

By November 2012, Waskita&#8217;s total assets stood at Rp 7 trillion, while its liabilities and equities reached Rp 6.2 trillion and Rp 800 billion, respectively.

Waskita Karya to begin road, bridge projects in Timor Leste | The Jakarta Post

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## EastSea

*India, ASEAN Upgrade Strategic Partnership*










NEW DELHI &#8212; India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have decided to elevate both their economic and strategic relationship at a two-day meeting in the Indian capital to mark 20 years of ties. As tensions rise in the South China Sea, India and Southeast Asian countries have also called for closer maritime security cooperation.

Setting their sights on more than doubling trade over the next decade, India and the 10 ASEAN-member countries have reached a free trade agreement in services and investments. This will facilitate movement of business people and professionals between India and the economically vibrant Southeast Asian countries.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the agreement &#8220;transformational.&#8221; He points out that India and ASEAN's 1.8 billion people are nearly a quarter of the world&#8217;s population, and the region has a combined gross domestic product of $ 3.8 trillion. 

&#8220;I am optimistic that our trade will exceed $100 billion U.S. by 2015 and we should aim for the milestone of $200 billion U.S. 10 years from now,&#8221; Singh said.

To achieve this target, several Southeast Asian leaders stressed the need to improve air and road links between India and ASEAN countries. Prime Minister Singh echoed the call as he greeted a car rally that reached New Delhi Friday after winding its way through Southeast Asian countries. 

&#8220;Our future will be driven by the bonds of connectivity we build in the coming years, the prime minister said. "These physical bonds will be strengthened by digital links which will help our younger generations to network better. Together this web of linkages will help unleash the vast economic potential of our region, accelerate development and deepen our strategic partnership.&#8221;

India and ASEAN also decided to intensify &#8220;maritime security cooperation&#8221; and underlined the need for freedom of navigation. This has become a contentious issue due to competing claims between China and other countries - like ASEAN member Vietnam - over parts of the South China Sea. 

Southeast Asian countries said that it is important to protect vital sea routes in the Indian and Pacific Oceans as the global economy shifts eastward. 

However, Indian Foreign Minister, Salman Khurshid has said that issues of sovereignty needs to be resolved by the countries concerned and India&#8217;s intervention is not required.

In a vision statement, India and ASEAN also spoke of a new strategic partnership that would bring closer security and political cooperation.

India launched a &#8220;Look East&#8221; policy 20 years ago to push trade links with the 10 countries of Southeast Asia and to counterbalance China&#8217;s dominant role in the region. The two-day meeting, which was attended by heads of nine ASEAN countries, underscored that India&#8217;s profile is rising in the dynamic region.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*From China To ASEAN: Rebalancing Indias Trade*
Posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 by 2point6billion.com	





New Delhi has actively worked with Beijing to address its massive bilateral trade deficit. However, it has another option. India can seek greater economic integration with ASEAN and substitute its imports from China with that of ASEAN. The India-ASEAN Summit on December 20 would be a good place to start.

By Spike Nowak & Daniel Jacobius Morgan

Dec. 19  In August 2012, at the ninth meeting of the India-China Joint Group on Economic Relations, Trade, Science and Technology in New Delhi, the main point of concern for Indias Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma, was the widening trade deficit between the two countries  $40 billion for the year ending in March 2012. Indias trade deficit with China has increased by a massive 4,000% in the last 10 years.

At the meeting, the Indian and Chinese commerce ministers agreed to set up a joint working group to address trade issues, including the trade deficit. However, India has another option. Instead of relying on the working group to fix Indias trade woes, New Delhi can actively seek greater economic integration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is important for India to pursue this option at the next ASEAN-India Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi on December 20-21.

Nearly all the goods that India imports from China could potentially be imported from ASEAN countries. Substituting Chinese imports with ASEAN imports will not decrease Indias absolute trade deficit, but it will reduce the enormous bilateral trade deficit with China. This will result in a more equal trading relationship. UN data indicates that currently more than 50% of Indias imports in 36 product categories come from China. For trade security and diversification, it is important for India to find more sources for some of these products.

In addition to the financial imbalances created by the trade deficit, there is another major problem with the current trading relationship between India and China. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the main products that India exports to China are primary commodities, which are subject to greater price fluctuations and are low on the value chain. In 2011, iron ore alone accounted for 41% of Indias $23 billion worth of exports to China, while cotton and copper accounted for 11.5% and 9% respectively.

According to UN data, China exported more than $7 billion worth of telecommunications equipment and $2 billion in computers to India in 2011, which represents 55% of total imports in these two product categories. Huawei and ZTE, two of the largest Chinese telecommunications companies and major exporters to India, are at the centre of a recent report by the Intelligence Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that highlights the potential security risks to the U.S. of equipment imported from the two firms. These risks might be overestimated, but it is in Indias interests to be cautious. To reduce its reliance on Chinese equipment, India can look to ASEAN nations, which exported telecommunications equipment worth $25 billion and $33 billion in computers across the world in 2011.

India also heavily reliant on chemical imports from China, which are essential to make fertilisers. In 2011, more than 50% of Indian imports of four product categories that include chemicals like nitrogen compounds, heterocyclic compounds, and metallic salts came from China. This reliance on a single source can eventually impact food security in India. ASEAN countries export more than enough of the chemicals in these categories for India to begin diversifying its import sources to ASEAN.

A similar situation exists in other high-value product categories such as electrical machinery, boilers, and medicinal and pharmaceutical products  each of which represents over a billion dollars in imports a year from China.

In April 2002, the Indian governments overtures resulted in the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Singapore, followed by a Framework Agreement on Free Trade Areas with Thailand in October 2003. However, even after a raft of trade negotiations, culminating in the 2009 India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Goods and infrastructure projects to increase connectivity, trade between India and ASEAN remains moribund.

Despite its enormous market, India is still only the ninth largest export destination for ASEAN, purchasing just 3% of ASEANs total exports. Meanwhile, China has become Indias number one source of imports after Chinas entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and due to the sheer size of the Chinese export market relative to other countries.

But there are signs that things are changing  in addition to Singapore and Thailand, New Delhi now has bilateral arrangements with other Asian countries including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan and Malaysia. Evidence suggests that such trade agreements have had a positive, sometimes dramatic, impact on trade.

For example, after the Delhi Declaration in 2005 and the Riyadh Declaration in 2010, bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and India rose from $13 billion in 2006 to $32 billion in 2011 (though this was partly driven by Indias increasing demand for oil). Following the Singapore-India CECA deal in 2004, bilateral trade grew from $7.5 billion in 2004 to $13 billion in 2007. After the 1999 Sri Lanka-India trade deal bilateral trade rose from just over $400 million in 1999 to $2.5 billion in 2006.

For now, the Indian government has focused on FTA for services, rather than goods, because it sees this is as a strong export area. Although increasing exports is important, reducing Indias reliance on Chinese imports is also important. To achieve this, India will have to massively boost its infrastructure to reduce the cost and ease with which goods from ASEAN can be imported. Myanmar and Thailand, for example, have recently signed an agreement to develop an $8.6 billion port facility at Dawei  155 miles from Bangkok  which will allow ASEAN shipping to avoid the congested Malacca straits.

India can also cultivate private investment to construct and expand existing port facilities, especially to supplement the terminals at Chennai and Haldia. India will also require sustained investment in road transport infrastructure; in the short term India can construct roads linking the poorly-connected North East with Myanmar and the rest of India. This will provide an important land route to the ASEAN economies. In addition, industry groups like the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) can play a role in making FTAs more transparent to Indian businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are usually less likely than multinationals to take advantage of Indias trade agreements.

The India-ASEAN FTA in Services, which is likely to be signed on December 20 at the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit, could be a huge fillip for trade in commercial services. But if India is serious about increasing trade with ASEAN, it needs to do more than sign trade agreements.

"Show me the money"

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## Reashot Xigwin

*RI, S&#8217;pore coordinate hunt for Djoko Tjandra*
The Jakarta Post | National | Sat, December 22 2012, 7:48 AM





Indonesian authorities will coordinate with their counterparts in Singapore to track down graft fugitive Djoko Tjandra and a formal letter on the issue will be sent as soon as possible.

&#8220;Soon there will be a joint effort with the Singaporean government,&#8221; Deputy Attorney General Darmono, leading the team formed to hunt down the fugitive, said on Friday.

*In February of this year, Djoko was reported to be living in Papua New Guinea after being granted citizenship there. However, after the Indonesian authorities contacted the Papua New Guinea government and made efforts to repatriate Djoko from the country, the fugitive has reportedly fled to Singapore.*

&#8220;We don&#8217;t know when the official letter will reach the Singaporean government, but the joint efforts will begin soon,&#8221; Darmono was quoted by Antara news agency.

*International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana said the Indonesian government should urge the Singaporean government to help repatriate Djoko, who is responsible for Rp 546 billion (US$56.5 million) in state losses.*

Meanwhile, *the Papua New Guinea government has agreed to establish an extradition treaty with Indonesia, expected to come into effect next month.*

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## nufix

*IRAQ, An Opening For Indonesia Incorporated*

JAKARTA: PT Pertamina said their readiness to initiate the first project of Indonesia Incorporated in Iraq.







Senior Vice President Corporate Investment and Business Development Pertamina Gusrizal said the cooperation between Indonesia and Iraq will fall under the Indonesia Incorporated Program.

This project will include the construction of *power plants, pipelines, housing, hospitals, schools, and fertilizer plants *in the country after the war shattered the country a few years ago.

*The project was initiated by Pertamina and powered by PT PLN (Persero), PT Wijaya Karya (Persero), PT Adhi Karya (Persero), and PT Hutama Works (Persero)* as the subcontractors.

"Iraq is a country with the world fourth largest oil reserve and the country will aggressively increase its oil production to 11 million barrels per day by 2016," said Gusrizal in a seminar entitled Strengthening National Economy Through Indonesia Incorporated held by Bisnis Indonesia in Jakarta, Wednesday (12/19).

Gusrizal said Iraq reconstruction requires a large investment in oil and gas, electricity, construction, agriculture, telecommunications, health, water resource management, petrochemical industry, food and medicine.

"Iraq was chosen because we believe Iraq will thrive. They only constrained by inadequate infrastructure facilities, "he said.

In the process of reconstruction of infrastructures, Iraq requires the involvement of other countries including Indonesia, which has a background of solid bilateral relationship. (t03/msw)

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Dahlan Iskan present the Electric Car Tuxuci.*





_Dahlan Iskan with the "Ferrari esque" Tuxuci. A Pride of the nation._

Jakarta, KompadOtomotif - State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan formally introduce an indigenous electric sports car called the Tucuxi at Bung Karno Stadium in South Jakarta, today (22/12/2012). The two passenger cars were designed by Suryatama Danet, who have worked in the U.S. Chrysler.

Tucuxi appearance is actually a lot slower than the previous plan August 10, 2012, but has done today. "The problem is, the design from these men is created in the U.S., so he can only come into Indonesia every two month.'s Why the process a bit longer," said Dahlan.

Besides, he added, the constraints in battery shipments from the U.S.. "Today, I feel there is still a little problem on the power steering, but easily solved later," said Dahlan who drove himself from his residence in the complex Tucuxi Widya minister Chandra towards the Bung Karno. He said the trip *taken 10 minutes and he had sped up to 120 kph before*.

*According to Dahlan, the battery is fully charged, Tucuxi can walk up to 400 miles or 4 hours. 're Charging takes up to 5-6 hours. Tucuxi done by home modifications Butterfly Night in Yogyakarta since early 2012. The price is priced from IDR. 1.5 billion per unit/around USD 150.000.*


So... Anyone interested in buying one?

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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> *Dahlan Iskan present the Electric Car Tuxuci.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Dahlan Iskan with the "Ferrari esque" Tuxuci. A Pride of the nation._
> 
> Jakarta, KompadOtomotif - State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan formally introduce an indigenous electric sports car called the Tucuxi at Bung Karno Stadium in South Jakarta, today (22/12/2012). The two passenger cars were designed by Suryatama Danet, who have worked in the U.S. Chrysler.
> 
> Tucuxi appearance is actually a lot slower than the previous plan August 10, 2012, but has done today. "The problem is, the design from these men is created in the U.S., so he can only come into Indonesia every two month.'s Why the process a bit longer," said Dahlan.
> 
> Besides, he added, the constraints in battery shipments from the U.S.. "Today, I feel there is still a little problem on the power steering, but easily solved later," said Dahlan who drove himself from his residence in the complex Tucuxi Widya minister Chandra towards the Bung Karno. He said the trip *taken 10 minutes and he had sped up to 120 kph before*.
> 
> According to Dahlan, the battery is fully charged, Tucuxi can walk up to 400 miles or 4 hours. 're Charging takes up to 5-6 hours. Tucuxi done by home modifications Butterfly Night in Yogyakarta since early 2012.* The price is priced from U.S. $ 1.5 billion per unit.
> *
> 
> So... Anyone interested in buying one?



Not USD 1.5 billion, this car is priced IDR 1.5 billion (around USD 150.000) per unit


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## Reashot Xigwin

nufix said:


> Not USD 1.5 billion, this car is priced IDR 1.5 billion (around USD 150.000) per unit



ups salah ketik nih, makasih buat ngasih tau mas


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia Announces New Diplomatic Ties With Nauru*

Indonesia has established diplomatic ties with the South Pacific island nation of Nauru, in a bid to expand opportunities and strengthen ties between the two countries.

*Desra Percaya, Indonesia's permanent representative to the United Nations, said he expected the opening of these diplomatic relations would lead to more opportunities and deepen cooperation in various sectors, especially in the fields of climate change, disaster risk management and South-South cooperation.*

*Nauru is the 183rd member of 193 members states of the United Nations with which Indonesia has established diplomatic relationships. Indonesia had already officiated diplomatic ties with Botswana, Tuvalu and Haiti earlier this year.*

Desra and Nauru's permanent representative to the United Nations, Marlene Moses, marked the occasion with the signing of a joint communique in New York last Friday.

Moses expressed hope that Indonesia would continue to help the small Pacific nations voice their needs in global environmental forums.

*One thing that the Pacific people really remember and appreciate was when Indonesia led a discussion on a climate change resolution in a UN forum, which results in an agreement in line with the interests of Pacific countries, especially in the context of global warming, which threatens the existence of these countries, Moses said in a statement released on the weekend.*

*Nauru drew the attention of Indonesia's media in August after Australia re-opened its detention center in the small island nation to process asylum seekers and refugees arriving by boat to Australia. Indonesia has been a major transit country for these people trying to reach Australia.*

*In November, an Amnesty International team visited the Nauru camp and described it as a human rights catastrophe ... a toxic mix of uncertainty, unlawful detention and inhumane conditions.*


*Indonesia's Tourism Industry Gaining Speed*





Finding flights and accommodations to Bali, Indonesias biggest resort area, might be difficult this time of year, highlighting the country as a destination of choice among foreigners.

*Indonesia is well on its way to meet its target to host 8 million international tourists this year, said Mari Elka Pangestu, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, last week.*

It must be highlighted that until October, the amount of international tourists [visiting Indonesia] was increasing by 5 percent, which is higher than the estimated average growth globally, which is around 3 to 4 percent this year, she said.

*Indonesia secured at least $9 billion in foreign exchange revenue from tourists arriving in the country, a 6 percent increase from last years $8.5 billion, she added.*

*The average spending of international tourists in Indonesia was $1,133.81 in the January-October period, a slight increase from $1,118.26 in 2011, while the length of stay dropped to an average 7.7 days per visit from 7.84 days, Mari said in her year-end statement.*

This is because there is an increase of visits from regional tourists because of an economic slowdown in Europe, she added.
*
Indonesia expects domestic tourism this year to generate Rp 171.5 trillion ($18 billion) in revenue, which would be up 9.3 percent from last year.

She estimated that there will be 245 million trips for all of this year, up 3.8 percent from last years 236 million trips.*

*Domestic tourists spent an average of Rp 700,000 per trip so far this year, up 5.6 percent from Rp 662,680 a year earlier.*

This is in line with the rise of Indonesias middle class, and the increased purchasing power that comes with it.

Investors are feeling bullish on the prospect of the tourism industry in Indonesia.
*
In the first nine months, the country took in $729.7 in direct foreign investment for hotels and restaurants, which shows close to a threefold increase from last year $242.2 million.

While domestic investors poured $86.1 million into the industry, up from $39.4 millio*n.

The ministry predicts a significant increase of international tourists next year, partly because Indonesia will host several world-class events, including the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization, and the Miss World Pageant.

All of the three events will be organized in Bali.

We have set an optimistic target of 9 million international tourists next year, Mari said. This target is a stepping stone for achieving visits of 10 million tourists in 2014.

*The ministry has divided the countrys tourism destinations into seven categories: sports tourism, like diving an d golf; eco-tourism; cruise ship tourism; spa and medical tourism; culture and heritage tourism; culinary and shopping tourism; and tourism from MICE, or meeting, incentives, conferences and events.*

*The ministry incorporated the word creative economy when Mari was reassigned as its minister from the trade ministry last year.*

Mari has repeatedly claimed that Indonesias creative industry contributed around 6 percent to 7 percent to gross domestic product.

*Indonesias creative economy exports, she said, reached $10 billion a year and have the opportunity to keep growing. The creative economy also opened up jobs, employing more than 11 million Indonesians and accounting for 7 percent of job creation in the country.*

Companies from abroad are also converging in Jakarta to do business in Indonesia, filling up hotels and taking prime office space that approaches full occupancy.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*A Smart Grid Can Help Sustain Indonesia&#8217;s Growth*
Sonita Lontoh | December 24, 2012





_Sonita Lontoh, an executive at a leading Silicon Valley smart grid company. _

*With its rapid growth, Indonesia faces a daunting challenge to upgrade its various critical infrastructures &#8212; from roads to airports to energy infrastructure. Yet the price the country will pay in failing to invest in its infrastructure is enormous.*

*Last week, once again, we saw Indonesia&#8217;s largest airport and main gateway crippled by a blackout caused by a breakdown in its electrical infrastructure. More than 100 flights and thousands of people were affected. While this particular occurrence was relatively brief and did not cause any casualties, incidents such as this damage investor confidence and the country&#8217;s image.*

*The country has historically lagged behind its neighbors in infrastructure investments. In 2011, Indonesia spent about 1.7 percent of its gross domestic product on infrastructure, compared to Malaysia&#8217;s 5.4 percent and Thailand&#8217;s 3.6 percent. Experts believe Indonesia needs to spend much more in infrastructure to continue its impressive growth streak.*

*With its inadequate energy infrastructure, Indonesia experiences blackouts relatively frequently. Several years ago, a massive power outage left more than 100 million people &#8212; approximately half of the country&#8217;s 240 million population &#8212; without electricity for hours.*

The Electric Power Research Institute estimated that annual power outages cost the US economy about $150 billion per year. Extrapolating this for the size of the Indonesian economy &#8212; with a GDP of approximately $1 trillion compared to the US GDP of $15 trillion &#8212; power outages have the potential of costing the Indonesian economy of approximately $10 billion per year. This shows a clear need for a smart strategy to generate, distribute and manage the country&#8217;s energy resources to fuel Indonesia&#8217;s growing economy sustainably.

*The country needs to take innovative approaches in the energy sector to answer the challenges of increasing energy demands, inadequate energy infrastructure, and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has set an ambitious plan to cut emissions by 26 percent by 2020, while at the same time setting an economic growth target of more than 6 percent.*

A smart grid can help the country modernize its energy infrastructure by enabling enhanced energy efficiency, improved grid reliability and the integration of more renewable and distributed energy resources.

What is a smart grid exactly?

*While there is no one definition of a smart grid, it is essentially the layering of intelligence across our whole energy value chain &#8212; from generation to transmission to distribution to the homes and buildings, and even to beyond the homes and buildings all the way to distributed energy resources such as smart appliances, solar panels, storage and electric vehicles. By layering this intelligence, the smart grid essentially creates a two-way communication between our energy supply and energy demand, which results in a more balanced and efficient system of energy supply and demand.*

To improve grid reliability, a smart grid can help reduce both the number and duration of outages by quickly pinpointing the cause and in some cases, automatically restoring power quickly. A smart grid can also prevent massive blackouts by isolating an outage and ensuring that it does not cascade to other areas. Recently, some utilities in the eastern United States have found that their investments in smart grid technologies made a difference in the herculean efforts to restore power to millions of customers adversely affected by hurricane Sandy.

As a smart grid is just an implementation of technology, the country needs to have a smart energy strategy that embraces both current and future energy infrastructures. In some areas where the energy infrastructure is non-existent, the country has the potential to leapfrog to smart grids and renewable energy, instead of focusing on building traditional power systems. In other areas where the current energy infrastructure exists but needs upgrading, the country needs a cohesive strategy that up-levels the traditional infrastructure today while at the same time keeps an eye for the advanced needs of tomorrow.

Indonesia has the choice &#8212; and the opportunity &#8212; to overcome many of its energy challenges, such as poor infrastructure, low reliability, supply/demand imbalance, and environmental impacts, through the embrace of a cohesive smart energy strategy for the creation of a smarter grid. With the right choice, Indonesia has the golden opportunity to serve as a role model, not only for Southeast Asia, but also the world.



_Sonita Lontoh is an executive at a leading Silicon Valley smart grid company. She is the recipient of the Indonesian Diaspora award and has been named a Global Emerging Leader under 40._

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## nufix

*Indonesian Oil and Gas is Going Local, SKMigas Says*

Faisal Maliki Baskoro | December 26, 2012

Indonesia is becoming slightly* less dependent on foreign investment* in developing its oil and gas sector, as shown by the increasing number of local investors. 

According to SKMigas, a temporary oil and gas regulatory body at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the total committed procurement value in the oil and gas sector reached $13.74 billion. 

&#8220;Around $8.5 billion, or 63 percent, from that procurement is using local content. We are committed to increasing the use of domestic products to develop our oil and gas sector,&#8221; Gerhard Rumeser, deputy general affairs director at SKMigas, said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The committed procurement value in 2011 was $11.81 billion, with local content accounting for 61 percent. 

The increased local content is partly contributed by state companies as they are engaging more and more in Indonesia&#8217;s oil and gas exploration and production. Gerhard said that this year, state-owned enterprises accounted for $1.69 billion of procurement value, up from $630 million last year. 

*&#8220;In order to protect national interests and to promote domestic participation in the oil and gas sector, we have issued a regulation stating that foreign companies must partner with a national-scale local company to participate in procurement tenders. This regulation is proven to be effective,&#8221; he said. *

Local banks are also encouraged to participate in the oil and gas sector. The government has also made a regulation saying that all procurement transactions use local banks. 

According to SKMigas data, in 2009 local banks booked a transaction of $3.97 billion related to oil and gas procurement. Local banks have booked a total transaction of $22.15 billion cumulatively through November. 

SKMigas is also looking into ways to make costly procurement less expensive. The government regulatory body claimed it has saved $123.97 million in the first half of this year by arranging joint procurement and asset optimization. 

&#8220;Last year, we managed to save $103.5 million. We are optimistic that we can exceed our target of $125 million this year,&#8221; said Hadi Prasetyo, SKMigas head of public relations, security and formality. 

Hadi explained that joint procurement initiatives include contract sharing on helicopters and plane charters with ConocoPhillips, Premier Oil, and Star Energy in the Natuna block and the Riau Islands.

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## nufix

*Raw Commodity Export Ban Sparks Smelter Building Boom in Indonesia*


As the government gears up to* ban all exports of unprocessed commodities,* Indonesia will see *12 new smelters in operation by the end of 2014*, a senior ministry official said on Tuesday. 

The smelters, which will help process the nation&#8217;s mineral and coal output, are owned by local and international companies, said Thamrin Sihite, the director general of mineral and coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. 

In Cilegon, Banten province, steel billets producer Indoferro will build a smelter with a processing capacity of up to 500,000 tons of sponge iron per year. It is expected to be in operation sometime this year, Thamrin said. 

DH Energy and its affiliated coal miner will also build a coal upgrading facility to produce up to *five million tons of high-calorific value coal products for the export market by 2013. *

State-miner Aneka Tambang (Antam) will build smelters in Halmahera, North Maluku, to produce 27,000 tons of ferronickel annually; in North Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, for 120,000 tons of &#8220;pig iron&#8221; annually; and in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, for one million tons of smelter-grade alumina. The smelters are expected to be ready in 2014. 

Ferronickel, pig iron and smelter-grade alumina are all processed commodities . 

A joint venture between Antam and two Japanese companies, Showa Denko and Marubeni Corporation, will produce 300,000 tons of chemical-grade alumina annually with a smelter in Tayan, West Kalimantan. 

*Krakatau Steel and South Korea&#8217;s Posco are also teaming up to build a plant that will produce 3.5 million tons of steel plate, 2.5 million tons of slab steel and 3 million tons of hot rolled coil. Operations are targeted to begin in 2014. *

The government earlier this month issued a regulation to implement a new law that will ban the export of unprocessed commodities. 

*The ban will begin in May for miners in the processing stage and in three years for those in the exploration stage. 
*
*Companies that breach the regulation will face sanctions,including the revocation of their mining licenses and the suspension of their shipping activities. *

The government said earlier that it expects all raw minerals to be processed prior to shipment by 2014. 

_Antara_

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## Viet

*More Vietnamese tourists choose Thailand*
12/29/2012 4:26:08 PM VOV



*The number of Vietnamese tourists to Thailand has jumped 10-fold in the past 12 years*, rewarding the efforts of the Thai Government to attract more Vietnamese visitors. 

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand's HCM City office, more than 530,000 Vietnamese visited Thailand in the first 10 months of this year. In 2000 the number had been a mere 57,000.

Vietnam is the 13th largest tourism market for Thailand. Vietnamese tourists are fairly big spenders in Thailand, said Chutathip Chareonlarp, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand in HCM City. 

Last year it was estimated that *430,000 Vietnamese tourists* spent 13.68 billion THB (US$446 million) in Thailand.

Though the figures for 2012 have not been calculated yet, with tourist arrivals rising by 20-30 percent, the amount could top US$500 million. The average length of stay of a Vietnamese tourist was 6.04 days last year, with an average daily expenditure of THB4,035. The rate of repeat visitors was reported at around 60 percent.

Thailand has the advantage of low prices and plenty of tourist attractions and entertainment options, and its Tourism Authority actively organises familiarisation trips for media agencies in Vietnam.

The top five destinations for Vietnamese visitors are Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Kanchanaburi, and Udon Thani. Destinations gaining popularity include the northeastern region, Samui Island, and Phuket.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*ASEANs Year in Review*
Southeast Asia	
January 01, 2013
By Luke HuntAbout the author
Luke Hunt	


*2012 saw ASEAN making global headlines over the South China Sea, while member nations tackled a host of internal challenges -- some better than others.*






2012 has etched itself into the history books. During the last twelve months Southeast Asia regularly made global headlines largely due to competing territorial claims between China and various neighboring states.

Certainly, the result was not what China hoped for.

Beijing's actions in the South China Sea and claims over the Spratly and Parcel Islands elevated the status of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the global diplomatic stage.

Against this backdrop the United States continued implementing its "rebalance" to Southeast Asia, raising the diplomatic stakes in the confrontation, much to China's irritation.

The issue also divided ASEAN like never before. Several ASEAN members have overlapping claims with China in the South China Sea. Throughout the year Vietnam and the Philippines took the lead in challenging Beijing while Malaysia and Brunei adopted a more muted tone in the dispute.

*Beijing tried to thwart efforts by Manila and Hanoi to establish a united ASEAN position on negotiations with China over its territorial ambitions. China wants to deal with each claimant bilaterally and has resisted efforts to bring the dispute before international courts.*

*Cambodia had a difficult year as chair of ASEAN. Phnom Penh  a long term beneficiary of Chinese aid and soft loans  often times pushed Chinas agenda at summits between Southeast Asian leaders winning it few friends*. A stalemate persists.

*China could often rely on Cambodias legendary former monarch and King Father, Norodom Sihanouk for help in soothing regional relations*. But the man who led Cambodia against the Japanese occupation in World War II, and after independence in 1953, passed away in October.

*The public response to his death was overwhelming and of great concern to Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose government was under constant fire at home and from international human rights groups over allegations of widespread land-grabbing by the rich and powerful and an escalation in the government's use of violence.*

*Environmentalist Chhut Vuthy was shot dead in a confrontation over a land concession given to a Chinese company. Charges against Chhouk Bundith, a district governor who was photographed waving a gun after witnesses said he shot three women at a labor protest, were dropped. Equally incredulous was the jailing of veteran broadcaster Mam Sonando, who was convicted of trying to organize a secession movement*. Mam Sonando, like Chhut Vuthy, also had a habit of criticizing the government, however, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun did not. The pair, after years of legal wrangling, were again jailed for the 2004 murder of Chea Vichea, a prominent union official who did have a habit of criticizing Hun Sen. That decision also outraged human rights groups who argued the pair were simply scapegoats.

*Laos followed Cambodias lead and signaled it was also moving closer to China through a series of billion-dollar-contracts for the construction of dams, roads and railways. In order to achieve this, Laos has committed itself to Chinese banks and profits from the $3.5 billion Xayaburi Dam.*

*The dam will block the mainstream of the Mekong River, endangering fish migration patterns and much needed food stocks in Vietnam and Cambodia where 60 million people depend on the river for their livelihoods. Vientiane ignored objections, led largely by its traditional ally, Hanoi, where Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was having his own troubles with a Communist Party that was angered by his handling of Vietnams economy*. In August, the nations Appeals Court upheld convictions against nine former executives of Vinashin, Vietnams largest ship builder, for misappropriating funds. All had close ties with Dung.

*In stark contrast was Indonesias economy, which enjoyed a stable year ahead of upcoming elections while the countrys Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, positioned himself as a potential regional leader after he patched up differences  If only temporarily  within ASEAN over Chinas advances in the South China Sea.*

*But the jailing of Umar Patek, a leader of the now defunct al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiya (JI) was also a welcome development for Indonesia. Patek was the last of the Bali bombers to be caught by Indonesian authorities*, signaling an end to a horrific decade where the military focus was almost exclusively centered on counterterrorism.

*A peace deal in the southern Philippines between The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the national government has also raised hopes for a more peaceful new year.* The deal is yet to be approved by parliament but, if approved, it should go a long way towards shoring up support for President Begnino Aquino, whose election in 2010 was due in part to his pledge to find a lasting peace in the countrys south.

*While Aquino enjoyed a solid year at the helm the same could not be said for the woman he replaced more than two years ago. Gloria Arroyo was charged with various crimes stemming from her nine years as president and her association with questionable businessmen.*

*Former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will also soon appear before the courts after being charged with the murder of a civilian during a crackdown on anti-government protests two years ago when he was in power. About 90 people were killed and 1,900 wounded during the confrontation between Red Shirts and the military. *

*Current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinwatra, however, had a better year after surviving a no confidence vote and Yellow Shirt protests*. The Supreme Court also ruled in favor of her Peau Thai Party. But problems with Muslim insurgents in the countrys south and the economy persisted. Thailand's biggest fiscal headache was driven by the government's promise to pay rice farmers at higher than market prices for their product. The hope that this policy would push global rice prices higher has not been borne out. Instead, the policy has resulted in Thailand accumulating a mountain of unsold rice and debt.

*While many Southeast Asian countries fared poorly in Transparency Internationals annual corruption survey, Malaysia proved to be an exception. The country climbed to the 54th spot out of 176 countries*, up from 60th a year earlier. The independence of Malaysia's judicial system was also bolstered when the High Court acquitted opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of charges that he and many of his supporters said were politically motivated. His rival Prime Minister Najib Razak kept his political cards close to his chest, fending off demands for electoral reforms while at the same time threatening to call an early poll which never materialized.

Singapore again performed well on the corruption index, ranking as the 5th least corrupt country in the world. Less flattering was another survey that ranked the city-state as the most emotionless place on Earth. Singaporeans were annoyed but such feelings became harder to defend after the government, soon after the surveys release, refused entry to what was believed to be a boat carrying 40 Muslim Rohingyas who had survived being shipwrecked after fleeing the violence in northern Burma. The deportation of immigrant Chinese bus drivers who called a strike  unheard of in Singapore for 26 years  didnt help such perceptions.

New governments were elected in Papua New Guinea, and in East Timor.

But by years end it is Burma that has emerged as the regions greatest hope, despite the continued violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine. Bolstered by an unprecedented visit to his country by U.S. President Barack Obama, Burmese President Thein Sein won over many of his countrys critics as his political reforms continued to make headway. *There was even one suggestion  ludicrous and insensitive  that Thein Sein should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.* But such thoughts were likely dismissed after his *military allegedly launched a surprise and bloody Christmas offensive against rebels in Kachin state*, ensuring Burma will again be topping the international headlines for all the wrong reasons as 2013 gets underway.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Rupiah gains 20 points against US dollar*

Fri, January 4 2013 14:12 |





Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian currency rupiah gained 20 points against the US dollar this morning due to positive European sentiments.

Rupiah traded at 9,645 to the US dollar, strengthening from its initial level of 9,665.

"The Indonesian currency became strong because of positive sentiments from Europe," said Reza Priyambada, an analyst at Trust Securities, on Friday.

Apart from Europe, China also has positive sentiments. So, China's positive sentiments could have been compensated by negative sentiments from the US.

"China's economic data shows positive figures. China's positive sentiments could have been compensated by negative sentiments from the US, where Moody's Corporation will reduce the US credit rating," he said.

According to him, investors are worried because the US government has not agreed to increase the limit of the US debt. This will affect government bond issuance plans in the future.

"Apart from that, Indonesia`s negative trade balance can prevent the Indonesian currency from becoming stronger," he said.

Ariston Tjendra, head of Research Futures Investindo, added that US policy makers are worried that it will be difficult to increase the limit of the US debt, even though the country had been successful in avoiding the fiscal cliff.

"This could reduce the demand for risky assets," he said.
(S038/KR-BSR/O001)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik

COPYRIGHT © 2013



*Govt to redenominate rupiah currency: Official*

Fri, December 7 2012 22:04 |

"The redenomination of the rupiah value will take a long process of about eight years," Director General of State Treasury of the Finance Ministry Agus Suprijanto said. 





Image thx to Dasril Iteza.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government will redednominate the rupiah value beginning in 2014 and will be completed in 2022, a senior Finance Ministry official said.

"The redenomination of the rupiah value will take a long process of about eight years," Director General of State Treasury of the Finance Ministry Agus Suprijanto said here on Friday.

He said the process will start in 2014 if the law to that effect was accomplished in 2013 and its popularization was already carried out in the same year.

The redenomination process is expected to be completed in 2022.

"The draft law on it has been submitted to the House for deliberation from January to June 2013," he said.

Redenomination is the simplification of the rupiah nominal by reducing three zeros in one unit of the currency so that money with a nomination of Rp1,000 will become Rp1.

The redenomination process will start in 2014 and finish in 2018 when the new rupiah with a new nominal will begin to be circulated but the old rupiah type is not yet withdrawn until the process is completed.(*)

Editor: Heru

COPYRIGHT © 2012

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## auspice

*Philippine Economy projected to grow 7.5-8% this year*

MANILA, Philippines - *The Philippine economy is expected to further expand by 7.5 to eight percent this year on the back of heavy election spending, increased infrastructure projects, robust consumer and service sectors, and stronger tourism and gaming industry, economists said.*

In an economic outlook forum yesterday, First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) said they have  a very optimistic outlook for the Philippine economy for 2013.

FMIC chairman Francisco Sebastian said with a 7.1 percent in gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2012, a lower than expected inflation rate of 3.2 percent, gross international reserves (GIR) rising rapid and a debt-to-GDP ratio that has fallen below 50 percent, the Philippines is definitely now on the rise.

The countrys GDP is estimated to grow at 6.3 percent while GIR was at $84.5 billion in 2012.

The countrys international reserves come from governments foreign borrowings, remittances from OFWs and portfolio investments.

OFW remittances will remain resilient, according to FMIC, at four to five percent growth despite the Israeli-Palestine conflict, euro zone debt problem and the fiscal cliff in the US as demand for Filipino workers will be sustained, which will continue to stimulate and intensify domestic consumption.

The economy is in an unprecedented growth momentum, supported by solid fundamentals, Sebastian said.

As a result of robust economic growth, the governments pungent anti-corruption stance that has improved tax administration and with new tax revenue sources, budget deficit will remain low and may not reach P200 billion or 1.5-1.6 percent of GDP. Debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall further and it will be lower than Thailand, FMIC president Roberto Juanchito Dispo said.

Dispo said they also expect a revival of mining companies in order to sustain the resurgence of the manufacturing sector.

Despite the positive outlook, University of Asia and the Pacific (UA & P) economist Vic Abola, for his part, warned of the internal threats that need to be closely looked at.

Abola said growth could be hampered by the peso appreciation as this would redound to slower growth in imports/exports ratio; lower job creation and lower tax collections.

But imports, FMIC officials said, is expected to significantly jump 10 to 15 percent supported by high domestic growth as well as resurgence of the manufacturing sector.

FMIC, in its outlook, said the peso will remain in an appreciation trend and is seen to average at 41 to 42 to the dollar this year. UA&P, on the other hand, sees the peso to averaging 42 to a dollar in 2013. The peso settled at 41 average in 2012.

The power shortage especially in Mindanao, Abola said, would also dampen investment activities in the province which may cause a dent in the entire economy.

The UA&P economist also took note of the threat of possible real estate bubble.

Monetary authorities must also keep track of the inflation rates.

Inflation is anticipated to further drop to an average of 2.8 percent supported by stable food and oil prices. The National Government is spending more money in agriculture in the form of rehabilitation and construction of more irrigation systems, farm-to-market roads and storage facilities. International rice prices have also remained stable due to abundant inventories, FMIC noted.

FMIC said further softening of oil prices is expected as a result of larger surplus with the continued expansion of shale oil and gas output in the US and Russia. Oil price forecast is at $93 per barrel.

Lower interest rates, on the other hand, would affect the income performance of companies, particularly those engaged in financial transactions, FMIC assistant vice president Bede Lowell Gomez said.




*Market breaks 6,000-pt mark: PSEi seen to hit 6,800 this year*






MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine stock market continued its bull run yesterday, breaking the 6,000-point mark for the first time in the 86-year history of stock trading in the country as investors cheered the positive economic news here and abroad.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index rallied by 1.23 percent, or 73.46 points, to post another record close at 6,044.91, which is also the new intraday high.

Analysts are expecting share prices to continue posting robust growth this year, giving investors decent returns on the back of a strong uptick in corporate earnings and the economy. They said the PSEi will likely hit the 6,680 to 6,800-point mark this year. 

All subindices were in the green, led by the mining and oil sector which rose by 1.79 percent or 358.56 points to 20,396.43 while financial firms added 1.57 percent or 24.37 points to 1,576.95.

Advancers outpaced decliners, 107 to 71, while 39 stocks remained unchanged as trading value hit P8.511 billion.

Yesterdays close was the fourth consecutive record high notched by the PSEi since trading resumed on Wednesday, Jan. 2, after pausing for the New Year holidays. The market lodged 38 all-time highs last year.

*We are very proud to have reached and breached the 6,000 level which affirm that market liquidity continues to be strong and investor sentiment remain positive over good news both locally and abroad,* said PSE president and CEO Hans B. Sicat.

Basically, most investors took directions from Wall Streets latest ascent last Friday, Freya B. Natividad, investment analyst at brokerage firm 2Trade-Asia.com, said in a phone interview.

Investors also factored in the benign inflation outlook for the year as well as aggressive government and private spending on top of the first half election spending, Natividad added.

Philippine inflation in December was only 2.9 percent, bringing the full year inflation figures to 3.2 percent that is at the lower end of the central banks 3-5 percent target.

We continue to get good numbers like the benign inflation data last week, said Bede Lovell S. Gomez, assistant vice-president of First Metro Investment Corp.

There is a favorable sentiment coming out from the regional and global market, he added.

Standard & Poors 500 index closed last week at a five-year high as the US evaded the fiscal cliff.

In the local market, most actively traded shares were in the green, led by Megaworld Corp. that surged by 8.82 percent while BDO Unibank Inc. inched up by 0.74 percent.

For the rest of the week, there might be re-testing of new highs, Natividad said, adding that immediate support level is at 5,930-5,960 while resistance is at 6,100.

http://www.philstar.com/business/20...t-breaks-6000-pt-mark-psei-seen-hit-6800-year

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## Viet

*Construction of Vietnam-Cambodia border market begins*
1/9/2013 9:00:00 AM Voice of Vietnam





Cambodia-Vietnam auxiliary border gate

Construction of a Vietnam-Cambodia border market, the first of its kind, commenced at the border between Tay Ninh province of Vietnam and Kompong Cham province of Cambodia on January 8.

A ceremony to mark the occasion was organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Tay Ninh Peoples Committee and the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce. 

When completed, the market will create favourable conditions for local businesses and residents to increase trade and improve their living conditions. 

Covering an area of 1.8 hectares, the market will include a warehouse, loading bay and a kiosk area. 

According to the Tay Ninhs Department of Industry and Trade, VND20 billion (US$1 million) of goods were traded through Chang Riec-Da border gate everyday in 2012.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*10 ASEAN Trends to Watch for in 2013*
By Prashanth Parameswaran
January 4, 2013





Its tough to make predictions, especially about the future, American baseball icon Yogi Berra is often quoted as saying. It is nonetheless interesting to ponder what major events to watch out for in Southeast Asia in 2013. Below is a list of ten things to keep an eye out for in the region in the new year.

*1. How will ASEANs new chief fare?* Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh took over as ASEAN Secretary-General on January 1, 2013. He will have big shoes to fill as his predecessor, Surin Pitsuwan, was a dynamic chief during his five-year term  and some argue its most effective one yet. If Surins task was to make ASEAN a household name, Minhs task, as Ive argued earlier, will be to preserve its centrality in the wake of daunting internal and external challenges. His extensive diplomatic experience will come in handy in achieving the main goals he has outlined, including progress on economic integration and negotiations on the South China Sea. It will also be interesting to see if Minh is able to make progress on some of the reforms Surin has been pushing, such as strengthening the ASEAN Secretariat.

*2. New waves in the South China Sea? *Its a no brainer that the territorial disputes in the South China Sea would make this list. In 2012, it was the subject of tensions between China and the Philippines in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, fierce divisions within ASEAN, and Beijing-issued passports containing the so-called nine-dashed line in a bold attempt to gain recognition for its extensive claims from other states. What will we see in 2013? Will there be progress towards a binding code of conduct on the South China Sea, another wave of assertiveness by China followed by responses by other claimants, or some calm before the next storm?

*3. Will the U.S. rebalance sustain? *The U.S. pivot or rebalance to the Asia-Pacific has been met by a mix of content and skepticism by Southeast Asian states. The skepticism is rooted in the fact that the U.S. heightened presence in the region may not be sustainable because of domestic economic difficulties, divisive politics, distractions in other regions, and the exit of dynamic personalities such as Hillary Clinton and Kurt Campbell. U.S. officials insist that such concerns are overblown. Nonetheless, 2013 will be the year of judgment for how Southeast Asia features in the foreign policy of President Obamas second term.

*4. Can ASEAN unite?* As Ive pointed out before, outgoing ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan has repeatedly stressed that the organizations main challenge will be whether member states can move towards greater regional integration. Despite advances in 2012, setbacks have led ASEAN to delay launching the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by nearly a year to the end of 2015. More important than any deadline though is the extent to which Southeast Asian states can bridge their differences in 2013 in the interest of not only regional unity, but also broader Asian integration which has ASEAN in the drivers seat. 

*5. How robust will growth be? *Some have been fairly bullish about economic growth in Southeast Asia in 2013. The OECDs November forecast posited that growth will begin to return to a robust pre-crisis average of 5.5% which will be achieved by 2017. The group claims the region will be powered by domestic demand growth and private consumption and investment rather than exports, which will insulate it from slowing growth in India and China. Earlier this month, the Asian Development Bank revised its forecast for Southeast Asian growth from 5.2% to 5.3%. But the key will be the extent to which downside risks in 2013  principally enduring problems in Europe and uncertainty in the United States  may dampen growth prospects in the region.

*6. How will Brunei perform in the hot seat?* Turning to specific countries, all eyes will be on Brunei in 2013 as it takes over the ASEAN chairmanship. 2012 was a troubling year for the ASEAN chair Cambodia as it presided over (and some say was responsible for) the organizations unprecedented failure to issue a joint communique amid allegations that China was using its influence on Phnom Penh to split ASEAN. Some fear that a string of smaller or less developed ASEAN countries chairing the organization  Brunei in 2013, Myanmar in 2014, Laos in 2016  is a cause for concern. Though Brunei has traditionally preferred maintaining a low profile, being a South China Sea claimant (unlike Cambodia), it may yet prove a capable leader and take a stronger line against Beijing.

*7. Change or continuity in Malaysia? *Malaysias Prime Minister Najib Razak has to dissolve parliament and call for a general election before April 28, 2013, where his Barisan Nasional (BN) party will seek to recover from the unprecedented 2008 loss of its prized two-thirds majority. Despite presiding over a good economic year in 2012, a string of corruption scandals and growing dissatisfaction among Indian and Chinese voters as well as the youth could cause problems for Najibs party at the polls in 2013. While few expect the worlds longest serving elected political coalition to lose, many expect it to be a closer fight than Najib would like with potential advances by the opposition led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

*8. Will the Myanmar spring endure?* While many continue to marvel at the ongoing reform process in Myanmar, some caution that the progress is still reversible. Several twists and turns along the road could derail or delay change. These include resistance from laggards, cronies, and the still powerful military, protests leading to massive crackdowns, raging insurgencies in ethnic minority areas spiraling out of control, and a deterioration in the health of the aging President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who are both vital to reform efforts. Will the Myanmar spring endure through 2013? 

*9. Is the Philippine diamond forever?* 2012 was an especially good year for the Philippines. Economically, with the country recently registering the highest growth in Asia after China and its stock market repeatedly breaking records, some analysts call it the diamond of the region. Other achievements outside the realm of economics have been notable as well, including the inking of a landmark peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the passage of historic legislation on tax reform, reproductive health and enforced disappearances. President Benigno Aquino III enjoys high popularity ratings and has said 2013 will be an even better year. But 2012 will be tough to beat, and major challenges remain, ranging from the unemployment rate and corruption at home to territorial disputes with China abroad.

*10. What will elections in Cambodia bring?* As early as mid-2012, some were already declaring that the overwhelming victory of Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party in June commune elections meant that it would win a landslide victory in general elections in July 2013. Odds are that Hun Sen will preserve his place in the club of the worlds top ten longest serving political leaders through elections that are far from free or fair. Even so, factors such as the merger of Cambodias two leading opposition parties and discontent over issues like land reform nonetheless present potential, albeit narrow openings for limited contestation and perhaps more opposition seats.

Of course, this list is far from comprehensive. It leaves out other issues and several countries that could steal the show in 2013 as well as potential black swans that are hard to predict. Nonetheless, the ten items presented above illustrate that the year of the snake will hardly be a dull one for Southeast Asia and those who watch the region closely.

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## auspice

*To Heal Divisions, Brunei Must Take Proactive Role in ASEAN Disputes
*
*After a year of intense diplomatic brinkmanship over the management of maritime disputes in the South China Sea, Cambodia passed the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the tiny kingdom of Brunei on Jan. 1. 
*
Recent years have witnessed a dramatic escalation in territorial disputes between China, on one hand, and a number of Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam on the other. However, the past year in particular marked a major deterioration in regional relations, due in no small part to the failure of ASEAN, under Cambodias watch, to adopt a coherent and effective diplomatic solution, be it in the form of a legally binding regional maritime code of conduct or simply a credible modus vivendi among disputing states. 

As a result, many are beginning to wonder whether Brunei, known for its low-key diplomatic style, can muster enough political will to, first, steer a unified regional approach and, second, build on diplomatic advances made during the ASEAN chairmanships of Vietnam in 2010 and Indonesia in 2011, which set the contours of a code of conduct and censured China, a nonmember, over its aggressive maneuvering. Overall, there are still reasons to expect a relatively more constructive and decisive ASEAN leadership this year. 

*Last year, Beijing further stepped up its paramilitary activities in the South China Sea and coaxed its Southeast Asian ally, Cambodia, to quash any form of regional unity regarding the disputes, while the Philippines and Vietnam intensified their pressure on China by deepening strategic-military cooperation with the U.S. and vigorously internationalizing the disputes.*As a result, the region splintered along divergent strategic alignments, calling into question ASEANs self-described centrality as the engine of regional integration and stability. 

The situation further deteriorated when China, under its recently installed new leadership, issued a new passport bearing a watermark map portraying all the disputed areas in the region as Chinese territory and announced potentially destabilizing maritime regulations in the disputed waters. Meanwhile, the Philippines and Vietnam solicited wider diplomatic and strategic assistance from sympathetic Pacific powers, such as the U.S., India, Australia and Japan. 

Clearly the region cant afford the current pattern of spiraling escalation to continue in one of the worlds most important sea routes. Nor can it allow the glaring strategic fault lines to widen, especially with ASEAN, among the worlds most dynamic regional markets, set to form an Economic Community by 2015 and hoping to play a pivotal role in actualizing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia in upcoming years. This means that there is tremendous pressure on Brunei to revitalize intra-ASEAN cooperation and return the territorial disputes to the center of the groups agenda. 

In particular, Brunei will be pressured by other members to play a more proactive role and abandon its tradition of neutrality. In contrast to some other ASEAN members (.pdf), Brunei has neither contested Chinas territorial claims, nor has it questioned Beijings notorious nine-dash line doctrine laying them out. Brunei has, at least officially, also shied away from claiming sovereignty over the two South China Sea features that fall within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, the Louisa Reef and the Rifleman Bank. 

Like Cambodia, hydrocarbon-rich Brunei is experiencing growing interdependence with Beijing in key strategic and economic areas. Major Chinese companies, including Sinopec Engineering, the Zhejiang Henyi Group and the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corp. are involved in big-ticket downstream, refinery and exploration projects in Brunei. Chinas involvement in these areas is particularly important, as hydrocarbon exports account for almost 70 percent of Bruneis GDP, 94 percent of government revenues and 96 percent of total exports.

Moreover, the island states ruling monarchy is heavily reliant on petrodollars to prop up its security apparatus and appease its population through generous subsidies and welfare schemes. Not only is China among the largest customers of Bruneis hydrocarbon exports, but Chinas vast consumer markets also represent a major opportunity for Brunei to diversify its economy and unshackle scores of Bruneian small and medium enterprises from the constraints of a tiny domestic market. 

Brunei, like Cambodia, is also one of the less influential and newer ASEAN members, in contrast to the longstanding members that have diligently fought for ASEAN centrality over many decades. Therefore, there are doubts as to Bruneis willingness and strategic maturity to steer the region amid rising territorial tensions. *Brunei is already under growing pressure from regional heavyweights such as Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to patch up ASEANs differences, even as the ascent of former Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh to the helm of ASEAN as secretary-general could signal a more robust regional response to Chinas assertiveness. *

Nonetheless, in contrast to Cambodia, Brunei is a direct party to the ongoing disputes in the South China Sea and has a considerable stake in ensuring maritime security in its surrounding waters. Flush with petrodollars and benefiting from a diverse set of external partners, the Bruneian leadership -- known for its history of astute diplomacy -- could also see its chairmanship role as the perfect opportunity to elevate its international profile and project the image of a stable and strong kingdom. Therefore, although the tiny monarchy would prefer to avoid undermining flourishing ties with Beijing, it has vowed to back Indonesias so-called Six-Point Principles initiative, which calls for a peaceful, diplomatic settlement of disputes and the development of a binding regional maritime code of conduct.

Despite Bruneis preference for low-profile diplomacy and its burgeoning energy ties with China, the prosperous kingdom seems to have realized the urgency of more decisively resolving the ongoing disputes and projecting itself as a reliable and responsible regional leader.

WPR Article | To Heal Divisions, Brunei Must Take Proactive Role in ASEAN Disputes


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## Viet

*Vietnam officially takes over ASEAN Secretary General*
1/9/2013 6:47:42 PM Voice of Vietnam






Le Luong Minh, former Deputy Foreign Minister for Vietnam

(VOV) - Vietnam has officially assumed the post of Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the 2013-2017 term.

In his speech, Le Luong Minh expressed his thanks to Foreign Minister Natalegawa and the Indonesian Government for supporting the ASEAN Secretariat and praised Pitsuwans active contributions to the regional bloc. 

Minh confirmed that during his five-year term (2013-2017), the ASEAN Secretariat and he will work with member nations to fulfill set targets, including the building of a stronger ASEAN community by 2015.

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## Viet

*Vietnam assists Philippine Bopha typhoon victims*
1/11/2013 7:05:00 PM Voice of Vietnam





_Children walk in front of their flooded home in the aftermath of Typhoon Bopha in New Bataan, Compostela Valley in the southern Philippines on December 5, 2012. (AFP Photo/Karlos Manlupig)_

(VOV) - The Vietnamese government has decided to provide an emergency aid of US$50,000 in cash to the Philippine government to help victims of Bopha typhoon overcome its aftermath. 

The typhoon hit south Philippines last December, causing great casualties and property damage.

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## Malaya

*Phoning from the Philippines*

*The Philippines is emerging as a great outsourcing nation for cost efficiency, but are there limits to its success?*






*In just a decade, the Philippines' young Americanised 420,000-strong workforce has made call centres the heart of an $11bn industry*

Move over India - Manila is the new call centre capital of the world. With its English-speaking workforce, geopolitical stability and embracement of Western culture, the Philippines is fast becoming the worlds hottest destination for call centres.

Established in just a decade, the outsourcing industry now employs 420,000 workers and accounts for five percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), or roughly $11bn in revenue.

The country is also an attractive backroom for small- to medium-sized companies in Western countries because it is a comfortable timezone to work in and there is cost savings of up to 70 percent.

While the Philippines leads other Asian outsourcing countries in voice oriented services- the country is looking to diversify and offer more complex creative services like animation, game development, copywriting, graphic and engineering design.

An estimated 80 percent of all call centres are in Manila, but outsourcing hubs are also opening in the provinces, bringing roads, airports and jobs to poor areas.

This offers new opportunities and starting salaries that are roughly 40 percent higher than the country's minimum wage.

While the Philippines leads other Asian outsourcing countries in voice-oriented services, the country is looking to diversify and offer more complex creative services such as animation, game development, copywriting, and graphic and engineering design.

While outsourcing has stopped a brain drain that affects other Asian countries, there are concerns that the growing industry will have an impact on other professions which need educated professionals.

But critics, including local industry leaders, argue that universities and the government have not done enough to foster innovation or to educate the emerging workforce in critical thinking.

With just five out of 100 job applicants making the cut as call center workers, 101 East examines the limitations facing outsourcing in the Philippines.

Phoning from the Philippines - 101 East - Al Jazeera English

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Marubeni, Doosan unveil expansion plans in Indonesia*
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Thu, January 17 2013, 11:07 AM


*Buoyed by Indonesias strong economic fundamentals, two major foreign companies, the Marubeni Corporation of Japan and the Doosan Group of South Korea, plan to further expand their business in Southeast Asias largest economy.*

Marubeni Corporation president and CEO Teruo Asada and Doosan Group chairman Yongmaan Park unveiled their business expansion plans during a meeting with Industry Minister MS Hidayat in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Hidayat said that Marubeni intended to join state-owned electricity company PLNs tender for the development of a 660-megawatt (MW) power plant.

The firm has completed the 660 MW project in Cirebon [West Java] and it will participate in the bidding for a geothermal [power plant] project that will generate 1,000 MW, he added.

Marubeni, through its subsidiary, Cirebon Electric Power (CEP), commenced operations at the first coal-fired power plant (PLTU) in Cirebon, West Java, last October. The plant operates as an independent power producer (IPP), which sells its electricity production to PLN.

The plant, built with an investment of US$850 million, produces 660 MW of electricity for Bali and Java islands.

Marubeni controls 32.5 percent of shares in CEP, while the remainder belongs to the Korea Midland Power Corporation (27.5 percent), Koreas Samtan Corporation Ltd. (20 percent) and local publicly listed firm Indika Energy. Under the IPP mechanism, PLN will buy electricity from the power plant at 4.43 US cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

In November last year, Marubeni through the Supreme Energy Rantau Dedap (SERD), a company it established with local player Supreme Energy and Frances GDF Suez SA, sealed a power purchase agreement with PLN. SERD will build a geothermal power plant in Rantau Dedap, South Sumatra, which will supply 220MW. The plant is slated to come into commercial operation in 2016.

Marubeni would also look into developing water treatment plants in Jakartas regions with local and foreign partners, Hidayat said, adding that it would study the governments offer to enter the machinery sector and shipping industry.

I told them [Marubeni executives] we needed investment for machinery, especially for the textile industry, and also shipyards where demand is high, he said. Indonesias textile industry is struggling with inefficiency resulting from high energy costs, partly due to the use of outdated machines.

Many of the 1,500 textile firms nationwide urgently need to replace their production equipment, and the government has intervened in recent years with a textile machinery revitalization program.

The country has also seen the number of ships jump from 5,000 to 11,000 in the past five years, but there are only 220 shipyards to meet the demand, leaving ample room for development.

The Industry Ministrys director general for high-priority industries, Budi Darmadi, said that Koreas Doosan Group, which showed expertise in the production of heavy equipment and marine diesel machinery, had expressed an interest in strengthening its presence in Indonesia.

Doosan, which is well-known for a wide range of heavy equipment, such as articulated dump trucks and excavators, is currently marketing its products through local distributors; it has yet to open a production facility in Indonesia.

We are offering them the chance to meet the demand that we currently source from imports, such as heavy dump trucks, Budi said.

Marubeni, Doosan unveil expansion plans in Indonesia | The Jakarta Post



*RI biggest winner in Japanese stimulus*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Thu, January 17 2013, 10:59 AM

*Indonesia tops the list of nine Asian countries that will reap benefits from the economic reforms recently unveiled by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his bid for stronger domestic demand and a weaker yen, Credit Suisse says.*

In its research note released on Wednesday, the Switzerland-based bank says Indonesia will be the country that gains most from the expected economic recovery in Japan. It puts South Korea at the bottom of the ranking as the most vulnerable economy due to its export competition with Japan.

Since Indonesia exports a lot of end-user products such as commodities  mainly mineral fuels and lubricants  to Japan, it will benefit from a potential pick-up in Japans domestic demand, Singapore-based Credit Suisse economist Santitarn Sathirathai said in an email interview on Wednesday.

Abe, who is scheduled to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Friday, recently unveiled an economic stimulus and monetary easing package as part of his plan to revive Japans economy, which has long been trapped in a deflationary spiral.

His economic reforms include a ¥10.3 trillion (US$116 billion) stimulus that the Japanese government claims will boost its gross domestic product by 2 percent and add 600,000 jobs.

With regard to the monetary side, Abe has ordered the Bank of Japan to double its inflation target to 2 percent, calling for bold leadership at the central bank.

According to Credit Suisse, Indonesia will surpass Malaysia and Thailand in benefiting from the Japanese reforms because of its roles as both a supplier and consumer for Japan. Malaysia and Thailand also export a substantial volume of goods to Japan, but their imports are of less significance.

Japan is Indonesias second-biggest export destination after China, accounting for 11.3 percent of Indonesias total non-oil and gas exports worth $15.9 billion during the January-November period in 2012.

Japan is also Indonesias second-biggest source of foreign direct investment after Singapore, with Japanese companies realizing $1.8 billion in investments in the January-September period last year.

Satirathai said that because Southeast Asias largest economy imported many intermediate goods from Japan, the expected weaker Japanese yen would make the goods cheaper and, consequently, benefit Indonesia.

Analysts have said that Abes economic policies will eventually result in a weaker yen, a situation that is good for Japans economy as the currency has been too strong for too long, undermining that countrys trade competitiveness.

As of Jan. 16, the Japanese yen had already depreciated by 13 percent against the US dollar from its peak in September, a change that was described by Credit Suisse as dramatic.

Credit Suisses report also notes that Southeast Asian economies, including Indonesia, are also likely to benefit from Japans rising political tension with China, given the expectation that Japanese companies will turn to the region to expand their manufacturing facilities. (sat)

RI

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia, Argentina to Increase Bilateral Cooperation*
Ezra Sihite | January 17, 2013





_Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, left, is welcomed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the presidential palace in Jakarta on Thursday. (EPA Photo/Adi Weda) Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, left, is welcomed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the presidential palace in Jakarta on Thursday. (EPA Photo/Adi Weda)	
_
*Visiting Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday agreed on Thursday that bilateral relations between Argentina and Indonesia were becoming increasingly more strategic.*

*&#8220;Our two nations are both members of the G20 [The Group of 20] and are emerging nations that have led with extraordinary economic growth in the past decade,&#8221; Kirchner said in a joint press conference at the State Palace.*

She stated that both countries can positively contribute to global development, and added, &#8220;On the matter of investment, our governments can cooperate through joint ventures and other [endeavors].&#8221;

Yudhoyono, speaking at the same occasion, aired conviction that the visit by his Argentine counterpart would enhance collaboration between the two countries.

&#8220;This is a historical visit and we are certain that we will be able to increase our cooperation... in the future,&#8221; the Indonesian president said.

He noted that the two countries have bolstered their ties and their coordination over the past two years.

Additionally, Yudhoyono said that Argentina and Indonesia have agreed to share their respective experiences and facilitate sustainable communication on the matter of food security.

Kirchner is the 55th president of Argentina and also the country&#8217;s first female head of state. A lawyer by qualification, she is also the widow of former president Nestor Kirchner and was formerly a senator in Santa Cruz and Buenos Aires.

She was reelected to a second term in October 2011.

*The meeting between the two leaders was delayed by a few hours due to the floods that have paralyzed the Indonesian capital since early Thursday.*

*Kirchner, who arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday, is also scheduled to lay a wreath during the Kalibata heroes cemetery, visit the National Museum and meet with a number of key Indonesian business people.*

The Argentinian president came accompanied by a large business delegation of more than 200 executives

Argentina is the second-largest importer of Indonesian goods in South America after Brazil. Indonesia, meanwhile, is Argentina&#8217;s biggest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

Bilateral trade between Argentina and Indonesia reached $1.94 billion in 2011. As of October of last year, trade between the two countries was measured at $1.67 billion.. 

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesia-argentina-to-increase-bilateral-cooperation/566059#Scene_1

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## nufix

*MP3EI Projects Worth IDR 545.6 Trillion (USD 56.5 Billion) Ready For Groundbreaking*

Thomas Mola, Elok Ani Riani

JAKARTA: The Government revealed at least 82 infrastructure projects and 64 real sectors of Masterplan of *Indonesian Economic Development Acceleration and Expansion (MP3EI) projects will do groundbreaking this year. The projects are totaling IDR545.6 trillion (USD 56.5 Billion)*

Indonesian Economic Development Committee Integration Division Head Wahyu Utomo explained the Government worked hard so the projects can be done.

The Government has revised 41 regulations to encourage private involvement in MP3EI project.

*The Government also to develop real sector project this year.* There are 64 real projects with investment of *IDR402.6 trillion (USD 41.7 Billion)*. Kalimantan get bigger portion with 11 projects worth IDR94.2 trillion, followed by 31 projects in Java worth IDR40.9 trillion.

Director of Public Private Partnership Development Bastary Pandji Indra said there are five projects undertaken with Public Private Partnership. The projects are SPAM Umbulan, Tana Ampo Terminal, Medan-Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggu toll road, Soekarno-Hatta Airport Railway and Bali Water project. Bastary expected those projects could be launched this year.

Indonesian business news & current issues from Bisnis Indonesia - bisnis.com

Indonesia needs a big reformation and huge investment in infrastructure sectors to keep its economic growth. Totalling USD 98.2 Billion investment for this year is a good start.

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## nufix

*Pertamina Still Wait For Venezuela Government Approval*

Riendy Astria

JAKARTA-*PT Pertamina* (Limited) is still waiting for confirmation from Venezuela Government to* finalize the 32% Petrodelta share purchasing* process which currently is controlled by the US-based Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (HNR). (35)

Pertamina CEO Karen Agustiawan says the Company has *signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Harvest Natural Resources Inc.* (HNR) regarding the shares acquisition plan.
"We are still waiting for the &#8216;yes&#8217; from Venezuela Government, whether the President would permit us to take over the asset or not, "says Karen, Wednesday (16/1).

She hopes the Venezuela Government would issue the decision soon, despite the current political dynamic in Venezuela.

CEO Karen says she has asked her Government to help her to facilitate the share purchasing plan, including asked the favor of Indonesian Ambassador in the US Dino Patti Djalal. However, her Company prefers to wait until the conducive atmosphere is reached.

In responding to Karen&#8217;s efforts, the MEMR Deputy Minister Susilo Siswoutomo says the Government is committed to support Pertamina&#8217;s expansion to Venezuela.

As reported by Bloomberg early this year, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said the his Government was still evaluating whether to give permission to US Company Harvest Resources Inc. to sell their shares to Pertamina or not.

Previously, Pertamina VP for Corporate Communications Ali Mudakir said Venezuela was a oil-rich country. He mentioned that Petrodelta would be used as the doorway to endorse cooperation.

The closing settlement of the transaction will be carried out after a few prerequisites or conditions precedent are fulfilled, namely approval from Pertamina shareholders, as well as from HNR shareholder, despite permission from the Venezuela Government.

Petrodelta is the operator and holder of the 1000 square kilometers in size oil and gas block, who has concession to manage oil and gas blocks up to 2027. The block consists of Field Uracoa, Bombal, Tucupita, El Salto, El Inseno, and Temblador.

With this acquisition, share holder arrangement will be as follows: Petrodelta are Corporation Venezolana del Petroleo, S.A. (CVP), a subsidiary of the Venezuela state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) will control some 60% of the stake. *The remaining of 32% will be owned by Pertamina* and the rest of 8% by Vinccler O & G Tech, a local company of Venezuela.

Based on the the Ryder Scott Certificate, 2012, in accordance with the guidelines of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, proven and probable reserves (2P) of Petrodelta is approximately around 486 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE). (11)

Pertamina Still Wait for Venezuela Government Approval - Bisnis.com

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia&#8217;s Telkom Eyes Expansion to Seven More Countries*

Jan 21, 2013 at 13:15 PM by Enricko Lukman, in Business





*Kompas reported over the weekend that Indonesia&#8217;s biggest telco Telkom is looking to expand its business to seven more countries in the future through its subsidiary company Telin. This is all part of Telkom&#8217;s vision to become a global player.*

*At the moment, Telin is operating in three countries, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, and most recently launching in Timor Leste (also known as East Timor). The company is now conducting assessments in Australia and Myanmar for potential expansion programs. The other five countries being eyed by Telin have not been named.*

Telin&#8217;s cellular product Telkomcel officially launched in Timor Leste on January 17th. The telco has prepared a $50 million investment to be used until 2015 in order to build further 2G and 3G infrastructure in Timor. Telkomcel is targeting 60 percent market share among mobile telcos in the country by 2018.

Telkom&#8217;s ambitious expansion plans should be well received by startups in Indonesia. This could mean further business opportunities for Indonesian companies wanting to expand their business reach together with Telkom in other countries. Think how SingTel has helped &#8211; or acquired &#8211; Singaporean startups. We&#8217;ve already seen some web companies expanding via Telkom&#8217;s subsidiary company Telkomsel, such as with Ngomik and Kotagames.

Indonesia

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## Viet

*ASEAN ministers vow to deepen tourism cooperation*
_English.news.cn 2013-01-20 19:58:28_





_Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong speaks during the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) held in Vientiane, capital of Laos, on Jan. 20, 2013. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun)_

VIENTIANE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of the ten ASEAN nations met on Sunday in Laos' capital of Vientiane to launch the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), where they pledged to expand tourism cooperation and discussed creating a *pan-ASEAN tourist visa*.

The ATF, which was first held in 1981, is designed to facilitate and develop tourism promotion and cooperation across the region. A total of 150 tourism ministers and officials from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam attended the meeting.

Joining them will be 1,450 delegates, including 800 ASEAN exhibitors, 400 international buyers, 150 international and local media as well as 100 tourism trade visitors. Delegates will engage in bilateral talks, sellers and buyers meetings, and receive presentations from various ASEAN nations on their tourism industries.





_Photo taken on Jan. 20, 2013 shows a view of the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) held in Vientiane, capital of Laos. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun)_

According to a press release from the ATF, ASEAN leaders will consider the possibility of creating a single pan-ASEAN visa for some member countries to encourage tourists to visit. Leaders have already agreed to put more funding into developing tourism, source more financing from dialogue partners, and to promote tourism in the region.

"As an important economic sector, ASEAN cooperation in tourism has gone from strength to strength," said Lao Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism Dr Bosengkham Vongdara. Vongdara cited the increase in total international visitors arriving in the region from 73.7 million people in 2010 to 81.2 million in 2011 as evidence of this cooperation.

Tourism is of particular significance to Laos, one of the least developed countries in South East Asia with few domestic industries. With a population of only 6.3 million people, Laos received approximately half this figure in tourist arrivals in 2012. This contributed significantly to economic growth and development in the country. Arrivals are expected to reach five million by 2015.
*
Across the various ASEAN member nations, tourism has risen between eight and 29 percent from 2010 2011. The ATF will run from Jan. 18 24.*

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## ahfatzia

*Singapore brings up 'baby bonus' gift by 50% to US$4,900 per child*


SINGAPORE -- Singapore on Monday announced increased cash bonuses for parents of newborn babies and introduced paternity leave as part of a package of measures to boost population and reduce dependence on foreigners.

*Parents of Singaporean babies born since Aug. 26 last year will receive a cash gift of SG$6,000 (US$4,900)  a rise of 50 percent, which applies to each of a couple's first two children.*

*The financial incentive will rise to SG$8,000 for a couple's third and fourth babies*, as the government attempts to offset the high cost of raising a family  one of the gripes often aired by young couples in the city-state.

*At least one parent must be a Singapore citizen to be eligible for the handout.*

*The government will subsidize one week of paternity leave for fathers* of babies born from May 1 this year, the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) agency also announced in a press release.

In addition, *new fathers will be eligible to stay off work for a second week by taking a chunk of the standard 16-month maternity leave granted to their wives,* it added.

*Housing issues were also addressed in the SG$2 billion (US$1.63 billion) Marriage and Parenthood Package.*

*Couples with at least one child below 16 will be given priority to buy government-built apartments*, where most Singaporeans live. Many couples keep their families small until they get their own flats.

We hope that the enhanced marriage and parenthood measures will help create a more conducive environment for Singaporeans to set up families, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in the press release.

Singapore's birth rate of 1.20 children per woman, according to 2011 figures, is well below the 2.1 figure needed to sustain the native population.

The low rate has forced the city-state to bring in more immigrants in recent years. But the numbers were reduced following a social backlash, with foreigners blamed for problems including overcrowding, straining public services and driving up housing costs.

Singapore, which relies on foreign labor to power its economic growth, now has a population of 5.3 million, of whom only 3.3 million are citizens.

By 2030, 20 percent of Singaporeans are forecast to be 65 years or older, according to official statistics.

Singapore brings up 'baby bonus' gift by 50% to US$4,900 per child - The China Post

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## Viet

@ahfatzia

not bad at all to give the parents money and other incentives. However, I fear the efforts for more babys will be fruitless or less affective. Just take a look at Germany. The country supports the parents with child allowance (184 &#8364; monthly per baby, 215 &#8364; for the fourth baby) until they can leave home and make money. In addition the government gives tax breaks, tax returns, baby holidays and so fort.

What is the result? Germany remains one of the countries with least births. So it is not the money that matters.
What does Germany do today? it allows immigration of skilled workers, it even looks to Far East and imports nurse and other skilled professionals from Vietnam.

So what I want to say? Singapore should ease immigration rules for Vietnamese. We are ready to fill the gap.


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia Zeroes in on Currency*





_Indonesian rupiah banknotes of various denominations._
*
JAKARTA &#8211; Dutch tourist Margaret Masteling didn&#8217;t know one of her most memorable sights in Indonesia would be right on its bank notes. The rupiah has zeros &#8211; lots of them.

&#8220;At first it was confusing to see many zeros,&#8221; Masteling said in a hotel lobby here. &#8220;But I got used to it after a few days.&#8221;*

*All the zeros can be dizzying to a tourist being asked for 20,000 rupiah for a tall Starbucks SBUX -0.97% Americano (about $2). And, the government says, all those zeros slow down cash transfers and hurt the Southeast Asia country&#8217;s global image.*

*That may change soon.*

The government began a push Wednesday to educate the public about why it makes sense to drop at least some of the zeros. The challenge is to do that without setting off alarms for everyday Indonesians that the some of the value of the money is going to be erased with some of the zeros.

*&#8220;Probably for many foreigners who come for the first time to Indonesia, what they notice first is our currency. Their opinion of Indonesia might immediately drop when they see the prices are in hundreds of thousands of rupiah,&#8221; Bank Indonesia Governor Darmin Nasution said in a speech Wednesday.*

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo chimed in at the event that erasing a few zeros from the currency will make cash transactions simpler.

*&#8220;Too many digits in our currency could potentially create a problem because the value of the transactions may exceed the number of digits that our payment and recording infrastructures can tolerate,&#8221; Mr. Martowardojo said.*

*Indonesia officially named its currency the rupiah on Nov. 2, 1949, borrowing from the Indian rupee. During the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the rupiah&#8217;s value nosedived by nearly 85% against the US dollar, and by 78% against prices of goods and services.*

As prices went up to hundreds of thousands of rupiah, Bank Indonesia for the first time in 2004 introduced the 100,000 rupiah bank note. That&#8217;s the biggest rupiah bill today, meaning an American tourist would need to hand over about 30 individual 100,000 rupiah bills to cover a $300 hotel bill. It also means that locals have to carry lots of bank notes to get through the day.

*&#8220;The idea is good because that could mean I will carry less bank notes in my wallet,&#8221; said Muhamad Yamin, a bell boy at a five-star hotel in Jakarta.*

*But Mr. Yamin has some worries. He&#8217;s apprehensive that some traders might jump on any redenomination of the rupiah to jack up prices for quick profits. He urged the government to impose heavy penalties to unscrupulous traders.*

*The idea was first privately mulled over by the central bank in 2007. It started to air the idea publicly two years ago, arguing the country&#8217;s improving economic fundamentals would ensure success. Indonesia, Southeast Asia&#8217;s largest economy, grew 5.8% on average between 2006 and 2011, while inflation averaged 6.3%.*

It&#8217;s unclear how many zeros might eventually be omitted from the rupiah, but central bankers have said the authorities may follow the voluntary redenomination already practiced by merchants, hotels, and even rice traders. For several years, they&#8217;ve posted their prices without the three last zeros.

But, if all goes as hoped for by the government, it could take several years to change the rupiah&#8217;s zeros to calm any fears in the public that the money won&#8217;t be worth less. The parliament would need to pass a bill that has already been submitted. Given the government&#8217;s big push and business support, it&#8217;s expected to eventually pass and be implemented.

Bank Indonesia&#8217;s Nasution said during a transition period, which could take between two to three years, the authorities would require double price tagging. Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia would start circulating new bank notes with fewer zeros.

Indonesia Zeroes In on Currency - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ

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## nufix

ahfatzia said:


> *Singapore brings up 'baby bonus' gift by 50% to US$4,900 per child*
> 
> 
> SINGAPORE -- Singapore on Monday announced increased cash bonuses for parents of newborn babies and introduced paternity leave as part of a package of measures to boost population and reduce dependence on foreigners.
> 
> *Parents of Singaporean babies born since Aug. 26 last year will receive a cash gift of SG$6,000 (US$4,900) &#8212; a rise of 50 percent, which applies to each of a couple's first two children.*
> 
> *The financial incentive will rise to SG$8,000 for a couple's third and fourth babies*, as the government attempts to offset the high cost of raising a family &#8212; one of the gripes often aired by young couples in the city-state.
> 
> *At least one parent must be a Singapore citizen to be eligible for the handout.*
> 
> *The government will subsidize one week of paternity leave for fathers* of babies born from May 1 this year, the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) agency also announced in a press release.
> 
> In addition, *new fathers will be eligible to stay off work for a second week by taking a chunk of the standard 16-month maternity leave granted to their wives,* it added.
> 
> *Housing issues were also addressed in the SG$2 billion (US$1.63 billion) Marriage and Parenthood Package.*
> 
> *Couples with at least one child below 16 will be given priority to buy government-built apartments*, where most Singaporeans live. Many couples keep their families small until they get their own flats.
> 
> &#8220;We hope that the enhanced marriage and parenthood measures will help create a more conducive environment for Singaporeans to set up families,&#8221; Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in the press release.
> 
> Singapore's birth rate of 1.20 children per woman, according to 2011 figures, is well below the 2.1 figure needed to sustain the native population.
> 
> The low rate has forced the city-state to bring in more immigrants in recent years. But the numbers were reduced following a social backlash, with foreigners blamed for problems including overcrowding, straining public services and driving up housing costs.
> 
> Singapore, which relies on foreign labor to power its economic growth, now has a population of 5.3 million, of whom only 3.3 million are citizens.
> 
> By 2030, 20 percent of Singaporeans are forecast to be 65 years or older, according to official statistics.
> 
> Singapore brings up 'baby bonus' gift by 50% to US$4,900 per child - The China Post




Say this plan actually works and Singapore's population jump high. Will there be land expansion in order to provide housing spaces for the future Singaporean citizens? I think, merging Singapore with Batam Island is a good idea, considering that there are already many Singaporeans own properties in Batam and Batam itself is a special region with special residency law to ease foreigners to do business in Batam and settle in there.


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## nufix

Viet said:


> @ahfatzia
> 
> not bad at all to give the parents money and other incentives. However, I fear the efforts for more babys will be fruitless or less affective. Just take a look at Germany. The country supports the parents with child allowance (184 &#8364; monthly per baby, 215 &#8364; for the fourth baby) until they can leave home and make money. In addition the government gives tax breaks, tax returns, baby holidays and so fort.
> 
> What is the result? Germany remains one of the countries with least births. So it is not the money that matters.
> What does Germany do today? it allows immigration of skilled workers, it even looks to Far East and imports nurse and other skilled professionals from Vietnam.
> 
> So what I want to say? Singapore should ease immigration rules for Vietnamese. We are ready to fill the gap.



Singapore and Germany, both have similar problem and solution regarding population growth, but the problem is caused by different background. Germany is not lacking spaces for living and its citizens still dominate the percentage of population compared to migrant workers like you, its main issue is the lack of available labor forces, not the closing gap between German citizens and foreign workers in numbers. While in the other hands, Singapore's main issue, is the gap between foreign workers and its own citizen, out of 5.3 million people settling in Singapore, only 3.3 million of them are Singapore citizens and 20% of them have reached 65 years. Making immigration rule for Vietnamese or any foreign countries with huge labor workforce become easier will only making the gap between Singapore citizens and migrant workers in number become much much closer and it will eventually defeat the main purpose of Singapore's parenting bonuses program. The main purpose is to reduce the number of foreign workers in Singapore, and replace the gap with their own citizens.


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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> *Indonesia Zeroes in on Currency*
> 
> 
> *That may change soon.*
> 
> *&#8220;Too many digits in our currency could potentially create a problem because the value of the transactions may exceed the number of digits that our payment and recording infrastructures can tolerate,&#8221; Mr. Martowardojo said.*
> 
> *Indonesia officially named its currency the rupiah on Nov. 2, 1949, borrowing from the Indian rupee. During the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the rupiah&#8217;s value nosedived by nearly 85% against the US dollar, and by 78% against prices of goods and services.*




Having twice the worst financial crisis, no wonder our currency has so many zeros. If this program worked, in five years, ours will be stronger than Yen right? 1 Yen= about 120 Rupiahs, (120 divided by 1000 --> 1000 Rupiahs become 1 Rupiah) 1 Yen= 0.12 Rupiahs, 10 yen= 1.2 Rupiahs.


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## nufix

*Foreign Investors&#8217; Appetite Rises*


Ana Noviani, Reviana Rahmania Surya, Aprianto Cahyo Nugroho






JAKARTA&#8212;Foreign investment grew two-fold bigger than domestic, data show. According to Investment Coordinating board (BKPM) records, foreign investment in 2012 grew by 26% to IDR221.0 trillion while domestic rose by 21% to IDR92 trillion.

&#8220;Investors eye emerging market following financial crisis in Europe and US,&#8221; said agency&#8217;s Head Chatib Basri, Tuesday (1/22).

Regarding domestic capital, he said, though not as high as the growth of foreign capital, domestic capital has reached its target at 120%. &#8220;Overall, investment in 2012 skyrocket by 110% from our initial target to IDR313.2 trillion. It&#8217;s the highest in our investment history.&#8221;

Investment in 2012 reached IDR313.2 trillion, exceeding BKPM initial target at IDR283.5 trillion by 110.5%. Investments in the quarter IV/2012 reached IDR83.3 trillion, which consists of foreign investment by as much as IDR56.8 trillion and domestic investment by IDR26.5 billion. During January-December 2012, investment arrived at IDR313.2 trillion.

Foreign investment in 2012 was still dominated by capital injection to mining sector. Significant foreign investment growth also occurred on metal, machinery, and electronics sectors.

In the fourth quarter, foreign investment largely channeled to metal, machinery, and electronics sectors amounted to US$1.2 billion or approximately 18.5% of total overseas capital injection in the period at US$6.31 billion. As for mining sector, foreign investment in the business reached US$1.1 billion in QIV/2012.

The increased investment in metal, machinery, and electronic indicated the acceleration in supporting industry in Indonesia. It is expected to suport national industry in order to reduce the downstream industry dependence on raw or intermediate goods.

Some 19.8% or US$4.9 billion from US$24.5 billion of foreign investment were from Singapore. Moreover, the largest foreign investment were also from Japan (US$2.5 billion), tailed by South Korea (US$1.9 billion), United States (US$1.2 billion), and Mauritius (US$1.1 billion). &#8220;Singapore ranks first since they can become the hub for foreign companies, while Mauritius becomes quarter hub due to tax issue,&#8221; Basri said.

Meanwhile, the South Korea investors&#8217; aggressiveness made the country becomes the country&#8217;s three biggest foreign investors within the last two years. In fact, in 2010 South Korea investment was only ranked eighth.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa reminded that the government for not satisfied with the actual investment in 2012 which exceeded the target.

He said the high direct investment might balance the current account deficit (CAD). Thus, the pressure on Indonesia&#8217;s balance of payment can be reduced. &#8220;The high investment in Indonesia also needs the import management in order to improve Indonesia&#8217;s balance of payments.&#8221;

Chairman of the Institute of Research and Community Service for Unika Atmajaya, A. Prasetyantoko previously reminded that the direct investment performance might experience a slowdown in the second half of 2013 as the global economy is predicted to decrease.

According to him, the global economy slowdown could lead to the decline in the company&#8217;s ability in financing direct investment. "In terms of financing, the [foreign] company ability that invests in Indonesia will be limited in line with the uncertain external condition," he said.

Moreover, he continued, the direct investment composition in the country is still dominated by foreign investment. (aph)

Foreign Investors


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## Viet

nufix said:


> Singapore and Germany, both have similar problem and solution regarding population growth, but the problem is caused by different background. Germany is not lacking spaces for living and its citizens still dominate the percentage of population compared to migrant workers like you, its main issue is the lack of available labor forces, not the closing gap between German citizens and foreign workers in numbers.
> 
> While in the other hands, Singapore's main issue, is the gap between foreign workers and its own citizen, out of 5.3 million people settling in Singapore, only 3.3 million of them are Singapore citizens and 20% of them have reached 65 years. Making immigration rule for Vietnamese or any foreign countries with huge labor workforce become easier will only making the gap between Singapore citizens and migrant workers in number become much much closer and it will eventually defeat the main purpose of Singapore's parenting bonuses program.
> 
> *The main purpose is to reduce the number of foreign workers in Singapore, and replace the gap with their own citizens.*



I predict this parenting bonus program is not going to work. Look at many developed nations like Germany, Japan and many others, money does not really encourage for getting more babys. Singapore comes close to Japan in terms of low birthrate.

One can see that the richer the nation, the lesser the birthrate. For a developed nation to increase births, one must change mentality: baby is a blessing, not liability. France is a good example how to overcome low birthrate.


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## Nusantara

Reashot Xigwin said:


> *Indonesia Zeroes in on Currency*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Indonesian rupiah banknotes of various denominations._
> 
> Indonesia Zeroes In on Currency - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ








BI akan gelontorkan Rp 200 miliar untuk redenominasi | merdeka.com

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## nufix

Viet said:


> I predict this parenting bonus program is not going to work. Look at many developed nations like Germany, Japan and many others, money does not really encourage for getting more babys. Singapore comes close to Japan in terms of low birthrate.
> 
> One can see that the richer the nation, the lesser the birthrate. For a developed nation to increase births, one must change mentality: baby is a blessing, not liability. France is a good example how to overcome low birthrate.



I agree with that fact, but then again we should see each's background. Most developed nations that eased their immigration rules do not have Citizens-Immigrant domination percentage issue, and they still have huge living spaces available for both migrant workers and their own citizens, social problems caused by culture shock between indigenous people and immigrant still can be maintained as their own citizens still dominate the number of population, and housing cost in those countries will not jump high as they still have many living spaces. 

Singapore is in the other ways around. Out of 5.3 million people living in Singapore, 2 million are foreigners with their own culture and background, if the immigration rules are simplified the 2 million could be 3 million and 4 million, considering most people will go to developed countries for better jobs, Singapore is a magnet for international Arbeitsbewerbers. 3.3 million of real singapore citizen will automatically become minorities in their own homeland.


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## Viet

*Vietnam bank presents computers to Laos Ministry*
1/24/2013 5:56:00 PM Voice of Vietnam








(VOV) - The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) handed over 50 computers to the *Laos Ministry of Science and Technology* in Vientiane on January 24. 

Tran Bac Ha, BIDV Chairman said his bank has been the largest Vietnamese business to invest in Laos over the past few years and its investment efficiency has been acknowledged by both the Vietnamese and Lao Governments.

The bank has joined social welfare programmes by encouraging more Vietnamese investment in remote areas, assisting Laos&#8217; learning promotion fund, and building education facilities, as well as supporting schools for Vietnamese children in Laos. Since 2005, BIDV has contributed over *US$1.1 million* to Laos&#8217; social security programmes.

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## nufix

*Pertamina Says ConocoPhillips Algeria Unit Deal Still Set to Roll*


Tito Summa Siahaan





State energy firm Pertamina has been aggressively expanding its operations.&#8194;(Bloomberg Photo/Dimas Ardian)

State energy firm *Pertamina* will proceed with its plans *to acquire three Algerian oil and gas blocks from ConocoPhillips*, a company spokesman says. 

Bloomberg News quoted Ali Mundakir as saying that Pertamina aims to *complete the deal* to acquire ConocoPhillips&#8217;s Algerian units in *mid-2013*. He added that completion of the deal is subject to approval by the Algerian government, and that ConocoPhillips&#8217;s partners must waive their rights to buy the stake. 

Pertamina announced the deal with ConocoPhillips, which owns participating interests in several oil and gas units in the North African nation, last month. 

*The agreement*, which is valued at around *$1.75 billion*, *will boost Pertamina&#8217;s reserves by 100 million barrels of oil and will boost annual production by about 23,000 barrels per day. *

*Pertamina has been steadily expanding its presence by purchasing strategic assets at home and abroad. Under Karen Agustiawan, the current president director, the company has laid out an ambitious plan to become a global energy giant by 2025. *

*Aside from the ConocoPhillips deal, Pertamina has at least two other acquisitions in the pipeline: one for US-based Anadarko&#8217;s Indonesian units and another $725 million deal for assets in oil-rich Venezuela from US-based Harvest Natural Resources. *

On the domestic front, Pertamina is in the process of acquiring state-owned engineering firm Rekayasa Industri. 

*Pertamina is preparing to invest heavily in processing facilities to improve the country&#8217;s oil refining capacities, and the company has laid out plans to build two refineries in cooperation with the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Saudi Aramco. Each will have a processing capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude per day, with operations slated to commence in 2018. *

Pertamina currently has six refineries with a total capacity to process 1.031 million barrels of crude per day. 

Additionally,* three foreign firms &#8212; South Korea&#8217;s SK Global Chemical, Japan&#8217;s Mitsubishi and Thailand&#8217;s PTT Global Chemical &#8212; are vying to partner-up with Pertamina to build a $5 billion petrochemical plant in Indonesia. *

Pertamina has set aside $6.7 billion for capital expenditure this year. 


Pertamina Says ConocoPhillips Algeria Unit Deal Still Set to Roll | The Jakarta Globe


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## Malaya

*Philippines Top Destination in China*

*Manila, Philippines  The Philippines won one of the Best Tourist Destinations Awards at the 2012 Oriental Morning Posts Annual World Travel  Special Trips Awards, based on a consumer survey. The Oriental Morning Post is one of the top news dailies in Shanghai, focusing on business and financial stories.*

Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs received the Award for the Philippines in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China, on January 9, 2013, with personalities from the Shanghai travel trade and media gracing the event. Other winning countries in the survey were Ireland, Korea, Singapore, Finland, and Dubai.

China is the fourth largest tourism market for the Philippines, next is South Korea, United States of America, and Japan. It posted growth of 5.36 percent to 233,174 tourist arrivals from January to November, 2012, based on Department of Tourism (***) data. They go to Boracay Island and Bohol, the most popular Philippine destinations for Chinese tourists, and are interested in seeing historical and cultural places such as Vigan in Ilocos Sur, Intramuros in Manila, and the Underground River in Palawan. The *** is attracting more Chinese tourists in 2013 by participating in major travel fairs in China and offering familiarization tours for travel agents and the media.

To cater to the growing number of Chinese tourists traveling to the Philippines, an airline launched direct flights from Shanghai to Kalibo, Aklan, on January 10, 2013. Other chartered flights will be opened in time for the Chinese New Year holidays covering several routes: Beijing-Kalibo (January 15, 2013), Hangzhou-Kalibo (January 17, 2013), Guangzhou-Cebu (January 17, 2013), Chengdu-Kalibo (February 5, 2013), and Shanghai-Cebu (February 8, 2013). By the second and third quarters of 2013, chartered flights out of Chinas major cities will also be opened.

We congratulate the Department of Tourism headed by Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., Department of Foreign Affairs led by Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, and the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai, led by Consul General Charles C. Jose, Tourism Attaché Gerard O. Panga, and Attaché Niel P. Ballesteros, all the best and success in their cooperative efforts to invite more Chinese tourists to visit the Philippines. CONGRATULATIONS AND MABUHAY!

Philippines Top Destination in China | Tempo - News in a Flash


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## nufix

*Indofood buys stake in Brazilian sugar maker*

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Tue, January 29 2013, 5:55 AM


Publicly listed PT Indofood Sukses Makmur announced on Monday that its subsidiary Indofood Agri Resources Ltd. had entered an agreement to *purchase a 50 percent stake in Brazil-based Companhia Mineira de Acucar e Alcool Participacoes* (CMAA).

*Indofood Agri, whose shares are listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange,* said that the acquisition would be made through IndoAgri Brazil Participacoes Ltda., which *was established recently by its Singapore-based subsidiary IFAR Brazil Pte. Ltd.*

*IndoAgri Brazil will pay US$71.7 million for the stake.*

&#8220;Closing is expected to occur during the second quarter of 2013,&#8221; Indofood said in an *announcement submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange.*

CMAA, established in 2006, engages in the cultivation and processing of sugarcane for the production and marketing of ethanol and sugar, as well as the generation of electricity from sugarcane bagasse.

*Currently, CMAA operates one mill in Vale de Tijuco with a total crushing capacity of 3 million tons per year.*

Indofood buys stake in Brazilian sugar maker | The Jakarta Post


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## Malaya

*Asean to lead growth*

The global research department of banking giant Standard Chartered on Monday said that the ASEAN region, which includes the Philippines, will likely grow anew this year, possibly outpacing global growth.

Edward Lee of StanChart said that the growth will be supported by strong domestic economic activity and support from intra-regional trade.

&#8220;ASEAN is set to be the region to be situated in again in 2013. After an estimated growth of 5.2 percent, we project the region to grow by 5.3 percent in 2013, outpacing IMF&#8217;s global growth estimate of 3.6 percent,&#8221; Lee said.

He stressed that the region is expected to see economies such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia matching or exceeding their 10-year average rates.

The Philippines has been one of the better-performing economies in the region last year. It beat expectations in the third quarter with 7.1 percent GDP growth, ahead of other economies within the ASEAN. Indonesia was the second-best performer in the ASEAN with 6.2 percent growth, followed by Malaysia (5.2 percent), Vietnam (4.7 percent), Thailand (3 percent), and Singapore (0.3 percent).

Year-to-date growth is already at 6.5 percent with services and industry still driving growth.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week revised upward it&#8217;s 2012 and 2013 economic growth forecasts for the country, as it expects private and public consumption to remain strong.

IMF said that it now sees the country growing 6.5 percent in 2012, higher than its forecast last year of 4.8 percent. For 2013, the IMF sees growth &#8220;slowing down&#8221; to 6 percent. But this is also higher than the lending institution&#8217;s earlier forecast of 4.8 percent.

Lee said that confidence in the ASEAN region is high, not just domestically but also among foreign investors, from whom the region attracted 7.6 percent of global foreign direct investment in 2011 versus 4.3 percent in 2006.

&#8220;Indeed, since 2000, following the crippling financial crisis, the ASEAN region has outgrown the world by an average of 1.5 percent,&#8221; Lee said.

Lee also stressed that despite beating global growth since the Asian financial crisis, the region still has plenty of room to expand as it catches up with the rest of the world.

&#8220;Despite the world-beating growth rates registered over the last decade or so, the region can still achieve more. The region is hardly at the stage where the factors for growth have become complicated,&#8221; Lee said.

StanChart said that at the most basic level, the continued process of urbanization will help to drive &#8216;easy&#8217; growth.

&#8220;This is the economics of agglomeration. Urbanization helps to improve the overall well-being of an individual by improving access to services and housing. This can boost productivity and consumption,&#8221; Lee said.

Lee explained that the bank conducted a simple study on the positive impact of urbanization on economic growth.

&#8220;Urbanization and economic growth tend to go hand-in-hand, although there have been cases where urbanization is not accompanied by economic growth. Here, we assume that urbanization efforts are successful in raising economic well-being,&#8221; Lee said.

They categorized the 10 economies within the ASEAN bloc into three tiers of urbanization. Tier 3 (20-25 percent urbanized) includes Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos; Tier 2 (50 percent) includes the Philippines and Indonesia; and Tier 1 (75 percent) includes Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore.

&#8220;Our study yielded two main results. First, Asean&#8217;s GDP per capita could almost triple to $10,290 from $3,509 in 2011, assuming successful urbanization. Second, assuming no GDP growth in the Tier 1 countries, the region&#8217;s GDP growth could average 6 percent for the eight years from 2012-19, higher than the 5.3 percent average from 2000-11,&#8221; Lee said.

StanChart stressed that urbanization is likely to grow at a slower pace than the overall economy, but per-capita GDP typically rises at an exponential rate as urbanization increases.

He added that urbanization helps to increase efficiency as distances are shortened. This lowers the costs of businesses, or the government&#8217;s costs to provide infrastructure and necessities. Jobs and supply of labor are concentrated rather than dispersed.

According to the World Bank, the world passed the 50 percent mark for urbanization in 2007. As of 2012, there are still 6 countries in ASEAN that have not passed the 50 percent point &#8211; Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

&#8220;Indonesia just crossed the midpoint at 51.4 percent. Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei are largely urbanized. As a region on the whole, we still have some low hurdles that we can cross to keep growth sustained,&#8221; Lee said adding that urbanization is typically associated with growing wealth.

Measuring this by GDP per capita and using the World&#8217;s experience with urbanization as an example, every percentage point increase in urbanization raises GDP per capita by about $500. The low hurdles to growth can also be seen in the GDP per capita of countries in ASEAN, Lee said.

Compared with the World&#8217;s GDP per capita of $10,000 in 2011, only 2 countries (Singapore and Brunei) exceed this level.

Malaysia is nearly on par but the next nearest country, Thailand, is only about half of the World&#8217;s GDP per capita.

Lee said Brunei and the Philippines are in the transition stage to efficiency-driven and Thailand and Indonesia are at the efficiency-driven stage.

The country&#8217;s per capita GDP is estimated at $2,500.

Malaya Business News Online - Philippine Business News | Online News Philippines - Asean to lead growth

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## Malaya

*Despite our own woes, Spain won&#8217;t abandon you, ex-minister assures PH*

Despite being in a recession, Spain will continue to turn a &#8220;fraternal eye&#8221; on its former colony, the Philippines.

No less than former Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono made the assurance at a press conference in a Makati City hotel on Monday that was convened by Spanish and Filipino diplomatic and civil society groups to launch the sixth Tribuna España-Filipinas this week. 

The Tribuna&#8212;established in 2005 by the Barcelona-based Casa Asia and the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Philippines&#8217; Fundacion Santiago&#8212;provides a regular venue for dialogue among business, academic, civil society and government representatives from both countries in order to strengthen bilateral ties. At the press conference, Bono, a member of the 30-person Spanish delegation this year, said Filipino-Hispano ties would be maintained and strengthened despite Spain&#8217;s &#8220;struggling to overcome a very serious economic situation.&#8221;

&#8220;Even when the going gets rough, we turn our eye to the Philippines always in a very fraternal manner,&#8221; said Bono in his message in Spanish that was translated by Tribuna spokesperson Chaco Molina.

Molina, in a press statement, said &#8220;the Philippines and Spain share a very special and unique relationship, so much so that Spain has pledged to continue providing grants to the country to support health and education programs despite budget cuts brought on by austerity measures in Europe.&#8221;

*Continued support*

&#8220;Despite reductions in the budget for development aid, Spain has assured that the Philippines will be the only country in Asia to continue to receive such support in the coming years,&#8221; Molina said. Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Aecid)-Asia Pacific Director Jose Luis Martin Yague said Spanish aid to the Philippines in the last five years totaled about 180 million euros. 

&#8220;We hope that in the next years, the level of disbursement will be 50 million euros,&#8221; he said at the press conference. 

A June 2012 publication of the AECID showed that Spain was the top bilateral donor to the United Nations system in the Philippines, with a 22-million euro contribution. 

Bono acknowledged, however, that while Spain&#8217;s ties to the Philippines may have deep historical roots, it &#8220;has not blossomed to the level of benefits that a country of such significance should maintain.&#8221;

&#8220;Our bilateral contributions have not surpassed the 300-million euro mark. We are aware that geography has a mandate which is as persistent as that of politics. We&#8217;re here to defy those challenges of distance,&#8221; Bono said. 

In an interview after the press conference, Casa Asia Director General Ramon Moreno said the sixth Tribuna España-Filipinas was supposed to be held last year but was postponed due to the economic crisis and lack of delegates.

*Long way to go*

He also admitted that while culturally the two countries may be very close, from an economic point of view &#8220;we have a long way to go.&#8221;

He said the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs only started drafting Asia Pacific-oriented programs in 2000.

&#8220;We hope this tribunal can help&#8230; to present the good economic potential of the Philippines and the opportunity for Spanish companies to come here. In turn, we would like to receive as well investments from the Philippines,&#8221; Moreno said.

He was quick to point out, however, that the forum was more a &#8220;brainstorming session&#8221; than an economic summit.

Bono, for his part, stressed that the two countries&#8217; affinity for each other &#8220;is far stronger than economic interest.&#8221;

*Very selfless interest*

&#8220;Spain has a very selfless interest in the Philippines,&#8221; he said.
Bono described Spain-Philippine relations as being similar to &#8220;a tree that has more roots than fruits.&#8221;

&#8220;Roots in history throughout centuries. Your names, surnames, your very own history is also our history,&#8221; he said.

The sixth Tribuna Espana-Filipinas will be held on Jan. 29-30 at the AIM Conference Center in Makati.

The Spanish delegation will include prominent personages such as Bono, Moreno, Deputy House Speaker Dolors Montserrat, Instituto Cervantes Secretary General Rafael Rodriguez-Ponga and other multisectoral leaders from Spain.

The Philippine delegation will include Budget Secretary Butch Abad, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, NAPC Secretary Joel Rocamora, Education Secretary Armin Luistro and presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas, among others.

Despite our own woes, Spain won


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## Reashot Xigwin

* Indonesia to import 2,500 ships from China. *
Mon, 28 Jan 2013





Jakarta, Jan 28 (IANS) Indonesia will import 2,500 ships from China to improve the logistics and distribution among ports scattered throughout the archipelago.

The Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry or Kadin will import the ships, Xinhua reported.

Kadin has signed an agreement with China worth $5 billion, said Natsir Mansyur, vice chairman of Kadin's trade, distribution and logistics division.

The ships will be delivered within five years starting 2013.

"Indonesia's logistics costs are quite high due to limited infrastructure and armada, we need to boost the logistics operations," Natsir said.

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago with 17,000 islands.

A report by the World Bank in 2012 showed Indonesia's position in logistics performance index was at 2.94 in the scale of 5, lagging behind its regional peers such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

Indonesia to import 2,500 ships from China to boost logistics performance - Globaltimes.cn

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## Viet

Reashot Xigwin said:


> * Indonesia to import 2,500 ships from China. *
> Mon, 28 Jan 2013


Wow, that´s a huge order! I wonder why Indonesia just picked China, and not Vietnam?


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## nufix

Viet said:


> Wow, that´s a huge order! I wonder why Indonesia just picked China, and not Vietnam?



Maybe because China has more shipyards and steel industries, more shipyards means larger production capacity and more steel industries means lesser time to make key materials for the hull. Both results to lesser time needed to build the ships which Indonesia need fast, as stated in the news, the costs for logistic are quite high in here and the solution (adding new ships massively) should be implemented before the logistic costs affect commodity costs and skyrocketing the prices.


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## Viet

nufix said:


> ...



That makes sense. Maybe China offers a loan, too.


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## nufix

Viet said:


> That makes sense. Maybe China offers a loan, too.



that's possible, 2,500 ships in one order is huge, loan and installment are still needed.


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## scobydoo

nufix said:


> that's possible, 2,500 ships in one order is huge, loan and installment are still needed.


Not in one order, but within 5 years term. It means 500 ships per year that cost 2 million each.

Impor 2.500 kapal logistik, Kadin siapkan Rp15 triliun | SINDOnews


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## nufix

scobydoo said:


> Not in one order, but within 5 years term. It means 500 ships per year that cost 2 million each.
> 
> Impor 2.500 kapal logistik, Kadin siapkan Rp15 triliun | SINDOnews



It is one order, but the production scheme takes 5 years to complete the total ships ordered. It is like the Indonesian Lion Air's biggest order for Boeing's 737 MAX, it is one order, but the production takes 6 years to complete those 230 units.


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## Malaya

Aquino says investors lining up for PH

ZURICHGone are the days when the Philippines had to beg for investments. Now, investors are lining up to ride on the countrys economic momentum, President Aquino said here on Saturday.

Speaking before a crowd of about 500 members of the Filipino-Swiss community, Mr. Aquino said the market back home was soaring to all-time highs and that the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) may hit the 7,000 milestone within the year.

If we further help each other, I wont be surprised if we make it to the Guinness Book of World Records because of the strong performance of our stock exchange, said the President, who earlier attended the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He said in jest that when he celebrates his birthday on Feb. 8, the index may have hit 6,500.

As of Friday, the PSEi closed at 6,167.64. The indexseen as an advanced barometer of how the economy and corporate Philippines will farehas hit new record highs for over 70 times since the Mr. Aquino assumed the presidency in mid-2010.

*Momentum*

The President was applauded when he reminisced the situation during the term of his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino. I joined some of her trips. We went to Japan and we were almost begging for them to put up businesses in the Philippines.

But these days, theres a long line of investors for us, Mr. Aquino said. They are eager to invest in a wide array of sectors from education and infrastructure to information technology, he said.

These big corporations are one in saying: Wed like to join you, he said.

But on the other hand, Mr. Aquino said that for the longest time, he was still thinking why there were still Filipinos trapped in extreme poverty no matter how hard they tried. This, he said, was what his administration was trying to address.

Were trying to fix the conditions so that people who work hard will earn a good living. Were dismantling the system where only those with connections, those who engage in bribery or fraud, benefit, he said.

*No magic*

Were trying to build a society where if you get into the line, you will move forward; when you work hard, you can live with dignity and without getting hungry, he said.

The President said the Philippine transformation did not need any magic potion. He said he had just done what was right: Use public funds to worthwhile programs; follow the rule of law and make violators accountable.

Mr. Aquino again took a potshot at his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is now facing plunder charges.

Citing that the previous administration had entered into a contract to dredge Laguna Lake, he said: It would have been goodgetting rid of sediments to increase the holding capacity of this lake. It sounds good, right, because thats where we get bulk water for the National Capital Region.

But, he said, it was discovered that one part of the lake would be dredged but the sediments would be dumped to another side. You may think its a joke but it isnt. Its whats there in the contract, he said.

*Level playing field*

The President said Juan de la Cruz would, of course, wonder how the Laguna Lakes holding capacity would improve that way.
The contract, he said, would cost the government P18.7 billion just to play with mud, adding that those responsible would be held accountable. He said he aborted it because any contract must go through a proper bidding.

Why did anybody agree to this foolishness? Who will benefit? And I think, very soon, someone will face prosecution for this, he said.

These days, theres a level playing field not just in government projects but in the financial markets, the President said.

This is what the global community is seeing now. This is why despite the global economic crisis, our gross domestic product (GDP) has been growing rapidly, he said. He noted the 7.1-percent GDP growth in the third quarter of 2012 and the robust performance of the stock market.
*
7,000 points*

Before I assumed office, whenever the PSEi hits 4,000, its always only a blip and then it would go down. At that time, there was not enough confidence to pass the 4,000-mark. But now, were past 6,000. So, I asked market players, Whats next, maybe 7,000? I was told, maybe 6,500, and maybe that will happen by my birthday next month, he said.

He said he was later told that the index would hit 7,000 before the end of the year. This broker never missed his forecast, so theres a big chance this will happen.

The Presidents stock market view was within the range expected by the market. Based on recent forecasts from eight financial institutions recently culled by the Inquirer business section, the PSEi could climb further to at least 6,200 to as high as 7,100 this year.

Averaging their forecasts, the consensus level is about 6,580 on an assumed growth in earnings per share of 14 percent.
Mr. Aquino arrived in Manila on Sunday.

Summary of forecasts: 2013 PSEi outlook 

* Macquarie Group  7,100
* BPI Odyssey  6,500-7,100
* First Metro Investment Corp.  6,800
* COL Financial  6,500
* Banco de Oro  6,500
* TradeAsia.com  6,500
* UBS  6,250
* Maybank ATR-Kim Eng Securities  6,200
Average  6,581

Aquino says investors lining up for PH | Inquirer Business


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Squatters get homes, official gets the boot*
Sita W. Dewi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Thu, January 31 2013, 10:56 AM






_Home sweet home: New neighbors chat at the low-cost Marunda apartments in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. The Jakarta administration fired a top housing official as part of its efforts to improve services and woo poor residents from slum areas into clean, safe housing. (JP/P.J. Leo)Home sweet home: New neighbors chat at the low-cost Marunda apartments in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. The Jakarta administration fired a top housing official as part of its efforts to improve services and woo poor residents from slum areas into clean, safe housing. (JP/P.J. Leo)_

*Deputy Governor Basuki &#8220;Ahok&#8221; Tjahaja Purnama has removed the official in charge of Marunda low-cost apartments in North Jakarta as ex-Pluit Dam squatters, made homeless in the floods, began relocating.*

*In the administration&#8217;s first tough move to clean up bureaucracy, Ahok announced on Wednesday that he had uncovered brokerage and subleasing practices that made it difficult for squatters to move into the refurbished apartment complex.*

*&#8220;It has been said that nobody wants to move into the apartments. Actually, lots of them want to but have been denied. We have reports from residents and we ran checks,&#8221; Ahok said at his office.*

*&#8220;This man has been disrupting our efforts to move the squatters into the apartments so it is time for him to leave.&#8221;*

*Ahok was referring to Kusnindar, head of apartment area I technical operations unit with the housing agency.*

*The agency has appointed Jati Waluyo to replace Kusnindar. Kusnindar&#8217;s next assignment remains undisclosed.*

The administration has collaborated with relevant agencies to promote a healthy lifestyle among residents.

&#8220;They will start learning how to live in a clean area as we relocate them to the apartments,&#8221; he said.

The buildings meant for Jakarta&#8217;s low-income households, most of which were built between 2007 and 2009, have been neglected for years.

Jakarta Governor Joko &#8220;Jokowi&#8221; Widodo blamed mismanagement for the vacant units.

&#8220;What was needed was proper promotion for the complex,&#8221; Jokowi told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday.

&#8220;Once the deputy governor provided buses and took the squatters on a tour of the apartments, they became interested in moving in.&#8221;

The administration will prioritize flood victims and residents affected by the city&#8217;s projects, he said.

Jokowi blamed a lack of supporting facilities as a factor that might have made people reluctant to live there.

*&#8220;Who wants to live in an area where there&#8217;s no health center, no market, and no buses to connect them to other places? But the situation has improved. Even I want to live there now,&#8221; he said.*

*Ahok lured the squatters by promising to give the first few families furniture, a TV and staple food. Ahok also provided free buses for the families who agreed to move in.*

*According to Jakarta Housing and Building Agency chief Novizal, 10 out of the 15 apartment blocks owned by the administration, with 100 units each, were inhabited as of Tuesday.*

There are 26 blocks in total at the complex. The remaining 11 are owned by the central government. Each unit is subsidized and rented for between Rp 150,000 (US$15.50) and Rp 200,000 per month.

Novizal said the agency was still renovating the administration&#8217;s 500 remaining units.

&#8220;500 units have yet to be connected to electricity and water,&#8221; he said, declining to specify a deadline for the work to be completed.

Meanwhile, the administration is restoring the 80-hectare Pluit Dam, which has silted up to a depth of only 3 meters from an initial 10 meters.

&#8220;The Sanitation Agency will handle the process. Hopefully, it will be completed by October,&#8221; he said.

*The administration will spend Rp 2 billion on the work.*

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/01/31/squatters-get-homes-official-gets-boot.html





Thank you Mas Jokowi

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## Viet

*New headquarters for Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia*
_Updated : 2/1/2013 1:04:13 PM Voice of Vietnam_






(VOV) - A ceremony was held on January 31 in Putrajaya- the administration capital of Malaysia to hand over a land ownership certificate to the* Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia*.

Among the guests were Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao, Counselor-Minister Le Thi Hoang Cuc and representatives of Vietnamese agencies in Malaysia.

Ambassador Thao thanked the Malaysian Government and Putrajaya administration for helping the Vietnamese Embassy buy the two plots of land for the building of its new headquarters.

Thao said there will be diverse activities marking the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Malaysia during the year. Perbadanan Putrajaya Group President Aseh bin Haji Che Mat said 25 foreign embassies have purchased 49 out of 61 plots of land in Putrajaya so far.



*Vietnamese nationals in Thailand welcome new headquarters*
_Updated : 1/25/2013 11:18:55 AM Voice of Vietnam_






(VOV) - The new headquarters of the* Vietnamese Association in Thailand *were inaugurated in Sakon Nakhon province on January 24. The Vietnamese community in Thailand was founded before the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1976. The Association of Vietnamese nationals was founded in October 2010 and was recognized by the Thai administration in July 2012.

Boonsong Techamanisathit, governor of Sakon Nakhon province, said the recognition laid a firm legal foundation for the association and its chapters across Thailand to operate officially. The event, he said, also helps strengthen the friendship between the two countries.

Located on Nakhoon Ratchasima (Korat) Highlands, northeast of Thailand, Sakon Nakhon has a population of 76,000. It borders Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Kalasin and Udon Thaini provinces of Thailand.

*It is home to more than 10,000 Vietnamese nationals*, many of whom are successful business people or are holding key posts in provincial administration agencies.



*Lao leaders pay Tet visit to Vietnamese embassy*
_Updated : 2/1/2013 1:01:02 PM Voice of Vietnam_

(VOV) - Deputy Prime Ministers of Laos Thoonglun Sisulith and Somsavad Lengsavat attended a Lunar New Year party hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in Vientiane on January 31.

In his speech, Somsavath Lengsavat congratulated Vietnamese people on the tremendous achievements they have recorded during the Doi Moi (Renewal) process.





_Politburo member and Deputy PM Somsavath Lengsavat extended best Tet wishes to Vietnamese people_

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## Viet

*Thai documentary series features Vietnam*
_Updated : 2/1/2013 6:13:54 PM Voice of Vietnam
_





(VOV) - Thailand&#8217;s national TV channel will begin broadcasting a series of documentaries introducing Vietnam&#8217;s land and people from February 2.

The series, directed by multitalented Thai artist Naowarat Phongphaiboon, comprises *40 short documentary films* lasting 4 minutes each. They will be aired in primetime every Saturday.

The documentaries are part of an agreement signed in 2013 between *Vietnam&#8217;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs *and Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and Thai relevant agencies.


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## nufix

*Liberia Supports Mari Elka To Become WTO Director General*


Anggi Oktarinda


MONROVIA, Liberia--*Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf gave her support to former Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu as the representative of Indonesia to become the Director General of WTO in the period 2013-2017.*

"Liberia supports Mari Pangestu leading the WTO," Sirleaf said after a bilateral meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday (1/311) at 15.00 pm local time or 22:00 WIB.

Sirleaf said *she appreciates Indonesia's role in global development. In addition, she also appreciated the role of Indonesia participated in sending peacekeepers to Africa.*





Mari Elka Pangestu - Former Indonesian Minister of Trade


*Mari *who currently serves as the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Indonesia *nominated as deputy to the Director General of the WTO period from 2013 to 2017.*

Previously, in order to respond to her nomination as Director General of the WTO, *Mari attended meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos,* January 22 to 26, 2013.

On that occasion, she expressed her views and exchange ideas about the importance of maintaining confidence in the multilateral trade agreements.

*After Davos, Mari went to Geneva to attend the WTO General Council on 29 to 31 January 2013.
*
At the event, all candidates WTO Director-General had been given the opportunity to present its vision and mission, followed by a question and answer session. (tw)

Liberia supports Mari Elka to become WTO Director General - Bisnis.com

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## nufix

*Timah to set up two subsidiaries in Myanmar*








*Publicly listed Indonesian tin mining company PT Timah says it will establish two subsidiaries to support its operations in Myanmar.*

PT Timah president director Sukrisno said one subsidiary would operate *the firms tin mine in Tanithary province in Myanmar and the other would market its tin produced in Myanmar.*

We expect the *two new business units, which will be fully owned by Timah, to begin operations in 2014,* Sukrisno said in Jakarta. 

Timah, according to Sukrisno, expected to start *exploration in Myanmar in June*. The firm is currently processing needed permits. 

There are several steps before we can really start exploring reserves there. Right now, the focus is to obtain all necessary permits from the local government in accordance with their mining procedures, he said.

In November, Timah secured a concession in Pubyien-Tamok in Myeik, Tanithary, from Myanmars energy ministry. 

The company has *allocated US$18 million to develop the 10,000-hectare site* over a three-year period, expecting to produce 10,000 tons of tin per year from the mine, *which would make the firm the largest tin producer in the world.*

The cost of the firms expansion plans into Myanmar would be sourced internally, Sukrisno said.

He added that Timah might receive offers of financial assistance from other institutions if it could collect dependable data on the concessions tin reserves. 

Timahs plans in Myanmar were part of efforts to increase the firms tin reserves, as its reserves from concessions in Bangka and Belitung islands have started to lessen significantly. 

*The firm would also consider building a smelter in Myanmar, Sukrisno said.
*
Timah will operate its concession in Myanmar mine under a production sharing contract. The company has envisioned reaping 80 percent of the production with the remainder going to the Myanmar government. The firm is currently still waiting for the local governments response to its proposal. 

When asked about his expectations for tin prices this year, Sukrisno said he hoped the commoditys price would increase to between $25,000 and $30,000 per ton. 

Tin prices have been hovering about $24,000 per ton as of January, up from the all-year average price of $21,000 per ton for 2012. 

We dont have any plan to boost production, as tin prices are still changing, he said. 

Timah has said that it wants to produce 30,000 tons of tin this year, which would be up from the 29,600 tons it produced in 2012.

*Timah (TINS) is one of several Indonesian state-owned corporations that have eyed expanding their business into neighboring Southeast Asian countries. *

The other firms include publicly listed cement producer PT Semen Gresik (SMGR), telecommunications company PT Telkom Indonesia (TLKM). 

Indonesian state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has also pondered expanding its business in the Southeast Asia region. 

Sukrisno said previously that Timah would also cut costs to boost earnings. 

We want to press down costs from between $16,000 and $18,000 per metric ton on average to below $15,000 next year, he said.

The company is expecting to operate a modified dredging ship converted from a bucket line dredger to a bucket wheel dredger (BWD), which would be able to operate in waters up to 70 meters deep with a lower cost of production and power consumption and higher productivity. 

Only seven out of its 11 BLDs are currently in operation. A BWD dredger uses new technology that enables it to carry out mining activities at a depth of up to 70 meters. The BWD ships dredging capacity is two times higher than that of BLDs.

The BWD is one of the companys development projects. Timah will develop two more BWDs next year after it reviews the operation of the first BWD.

Timah is also planning to develop an industrial zone in Bangka Belitung, which will host a tin chemical processing facility and other concerns, including coal power plant project.

Timah to set up two subsidiaries in Myanmar | The Jakarta Post

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia assists cassava chips project*

Ropate Valemei
Tuesday, February 05, 2013





_Rejeli Nailakolakovou, 7, stores away cassava bought from the market, at her home at Nasese in Suva._

THE Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia is working with the Fiji government on the cassava chips project.

The project, which started a year and a half ago, not only focuses on cassava chips but on other varieties of food and preparation such as cake, ice cream among others.

Ambassador Chandra Salim said it also covered other vegetable and fruit crop such as bread fruit, dalo, banana and orange.

"This project started over a year and a half ago. These crops are chosen because they are in abundance in Fiji.

"So we would like to share how Indonesians prepare them in varieties of ways," Mr Salim said.

Providing or enriching people with knowledge on how to prepare dishes in a variety of ways, he said would also enrich the diets in Fiji households.

"The embassy has collaborated with an Indonesian nun and sister as an expert in food nutritionist (temporary visit of two to three years) and the Ministry of Agriculture through the Koronivia Research Centre."

He said the successful rate would be as many as possible household in Fiji and the way they had to reach these household was through the support of the media.

"The objective is to reach a relative level of food security in Fiji by utilising local food crops in varieties of ways in preparing the food."

He said the budget for the project was not significant because the expert was in Fiji.

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forest chief economist, Ilimeleki Kaiyanuyanu confirmed the project.

Indonesia assists cassava chips project - Fiji Times Online

Anjrit kita bakal ngajarin Fiji buat masak Singkong ...


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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> *
> 
> "The embassy has collaborated with an Indonesian nun and sister as an expert in food nutritionist (temporary visit of two to three years) and the Ministry of Agriculture through the Koronivia Research Centre." *


*

Wuih jago juga tuh biarawatinya, jadi expert nutrisi. *


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## Viet

*News Analysis: Philippines' unemployment problem remains though GDP up 6.6 pct in 2012*

English.news.cn 2013-02-06 17:43:01 Xinhua
By Alito L. Malinao






MANILA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) --* The Philippine economy grew by 6.6 percent in 2012, one of the strongest economic growths in Asia.*

The full-year growth was pushed up after the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a higher-than-expected 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority ( NEDA), the economic policy-making agency of the government, from October to December last year, all major sectors of the economy registered remarkable growth.

Paradoxically, while there was a sizeable GDP growth in the fourth quarter, the country's unemployment rate worsened to 6.8 percent in October, up from the 6.4 percent recorded during the same month in the previous year.

Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO), the government agency in charge of monitoring economic data, showed that there were 2.76 million unemployed Filipinos in October, 2012, 120,000 higher than the 2.64 million jobless individuals in October 2011.

NEDA Director General Arsenio Balisacan has said that despite the country's robust economic growth this year, generating more jobs and quality employment remains a challenge.

"Achieving rapid economic growth is one thing, and inclusive growth is clearly another. Given the latest labor and employment figures, generating employment and ensuring that these are of good quality remain our greatest challenges," Balisacan said.

The government will continue to improve the country's competitiveness "as this will lead to more investments that will create the needed employment in the medium to long term," Balisacan added.

"In addition, we, at NEDA, have been collaborating with other agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment, to identify strategies to boost employment in the short term," he added.






The NSO said that the country had around 63.3 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and above in October 2012. Of this figure, 40.4 million persons were in the labor force.

This translates to a labor force participation rate of 63.9 percent in October 2012, down from the 66.3 percent recorded during the same month last year.

The number of employed persons decreased to 37.67 million from the 38.55 million with jobs last year.

Ibon Foundation, a Manila-based independent think tank, said that despite the respectably high economic growth rate in the Philippines, the country has the worst unemployment rate in Southeast Asia.

"The Philippines' average economic growth is reportedly higher than some Southeast Asian countries but at the same time, it also has the worst unemployment rates in the region," Ibon Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa said in a statement issued recently.

"The country's unemployment rate of 7 percent in 2011 was more than double the regional average of 3.2 percent and higher than in *Indonesia *(6.6 percent), *Myanmar *(4.0 percent), *Malaysia *( 3.1 percent), *Singapore *(2.7 percent), *Brunei *(2.6 percent), *Vietnam *(2.0 percent), *Cambodia *(1.7 percent), *Laos *(1.4 percent) and *Thailand *(0.7 percent)," Africa said.

He added that the disparity between the high GDP growth and the unemployment rate "further highlights the exclusionary character of the country's growth."

"The country's unemployment crisis will remain unresolved without a genuine thrust to develop Filipino manufacturing and domestic agriculture," Africa said.

Unfortunately, Africa said, the Philippine government persists in promoting low employment and low value-added sectors such as business process outsourcing (BPO), mining, tourism, enclave manufacturing for export, and cheap labor export.

"These are sectors where foreign investors and economies benefit disproportionately more than Filipinos," he said.

Rene Ofreneo of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of the Philippines said that more than half, or 51. 2 percent of unemployed Filipinos, were in 15-to-24 age group, " which only validates the difficulty faced by fresh graduates looking for work."

Ofreneo said that a third, or 33.3 percent of those unemployed, were high school graduates, 13.9 percent were college undergraduates, and 19.2 percent were college graduates. "The pattern of the labor force did not change. A major change will happen if there will be a major structural change in the economy like an industrial transformation and an agricultural modernization," Ofreneo said.






Meanwhile, Balisacan said while the 2012 growth of 6.6 percent was above the government target of 5 percent to 6 percent, this does not mean that growth would be much higher in 2013.

He said that there is still no reason to revise the 6-percent to 7-percent official growth assumption for 2013, although the economic managers will continue to monitor the progress on the fiscal side and developments abroad to determine if there is a need to change the forecast.

"We think 6 percent to 7 percent is more realistic given the risks. The global economy is more receptive to expansion now but the risks are quite high," Balisacan added.

Editor: Hou Qiang


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## Reashot Xigwin

*This is just an opinion piece.*

*Building the ASEAN Political-Security Community*
Roby Arya Brata, Jakarta | Opinion | Tue, February 05 2013, 9:54 AM





_Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem (C front) addresses the Third Meeting of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Council (APSC) held in Danang, Vietnam, Jan. 14, 2010. (Xinhua/Han Qiao)_

ASEAN member states (AMS) are facing challenging political and security issues in the region, including an arms race, corruption, the development gap and the impact of it, ethnic clashes and intolerance, human trafficking, human rights abuses, an illicit drug trade, migration, money laundering, social injustice, terrorism, territorial maritime disputes, and other forms of transnational crimes.

*Through political and security development cooperation among the AMS, the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) is institutionally framed to effectively manage these issues. The APSC constitutes one of the three pillars supporting the ASEAN Community &#9472; alongside ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). Under the APSC blueprint, which provides a roadmap and timetable, the APSC will be established by 2015.*

Promoting political development based on the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms &#8212; as inscribed in the ASEAN Charter &#8212; the APSC, according to its blueprint, will &#8220;ensure the people and member states of ASEAN live in peace with one another and with the world at large in a just, democratic and harmonious environment&#8221;.

However, in a recent interview with Channel News Asia, ASEAN&#8217;s newly-installed secretary-general, Le Luong Minh, voiced concern over the slow progress toward building an ASEAN Community, including the APSC, by 2015. &#8220;We are not on track. A lot of work still needs to be done,&#8221; he said.

One of the major problems impeding the progress of establishing the ASEAN Community and the APSC is the slow pace of ratification and program implementation by the AMS.

In addition to the weak political commitment of the AMS, this slow progress may also be attributed to the insufficient power of the ASEAN Secretariat to coordinate, monitor and &#8220;direct&#8221; the policies, programs and activities of the ASEAN and the AMS in achieving the APSC. With its inadequate operational budget, the ASEAN Secretariat functions like an ASEAN post or liaison office.

The ASEAN Secretariat cannot correct and direct the AMS policies, programs and activities from the proposed actions and programs planned in the APSC Blueprint. The ASEAN Summit, as the highest decision-making body, is also weak in enforcing and &#8220;punishing&#8221; the AMS to comply with the rules, principles, and purposes contained in the ASEAN Charter.

Moreover, the recent conflicts affecting the AMS show that the institutional framework of the APSC is weak in resolving disputes and maintaining peace in the region. The cases of the South China Sea and Cambodia-Thailand territorial disputes, trans-boundary haze pollution and Rohingya human rights issues demonstrate how such an institutional framework is not effective in managing and resolving the problems.

&#8220;To maintain and enhance peace, security and stability in the region&#8221;, as stipulated in Article 1 of the ASEAN Charter, the institutional and legal framework of the APSC should be strengthened. The ASEAN Charter should be reviewed to give more power to the ASEAN secretary-general to act not only as a liaison officer, but also as a coordinating &#8220;minister&#8221; for ASEAN Community and foreign affairs. He or she and the ASEAN Secretariat would function as a policy-coordinating and policy-making body. However, this Secretariat may also propose new policies or revisions to the ASEAN Summit for approval.

*As a &#8220;foreign minister&#8221; of the ASEAN, the secretary-general may also act as an intermediary to settle the conflicts and disputes among the AMS. For instance, in the case of the ASEAN&#8217;s failure and disunity in making a joint communiqué on the South China Sea dispute at the Phnom Penh Summit last year, he should have done &#8220;shuttle diplomacy&#8221; to resolve the conflicts.*

ASEAN cannot rely on an AMS foreign minister to take the initiative for acting on such preventive diplomacy. In such an event, what if the Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa or other qualified high officials from the AMS were not willing to take the initiative to settle the difference or other forms of conflicting interests? The
secretary-general, therefore, should be empowered to do the job.

*To strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, the political and legal cooperation under the APSC blueprint should be designed and directed to &#8220;integrate&#8221; the political and legal systems of the AMS. For this purpose, ASEAN should adopt strong conventions on anticorruption and good governance, maritime disputes, environmental protection, human trafficking, illicit drug trade, extradition and mutual legal assistance, money laundering and other forms of transnational crimes.*

*To enforce these conventions, ASEAN must have a court that has the power to adjudicate disputes among the AMS and punish (transnational) crimes committed in ASEAN&#8217;s jurisdiction. Therefore, to make this court work effectively, the AMS should carefully and clearly redefine and reinterpret the scope and definitions of &#8220;sovereignty&#8221;, &#8220;non-interference&#8221;, and &#8220;territorial integrity&#8221; principles stipulated in the ASEAN Charter.*

The writer is an international law and policy analyst at the Cabinet Secretariat of Indonesia. The views expressed are his own.

Building the ASEAN Political-Security Community | The Jakarta Post

I hope this $hit will never pass


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## NiceGuy

> I hope this $hit will never pass.


Why? U dont want an ASEAN solidarity?


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> Why? U dont want an ASEAN solidarity?



Solidarity between 10 country is one thing political marriage between 10 member state is another.


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Solidarity between 10 country is one thing political marriage between 10 member state is another.


So, what make u worry abt building ASEAN Political-Security Community??


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> So, what make u worry abt building ASEAN Political-Security Community??



read between the line



> * the AMS should carefully and clearly redefine and reinterpret the scope and definitions of &#8220;sovereignty&#8221;, &#8220;non-interference&#8221;, and &#8220;territorial integrity&#8221; principles stipulated in the ASEAN Charter.*
> 
> Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-...human-developments-news-16.html#ixzz2KYsLT3nC



Do you want your country policy to be dictated by the other 9 country? Your country is not exactly in line with the ASEAN ideal. ASEAN is a regional forum not a political-economic-security entity. ASEAN job should maintain peace in the region not to take care of another country garbage.



> *To strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, the political and legal cooperation under the APSC blueprint should be designed and directed to &#8220;integrate&#8221; the political and legal systems of the AMS.* For this purpose, ASEAN should adopt strong conventions on anticorruption and good governance, maritime disputes, environmental protection, human trafficking, illicit drug trade, extradition and mutual legal assistance, money laundering and other forms of transnational crimes.
> 
> Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-...human-developments-news-16.html#ixzz2KYu5SCO8


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> read between the line
> 
> 
> *
> Do you want your country policy to be dictated by the other 9 country*? .


It is better than to be dictated by China or US, pls note that ur country will collapse if it face with US sanction. Strengthen ASEAN political system will help us to counter any sanction threat.


Reashot Xigwin said:


> Your country is not exactly in line with the ASEAN ideal. ASEAN is a regional forum not a political-economic-security entity. ASEAN job should maintain peace in the region not to take care of another country garbage


So, its time for you to grow up now, u can't be a kid begging for China-US 's mercy forever


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> It is better than to be dictated by China or US, pls note that ur country will collapse if it face with US sanction. Strengthen ASEAN political system will help us to counter any sanction threat.



Well, instead of China or the US you're going to be dictated by the other 9 country or whoever have the grace to lead us. How wonderful. I'm all tingling over here. 



> So, its time for you to grow up now, u can't be a kid begging for China-US 's mercy forever



Its obvious you're the kid here. If you're eager to surrender your country sovereignty just to be in a "big group" to feel save. You obviously don't have any confidence in your country managing its affair.


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Well, instead of China or the US you're going to be dictated by the other 9 country or whoever have the grace to lead us. How wonderful. I'm all tingling over here.


U have a chance to lead them, too


> Its obvious you're the kid here. If you're eager to surrender your country sovereignty just to be in a "big group" to feel save. You obviously don't have any confidence in your country managing its affair.


Living alone, you will die in US-China's hands, too, N.Korea is clear example for u.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> U have a chance to lead them, too



Oh sure its a common knowledge a Thai is much better in managing the Vietnamese, or Malaysian is much better in managing the Burmese. In case you didn't know its sarcasm.



> Living alone, you will die in US-China's hands, too, N.Korea is clear example for u.



In case you've been living under a Rock. We this thing called the UN. If that doesn't enough Indonesia is one of the founder of Non-Aligned Movement. So it may come to a surprise to you, but we're not actually alone .


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Oh sure its a common knowledge a Thai is much better in managing the Vietnamese, or Malaysian is much better in managing the Burmese. In case you didn't know its sarcasm.
> 
> .


Then Thai-Malay should share their experience in managing their economy while we will share our experience in building strong army to them.

pls note that : we have Good combat tactic, Perfect spy, ballistic missile , nuke capable missile ,CBU-55 that can kill thousand troops, special 'mud men' who can sabotage enemy's base and withdraw without being detected.


Reashot Xigwin said:


> In case you've been living under a Rock. We this thing called the UN. If that doesn't enough Indonesia is one of the founder of Non-Aligned Movement. So it may come to a surprise to you, but we're not actually alone .


No one will make friend with u when u're under US's sanction. So, you will be alone and die.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> Then Thai-Malay should share their experience in managing their economy while we will share our experience in building strong army to them.



This is about politic not about military. Are you saying that the Vietnamese can't lead for sh!t? So they needs to resort for other country to manage their affair.



> No one will make friend with u when u're under US's sanction. So, you will be alone and die.



I wonder why a moron like you without any understanding of foreign policy is allowed to speak is beyond me. Oh I won't count on it. We are vital to US "pivot" to Asia. If the US actually pull an embargo to us, we can nationalize all their investment in the country & move toward China. Do you want us to join China side? We can share the Whole ASEAN between us. The Indo-China which include you goes to the Chinese, while Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore & Brunei will belong to Indonesia.


US-Indonesia Expand Defense Partnership


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> I wonder why a moron like you without any understanding of foreign policy is allowed to speak is beyond me. Oh I won't count on it. We are vital to US "pivot" to Asia. If the US actually pull an embargo to us, we can nationalize all their investment in the country & move toward China. Do you want us to join China side? We can share the Whole ASEAN between us. The Indo-China which include you goes to the Chinese, while Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore & Brunei will belong to Indonesia.
> 
> 
> US-Indonesia Expand Defense Partnership


China can colude with US to sanction you,learn something from Iran, N.K before saying something idiot


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> China can colude with US to sanction you,learn something from Iran, N.K before saying something idiot



Seriously? The part where China takes part in sanctioning Iran and NK is when Iran and NK violated U.N's resolution against their Nuclear Program. There hasn't been any bilateral sanctions from China to either Iran or NK as China itself is still buying Iran's oil and supplying NK with key materials for their weapon programs. China is simply doing business with them. 

In this discussion of yours with Reashot, Indonesia is unlikely to get any sanctions from UN as we have never been violating its resolutions. So, China will not be colluding with U.S to sanction us, or the other ways around as any sides that befriend Indonesia, they will have the key to win South East Asia.


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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Seriously? The part where China takes part in sanctioning Iran and NK is when Iran and NK violated U.N's resolution against their Nuclear Program. There hasn't been any bilateral sanctions from China to either Iran or NK as China itself is still buying Iran's oil and supplying NK with key materials for their weapon programs. China is simply doing business with them.


SO you believe that Iran violate U.N's resolution when she allows IAEA to visit her nuclear plant 


> Nuclear watchdog IAEA inspects Iran, finds no violations - Iranian source
> 11:36
> 
> TEHRAN, June 12 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terekhov) - An unannounced IAEA inspection of Iranian nuclear sites has failed to find any banned uranium-enrichment activities in the world's most inspected country, a source in the Iranian nuclear energy authority told RIA Novosti.
> Nuclear watchdog IAEA inspects Iran, finds no violations - Iranian source *LINK*


It's a lie to find an excuse for tougher sanction and China also support that lie.


nufix said:


> In this discussion of yours with Reashot, Indonesia is unlikely to get any sanctions from UN as we have never been violating its resolutions. So, China will not be colluding with U.S to sanction us, or the other ways around as any sides that befriend Indonesia, they will have the key to win South East Asia.


Then, they will lie abt you, they will denounce that you have some kind of weapon of mass destruction like CBU-55, ballistic missile that can attack to Aussie, and ...ops, you're sanctioned.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> SO you believe that Iran violate U.N's resolution when she allows IAEA to visit her nuclear plant
> 
> It's a lie to find an excuse for tougher sanction and China also support that lie.
> 
> Then, they will lie abt you, they will denounce that you have some kind of weapon of mass destruction like CBU-55, ballistic missile that can attack to Aussie, and ...ops, you're sanctioned.



We are a Regional power and a very valuable ally to have in the region. If the world superpower is faced with choosing between Indonesia or Vietnam guess which they're going to pick. The problem with Iran or the NK is that they're "weak." For example the US maintain diplomacy with the Giant Communist China while they still keeping their "medieval sanction" toward small communist cuba. Point is if you're powerful they will try to talk to you if you're weak they won't even bother talking with you.


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> SO you believe that Iran violate U.N's resolution when she allows IAEA to visit her nuclear plant
> 
> It's a lie to find an excuse for tougher sanction and China also support that lie.



Do some research before you talk big okay? Allowing IAEA to visit their nuclear facilities doesn't make them clear from all suspicion regarding the enrichment of nuclear material to the stage of nuclear weapons.

See the list bellow:

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696 &#8211; passed on 31 July 2006. Demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and threatened sanctions.

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 &#8211; passed on 23 December 2006. Made mandatory for Iran to suspend enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and cooperate with the IAEA, imposed sanctions banning the supply of nuclear-- related materials and technology, and froze the assets of key individuals and companies related to the program.

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 &#8211; passed on 24 March 2007. Imposed an arms embargo and expanded the freeze on Iranian assets.

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1803 &#8211; passed on 3 March 2008. Extended the asset freezes and called upon states to monitor the activities of Iranian banks, inspect Iranian ships and aircraft, and to monitor the movement of individuals involved with the program through their territory.

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1835 &#8211; Passed in 2008.

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 &#8211; passed on 9 June 2010. Banned Iran from participating in any activities related to ballistic missiles, tightened the arms embargo, travel bans on individuals involved with the program, froze the funds and assets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and recommended that states inspect 
Iranian cargo, prohibit the servicing of Iranian vessels involved in prohibited activities, prevent the provision of financial services used for sensitive nuclear activities, closely watch Iranian individuals and entities when dealing with them, prohibit the opening of Iranian banks on their territory and prevent Iranian banks from entering into relationship with their banks if it might contribute to the nuclear program, and prevent financial institutions operating in their territory from opening offices and accounts in Iran.

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1984 &#8211; passed on 9 June 2011. This resolution extended the mandate of the panel of experts that supports the Iran Sanctions Committee for one year.

- United Nations Security Council Resolution 2049 &#8211; passed on 7 June 2012. Renewed the mandate of the Iran Sanctions Committee&#8217;s Panel of Experts for 13 months.



NiceGuy said:


> Then, they will lie abt you, they will denounce that you have some kind of weapon of mass destruction like CBU-55, ballistic missile that can attack to Aussie, and ...ops, you're sanctioned.



Nah, that is unlikely, we already been committing such destructive and genocide actions during our war in East Timor, we even used napalm bomb to burn those East Timorese villages and militia bases, the same bombs the U.S used during Vietnam war right? But there's no U.N sanction against that because our diplomats play their role properly. We already had many of strategic weapons that may threaten Aussie since the first time we got Battleship and jet bombers filled with napalm bombs. Instead of sanctioning us, they befriended us. 

Even when the U.S embargoed us from the late 1990's until 2004, we managed to grow fast and doing just fine.


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## ChineseTiger1986

NiceGuy said:


> China can colude with US to sanction you,learn something from Iran, N.K before saying something idiot



Nah, we will not sanction Iran, since Iran is our close ally right now.

But NK always has the rebellious nature, she deserved to get sanctioned furthermore.


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## nufix

ChineseTiger1986 said:


> Nah, we will not sanction Iran, since *Iran is our close ally* right now.
> 
> But NK always has the rebellious nature, she deserved to get sanctioned furthermore.



I always thought it was Pakistan?


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## ChineseTiger1986

nufix said:


> I always thought it was Pakistan?



Pakistan is always a traditional close ally, but Iran is also moving closer.


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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Do some research before you talk big okay? Allowing IAEA to visit their nuclear facilities doesn't make them clear from all suspicion regarding the enrichment of nuclear material to the stage of nuclear weapons.
> 
> See the list bellow:
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696 &#8211; passed on 31 July 2006. Demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and threatened sanctions.
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 &#8211; passed on 23 December 2006. Made mandatory for Iran to suspend enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and cooperate with the IAEA, imposed sanctions banning the supply of nuclear-- related materials and technology, and froze the assets of key individuals and companies related to the program.
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 &#8211; passed on 24 March 2007. Imposed an arms embargo and expanded the freeze on Iranian assets.
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1803 &#8211; passed on 3 March 2008. Extended the asset freezes and called upon states to monitor the activities of Iranian banks, inspect Iranian ships and aircraft, and to monitor the movement of individuals involved with the program through their territory.
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1835 &#8211; Passed in 2008.
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 &#8211; passed on 9 June 2010. Banned Iran from participating in any activities related to ballistic missiles, tightened the arms embargo, travel bans on individuals involved with the program, froze the funds and assets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and recommended that states inspect
> Iranian cargo, prohibit the servicing of Iranian vessels involved in prohibited activities, prevent the provision of financial services used for sensitive nuclear activities, closely watch Iranian individuals and entities when dealing with them, prohibit the opening of Iranian banks on their territory and prevent Iranian banks from entering into relationship with their banks if it might contribute to the nuclear program, and prevent financial institutions operating in their territory from opening offices and accounts in Iran.
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 1984 &#8211; passed on 9 June 2011. This resolution extended the mandate of the panel of experts that supports the Iran Sanctions Committee for one year.
> 
> - United Nations Security Council Resolution 2049 &#8211; passed on 7 June 2012. Renewed the mandate of the Iran Sanctions Committee&#8217;s Panel of Experts for 13 months.
> 
> .


So, what should Iran do next to clear from all suspicion ?? They have to allow US's troops to station in their country and massacre their people ??


nufix said:


> Nah, that is unlikely, we already been committing such destructive and genocide actions during our war in East Timor, we even used napalm bomb to burn those East Timorese villages and militia bases, the same bombs the U.S used during Vietnam war right? But there's no U.N sanction against that because our diplomats play their role properly. We already had many of strategic weapons that may threaten Aussie since the first time we got Battleship and jet bombers filled with napalm bombs. Instead of sanctioning us, they befriended us.
> 
> Even when the U.S embargoed us from the late 1990's until 2004, we managed to grow fast and doing just fine.


That time, you had US support, Napalm bomb received from US.Things changed now, communist threat gone, Indonesia is not important to US like before.

btw: ur jet bombers are easy to be shot down ,it can't be a threat to Aussie and can u produce napalm bomb now ??


> On the day before the invasion, U.S. President Gerald R. Ford and Kissinger met with Indonesian president Suharto. The United States had suffered a devastating setback in Vietnam, leaving Indonesia as the most important ally in the region. The US national interest "had to be on the side of Indonesia," Ford concluded.[65] According to declassified documents released by the National Security Archive (NSA) in December 2001, they gave a green light for the invasion. In response to Suharto saying, "We want your understanding if it was deemed necessary to take rapid or drastic action [in East Timor]," Ford replied, "We will understand and not press you on the issue. We understand the problem and the intentions you have." Kissinger agreed, although he had fears that the use of US-made arms in the invasion would be exposed to public scrutiny, talking of their desire to "influence the reaction in America" so that "there would be less chance of people talking in an unauthorised way."[66] The US also hoped the invasion would be relatively swift and not involve protracted resistance. "It is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly," Kissinger said to Suharto.[67]
> 
> The US also played a crucial role in supplying weapons to Indonesia.[65] A week after the invasion of East Timor the National Security Council prepared a detailed analysis of the Indonesian military units involved and the U.S. equipment they used. The analysis revealed that virtually all of the military equipment used in the invasion was U.S. supplied: U.S.-supplied destroyer escorts shelled East Timor as the attack unfolded; Indonesian marines disembarked from U.S.-supplied landing craft; U.S.-supplied C-47 and C-130 aircraft dropped Indonesian paratroops and strafed Dili with .50 caliber machine guns; while the 17th and 18th Airborne brigades which led the assault on the Timorese capital were "totally U.S. MAP supported," and their jump masters U.S. trained.[68]
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_invasion_of_East_Timor


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## ChineseTiger1986

ASEAN will always choose China and USA as their arbitrators, that's their political choice. 

ASEAN will always be the playground of many groups, not just for Vietnam.


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> We are a Regional power and a very valuable ally to have in the region. If the world superpower is faced with choosing between Indonesia or Vietnam guess which they're going to pick. The problem with Iran or the NK is that they're "weak." For example the US maintain diplomacy with the Giant Communist China while they still keeping their "medieval sanction" toward small communist cuba. Point is if you're powerful they will try to talk to you if you're weak they won't even bother talking with you.


First: R U a true Indonesian ?? can u speak its language ??

Second: Iran have ballistic missile with the range of 1,000 to 5,500 kilometers when No nations in ASEAN have it, so Iran is Not weak.


ChineseTiger1986 said:


> Nah, we will not sanction Iran, since Iran is our close ally right now.
> 
> But NK always has the rebellious nature, she deserved to get sanctioned furthermore.


actions speak louder than words.


> But actions speak louder than words. In fact, China has made important changes in its policy on Iran in recent years&#8212;in large part due to the Obama administration&#8217;s assertive diplomacy on Iran. The most recent news&#8212;that China decided to continue to cut its oil imports from Iran next month compared to March 2011&#8212;is an important step. And in 2010, China supported United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929, the most extensive package of sanctions Iran has ever faced. China did so despite a last-minute diplomatic effort by Turkey, Brazil, and Iran to avert its passage.
> 
> China is also apparently partially complying with the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment, enacted by the United States in 2010. Chinese firms have scaled back their activities in Iran in response to instructions from both Chinese leadership and their own business calculations. Chinese national energy companies such as the China National Petroleum Company, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and the Sinopec Group have all slowed or halted work on multibillion dollar Iranian energy development projects such as the North and South Pars gas field and the Yadavaran oil field. Although these are positive developments, the challenge remains in getting multinational corporations around the world, including Chinese companies, to comply with existing sanctions on Iran.
> China


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> So, what should Iran do next to clear from all suspicion ?? They have to allow US's troops to station in their country and massacre their people ??



About what Iran should do next is out of my concern as that's not the topic of our discussion. The point is, China is not bilaterally sanction Iran, your point about the possibility of Indonesia got sanctioned from both of U.S and China is not legit.



NiceGuy said:


> *That time, you had US support,* Napalm bomb received from US.Things changed now, communist threat gone, Indonesia is not important to US like before.
> 
> btw: ur jet bombers *are easy to be shot down* ,it can't be a threat to Aussie and can u produce napalm bomb now ??



That's the point, we can play diplomacy and gain support from everywhere using Indonesia's importance factors, so without mongering for war or trying to ally with any countries, we can manage ourselves though so many things using our diplomatic power.

Indonesia is still important to the U.S, why do you think U.S gave us clearance to have state of the art AH 64D Longbow and granted Indonesia 3 squadrons of upgraded F 16? 

Really? tell me how many of our Bombers have been shot down by enemy? 

We don't produce napalm, but we got more napalm bombs than you got CBU 55, that's for sure.
Anyway, here's our napalm bombs used in East Timor, hope it wouldn't trigger your bad memories about napalm. 






Indonesia's Napalm bomb during the invasion of East Timor.





Indonesian AF ground crews are equipping the bomber with Napalm bomb.





Indonesian AF bombers passed East Timorese sky after dropping Napalm bomb.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> First: R U a true Indonesian ?? can u speak its language ??



Are you truly Vietnamese? You seems to support ASEAN dominion over your country sovereignty.

Do you even know how much have the United States invested in the country we're talking about Billions. Iran is another thing because the US doesn't have to many business presence in the country, thus it is easier to impose sanction on Iran. 
Helping Indonesia Make the Most of US Investment | The Jakarta Globe


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## nufix

ChineseTiger1986 said:


> *ASEAN* will always* choose China and USA* as their arbitrators, that's their political choice.
> 
> ASEAN* will always be the playground* of many groups, not just for Vietnam.



nah, Indonesia doesn't chose U.S nor China.

Referring to Vietnam doesn't make you can generalize it.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> About what Iran should do next is out of my concern as that's not the topic of our discussion. The point is, China is not bilaterally sanction Iran, your point about the possibility of Indonesia got sanctioned from both of U.S and China is not legit.


People know US accusation toward Iran nuclear programme is a Big lie . Iran programe is clearly under IAEA watch 24/24 hours. Just like how US lied abt Iraq-Iran, it can lie abt Indonesia too and China will do Nothing to help you against US's sanction. 


nufix said:


> Indonesia is still important to the U.S, why do you think U.S gave us clearance to have state of the art AH 64D Longbow and granted Indonesia 3 squadrons of upgraded F 16?


AH 64D and F 16 can't use to attack Aussie, if you're important to US, then try to ask for the right to increase your missile's range up to 800km like S.Korea and see if US allow you to do or not.Pls don't show me ur RX-550 again coz it only use to launch satellite,it not an attack missile with serous warhead. 


nufix said:


> Really? tell me how many of our Bombers have been shot down by enemy?


Ur bomber is not better than B-52, right, and we shot down a dozen of B-52 just by outdated SA-2 so let alone Aussie with far better anti-aircraft system.


nufix said:


> We don't produce napalm, but we got more napalm bombs than you got CBU 55, that's for sure.
> Anyway, here's our napalm bombs used in East Timor, hope it wouldn't trigger your bad memories about napalm.


CBU-55 can make a fireball over a 4-acre (16,000 m2) area. napalm bombs only can make a minor damage compared with CBU-55.


> The first generation of the CBU-55 was used during the Vietnam War. By April 21, 1975, South Vietnam had largely been conquered by the military from the north. Earlier in the month, a single CBU-55 had been flown from Thailand to the Bien Hoa airbase. The senior military officer in Vietnam, Major General Homer Smith, cleared the way for the Saigon government to use the weapon against the North Vietnamese Army. A Vietnamese C-130 transport plane circled Xuan Loc at 20,000 feet (6,100 m), then dropped the bomb. The contents exploded in a fireball over a 4-acre (16,000 m2) area. Experts estimated that 250 soldiers had been killed, primarily by the immediate depletion of oxygen rather than from burns. The CBU-55 was never used again in the war, and South Vietnam's government surrendered on April 30.[1]
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBU-55


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Are you truly Vietnamese? You seems to support ASEAN dominion over your country sovereignty.
> 
> Do you even know how much have the United States invested in the country we're talking about Billions. Iran is another thing because the US doesn't have to many business presence in the country, thus it is easier to impose sanction on Iran.
> Helping Indonesia Make the Most of US Investment | The Jakarta Globe


I can speak VNese fluently , and I've posted many link here in VNese and translated to English, too. My IP also from VN. Unlike u, u never can prove that you know how to speak Indonesian. Building the ASEAN Political-Security Community bring lots of benefit for VN such as we won't be scared of US-China's sanction anymore etc, so I support it


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> People know US accusation toward Iran nuclear programme is a Big lie . Iran programe is clearly under IAEA watch 24/24 hours. Just like how US lied abt Iraq-Iran, it can lie abt Indonesia too and China will do Nothing to help you against US's sanction.



Dude, are you delusional? You can't even stick to the discussion points. We are not talking about whether the accusation is a lie or not, it is about the possibility of China and U.S simultaneously embargoing Indonesia which is unlikely as I told you. God, now I know why most people tired to talk some senses to you, you always derail the topic.



NiceGuy said:


> *AH 64D and F 16 can't use to attack Aussie*, if you're important to US, *then try to ask for the right to increase your missile's range up to 800km* like S.Korea and see if US allow you to do or not.Pls don't show me ur RX-550 again coz* it only use to launch satellite*,it not an attack missile with serous warhead.
> Ur bomber is not better than B-52, right, and *we shot down a dozen *of B-52 just by outdated SA-2 so let alone Aussie with far better anti-aircraft system.



See? you are not sticking to the points of the discussion. Am I talking about whether AH64D and F16 can be used against Aussie? I am talking about how the U.S sees Indonesia as an important associate by giving us clearance to have AH 64 D which is not all country can get it, and free F16s are also not an ordinary gift if Indonesia was not important to the U.S.

800 km? Don't worry, this year Indonesia will conduct a test with rockets able to carry out payload up to 900 km away.
Here's the quote from a news from last year.



> Indonesia to launch a three-digit rocket in 2013
> 
> Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is planning to launch a three-digit rocket, with a range of *100km to 900km*, to *strengthen its artillery system*. Indonesia is planning to launch the rocket next year.
> 
> "Next year, we will conduct static and dynamic tests on a three-digit rocket," said Goenawan Wybiesana, who works as an assistant to the deputy minister for research and technology - strategic, scientific and technological research productivity, on Thursday.
> 
> Antara News : Indonesia to launch a three-digit rocket in 2013



Do you understand about rockets? Missiles are basically a rocket with guidance system. Our RX series are the rocket platform, the platform can be used to launch satellite or bring warhead. we can turn those rocket by filling its payload with explosive and crash it to targets. 

Again, we are not talking about the possibility of the Australian Air Defense shooting down our bombers, we are talking about threat. Anyway, Indonesia will never be in war with Aussie, why do we even bring Aussie into this discussion?



NiceGuy said:


> CBU-55 can make a fireball over a 4-acre (16,000 m2) area. napalm bombs only can make a minor damage compared with CBU-55.



yeah, see if those CBU 55s are still active, those CBU 55 you possess are the first generation and Vietnam has no bomber equivalent to bring such a big bomb right? How can that be a threat when those bombs are just stored in storages?


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> I can speak VNese fluently , and I've posted many link here in VNese and translated to English, too. My IP also from VN. Unlike u, u never can prove that you know how to speak Indonesian. Building the ASEAN Political-Security Community bring lots of benefit for VN such as we won't be scared of US-China's sanction anymore etc, so I support it



"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." 





Tanya Nufix sono wong jowo ora aye.

At the cost of your country sovereignty?

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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Tanya Nufix sono wong jowo ora aye.



Hahaha kasih doi bahasa Indo lah, bingung dia bahasa Jawa.

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## Reashot Xigwin

nufix said:


> Hahaha kasih doi bahasa Indo lah, bingung dia bahasa Jawa.



Gak sudi kalo ama dia mas

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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Gak sudi kalo ama dia mas



untung situ makenya indo tanpa ejaan yang semestinya, kalo ga bisa di google translate, sakit ati dia. haha 

All right, let's get back to the topic.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Time for a rethink on Asean integration*

Mong Palatino
Global Voices February 7, 2013 1:00 am
Asean has plans to fast track the integration of its member countries over the next few years. Aside from encouraging cooperation through traditional diplomatic and cultural activities, there are also ambitious proposals for Asean to issue a single visa and currency, and even form a united regional Olympic team.
The advantages of a united Asean are easy to imagine. A cohesive Asean would likely bring tremendous benefits to Southeast Asians in the forms of more jobs, more tourists, stronger defence forces and improved camaraderie among competing neighbours. Besides, who would oppose the idea of unity and greater economic coordination in the region?

*But Asean's basic problem is not merely an absence of unity. Wasn't unity the main objective of Asean when it was established in 1967? The fact that after four decades, the group is still pushing to integrate its 10 member countries suggests a pretty significant failure to foster solidarity in the region.*

Without undermining the laudable efforts of the Asean Secretariat, many doubt it can realise the One Community vision by its announced target date of 2015. How can it, if it continues to use the same approach that has singularly failed to unite its members to date?

*Asean unity will remain an impossible vision as long as its members continue to demand it for the wrong reasons. In truth, each member nation views its association with Asean as a means to pursue its national interests. Sacrificing the national agenda to realise the regional good is largely an alien concept to Asean members. Member nations are in favour of unity as long as it doesn't conflict with their respective national objectives.*

To be sure, Asean has successfully coordinated aid and relief efforts when natural disasters have devastated the region. But the group should be more than the region's answer to Red Cross.

But such instances are usually when Asean unity is invoked, namely, when a member is overwhelmed by a problem it can't solve or when it is affected by a neighbour's woes. Today, for example, we hear demands for Asean to intervene in Myanmar's Rohingya issue, maritime disputes in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea, and human trafficking across the region. Asean's next step will most likely be to decide whether to issue a joint statement to address these issues.

In the absence of disasters, and in between ministerial conferences, however, Asean has failed to engage in the essential task of building regional unity. Asean hasn't even been able to prevent members from accusing each other of being bad neighbours. East Timor's attempts to join the club have been blocked by Singapore, among others, which view its entry as a threat to their national interests, although the reason given to the public is usually East Timor's internal conflicts.

*Ultimately, Asean's unwillingness to form a more united and powerful regional grouping has been exploited by global powers like the United States, China and Japan, which are aggressively promoting their geopolitical interests in the region. A unified Asean could challenge the political and economic resources of these big nations. Instead, each Asean member has preferred to negotiate individually. It's tragic enough that Asean is not united. It's more tragic to hear members articulate and advance the interests of non-Asean superpowers during Asean summits.*

*At the minimum, a united Asean could prevent colonial powers old and new from dominating the region. But that's just a start. After asserting its independence, it would be great to see Asean aspire to become a global power in its own right. With this vision in mind, perhaps it's time to unite and promote the Southeast Asian way of life as a viable alternative to the world.*

Time for a rethink on Asean integration - The Nation

ASEAN should stay as a Regional forum!


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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Dude, are you delusional? You can't even stick to the discussion points. We are not talking about whether the accusation is a lie or not, it is about the possibility of China and U.S simultaneously embargoing Indonesia which is unlikely as I told you. God, now I know why most people tired to talk some senses to you, you always derail the topic.


And I'm trying to explain to *Reashot Xigwin* why we need to build the ASEAN Political-Security Community. No ASEAN member( including Indonesia) can stand against US-China sanction. So why don't we stand together to counter against any threat ??

If u don't wanna join, then fine, just stay alone and don't call us for help when trouble with US happen. U can't hope for any help from China,too coz China don't help Iran to please US now . 


nufix said:


> 800 km? Don't worry, this year Indonesia will conduct a test with rockets able to carry out payload up to 900 km away.
> Here's the quote from a news from last year.
> 
> Do you understand about rockets? Missiles are basically a rocket with guidance system. Our RX series are the rocket platform, the platform can be used to launch satellite or bring warhead. we can turn those rocket by filling its payload with explosive and crash it to targets.
> 
> Again, we are not talking about the possibility of the Australian Air Defense shooting down our bombers, we are talking about threat. Anyway, Indonesia will never be in war with Aussie, why do we even bring Aussie into this discussion?


And you need a place to produce warhead to fit with your missile, do u have any plan to produce warhead for ur ballistic missile now ??

I drag Aussie in coz she's the US's close ally ,she will feel so worry when u can possess a missile that reach to her land, and of course whe will ask US to stop ur plan. US won't stop u except u're really important to her.


nufix said:


> yeah, see if those CBU 55s are still active, those CBU 55 you possess are the first generation and Vietnam has no bomber equivalent to bring such a big bomb right? How can that be a threat when those bombs are just stored in storages?


US use transport plane to drop this bomb, so we can use modified Boeing 747 to drop it too.



nufix said:


> untung situ makenya indo tanpa ejaan yang semestinya, kalo ga bisa di google translate, sakit ati dia. haha
> 
> All right, let's get back to the topic.


U means I can't translate it properly by google translate ?? Oki, at least I will try to understand the key words


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> If u don't wanna join, then fine, just stay alone and don't call us for help when trouble with US happen. U can't hope for any help from China,too coz China don't help Iran to please US now .



Alliances makes countries that joined it redefine many of their definition about sovereignty, economy restrictions, etc. ASEAN is still filled by countries with various problem. If one, country, for example, Laos, is in crisis, then the country with the biggest amount of economy should bail them out, etc. We don't want to pour money to another country just to bail them out like Germany bailing out Greece.

So who's gonna be helping who? 



NiceGuy said:


> And you need a place to produce warhead to fit with your missile, do u have any plan to produce warhead for ur ballistic missile now ??



Indonesia have the biggest basic materials for explosives plant in S.E.A located in East Borneo Province. PT Kaltim Nitrate Indonesia (Nitrate is basic material for explosives) has production capacity up to 300.000 metric ton per year.







And we already making bombs for our military aircraft, making one warhead for a rocket is not a problem.

Conventional Bomb - P 100 

















Aircraft based Cruise Bomb - Litbang PTTA










NiceGuy said:


> US use *transport *plane to drop this bomb, so we can use modified *Boeing 747* to drop it too.



Military Transport and Civilian Transport plane is different in any level. Why does the U.S even bother to make C 130 series or B 52 if they can simply rig a Boeing to be a bomber?

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## Dubious

Ahhh..vietnam dude is clever!

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## nufix

Talon said:


> Ahhh..vietnam dude is clever!



yowislah kt pkai ejaan yg ngaco aja.



NiceGuy said:


> U means I can't translate it properly by google translate ?? Oki, at least I will try to understand the key words



yes, Indonesian language uses many variation of spelling, the formal one can be translated using G-Translate, and the informal ones, the ones we often use to simplify the writings, can not be translated using any kind of translator.

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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Alliances makes countries that joined it redefine many of their definition about sovereignty, economy restrictions, etc. ASEAN is still filled by countries with various problem. If one, country, for example, Laos, is in crisis, then the country with the biggest amount of economy should bail them out, etc. We don't want to pour money to another country just to bail them out like Germany bailing out Greece.


Then don't bail it out, no one force you to do it.


> And we already making bombs for our military aircraft, making one warhead for a rocket is not a problem.


Not a problem ?? S.K must ask for US's permission before increase its missile range up to 800km, so you think you don't need to ask and will get No sanction ?? VN is different coz we don't care abt US's sanction, we have Russia's protection.

Try to do it now if u can, and u will see trouble coming soon. 


> Military Transport and Civilian Transport plane is different in any level. Why does the U.S even bother to make C 130 series or B 52 if they can simply rig a Boeing to be a bomber?


Or we can buy Russia Military Transport plane, not a big problem, Russia even wanna sell aircraft carrier to us.


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## Dubious

nufix said:


> yowislah kt pkai ejaan yg ngaco aja.



Bhsa Indon sya tk brapa...blh phm ja


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> Then don't bail it out, *no one force* you to do it.



No one but the agreement itself that will eventually push Indonesia to take obligation to save one member's failing country's situation like civil war, economy, etc. If ASEAN countries are like EU, then I will gladly urge my government to make the ASEAN become a pact and alliance, since Indonesia itself is still having many internal problems we simply don't want to sacrifice our own country's need in order to save another member. 



NiceGuy said:


> Not a problem ?? S.K must ask for US's permission before increase its missile range up to 800km, so you think you don't need to ask and will get No sanction ?? VN is different coz we don't care abt US's sanction, we have Russia's protection.



Nah, we never asked permission from U.S to develop our rocket system before, why bother asking for another one?



NiceGuy said:


> Try to do it now if u can, and u will see trouble coming soon. Try to do it now if u can, and u will see trouble coming soon.



The thing is, we already tested many rockets, and are already set to test the biggest one with the range of 900 km. There were no protest from the U.S. Leave alone the that coming soon trouble.




NiceGuy said:


> Or we can buy Russia Military Transport plane, not a big problem, Russia even wanna sell aircraft carrier to us.



Good to hear that, but until that time you got a proper military aircraft able to carry and drop such bomb, still, that CBU 55 is not a threat to anyone.



Talon said:


> Bhsa Indon sya tk brapa...blh phm ja



Haha tak masalah, santai aja bro. Are you a Pakistani who had been settling in Bahasa speaking countries like Malaysia?

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## Dubious

nufix said:


> Haha tak masalah, santai aja bro. Are you a Pakistani who had been settling in Bahasa speaking countries like Malaysia?



Mcm tu lh...kisah sy susah cikit...1 thing for sure bukn bro...I perempuan lh!

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## nufix

Talon said:


> Mcm tu lh...kisah sy susah cikit...1 thing for sure bukn bro...I perempuan lh!



wahah maafkn sy, sy kira kmu bro, anyway, nice pinky pony horse you got there sist. 
Tak bnyak forumer perempuan di sini, jd sy salah mengira.

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## Dubious

@nufix BTW, tk nk orng lain tau so me going to edit my post! 



nufix said:


> wahah maafkn sy, sy kira kmu bro, anyway, nice pinky pony horse you got there sist.
> Tak bnyak forumer perempuan di sini, jd sy salah mengira.



tk apalh...tapi bkn funny kn lau laki ada pix of pink horse?


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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Nah, we never asked permission from U.S to develop our rocket system before, why bother asking for another one?
> 
> 
> 
> The thing is, we already tested many rockets, and are already set to test the biggest one with the range of 900 km. There were no protest from the U.S. Leave alone the that coming soon trouble


Bcz it is only used to launch satellite.

Action speak louder than words,so when can ur country possess ballistic warhead like VN ?Any plan for it yet?


> Good to hear that, but until that time you got a proper military aircraft able to carry and drop such bomb, still, that CBU 55 is not a threat to anyone
> 
> Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-...human-developments-news-19.html#ixzz2Kc1VPQvP


We have nuke capable Shaddock missile with warhead of 1.000kg,speed of 2.5 match,range of 550 km that even a bigger threat than CBU 55


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## scobydoo

What happen to this thread??? 

It's turn into "dick measuring contest"

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## nufix

Talon said:


> @nufix BTW, tk nk orng lain tau so me going to edit my post!
> 
> 
> 
> tk apalh...tapi bkn funny kn lau laki ada pix of pink horse?



haha sometimes laki pun suka yg girly girly, look reashot's prof pix, dia punya funny cat di profile pix nya.



scobydoo said:


> What happen to this thread???
> 
> It's turn into "dick measuring contest"



because sometimes, the only way to make people wake up from the dream, is to give them reality.

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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> Bcz it is* only used to launch satellite.*
> 
> Action speak louder than words,so when can ur country possess *ballistic warhead *like VN ?Any plan for it yet?
> We have nuke capable Shaddock missile with warhead of 1.000kg,speed of 2.5 match,range of 550 km that even a bigger threat than CBU 55



Have you read the news I quoted for you? The news says 900 km to *strengthen our artillery*, means that 900 km rocket will be turned up into missile. 

Do you know the term of "ballistic warhead"? it's warhead that brought by a ballistic missile.
Warhead can be made quickly, it simply contains of numerous number of explosives. We already make bombs for our aircraft, why do you bother to ask us if we have been making warhead or not? We have made several number of warheads for smaller rocket like R-Han 122 missiles, there will be no problem making warheads for RX 550 or RX 720. The first thing that should be completed is the platform itself, we have to test that RX 750 first, after it succeed, we may posses the warhead for it.







Anyway, shaddock is a 1959 missile right? even the Russian have changed it with newer rocket, are those missiles still active? You seem so sure with your old arsenal, why don't you posses another new ballistic missile? then you may threat the neighbors or even China.


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## Malaya

*Asean Community looks to 2015 and beyond*

With many Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) citizens celebrating the Lunar New Year last weekend, I would like to take this opportunity to express my wishes to all. I would also like to reflect on new beginnings and look toward the future.

As I am into my first month, many are asking me: How do I see myself in the role of Asean secretary-general, and what do I see for Asean on the five-year horizon.

To the first question of how I see my role as secretary-general, I am guided by the mandate of the Asean Charter and the Asean leaders. As one entrusted by the Charter with the demanding task of seeing through the implementation of Asean agreements and decisions, as well as reporting on Asean's work over the next five years, I should be able to provide a frank and learned analysis to our Asean leaders to assist them in sustaining their vision and aspirations for Asean.

I should also be able to promote Asean and convey its common positions to our dialogue partners and other external parties.

I believe that a large part of my role is to lead and guide the dedicated staff of the Asean Secretariat. As front-liners and the backbone of Asean's operations, we serve the Asean member states and the various Asean organs and ministerial-sectoral bodies in the building of the Asean Community.

The strengthening of the Asean Secretariat has already received the imprimatur of our leaders, and it will be upon us to carry on the measures to make the Secretariat more efficient and effective in the delivery of its services.

To the latter question, for the next five years I believe that Asean will continue to build on the gains of the last 45 years in the three community pillars.

In the area of peace and security, Asean will continue to provide a platform for peaceful dialogue and cooperation among member states and with the rest of the international community. In doing so, I believe Asean has acquired the necessary experience and confidence to consistently overcome any challenge to the grouping's centrality and our regional stability.

Asean will also continue to deliver on the wide-ranging measures needed to transform the group into a strong economic bloc and integrate it into the global economy.

Likewise, Asean will continue to invest in our people and in various areas such as culture, education, health, the environment and food security, among others, to ensure the Asean Community's wellbeing and resilience.

But more than building on our achievements, I also see the next five years as a time of reckoning for us - a time for reflection and greater action.

Asean will reach two critical milestones. By the end of 2015, we should already have achieved our target of creating the Asean Community. In 2017, we will also be celebrating 50 years of Asean's founding.

To build the Asean Community, we need to implement various Asean agreements and decisions by translating regional commitments into national actions. We must strengthen Asean mechanisms and processes, and coordinate various plans and actions - especially in issues that cut across the three pillars. Greater support from the general public, civil society and business groups will be indispensable, thus we need to redouble our efforts in communicating and fostering a greater understanding of Asean.

Increasingly, the world is watching Asean, and consequently the world needs to learn more about our vision and commitments within and outside the region.

Since my first day on the job, I have given my full support to efforts to conduct more rigorous public outreach, and have welcomed the media through the gates of the Secretariat.

We are reviewing our roadmap to the Asean Community 2009-2015 with its three community blueprints. There is also the possibility of the Asean Summit deciding to review the Asean Charter. This review process would enable us to take stock of our progress as a Community. More importantly, this period in Asean's history should not only encourage us to do more soul-searching on the direction and future of our organisation, but also present an opportunity for us to affirm our commitment to Asean's future.

With all this in store for the next five years, I, together with the Asean Secretariat, have pledged to work closely with the Asean member states, as we move towards 2015 and beyond.

Le Luong Minh will serve as secretary-general of Asean until 2017

Asean Community looks to 2015 and beyond - The Nation

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## Malaya

*CNN analyst sees Manila archbishop a &#8216;papal contender&#8217;*






MANILA, Philippines&#8212;Habemus papam (We have a pope)?

He has not even been officially installed, but new Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle has already been tagged as a &#8220;papal contender&#8221; by a respected international Vatican watcher.

Writing in his blog, CNN Senior Vatican analyst John Allen Jr. tagged the 54-year-old prelate as a &#8220;new papal contender,&#8221; describing Tagle as &#8220;a rising star in the Asian Church&#8221; and his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI deserved &#8220;to be on the global Catholic radar screen.&#8221;

&#8220;The big news from the Philippines has been the October 13 appointment of Luis Antonio Tagle as the new Archbishop of Manila, putting him in line to become a cardinal the next time Benedict XVI hosts a consistory,&#8221; Allen said in his blog at the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) website.

&#8220;Youthfulness aside, a striking number of people who know Tagle believe that this is a guy who, one day, could be pope,&#8221; Allen said.

&#8220;Even if that doesn&#8217;t pan out, Tagle is destined to be an important face and voice for the burgeoning Catholic population in Asia and the entire developing world, and that makes him someone worth getting to know,&#8221; he added.

Allen notes that Tagle was known for his humility, humor, warmth, simplicity, ability to explain complex theological ideas in layman&#8217;s terms, while not being afraid to raise questions about controversial church issues.

&#8220;Although a loyal churchman, Tagle is unafraid to raise tough questions (at the 2005 synod, he pointedly said the church must confront the priest shortage, which struck some as a way of hinting at flexibility on celibacy) or to challenge what he considers abuses (some of the toughest language you&#8217;ll ever find denouncing clerical arrogance and privilege is in his writings),&#8221; Allen said.
During that 2005 synod of bishops in Rome, Tagle raised his concerns about the shortage of priests during Vatican&#8217;s own press conference where he was one of the presenters.

&#8220;Theologically and politically, Tagle comes off as balanced. He&#8217;s taken strong positions against a proposed &#8216;Reproductive Health&#8217; bill in the Philippines, which includes promotion of birth control. Yet his towering social concern is defense of the poor, and he&#8217;s also got a strong environmental streak,&#8221; Allen said.

He described Tagle as a &#8220;gifted communicator, making him a highly sought-after speaker and media personality.&#8221;

&#8220;He drew rave reviews for his performance at a 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, where observers say he brought an entire stadium to tears,&#8221; Allen said.

&#8220;Vatican-watchers also rated him among the most impressive contributors to both the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist and the 2008 Synod on the Word of God. He&#8217;s also a very 21st century prelate&#8212;he hosts a program on YouTube and he&#8217;s got his own Facebook page,&#8221; he added.

Allen has noted that while Tagle, at 54, is &#8220;in church terms&#8230;still a kid,&#8221; the new shepherd of Manila&#8217;s 2.7 million Catholics was already seen as &#8220;a rising star in the Asian Church.&#8221;

&#8220;The story goes that back in the mid-1990s, when then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger introduced Tagle to Pope John Paul II as a new member of the Vatican&#8217;s International Theological Commission, Ratzinger jokingly assured the pope that the youthful-seeming Filipino had, in fact, received his first communion,&#8221; Allen said.

&#8220;(After theological studies abroad, Tagle) quickly came to be seen as a rising star in the Asian church, explaining his appointment in 1997 to the Vatican&#8217;s main doctrinal advisory body,&#8221; he added.

Fr. Joseph Komonchak, one of the leading Catholic theologians in the US and Tagle&#8217;s doctoral teacher at the Catholic University of America, said Tagle could have become the &#8220;best theologian&#8221; in Asia if he had not been appointed bishop.

&#8220;He was one of the best students I had in over 40 years of teaching, but as intelligent and diligent as he was, he was perhaps better known and loved by his professors and by his fellow students for the simplicity and holiness of his life,&#8221; Komonchak said in the blog of Commonweal magazine.

&#8220;He could have become the best theologian in the Philippines, or even in all of Asia, if he had been given the opportunity, but in his country the demands for the kind of teaching and preaching that he can offer are so many that a man of his talents will never have much time for reading and writing,&#8221; he added.

Allen and Komonchak also touched on Tagle&#8217;s association with the controversial Bologna-based &#8220;History of Vatican II&#8221; project, which has been criticized by conservative Catholics &#8212; including in the Vatican&#8217;s own newspaper L&#8217;Osservatore Romano &#8212; for providing a &#8220;liberal&#8221; interpretation of the historic Second Vatican Council.

&#8220;Tagle served for 15 years on the editorial board of the Bologna-based &#8216;History of Vatican II&#8217; project founded by Giuseppe Alberigo, criticized by some conservatives for an overly progressive reading of the council,&#8221; Allen said.

Komonchak said Tagle wrote the chapter on &#8220;Black Week&#8221; or the last week of the third session of the Council in 1964. It came out in volume four of the five-volume &#8220;History of Vatican II.&#8221;

Tagle&#8217;s association with this &#8220;liberal&#8221; Catholic project makes his appointment more intriguing since the Pope is known for his conservative views on Catholic doctrine.

&#8220;It is good to know that such an association is not enough to make oneself entirely persona non grata in the Vatican. I suspect that it was (Tagle&#8217;s) work on the International Theological Commission that impressed the present Pope,&#8221; Komonchak said.

Allen said Alberto Melloni, an Italian academic and writer who has been directing the Bologna project, called Tagle &#8220;a thinker of real value&#8221; whose dissertation represented an important chapter in the history of Vatican II, and someone who&#8217;s &#8220;talented and serious.&#8221;

&#8220;Back in the Philippines, it would be a gross understatement to say that Tagle, who goes by the nickname Chito,&#8217; is simply well-liked. In truth, most Filipino Catholics I know love the guy &#8212; for his warmth and humor, for his simplicity (he routinely eschews clerical dress), for his ability to express complex ideas in attractive and understandable argot, for his balance and openness, and for his lack of ego,&#8221; Allen said.

&#8220;He actually told a Catholic radio station in the Philippines this week that when he first heard he was going to Manila, he didn&#8217;t tell anybody, because &#8216;I thought maybe the pope would change his mind,&#8217;&#8221; he added.

Allen noted that one Filipino commentator noted Tagle as having &#8220;a theologian&#8217;s mind, a musician&#8217;s soul and a pastor&#8217;s heart.&#8221;

&#8220;In the Imus diocese, Tagle was famous for not owning a car and taking the bus to work every day, describing it as a way to combat the isolation that sometimes comes with high office,&#8221; Allen said.

&#8220;He was also known for inviting poor beggars outside the cathedral to come in and eat with him; one woman was quoted this week describing a time she went looking for her blind, out-of-work, alcoholic husband, suspecting she might track him down in a local bar, only to find that he was lunching with the bishop,&#8221; he added.

Allen added that another &#8220;typical story&#8221; happened after Tagle arrived in Imus when a small chapel located &#8220;in a run-down neighborhood was waiting for a priest to say Mass for a group mostly made up of day laborers at around 4 a.m.&#8221;

&#8220;Eventually a youngish cleric showed up on a cheap bicycle, wearing simple clothes and ready to start the Mass. An astonished member of the congregation realized it was the new bishop, and apologized that they hadn&#8217;t prepared a better welcome,&#8221; Allen said. 

&#8220;Tagle said it was no problem; he got word late the night before that the priest was sick, and decided to say the Mass himself,&#8221; he added.

Being among the top four Catholic countries in the world in terms of population, the Philippines could be considered as a &#8220;Catholic superpower&#8221; and one of the nations destined to be &#8220;pace-setters in the church of the 21st century,&#8221; Allen said.

_____________________________________________________________________________

*Academics seek to separate Asean history from SE Asia*

*Not all Asean countries are in the Southeast Asian region, so the history of Asean and Southeast Asea should be separated, an academic said at a recent discussion. The seminar was also urged to write an Asean "people's history".
*
"We cannot tell the same story when talking about Asean and Southeast Asia in terms of history. Asean was established only about 45 years ago, while Southeast Asia existed well before that. More than a century ago, each Southeast Asian country chose either to be isolated or become a republic. After 1960, each country was in the process of building a nation, moving toward a new administrative system and economy. They became more integrated," Prof Thanet Aphornsuvan, from the Pridi Banomyong International College at Thammasat University, said.

He was speaking at a seminar on "Living Together under Social and Cultural Diversity in Asean" held by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was created on August 8, 1967. 

"After 1960, Asean countries began to share similar internal changes in each country. Every country has had an authoritarian regime, and we have all experienced similar internal problems and sadness. Thus, we should write about what has happened in Asean and this will become our identity," Thanet said, adding that the history of each country since then has had more internal conflicts related to political changes than external conflicts with other countries in the region.

"We don't have to look into ancient history or conflicts in Southeast Asia when we talk about Asean," he added.

He also called on Asean countries to create a common history based on shared political changes and problems in order to create better connectivity among the people. 

"It will be challenging when we see Asean history in this new aspect, instead of telling separate histories of the 10 member countries. This will make it easier to develop an understanding among the countries." 

Meanwhile, Chalida Tajaroensuk, director of People's Empowerment Foundation, called for a "people's history". 

"There have been many good examples of the Asean people, but they have not been talked about that much. For instance, not many people know that during the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border, people from both countries living near the border worked together to search for facts and find ways to end the dispute," she said. 

Chalida added that accounts like this would help Asean people to understand each other and make adjustments. 

The UNDP will include data from the seminar in its Human Development Report, while the TRF will make the information public via its newsletter. 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nat...eparate-Asean-history-from-SE-A-30199589.html

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## BDforever

Malaya said:


> *Asean Community looks to 2015 and beyond*
> 
> With many Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) citizens celebrating the Lunar New Year last weekend, I would like to take this opportunity to express my wishes to all. I would also like to reflect on new beginnings and look toward the future.
> 
> As I am into my first month, many are asking me: How do I see myself in the role of Asean secretary-general, and what do I see for Asean on the five-year horizon.
> 
> To the first question of how I see my role as secretary-general, I am guided by the mandate of the Asean Charter and the Asean leaders. As one entrusted by the Charter with the demanding task of seeing through the implementation of Asean agreements and decisions, as well as reporting on Asean's work over the next five years, I should be able to provide a frank and learned analysis to our Asean leaders to assist them in sustaining their vision and aspirations for Asean.
> 
> I should also be able to promote Asean and convey its common positions to our dialogue partners and other external parties.
> 
> I believe that a large part of my role is to lead and guide the dedicated staff of the Asean Secretariat. As front-liners and the backbone of Asean's operations, we serve the Asean member states and the various Asean organs and ministerial-sectoral bodies in the building of the Asean Community.
> 
> The strengthening of the Asean Secretariat has already received the imprimatur of our leaders, and it will be upon us to carry on the measures to make the Secretariat more efficient and effective in the delivery of its services.
> 
> To the latter question, for the next five years I believe that Asean will continue to build on the gains of the last 45 years in the three community pillars.
> 
> In the area of peace and security, Asean will continue to provide a platform for peaceful dialogue and cooperation among member states and with the rest of the international community. In doing so, I believe Asean has acquired the necessary experience and confidence to consistently overcome any challenge to the grouping's centrality and our regional stability.
> 
> Asean will also continue to deliver on the wide-ranging measures needed to transform the group into a strong economic bloc and integrate it into the global economy.
> 
> Likewise, Asean will continue to invest in our people and in various areas such as culture, education, health, the environment and food security, among others, to ensure the Asean Community's wellbeing and resilience.
> 
> But more than building on our achievements, I also see the next five years as a time of reckoning for us - a time for reflection and greater action.
> 
> Asean will reach two critical milestones. By the end of 2015, we should already have achieved our target of creating the Asean Community. In 2017, we will also be celebrating 50 years of Asean's founding.
> 
> To build the Asean Community, we need to implement various Asean agreements and decisions by translating regional commitments into national actions. We must strengthen Asean mechanisms and processes, and coordinate various plans and actions - especially in issues that cut across the three pillars. Greater support from the general public, civil society and business groups will be indispensable, thus we need to redouble our efforts in communicating and fostering a greater understanding of Asean.
> 
> Increasingly, the world is watching Asean, and consequently the world needs to learn more about our vision and commitments within and outside the region.
> 
> Since my first day on the job, I have given my full support to efforts to conduct more rigorous public outreach, and have welcomed the media through the gates of the Secretariat.
> 
> We are reviewing our roadmap to the Asean Community 2009-2015 with its three community blueprints. There is also the possibility of the Asean Summit deciding to review the Asean Charter. This review process would enable us to take stock of our progress as a Community. More importantly, this period in Asean's history should not only encourage us to do more soul-searching on the direction and future of our organisation, but also present an opportunity for us to affirm our commitment to Asean's future.
> 
> With all this in store for the next five years, I, together with the Asean Secretariat, have pledged to work closely with the Asean member states, as we move towards 2015 and beyond.
> 
> Le Luong Minh will serve as secretary-general of Asean until 2017
> 
> Asean Community looks to 2015 and beyond - The Nation



We need to make NATO and EU type organization


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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Have you read the news I quoted for you? The news says 900 km to *strengthen our artillery*, means that 900 km rocket will be turned up into missile.
> 
> Do you know the term of "ballistic warhead"? it's warhead that brought by a ballistic missile.
> Warhead can be made quickly, it simply contains of numerous number of explosives. We already make bombs for our aircraft, why do you bother to ask us if we have been making warhead or not? We have made several number of warheads for smaller rocket like R-Han 122 missiles, there will be no problem making warheads for RX 550 or RX 720. The first thing that should be completed is the platform itself, we have to test that RX 750 first, after it succeed, we may posses the warhead for it.
> 
> .


You think that S.K technology is worse than you, it can not make its own warhead, so it has to ask for US's permission to increase its missile range ??

Bro, pls wake up, action speak louder than words, don't just blah blah blah. Make some warhead for ballistic missile now if you dare to disobey US's rule. Do you have any plan for it yet ? Or you're too scared of US's threat, so you don't have any plan until now ??

If u're too scared of US, then we know why you don't wanna join with us to counter US-China 


> Anyway, shaddock is a 1959 missile right? even the Russian have changed it with newer rocket, are those missiles still active? You seem so sure with your old arsenal, why don't you posses another new ballistic missile? then you may threat the neighbors or even China


This one is the upgrade one, the old one only have speed of 0,9 mach. Upgrade one with speed of 2,5 is good enough to threat our neighbours bcz this ballistic missile has a real serious warhead.
The Old one





And the new


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## Malaya

BDforever said:


> We need to make NATO and EU type organization


Right now, a strong leader is required to lead a divided ASEAN and there must be a strong economy to back it up, it is the same with EU where few members are key to their unity and the others are just burden.


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## BDforever

Malaya said:


> Right now, a strong leader is required to lead a divided ASEAN and there must be a strong economy to back it up, it is the same with EU where few members are key to their unity and the others are just burden.



totally agree


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> You think that S.K technology is worse than you, it can not make its own warhead, so it has to ask for US's permission to increase its missile range ??



Are you a retard? Nobody says our technology is better than SK or the other ways around, in fact, nobody was comparing both countries technology. The reasons why SK needs to seek U.S permission is merely a political not a technological reason. SK is a close ally to the U.S, everything that SK make will also be U.S problem, so it's not about whether SK able to build warhead or not, it is about what impact for the U.S if she let SK making ballistic missile with range over 800 km. 



NiceGuy said:


> Bro, pls wake up, action speak louder than words, don't just blah blah blah. Make some warhead for ballistic missile now if you dare to disobey US's rule. Do you have any plan for it yet ? Or you're too scared of US's threat, so you don't have* any plan until now* ??
> 
> If u're too scared of US, then we know why *you don't wanna join with us to counter US-China*



How many times should I tell you that WE HAVE BEEN MAKING WARHEADS, I have even shown you the picture of one of our warhead for the earlier version of our missiles, I have shown you our bombs, *aircraft bombs also use warhead.* Even I have shown you our Nitrate factory which is the biggest explosives materials factory in S.E.A. 

And we have no problem with the U.S because we are not U.S ally, everything we do is our own responsibility to take. And how many time should I explain you that those 900 km is for our artillery system, don't you think we are stupid to not to plan to make another warheads for it?? 

You mean paying your war against them? Nah, we got 200+ million people to take care of.

don't just blah blah blah, understand what people are saying before you derail the topic again and again.



NiceGuy said:


> This one is the upgrade one, the old one only have speed of 0,9 mach. Upgrade one with speed of 2,5 is good enough to threat our neighbours bcz this ballistic missile has a real serious warhead.
> The Old one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the new



Wait, ain't no way that fat missiles have speed 2.5 mach, every source I found says 0.9 mach, 1.4 mach at top. The Shaddock which has speed over it is the anti ship versions. Or does vietnam able to modify such missile?

SS-N-3 / SSC-1a Shaddock - Russian / Soviet Nuclear Forces
SS-N-3 / SSC-1a Shaddock
Soviet Surface-to-Surface (Naval) Missiles
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-391.html
http://www.harpoondatabases.com/encyclopedia/Entry927.aspx





Even the Russian is no longer using them, so again, action speaks louder than words, stop blah blah blah about CBU this Shaddock that, just admit that you still don't have any new ballistic missile or having plan to do it.


And I would like to stop it here, believe what you want to believe. But note one thing for the topic, we will never ever be stupid enough to join this alliance which will makes us pay money for your personal war against China.


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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Are you a retard? Nobody says our technology is better than SK or the other ways around, in fact, nobody was comparing both countries technology. The reasons why SK needs to seek U.S permission is merely a political not a technological reason. SK is a close ally to the U.S, everything that SK make will also be U.S problem, so it's not about whether SK able to build warhead or not, it is about what impact for the U.S if she let SK making ballistic missile with range over 800 km.
> 
> 
> 
> How many times should I tell you that WE HAVE BEEN MAKING WARHEADS, I have even shown you the picture of one of our warhead for the earlier version of our missiles, I have shown you our bombs, *aircraft bombs also use warhead.* Even I have shown you our Nitrate factory which is the biggest explosives materials factory in S.E.A.
> .


And it is NOT ballistic missile WARHEADS. DO u have any ballistic missile WARHEADS now or at least a clear plan to make warhead for ballistic missile ?? Or US don't allow u to do that ??



nufix said:


> Wait, ain't no way that fat missiles have speed 2.5 mach, every source I found says 0.9 mach, 1.4 mach at top. The Shaddock which has speed over it is the anti ship versions. Or does vietnam able to modify such missile?


Yeah, we modified it ourselves (maybe with Russian help, too), China also confirm its speed.


> T&#7901; Tiexue cho bi&#7871;t : Hi&#7879;n nay Vi&#7879;t Nam &#273;ã t&#7921; mình s&#7843;n xu&#7845;t &#273;&#432;&#7907;c lo&#7841;i tên l&#7917;a này chi&#7873;u dài tên l&#7917;a 11,7 m; n&#7863;ng 4,8 t&#7845;n; &#273;&#432;&#7901;ng kính 880 mm; s&#7843;i cánh dài 2,6 m; *t&#7889;c &#273;&#7897; g&#7845;p 2,5 t&#7889;c &#273;&#7897; âm thanh*; t&#7847;m b&#7855;n xa nh&#7845;t là 550 km
> Báo Trung Qu?c ?ánh giá cao tên l?a Shaddock c?a Vi?t nam - Ph? n? Today



Translate to English

The Tiexue said: Vietnam now has his own production of this missile missile length 11.7 m; weighs 4.8 tons; diameter of 880 mm; wingspan of 2.6 m; peed of 2.5 mach; longest range of 550 km


nufix said:


> And I would like to stop it here, believe what you want to believe. But note one thing for the topic, we will never ever be stupid enough to join this alliance which will makes us pay money for your personal war against China.


I said: it okay if you don't wanna join, but when US-Aussie slap sanction on you, then don't call us for help, China won't help u too , You Are totally alone against US.

And with No ballistic missile with Real war head, you can't stand US-Aussie's attack for a week.


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## Reashot Xigwin

BDforever said:


> We need to make NATO and EU type organization



& look what happen to those organization.

NATO is having an identity crisis. The EU suffering from an economic crisis & each member states are having doubt about the union in the first place.

If you want to destroy ASEAN this is the way to do it.


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> And it is NOT ballistic missile WARHEADS. DO u have any ballistic missile WARHEADS now or at least a clear plan to make warhead for ballistic missile ?? Or US don't allow u to do that ??
> 
> 
> Yeah, we modified it ourselves (maybe with Russian help, too), China also confirm its speed.
> 
> 
> Translate to English
> 
> The Tiexue said: Vietnam now has his own production of this missile missile length 11.7 m; weighs 4.8 tons; diameter of 880 mm; wingspan of 2.6 m; peed of 2.5 mach; longest range of 550 km
> 
> I said: it okay if you don't wanna join, but when US-Aussie slap sanction on you, then don't call us for help, China won't help u too , You Are totally alone against US.
> 
> And with No ballistic missile with Real war head, you can't stand US-Aussie's attack for a week.



Oh god, now I know why most people make you in their ignore list, you are to chauvinist to be made understand about anything.
Note this, we will never be falling against any sanction, we have been living under sanction from U.S or Soviet, now you can see which country has the most powerful economy in the region compared to those who haven't been under any sanction.

Sure, and after you found that alliance, don't beg our money when your economy is not enough to fund your war which makes you once again under the same condition with vietnam war.


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## BDforever

Reashot Xigwin said:


> & look what happen to those organization.
> 
> NATO is having an identity crisis. The EU suffering from an economic crisis & each member states are having doubt about the union in the first place.
> 
> If you want to destroy ASEAN this is the way to do it.


then what is your suggestion ?


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## Reashot Xigwin

BDforever said:


> then what is your suggestion ?



Stay the course. ASEAN is a regional forum not a political organization.


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## BDforever

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Stay the course. ASEAN is a regional forum not a political organization.


 like ... ?


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## nufix

BDforever said:


> like ... ?



simply like today's ASEAN.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Oh god, now I know why most people make you in their ignore list, you are to chauvinist to be made understand about anything.
> .


Bcz most of them are LIARS or DAY DREAMERS just like captain America *Jhungary*, lie abt the oil import of Guam or Chinese delude themselves abt their 'ASEAN best friend -Cambodia'.


> Note this, we will never be falling against any sanction, we have been living under sanction from U.S or Soviet, now you can see which country has the most powerful economy in the region compared to those who haven't been under any sanction.
> 
> Sure, and after you found that alliance, don't beg our money when your economy is not enough to fund your war which makes you once again under the same condition with vietnam war.


U've never fallen coz you've never Dare to defy US by making ballistic missile warhead, so US show its mercy by avoiding a Real sanction you .

When you dare to make ballistic missile warhead to protect urselves, then you will see how hard a Real US's sanction is

Truth is hurt, is it hard for you to face with the Truth ??


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## Nusantara

wtf, what happen to this thread? 

c'mon, back to economic thingy guys


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## cirr

*China sees new energy in its ties with RI*

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Thu, February 07 2013, 12:15 PM 






_All together now: Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Liu Jianchao (fourth left), along with his embassy staff, sings Indonesia&#8217;s famous &#8220;Bengawan Solo&#8221; song during a reception to celebrate the Spring Festival at his residence in Jakarta on Tuesday night. JP/Veeramalla Anjaiah_


Indonesia&#8217;s total trade might have slowed due to the global financial crisis in 2012, but bilateral trade between China and Indonesia, based on Chinese statistics, never stopped growing. China&#8217;s overall strategic ties are also growing strongly and may take a new turn this year, a Chinese envoy says.

Last year, according to Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Liu Jianchao, *bilateral trade between the two Asian giants surged to a record US$66.21 billion*, an impressive growth of 9.4 percent from $60 billion in 2011. 

&#8220;Our trade has been growing for the last several years. According to our statistics, the trade was almost balanced. Now we are focusing on achieving our trade target of $80 billion by 2015,&#8221; Liu told The Jakarta Post during the Spring Festival reception at his residence in Jakarta on Tuesday night.

Recently, there was a change in Chinese leadership and new leader Xi Jinping will assume his post soon.

&#8220;We have new leadership in China and we will have new energy in our bilateral relations. *We will have a high-level visit to Indonesia to strengthen our relations further this year*,&#8221; Liu said.

Likewise, Liu said, China&#8217;s investments were also growing at a rapid pace.

&#8220;Our investments, excluding those in the non-oil sector, in Indonesia last year reached $600 million, a 90 percent increase from 2011. But sometimes, these investment figures can be misleading as the real figures do not reflect the official data,&#8221; Liu said. 

Some Chinese investments, Liu continued, came through third countries such as Singapore. Though around 1,000 Chinese companies are currently operating in Indonesia, China is a relative newcomer in Indonesia.

&#8220;*Unlike other investors like Japan, Singapore and other countries, we are relatively new to Indonesia. It will take some time to materialize our investment plans. We are committed to invest heavily in Indonesia*,&#8221; Liu said.

Echoing a similar view, Indonesian Ambassador to China Imron Cotan said that Beijing was very serious about investing in Indonesia.

&#8220;We took Chinese investors to Indonesia on a road show recently. The results were very impressive. During the visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to China last year, Chinese investors pledged to invest $17 billion in projects related to infrastructure with the intention of supporting Indonesia&#8217;s Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia&#8217;s Economic Development [MP3EI],&#8221; Imron said recently.

Last year, China invested $77.22 billion in more than 140 countries, including Indonesia, and received foreign direct investment of $111.71 billion, mainly from Asian countries. The world&#8217;s most populous nation is currently sitting on a massive $3.24 trillion of foreign exchange reserves.

Last week, the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry announced that Indonesia would purchase 2,500 ships worth $5 billion from China to improve logistics and the distribution of goods across the archipelago. China will deliver the ships over five years starting from 2013. 

In the defense sector relations have also been growing. Just last month, Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin visited China to take part in bilateral defense consultations and to boost cooperation between the two countries.

According to Liu, *China has been working to increase its people-to-people contacts with Indonesia*.

&#8220;Last year, around 600,000 Chinese tourists visited Indonesia. Half of them visited Bali. This trend will continue in coming years,&#8221; Liu said.

Indonesia and China follow different methods of calculating exports and imports, making trade figures a sensitive issue in Indonesia. 

According to Chinese sources, China&#8217;s exports to Indonesia in 2012 reached $34 billion, making Southeast Asia&#8217;s largest economy China&#8217;s 14th-largest export destination comprising 1.7 percent of China&#8217;s total exports that reached $2.04 trillion. Meanwhile, Indonesia&#8217;s exports to the world&#8217;s second-biggest economy might reached around $32 billion, a tiny portion of China&#8217;s record $1.81 trillion in imports. 

Based on the latest data from the Central Statistics Agency, Indonesia&#8217;s trade with China surged to $46.43 billion &#8212; comprising $19.59 billion in exports and $26.84 billion in imports &#8212; during the first 10 months of 2012, up 4.26 percent from $44.53 billion during the same period in 2011.

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## cirr

*China to invest more than $1.6 billion in Malaysia steel, port*

By Siva Sithraputhran and Stuart Grudgings

KUALA LUMPUR | Tue Feb 5, 2013 7:20am EST 

KUALA LUMPUR Feb 5 (Reuters) - Chinese firms will invest more than $1.6 billion to build steel, aluminium and palm oil processing plants and expand a port in a new industrial zone on the Malaysian east coast, Malaysia announced on Tuesday.

*The Chinese spending is part of total joint investments of 10.5 billion ringgit ($3.5 billion) expected by 2020 in the new Kuantan Industrial Park as Beijing moves to deepen its ties with the Southeast Asian nation*.

China has rapidly moved to expand its diplomatic, cultural and economic influence in Southeast Asia in recent years, from funding mega-dams and casinos in the Mekong region to pushing its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The signing comes a day after Malaysia was criticised by Human Rights Watch for what the group said was the deportation to China of six asylum seekers from the Uighur ethnic minority.

A dozens-strong Chinese delegation led by Jia Qinglin, a senior member of the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, was also to sign an agreement on Tuesday to set up the first major Chinese university campus on foreign soil in Malaysia.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Malaysia had been "ahead of the curve" in enhancing economic and diplomatic cooperation with China.

"Over the past decade, the world has come to terms with a model where China's need for resources has driven new patterns of trade and influence," he said at the ground-breaking ceremony for the industrial park in the eastern state of Pahang.

"Now it is beginning to recognise that Chinese innovation and domestic demand will prove just as potent a force in the global economy."

Chinese firm Guangxi Beibu International Port Group will partner with Malaysia's IJM Corporation Berhad in a 3 billion ringgit investment to deepen and expand Kuantan port.

Guangxi Beibu will also lead investments of 5 billion ringgit ($1.6 billion) to build the steel, aluminium and palm oil plants. Those investments would be 100 percent owned by Chinese firms, Ong Ka Ting, Najib's special envoy to China, told Reuters.

Joint investments in a "master" project to develop the industrial zone would amount to another 2.5 billion ringgit.

"The relationship with China is getting better and better," Ong said.


GROWING TRADE, INVESTMENT

China is Malaysia's largest export market, and accounts for a sixth of its imports. Najib said Malaysia expected more than 1 billion ringgit of Chinese foreign direct investment this year, with two-way trade expected to grow about 10 percent to $100 billion.

China's Xiamen university announced in January that it would open its first overseas campus in Malaysia. State news agency Bernama said it would initially take in 10,000 students, a third of them Chinese nationals.

Human Rights Watch condemned on Monday what it called Malaysia's "secret forced return" to China of six Uighurs with pending asylum claims. Rights groups have accused Beijing of detaining and intimidating ethnic Uighurs in the far western region of Xinjiang for speaking out on rights abuses following riots in the regional capital three years ago.

"They (China) are running these guys down, they are doing it in Southeast Asia with the support of governments like Malaysia. Are these quid pro quo arrangements?" said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at the group.

The prime minister's office did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations. Ong also declined to comment. (Reporting By Siva Sithraputhran and Stuart Grudgings; Writing by Stuart Grudgings; editing by Ron Popeski)

China to invest more than $1.6 billion in Malaysia steel, port | Reuters

*270,000 Chinese in Thailand during festival*

Xinhua, February 11, 2013

An estimated *270,000 tourists from China were speculated to celebrate Chinese New Year in Thailand*, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Surapon Svetasreni.

The Chinese tourists were known to have intended to come to Thailand to join in the celebrations of the Chinese New Year and stay for several days or until the coming weekend, said the TAT chief.

Most were expected to visit Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Nakorn Sawan and other provinces where a large number of people of Chinese origin reside or frequent. Activities involving the celebrations of the Chinese New Year, marked by dragon and lion dance processions, firework shows and paying homage to Chinese shrines, have been especially organized for the annual occasion.

That speculated number of the Chinese tourists coming to Thailand during the festive season will account for nearly 10 percent of all Chinese expected to visit the country throughout this year, according to Surapon.

No less than 10 billion baht ($333 million) in foreign currencies was expected to be circulated by the foreign visitors during the weeklong Chinese New Year season, which, in some of the tourist destinations, has been extended until the end of this week. Most were known to stay for a four- to six-days time and spend an average of 4,500 baht ($150) per day.

*Thailand's Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visited Yaovaraj China Town in Bangkok to join the Chinese New Year celebrations on Sunday while Lady Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra delivered an address on state TV and radio to express her best wishes for the Chinese on Saturday*.

http://www.china.org.cn/business/2013-02/11/content_27939760.htm


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## ChineseTiger1986

NiceGuy said:


> Yeah, we modified it ourselves (maybe with Russian help, too), China also confirm its speed.
> 
> 
> Translate to English
> 
> The Tiexue said: Vietnam now has his own production of this missile missile length 11.7 m; weighs 4.8 tons; diameter of 880 mm; wingspan of 2.6 m; peed of 2.5 mach; longest range of 550 km



Tiexue is not a reliable military site.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## nufix

ChineseTiger1986 said:


> Tiexue is not a reliable military site.



Leave him be, let he believe what he wanted to believe. Ultra-chauvinist can never be defeated by facts because they provide their own facts. Can one website (without cross confirmation from another sources) simply debunk many information from various sites? Normal people usually say no, but chauvinists always say yes to whatever favor their logic.


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## ChineseTiger1986

nufix said:


> Leave him be, let he believe what he wanted to believe. Ultra-chauvinist can never be defeated by facts because they provide their own facts. Can one website (without cross confirmation from another sources) simply debunk many information from various sites? Normal people usually say no, but chauvinists always say yes to whatever favor their logic.



China only wants to increase her economic influence in ASEAN, meanwhile this will increase the benefit for both party.

While Vietnam wanna make ASEAN her own party, so it obvious which country ASEAN can entrust more.


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## nufix

cirr said:


> *China sees new energy in its ties with RI*
> 
> Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Thu, February 07 2013, 12:15 PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _All together now: Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Liu Jianchao (fourth left), along with his embassy staff, sings Indonesias famous Bengawan Solo song during a reception to celebrate the Spring Festival at his residence in Jakarta on Tuesday night. JP/Veeramalla Anjaiah_
> 
> 
> Indonesias total trade might have slowed due to the global financial crisis in 2012, but bilateral trade between China and Indonesia, based on Chinese statistics, never stopped growing. Chinas overall strategic ties are also growing strongly and may take a new turn this year, a Chinese envoy says.
> 
> Last year, according to Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Liu Jianchao, *bilateral trade between the two Asian giants surged to a record US$66.21 billion*, an impressive growth of 9.4 percent from $60 billion in 2011.
> 
> Our trade has been growing for the last several years. According to our statistics, the trade was almost balanced. Now we are focusing on achieving our trade target of $80 billion by 2015, Liu told The Jakarta Post during the Spring Festival reception at his residence in Jakarta on Tuesday night.
> 
> Recently, there was a change in Chinese leadership and new leader Xi Jinping will assume his post soon.
> 
> We have new leadership in China and we will have new energy in our bilateral relations. *We will have a high-level visit to Indonesia to strengthen our relations further this year*, Liu said.
> 
> Likewise, Liu said, Chinas investments were also growing at a rapid pace.
> 
> Our investments, excluding those in the non-oil sector, in Indonesia last year reached $600 million, a 90 percent increase from 2011. But sometimes, these investment figures can be misleading as the real figures do not reflect the official data, Liu said.
> 
> Some Chinese investments, Liu continued, came through third countries such as Singapore. Though around 1,000 Chinese companies are currently operating in Indonesia, China is a relative newcomer in Indonesia.
> 
> *Unlike other investors like Japan, Singapore and other countries, we are relatively new to Indonesia. It will take some time to materialize our investment plans. We are committed to invest heavily in Indonesia*, Liu said.
> 
> Echoing a similar view, Indonesian Ambassador to China Imron Cotan said that Beijing was very serious about investing in Indonesia.
> 
> We took Chinese investors to Indonesia on a road show recently. The results were very impressive. During the visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to China last year, Chinese investors pledged to invest $17 billion in projects related to infrastructure with the intention of supporting Indonesias Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesias Economic Development [MP3EI], Imron said recently.
> 
> Last year, China invested $77.22 billion in more than 140 countries, including Indonesia, and received foreign direct investment of $111.71 billion, mainly from Asian countries. The worlds most populous nation is currently sitting on a massive $3.24 trillion of foreign exchange reserves.
> 
> Last week, the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry announced that Indonesia would purchase 2,500 ships worth $5 billion from China to improve logistics and the distribution of goods across the archipelago. China will deliver the ships over five years starting from 2013.
> 
> In the defense sector relations have also been growing. Just last month, Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin visited China to take part in bilateral defense consultations and to boost cooperation between the two countries.
> 
> According to Liu, *China has been working to increase its people-to-people contacts with Indonesia*.
> 
> Last year, around 600,000 Chinese tourists visited Indonesia. Half of them visited Bali. This trend will continue in coming years, Liu said.
> 
> Indonesia and China follow different methods of calculating exports and imports, making trade figures a sensitive issue in Indonesia.
> 
> According to Chinese sources, Chinas exports to Indonesia in 2012 reached $34 billion, making Southeast Asias largest economy Chinas 14th-largest export destination comprising 1.7 percent of Chinas total exports that reached $2.04 trillion. Meanwhile, Indonesias exports to the worlds second-biggest economy might reached around $32 billion, a tiny portion of Chinas record $1.81 trillion in imports.
> 
> Based on the latest data from the Central Statistics Agency, Indonesias trade with China surged to $46.43 billion  comprising $19.59 billion in exports and $26.84 billion in imports  during the first 10 months of 2012, up 4.26 percent from $44.53 billion during the same period in 2011.




Hope this kind of trend will keep on increasing fast.


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## nufix

ChineseTiger1986 said:


> China only wants to increase her economic influence in ASEAN, meanwhile this will increase the benefit for both party.
> 
> While Vietnam wanna make ASEAN her own party, so it obvious which country ASEAN can entrust more.



That's why Indonesia is strongly opposing such idea of building an unpromising alliance filled with countries screaming for war to countries Indonesia has no problem with. While we are trying to build our economy, this alliance wants to suck it up. Not even Thailand, Brunei, and Singapore want to join that.

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## ChineseTiger1986

nufix said:


> That's why Indonesia is strongly opposing such idea of building an unpromising alliance filled with countries screaming for war to countries Indonesia has no problem with. While we are trying to build our economy, this alliance wants to suck it up.



Vietnam is supported by Russia in her role in ASEAN to contain both USA and China.

Since USA is still the police of the world, we can't deny her presence in ASEAN, but China sees ASEAN as one of her important national interests for pure economic reason. Maybe we can have more cooperation in military technology as well.

But in the past years, China has proven herself to be a credible economic partner of ASEAN, we made a lot of compromises in the SCS dispute and we are both against the troublemaking behaviors.

Thus, China's role in ASEAN is absolutely essential, this deluded Viet guy has just made himself a laughing stock as he believes that ASEAN should exclude the participation of China.


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## nufix

ChineseTiger1986 said:


> Vietnam is supported by Russia in her role in ASEAN to contain both USA and China.
> 
> Since USA is still the police of the world, we can't deny her presence in ASEAN, but China sees ASEAN as one of her important national interests for pure economic reason. Maybe we can have more cooperation in military technology as well.
> 
> But in the past years, China has proven herself to be a credible economic partner of ASEAN, we made a lot of compromises in the SCS dispute and we are both against the troublemaking behaviors.
> 
> Thus, China's role in ASEAN is absolutely essential, this deluded Viet guy has just made himself a laughing stock as he believes that ASEAN should exclude the participation of China.



Right, no body wants war, not even China I presume. Economic challenge is more important in order decline western influence towards Asian markets instead of mongering for war within Asian countries itself. War between ASEAN and China will only bring misfortune towards each other.


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## ChineseTiger1986

nufix said:


> Right, no body wants war, not even China I presume. Economic challenge is more important in order decline western influence towards Asian markets instead of mongering for war within Asian countries itself. War between ASEAN and China will only bring misfortune towards each other.



It is only that "Nice Guy" really wants a war, and it is hard to imagine if his country is as strong as China.


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## Viet

No one from us wants war. I just wonder where you get the idea from?
Should I take comments from users such as HongWu and some others as the true voice of China?


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## Reashot Xigwin

Viet said:


> No one from us wants war. I just wonder where you get the idea from?
> Should I take comments from users such as HongWu and some others as the true voice of China?





> *the AMS (ASEAN Member States) should carefully and clearly redefine and reinterpret the scope and definitions of &#8220;sovereignty&#8221;, &#8220;non-interference&#8221;, and &#8220;territorial integrity&#8221; principles stipulated in the ASEAN Charter.*
> 
> Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-...human-developments-news-16.html#ixzz2KmHiZlLF



Not war, but the issue of sovereign right vs regional policy.


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## Viet

*Thailand, EU to open FTA talk early next month*

English.news.cn 2013-02-15 17:48:44 [Xinhua]
by Surasak Tumcharoen





_Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra_


BANGKOK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Thailand and the European Union will open formal talk on Free Trade Area agreements early next month.

*Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra* is scheduled to leave for the Belgian capital of Brussels, which locates the EU headquarters, on March 6 and 7 to lead a Thai delegation in the starting up of the negotiations on the FTA dealings which might probably take a two-year time, according to Thailand's Department of Trade Negotiations chief Piramon Charoenpao.

Bilateral trade between Thailand and the EU is expected to increase in volume and value due to FTA dealings, which seek to cut trade tariffs and promote investments, Piramon said.

The FTA agreements will do more favors for Thai exporters than the General System of Preferences currently provided for the Thai goods destined for the EU markets, she said.

The FTA talk is apparently following the United States' reported plan to also open an FTA talk with the EU in near future and a recent approval from the Thai legislative branch for the Yingluck government to proceed with the time-consuming talk.

"As a matter of fact, *Singapore *and *Vietnam *have already held FTA talks with the EU separately. We'll have to follow suit in prompt fashion for optimum interests of our country," said the Thai department chief.

Bilateral trade between Thailand and the EU has amounted to 30 billion euros with the Thai side enjoying a trade surplus totaling about 5.5 billion euros.

Thai products exported to the EU included foods, fruit, farm products, animal feeds and jewelry items while European goods for the Southeast Asian country included machinery, construction and medical equipment, clothing and drugs, among others.

Piramon added that plans to hold FTA talks between the ASEAN community and the EU had been indefinitely put off, because the Europeans preferred separate dealings with individual countries to the whole bloc.


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## Viet

*Oil prices hit all-time high in Cambodia*

English.news.cn 2013-02-15 13:53:42
Xinhua*






Petrol station in Cambodia


PHNOM PENH, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices in Cambodia hit the highest of all time on Friday, with a liter of premium gasoline going for 1.45 U.S. dollars at all petrol stations in the capital.
*
The price is the highest ever if compared with the peak price of 1.41 U.S. dollars a liter in 2008 and once again in last March.

Bin May Mialia, Commercial Manager for Thai-based PTT Oil Company in Phnom Penh, said Friday that the latest spike in oil price on international market resulted from continuing political troubles in the Middle East, economic recession in Europe and U.S. dollar currency depreciation.

"*Just within the last two weeks, oil price in Cambodia has increased by 4.5 percent*," he said. "Oil price hike in Cambodia is in line with the globally soaring oil prices. We don't have our own produced oil, so we totally import it from foreign countries."

Officials at the Ministry of Finance could not be reached for comments on Friday. But Finance Minister Keat Chhon said last year that the oil price increase affected everyone and businesses in the country and recommended people to tighten the purse strings and make maximum use of oil they purchased.

On Friday, a barrel (159 liters) of crude oil costs above 97 U. S. dollars in the international market, up from 95 U.S. dollars in January.

Cambodia has completely purchased petroleum from *Vietnam*, *Singapore *and *Thailand*. Last year, this Southeast Asian nation spent about 1.62 billion U.S. dollars on some 1.65 million tons of petroleum, according to a report of the Commerce Ministry.

In December last year, Cambodian Petrochemical Company and Sinomach China Perfect Machinery Industry Corp unveiled a 2.3 billion U.S. dollar project to build the first oil refinery in Cambodia and the construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2015.


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Minister Says 1,400 Japanese Companies Eye Indonesia*
Tuesday, 12 February, 2013 | 15:57 WIB





TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Industry Minister Mohammad S. Hidayat is claiming that *no less than 1,400 Japanese companies have expressed their interest in investing in Indonesia*. These companies are members of the Kansai Economic Federation (Kankairen), the second biggest industry association in Japan.

"They are looking for investment opportunities. We have described projects that are important at the moment," Hidayat said after receiving the Japanese delegation at his office on Monday, Feb. 11.

The visit was a follow-up to Japan's investment plan on the Metropolitan Priority Area (MPA) project and the plan to add 3,000 hectares of industrial areas for Japanese investors. From the meeting, Hidayat expects that there would be 10-15 Kankeiren investors that would actualize their project plans in Indonesia.

"We have established a strong relationship with Indonesia, and I hope this meeting will further increase our economic cooperation in the future," Kankeiren Chairman Shosuke Mori said.

Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan previously said that foreign direct investment in Indonesia would grow by 23-35 percent this year. In 2012, the value of FDI in Indonesia reached US$ 23 billion.

ANANDA TERESIA | RAHMA TW

Tempointeraktif.com - Minister Says 1,400 Japanese Companies Eye Indonesia


*Indonesia to Boost Geothermal Focus*
Tito Summa Siahaan | February 07, 2013





_Indonesia Geothermal Potential_

Amid growing calls for the government to prioritize domestic consumption of the country&#8217;s massive natural gas reserves, the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik has announced that a relaxation over export restriction is possible should geothermal development gain pace.

Jero said that throughout his meetings with foreign oil and gas firms he always encouraged them to invest in geothermal development in the country. &#8220;I told them that we have a massive potential for other energy sources, and if these can be developed then our gas consumption would be reduced,&#8221; Jero said on Wednesday.

However, Jero added that such relaxation would only be provided for countries and companies with proven track records in geothermal development. He said that the government was still trying to increase domestic allocation in natural gas.

Among foreign oil companies harnessing geothermal power is Chevron Pacific Indonesia, which produces 636 megawatts in electricity from geothermal fields in West Java.

Susilo Siswoutomo, the deputy energy and mineral resources minister, said that geothermal energy can only be exploited for electricity, indicating that domestic gas consumption would remain in line with the country&#8217;s industrial needs.
*
&#8220;Indonesia has a potential of 29,000 megawatts in geothermal energy, imagine if all of this potential can be utilized,&#8221; he added.

To put everything into perspective, he went on, four megawatts of electricity were equal to one million metric standard cubic feet (mmscfd).*

*Indonesia produced 8,142 mmscfd in natural gas last year of which close to 50 percent was consumed domestically. Sitting atop two volcanic chains, Indonesia has the largest geothermal reserves in the world, with only 4 percent exploited.*

To encourage geothermal development, the government introduced new regulation which provides better pricing.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/indonesia-to-boost-geothermal-focus/570025

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## Malaya

*Asean rights body must show it is relevant
*

The Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), whose second set of commissioners were recently sworn in, should address the disappearance of Laotian social activist Sombath Somphone to show it is a relevant organisation with the teeth to promote and protect the basic rights of people in this region.

Magsaysay Award-winner Sombath went missing on December 15 while driving back home from his office in Vientiane. Closed-circuit TV footage shows him being stopped by police at a checkpoint before being led away by a group of unknown men in a pickup truck.

A week after the disappearance, Laotian authorities issued a statement that failed to explain the situation or to commit themselves to any action, and which only showed their intention to distance themselves from the case.

In mid-January, Laotian Ambassador to Geneva Yong Chanthalangsay told the United Nations Human Rights Council there was no new information, and repeated speculation that a personal or business conflict may have been behind Sombath's abduction.

That's the only action the authorities in Vientiane have taken so far. They have shown no further intention to investigate the case. The incident appears to be in danger of fading from public attention.

Authorities around the world, including officials from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, have expressed concern over Sombath's disappearance and have appealed to the government in Vientiane to pursue a transparent investigation and to do everything in its power to ensure his safe return.

Lawmakers from some Asean countries visited Vientiane last month but returned without a clear answer about his fate.

Civic groups, mostly in Thailand, along with international human-rights defenders and overseas Laotians, have held a series of events to call attention to the disappearance.

Singapore's Foreign Ministry has provided consular assistance to Sombath's wife, Ng Shui Meng, who is a Singaporean citizen. But many other Asean members, including close neighbour Thailand, have remained silent.

Perhaps it's the nature of governments in Southeast Asia to ignore this type of incident. Forced disappearances happen from time to time in this region, as if it was a part of life. In countries like Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Thailand, state agencies have at times been involved in the disappearances of people they consider "disturbing persons" or "troublemakers".

Authoritarian habits are deeply rooted in many countries in Southeast Asia, where officials, notably in security-related agencies, tend to see citizens who voice alternative views as enemies. Many unlawful actions have happened under the nose of irresponsible governments.

According to Asean's human rights declaration unveiled last year, "Every person has the right to personal liberty and security. No person shall be subject to arbitrary arrest, search, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty."

The Asean human rights declaration was supposed to be enforced by the AICHR, whose second set of commissioners took office last month and will serve until 2015.

The first meeting of the AICHR's new term finished on February 2 in Brunei with no solution to any cases of human-rights violations. The meeting gave priority mostly to bureaucratic tasks, such as publication of the recently announced Asean human rights declaration and translation of into the respective national languages.

Like many other Asean mechanisms, the AICHR concentrated on paperwork and diplomatic jargon, rather than the fate and wellbeing of ordinary people in member countries. None of the AICHR representatives, who include a member from Laos, voiced concern over Sombath's case. They pretended as if nothing had happened.

What's the point of having an Asean human rights commission if such human rights violations are ignored?

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Asean-rights-body-must-show-it-is-relevant-30199931.html


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## Malaya

*Sabah drama scratches old wounds between Philippines and Malaysia*
By: Anuradha Raghu and Manuel Mogato, Reuters
February 16, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR/MANILA - Drama on Borneo island involving 100 armed men from Sulu is threatening to spark diplomatic tension between the Philippines and Malaysia, whose ties have been periodically frayed by security and migration problems caused by a porous sea border.

The men holed up in a village in the Malaysian state of Sabah are refusing to leave, saying they have links with the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines which has a historic claim over the northern tip of Borneo island.

Malaysia police and army officials have formed a tight security ring around the village, media said, with navy boats patrolling nearby islands. The gunmen landed near the coastal town of Lahad Datu on Tuesday.

"They demand to be acknowledged as citizens of the Sultanate of Sulu," Abdullah Kiram, a son of the Sultan of Sulu, Ismael Kiram the II, told Reuters in Manila.

Sulu is an archipelago in the southern Philippines. Today, it is a province but the old sultanate covered a wider area that included the northern tip of Borneo, which is now the Malaysian state of Sabah.

In an arrangement that stretches back to British colonial times, Malaysia pays a token amount to the sultanate each year for the "rental" of Sabah.

"They want to be acknowledged as citizens of their own land. They own Sabah," said Kiram. Sultans in the Muslim-majority Philippine south have no power but generally enjoy the respect of the people.

Malaysian officials said they suspected the men were a faction of a Philippine Muslim rebel group. Philippine officials said they were unarmed Filipinos who had been promised land.

A spokesman for the Philippine Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Malaysia had given an assurance that efforts were underway to get the men to leave peacefully.

"We therefore urge these concerned individuals to return to their homes and families," said spokesman Raul Hernandez said.

Malaysia's police chief said on Thursday the situation was not tense and the men appeared to be "behaving well".

"Discussion is proceeding well and we have told them to leave Sabah peacefully, as we do not want any situation which can threaten the security of the people," Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar told a news conference, according to state news agency Bernama.

The Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur has sent a team to Sabah to coordinate with authorities there and to ascertain the identities of the men.

Sabah drama scratches old wounds between Philippines and Malaysia - InterAksyon.com


*Philippines claim on Sabah a thorn in relations
*
Saturday February 16, 2013

PETALING JAYA: The Philippines' claim on Sabah has always been a thorn in the relationship between Kuala Lumpur and Manila.

When North Borneo (Sabah) decided to be part of Malaysia in 1963, Manila protested the formation of the federation as it claimed that North Borneo belonged to the Philippines as the territory was ceded to it by the Sultan of Sulu Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I.

Manila laid its claim to Sabah, arguing that &#8220;Sabah was only leased to the British North Borneo Company with Sulu's sovereignty never being relinquished&#8221;.

However, Kuala Lumpur declared that the dispute was a non-issue as the people of Sabah did not want to be part of the Philippines.

In 1968, the then Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos launched an operation to train militants to infiltrate Sabah in his ambition to claim Sabah.

His move caused diplomatic ties between Kuala Lumpur and Manila to deteriorate.

Relations only improved after 1989 when subsequent Philippine presidents did not pursue the claim.

However, due to political reasons, Manila has not dropped its claim to Sabah.

Philippines claim on Sabah a thorn in relations - Nation | The Star Online

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## Malaya

*ASEAN and EU regional identity building: What went wrong?*

The European Union (EU) received the 2012 Nobel Peace prize for its contribution to regional and global peace. On the other side of the world, another very important regional organization that works to brings peace to its region is the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

Although the two are different in many ways, they share the same difficulties in building regional identities. On the eurozone crisis and the South China Sea issue, they try to stay together, integrated and face problems. Both opt to use the notion of identity as an integrating factor. However, the outcomes have not been so satisfying.

According to the pollster Eurobarometer77, the feeling of attachment of Europeans toward the EU stood at only 46 percent in 2012. While 52 percent of European citizens surveyed do not feel any connection with the EU, 15 percent felt no attachment at all. 

There are few reliable surveys on the attachment of ASEANs citizens to the region, although one survey conducted by Thompson and Thianthai in 2008 revealed that even among elite university students, only 60.7 percent of respondents were familiar with ASEAN.

So what went wrong? There are two explanations for this question: the empirical-practical and the 
fundamental-conceptual. 

The first reason argues that the EU is still seen by European citizens as an elite club. Political support for the EU is very limited. The main reason for this, according to Neil Fligstein, is that the integration has resulted in uneven outcomes for individuals. 

It has only benefited a small group of people among European elites who have had the opportunity to travel, speak other languages and communicate with other Europeans. 

Moreover, according to Yeo Lay Hwee, the development of the EU has been top-down and elite driven. The push toward market integration was seen as an elite effort to achieve economic efficiency in a way that disregarded the public discourse on political and social impact. In other words, the fast development of the EU as an institution was not followed by the Europeanization of the citizens. 

An example of this gap between the institution and the Europeanization of the citizens is the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 member states in 2004, which was seen as advancement by EU elites. 

However, the enlargement did not get significant support from the citizens of the first 15 member countries. Eurobarometer data in 2004 said that only 42 percent of EU citizens agreed to the enlargement, while 39 percent were against. 

ASEAN does not have a different story. There are not as many policies that directly touch upon the citizens of ASEAN, except the 30-day free visa. There is no single passport, like in the EU, nor is there as much freedom of movement as the European Schengen provides. 

The second explanation considers a fundamental reason rather than an empirical policy basis. We are still living under the Westphalia model of world order where nation-states are the main international actors. Citizens in regional organization always feel a greater sense of nationality rather than regionality.

In a way, the concept of the nation-state in the current world order hinders the establishment of regional identity, as the identity of a nation will always overshadow the identity of a regional community. 

In the global world community such as in the United Nations, all nation-states represent themselves. All votes are all based on nationality. Development of a regional identity, therefore, has been undermined.

The national government thus creates a national notion of everything within its territory, such as national language, national history books, national education system, etc. These national characteristics are the main factors that help to create the identity of a national citizen. A common national language is considered a strong foundation in creating a communitys identity. 

An attempt to have a common language in ASEAN is not there yet and might never be there. English has commonly been used in ASEAN and in the EU in their interactions, but its use has been limited to elite groups only. 

As long as the approach of an organization that governs a particular area is still based on nationality, it will be difficult to have a strong sense of regionality. So does the government wholeheartedly promote regionalism or still stick to nationality?

In a seminar held by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in December, Joseph Maila said that French identity is more important than the identity of any other group. In the case of ASEAN, the finding of Farish A. Noors research in 2012 about the history of Indonesia shows a very nationalistic perspective and very few stories about ASEAN. Sadly, the most frequent mention of another ASEAN member nation was the case of konfrontasi with the Federation of Malaysia in 1963-1965. 

These examples show that if a nation-state educates the people in its territory too narrowly about the history of their nation, say Indonesia or Cambodia, at the expense of the history of Southeast Asia, it will be very difficult to build a common identity. 

Too nationalistic an approach will shape their culture, character, and hence their national identity somewhat underlines the importance of their regional identity. As a result, the sense of belonging to Europe or Southeast Asia will be overshadowed.

Only the willingness of the government and the citizens can save the day. Changing too nationalistic approaches with a more regional approach may be the answer, bringing ASEAN to the grass roots. It should start from now as the clock is ticking. The ASEAN Community 2015 is only two years away.

ASEAN and EU regional identity building: What went wrong? | The Jakarta Post


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## Reashot Xigwin

Malaya said:


> *ASEAN and EU regional identity building: What went wrong?*
> 
> The European Union (EU) received the 2012 Nobel Peace prize for its contribution to regional and global peace. On the other side of the world, another very important regional organization that works to brings peace to its region is the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
> 
> Although the two are different in many ways, they share the same difficulties in building regional identities. On the eurozone crisis and the South China Sea issue, they try to stay together, integrated and face problems. Both opt to use the notion of identity as an integrating factor. However, the outcomes have not been so satisfying.
> 
> According to the pollster Eurobarometer77, the feeling of attachment of Europeans toward the EU stood at only 46 percent in 2012. While 52 percent of European citizens surveyed do not feel any connection with the EU, 15 percent felt no attachment at all.
> 
> There are few reliable surveys on the attachment of ASEAN&#8217;s citizens to the region, although one survey conducted by Thompson and Thianthai in 2008 revealed that even among elite university students, only 60.7 percent of respondents were familiar with ASEAN.
> 
> So what went wrong? There are two explanations for this question: the empirical-practical and the
> fundamental-conceptual.
> 
> The first reason argues that the EU is still seen by European citizens as an elite club. Political support for the EU is very limited. The main reason for this, according to Neil Fligstein, is that the integration has resulted in uneven outcomes for individuals.
> 
> It has only benefited a small group of people among European elites who have had the opportunity to travel, speak other languages and communicate with other Europeans.
> 
> Moreover, according to Yeo Lay Hwee, the development of the EU has been top-down and elite driven. The push toward market integration was seen as an elite effort to achieve economic efficiency in a way that disregarded the public discourse on political and social impact. In other words, the fast development of the EU as an institution was not followed by the Europeanization of the citizens.
> 
> An example of this gap between the institution and the Europeanization of the citizens is the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 member states in 2004, which was seen as &#8220;advancement&#8221; by EU elites.
> 
> However, the enlargement did not get significant support from the citizens of the first 15 member countries. Eurobarometer data in 2004 said that only 42 percent of EU citizens agreed to the enlargement, while 39 percent were against.
> 
> ASEAN does not have a different story. There are not as many policies that directly touch upon the citizens of ASEAN, except the 30-day free visa. There is no single passport, like in the EU, nor is there as much freedom of movement as the European Schengen provides.
> 
> The second explanation considers a fundamental reason rather than an empirical policy basis. We are still living under the Westphalia model of world order where nation-states are the main international actors. Citizens in regional organization always feel a greater sense of &#8220;nationality&#8221; rather than &#8220;regionality&#8221;.
> 
> In a way, the concept of the nation-state in the current world order hinders the establishment of regional identity, as the identity of a nation will always overshadow the identity of a regional community.
> 
> In the global world community such as in the United Nations, all nation-states represent themselves. All votes are all based on nationality. Development of a regional identity, therefore, has been undermined.
> 
> The national government thus creates a national notion of everything within its territory, such as national language, national history books, national education system, etc. These national characteristics are the main factors that help to create the identity of a national citizen. A common national language is considered a strong foundation in creating a community&#8217;s identity.
> 
> An attempt to have a common language in ASEAN is not there yet and might never be there. English has commonly been used in ASEAN and in the EU in their interactions, but its use has been limited to elite groups only.
> 
> As long as the approach of an organization that governs a particular area is still based on nationality, it will be difficult to have a strong sense of regionality. So does the government wholeheartedly promote regionalism or still stick to nationality?
> 
> In a seminar held by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in December, Joseph Maila said that French identity is more important than the identity of any other group. In the case of ASEAN, the finding of Farish A. Noor&#8217;s research in 2012 about the history of Indonesia shows a very nationalistic perspective and very few stories about ASEAN. Sadly, the most frequent mention of another ASEAN member nation was the case of konfrontasi with the Federation of Malaysia in 1963-1965.
> 
> These examples show that if a nation-state educates the people in its territory too narrowly about the history of their nation, say Indonesia or Cambodia, at the expense of the history of Southeast Asia, it will be very difficult to build a common identity.
> 
> Too nationalistic an approach will shape their culture, character, and hence their national identity somewhat underlines the importance of their regional identity. As a result, the sense of belonging to Europe or Southeast Asia will be overshadowed.
> 
> Only the willingness of the government and the citizens can save the day. Changing too nationalistic approaches with a more regional approach may be the answer, bringing ASEAN to the grass roots. It should start from now as the clock is ticking. The ASEAN Community 2015 is only two years away.
> 
> ASEAN and EU regional identity building: What went wrong? | The Jakarta Post








The ASEAN integration plan is slowly crumbling

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Viet

*Qatar Airways ready to launch daily flights to Cambodia's capital*

English.news.cn 2013-02-18 14:49:30
Xinhua







PHNOM PENH, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Doha-based *Qatar Airways* will operate its daily flights from Doha to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, from Tuesday, Cambodia's tourism minister Thong Khon said Monday.

"Tomorrow (Tuesday), *the airline will launch daily flights from Doha to Phnom Penh via Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam*," he told reporters on the sidelines of a tourism conference. "It will become the only Middle Eastern carrier to operate into Cambodia."

The minister said that with the presence of Qatar Airways, he believed that there would be more tourists from Arab countries to Cambodia.

"It is a huge airline. Its presence here truly reflects Cambodia's full security and political stability and potential for business opportunities," he said.

According to a report of Cambodia Airports, the developer and operator of the country's international airports, Qatar Airways will operate flights with an A330-300 plane, which can be seated by 305 passengers.

Ang Kim Eang, president of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said the presence of Qatar Airways in Cambodia will benefit not only tourism industry, but also trade and investment between Cambodia and countries in the Middle East.
*
"When there is direct flight between the two countries, it will bring tourists, investors and businesspeople from Qatar and other Arab countries to Cambodia," he told Xinhua over telephone on Monday.
*
According to the latest report of tourism ministry, last year, Cambodia received only 10,000 tourists from more than 10 countries in the Middle East.

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## xdrive

nufix said:


> Oh god, now I know why most people make you in their ignore list, you are to chauvinist to be made understand about anything.
> Note this, we will never be falling against any sanction, we have been living under sanction from U.S or Soviet, now you can see which country has the most powerful economy in the region compared to those who haven't been under any sanction.
> 
> Sure, and after you found that alliance, don't beg our money when your economy is not enough to fund your war which makes you once again under the same condition with vietnam war.



Hahaha, ignore NiceGuy. He is obsessed with the idea of Asian countries attacking each other and lives in a fantasy world where everyone is enemies like in a video game.

He clearly doesn't know anything about the Australian-Indonesian relationship.


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## jhungary

xdrive said:


> Hahaha, ignore NiceGuy. He is obsessed with the idea of Asian countries attacking each other and lives in a fantasy world where everyone is enemies like in a video game.
> 
> He clearly doesn't know anything about the Australian-Indonesian relationship.



LOL put him on my ignore list a long time ago....

HE live on his deranged world where every country in Asia would bow down to Vietnam in the end, even big gun like America and China.

He have some serious mental issue. Just ignore him and it will make a better world here

Actually, we have a love hate relation between Indonesia and Australia. it's hard for people to understand, we have ours up and down (Especially in the East Timor Period) and now we welcome back Indonesia as our stregetic partner.


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## Viet

*Vietnam attends fifth India-ASEAN Dialogue*

Updated : 2/20/2013 11:05:13 AM
VOV online






_ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh _



(VOV) - A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh attended the fifth India-ASEAN Delhi Dialogue in New Delhi, India on February 19.

The dialogue titled *&#712;India-ASEAN: Vision for Partnership and Prosperity&#8221; *draw the participation of political and economic leaders, government officials and experts from ASEAN member countries and India.

The two-day dialogue focused on topics: &#8216;India-ASEAN Security Cooperation: Towards Peace and Stability,&#8217; &#8216;Non-Traditional Security Challenges: Food Security, Water Management and Pandemics,&#8217; &#8216;Future of Global Energy Market: Role of New and Renewable Energy in Sustainable Development,&#8217; &#8216;Cooperation between Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) and North-East India: Opportunities and Challenges,&#8217; and &#8216;Expanding Networks through Connectivity: Land, Sea and Air.&#8217;

*India and ASEAN account for one quarter of the world population and their combined GDP amounts to US$3.8 trillion. Their two-way trade turnover exceeded the target of US$70 billion last year, up 37 percent from the 2011-2012 figure. They are striving to lift bilateral trade to US$100 billion by 2015.*

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## nufix

xdrive said:


> Hahaha, ignore NiceGuy. He is *obsessed with the idea of Asian countries attacking each other* and lives in a fantasy world where everyone is enemies like in a video game.
> 
> He clearly doesn't know anything about the Australian-Indonesian relationship.



Actually, if you follow every post he made, this guy is obsessed with the idea of Vietnam rules the whole ASEAN plus Australia and make those countries become Vietnam subordinates. And in order to achieve his obsession, he seems so sure that Vietnam can take control the whole Malacca strait even when navies from 3 traditional owners of Malacca strait (Malay-Indo-SG) are combined to protect the strait.

Indonesia-Australia relationship is too complex for him to understand, he'd like to see Australia bombing Indonesia or vice versa to support his dream instead.






jhungary said:


> Actually, we have a love hate relation between Indonesia and Australia. it's hard for people to understand, we have ours up and down (Especially in the East Timor Period) and now we welcome back Indonesia as our stregetic partner.



Yes, Indonesia-Australia relationship is more like two friends in a bar, supporting each other in critical times like when Australia supported the Independence of Indonesia and throwing each other's bottles when both countries have disagreements. But the fact that Indonesia lives next door to Australia makes the heat quickly disappear as both need each other role to keep stability in the region.


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## Rechoice

Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail link planned

*Singapore and Malaysia have announced plans for a high-speed rail link, with a target completion date of 2020.*






The link would reduce travel time between Singapore and the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, to 90 minutes.

Leaders of the two nations said that the move would boost business ties and increase trade.

No cost was given for the project, to be built by private companies. A joint committee would start looking at the details, a joint statement said.

The move came as Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak met in Singapore for talks.

The rail link was a "strategic development in bilateral relations that will dramatically improve" connectivity, the joint statement said.

"Ultimately, this project will give both countries greater stakes in each other's prosperity and success."

Trains currently take about six hours to make the 300km (190 miles) journey between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. By road, the journey takes about four hours.

BBC News - Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail link planned


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## Nusantara

Australia-Indonesia is neighbour, but they seems didn't know each other 
what australian know about indonesia beside terrorist, bombing, east timor, papua, death penalty for drugs smuggler, muslim, javanese aggressor, illegal immigrant smuggler etc?  
what indonesian know about australia beside white, racist, "european" country among asian neighbour, tourist in bali, descendant of european criminals, land grabber, howard?


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## NiceGuy

jhungary said:


> LOL put him on my ignore list a long time ago....
> 
> HE live on his deranged world where every country in Asia would bow down to Vietnam in the end, even big gun like America and China.
> 
> He have some serious mental issue. Just ignore him and it will make a better world here


at least l didn't lie abt Guam oil supply like u, Birds of same feather will flock together, liar will collude with liar ,that's nature 

Btw:U still have 30 years to wait and see the US fall like Mogol barbarian after defeated by Great Viet(former name of VietNam), with the New-Soviet's help, Malacca soon will fall into our hands,it means new-Soviet soon will control ur boring Guam .


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## NiceGuy

xdrive said:


> Hahaha, ignore NiceGuy. He is obsessed with the idea of Asian countries attacking each other and lives in a fantasy world where everyone is enemies like in a video game.
> 
> He clearly doesn't know anything about the Australian-Indonesian relationship.


l don't need to know coz VN only want to replace US in controlling Malacca. Indo-Aussie are too far for VN's core interest

After US fall, and when Aissie need a new boss to counter China-new Soviet's threat,then maybe we will think abt being ur boss 

Btw Nufix is decent man,he doesn't like what l tell people here abt future of ASEAN,but he never lie,and he may know that VN support Cambodia to mess Thailand up,too.so,all l say here is Truth(except what l predict abt future,we need time to coffirm it),it's not a video game that Asia nations attack each other.

If u don't know,then let me remind u that VN attacked Thailand from 1979 to 1988,and we just simply do it again and again .US dare not to accuse VN now coz US is shrinking and falling in ASEAN


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## xdrive

Rofl he thinks Vietnam is a superpower.

He is delusional.

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## NiceGuy

xdrive said:


> Rofl he thinks Vietnam is a superpower.
> 
> He is delusional.


We defeated Mongol when ur country still didn't have a name on World map yet.

So,its easy to understand why u don't know what can and what will we do in Asia.

Just sit and wait,you will see the US fall after 30 years coz they're making same mistake and have same problems with Mongol babarian now. When Us fall,we will annex its ally just like we did to Champa-Mongol's ally or order tribute payment from weaker West and South neighbours .

Enjoy the way to control the Asia region of Native Asian people, dude.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> We defeated Mongol when ur country still didn't have a name on World map yet.
> 
> So,its easy to understand why u don't know what can and what will we do in Asia.
> 
> Just sit and wait,you will see the US fall after 30 years coz they're making same mistake and have same problems with Mongol babarian now. When Us fall,we will annex its ally just like we did to Champa-Mongol's ally or order tribute payment from weaker West and South neighbours .
> 
> Enjoy the way to control the Asia region of Native Asian people, dude.



What a coincidence we do to



> After defeating the Melayu Kingdom[13] in Sumatra in 1290, Singhasari became the most powerful kingdom in the region. Kublai Khan, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and the Emperor of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, challenged Singhasari by sending emissaries demanding tribute. Kertanegara, the last ruler of Singhasari, refused to pay the tribute, insulted the Mongol envoy and challenged the Khan instead. As the response, in 1293, Kublai Khan sent a massive expedition of 1,000 ships to Java.



Mongol invasion of Java - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yet we don't rub it on other people faces. Reliving Past glory is as useless as it is stupid.


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> What a coincidence we do to
> 
> 
> 
> Mongol invasion of Java - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> Yet we don't rub it on other people faces. Reliving Past glory is as useless as it is stupid.


First: Bcz they were defeated in Great Viet(VN),so they couldn't use their best cavalry forces to attack u,and their forces also lack of food and other supply .So,just like Japan you won the war with a big luck.

Sencond:Indonesia is too far to VN core intetest,so we don't wanna have any trouble with u.order tribute payment from Thailand-Malay-Sing(US's allies) are enough 

And we can shake hands to invade Aussi ,too.No need white men living in Asia,right


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## Reashot Xigwin

nufix said:


> Actually, if you follow every post he made, this guy is obsessed with the idea of Vietnam rules the whole ASEAN plus Australia and make those countries become Vietnam subordinates. And in order to achieve his obsession, he seems so sure that Vietnam can take control the whole Malacca strait even when navies from 3 traditional owners of Malacca strait (Malay-Indo-SG) are combined to protect the strait.
> 
> Indonesia-Australia relationship is too complex for him to understand, he'd like to see Australia bombing Indonesia or vice versa to support his dream instead.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, Indonesia-Australia relationship is more like two friends in a bar, supporting each other in critical times like when Australia supported the Independence of Indonesia and throwing each other's bottles when both countries have disagreements. But the fact that Indonesia lives next door to Australia makes the heat quickly disappear as both need each other role to keep stability in the region.



*Australia, Indonesia Build Relations From the Ground Up*
Daniella White | February 17, 2013





_Australian and Indonesian students take part in a study exchange program based in Yogyakarta. (JG Photos/Jimmy Walsh).	_

Twenty-year old John Steele is just one of almost one million Australians who traveled to Indonesia last year.

But like the majority of his fellow travelers, he never got beyond the allure of beaches and booze in Bali.

Its a cheap and easy option. A lot of people my age have gone [to Bali], or talk about going, he said.

Most Australians my age didnt seem interested in finding anything out about Indonesian culture. The main attraction was partying, warm weather and the beach.

In Australias government-commissioned white paper on Australia in the Asian Century, cultural understanding was identified as a key element to engagement in the region. But analysts claim that despite Indonesia being a favorite holiday destination for Australians, many have a critical lack of understanding of their closest Asian neighbor.

*Beyond Bali*

Ross Tapsell, a lecturer in Asian Studies from the Australian National University, said that Australians would benefit greatly from expanding their knowledge of Indonesia.

We have so many Australians that travel to Bali each year and basically end up in Western enclaves, he said.

Wouldnt it be wonderful if we had more Australians who wanted to venture out, make Indonesian friends, travel outside of Kuta and absorb more of what is a great country which is right on our doorstep.

Australias ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, agreed.

I think Indonesia is an incredibly rich and culturally diverse country and I think that many Australians would find it very useful and enriching to be able to go beyond [Bali] to have a broader Indonesian experience, he said in an interview.

While Moriarty said it was primarily up to the Indonesian government to promote destinations other than Bali, Australia as a neighbor could still play its part.

Australian tour operators could also be a bit more creative in terms of the packages that they present to tourists, he said.

In an interview with the Jakarta Globe, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said that Indonesia was focusing on increasing awareness as well as the accessibility of destinations around the whole country.

Weve been saying Beyond Bali for a long time, so this time it has to really happen, she said. We need to make sure that there is awareness, that there is the information and there is the connectivity.

*A common language*

In a 2012 Australian government-commissioned report, David Hill from Murdoch University in Perth warned that Australia needed to improve its understanding of Indonesian culture and language, or face the danger of being left behind.

Without reinvesting in Indonesian studies, Australia risks losing our comparative advantage and the consequent economic, political and strategic advantage that our previous expertise gave us in our relationship with Indonesia, he wrote in the report.

Hills report found that Indonesian language study in Australia was in crisis.

He found that more final-year high-school students studied Indonesian in 1972 than in 2009. Between 2001 and 2010, Australian university enrollments in Indonesian nationally dropped by 37 percent, despite a 40 percent jump in the overall undergraduate population.

The report also showed that since 2001, school enrollments in Indonesian classes declined on average by 10,000 per year.

There are currently about 190,000 Australian students studying Indonesian at school, but according to Hill, the vast majority of them are still in the lower levels of school.

He said the drop came at a time when Australia should have been focusing more than ever on Indonesia.

That enrollments grew during the Suharto dictatorship only to fall as Indonesia began democratizing after his fall in 1998 is ironic, and indicates a lost opportunity for engagement with a society opening up to the world, he wrote in the report.

The latest white paper recognizes the need to reinvest in Asian literacy, but some analysts have criticized the lack of clear policy direction.

The difficulty is, how do you implement this plan? And at the moment there hasnt been specifics as to how the government is going to continue or adopt programs to make this plan work, Tapsell said.

They already cut the national Asian studies program and have said they want to do something bigger, so lets see what the bigger program is and how its going to work.

In a statement to the Jakarta Globe, ambassador Moriarty stressed the importance of Australians gaining a greater knowledge of their closest Asian neighbors.

Popular Australian attitudes toward Indonesia more broadly suggest perceptions are still stuck in the past and could be refreshed, he said.

Education has a role. An objective of the white paper is to ensure that by 2025 every Australian student will have significant exposure to studies of Asia across the curriculum to increase their cultural knowledge and skills to enable them to be active in the region.

*History repeating*

Talk of increasing Australias Asian literacy is far from new. In 1994, then Prime Minister Paul Keating declared, No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia. If we fail to get this relationship right and to nurture and develop it, the whole web of our foreign relations is incomplete.

As a result, Keating implemented the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools program in 1995. It focused on increasing students abilities to become familiar with the language and culture of four key neighbors: Japan, Korea, China and Indonesia.

The strategy outlined in the 2012 white paper replaces Korea with India.

Tapsell sees the dramatic drop in Asian language studies since the mid-90s as a result of the policies of the conservative coalition led by Prime Minister John Howard that governed Australia from 1996 to 2007.

Its been steadily declining since 1996 and I think you can put that down largely to the federal government at the time, the Howard government, placing less of an emphasis on Asian languages and in particular Indonesian language. There hasnt been as much support for it as there should have been, Tapsell said.

He stressed the need to find a way for students to become engaged in Indonesian studies.

Its no use saying we need more Australians speaking Indonesian, we need to give them reasons as to why they should be interested in Indonesia and develop content which flourishes that interest, he said.

For example, make sure that if were doing a subject on volcanoes in primary school, lets use the example of Indonesian volcanoes.

*Education abroad*

Australia has long been a destination for Indonesians studying overseas. Currently, there are an estimated 15,000 Indonesians studying in Australia who provide $500 million to the economy, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Indonesia is the largest recipient of Australian foreign aid with A$574 million ($594 million) being provided from 2012 to 2013, with the largest component of the program supporting education.

As part of the Australian governments aid program, each year around 400 full scholarships are issued to Indonesian postgraduate students to complete their masters or PhD in Australia.

Past alumni of these awards include Vice President Boediono and Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa.

Hill pointed out in his report that while this meant the Indonesian government had an ability to understand Australia, no member of the Australian government could lay the same claim to understanding Indonesia.

Greg Moriarty acknowledged via e-mail that the number of Indonesians studying in Australia is, disparate to the number of Australians enrolled in Indonesian institutions.

In his report, Hill found that between 2007 and 2011, an average of only 53 Australian students per year enrolled in a study program of one semester or more at an Indonesian university.

Consequently, the Australian community largely misses out on the tremendous assets in language competence and political and cultural awareness brought back by students returning from in-country study in Indonesia, he said in the report.

Following the 2002 Bali bombings, the Australian government issued travel warnings for Indonesia. Australian citizens were advised to reconsider your need to travel to Indonesia. This warning was lowered to exercise a high degree of caution in May 2012.

Hills report found that 10 years of travel warnings had significant impact on people-to-people links.

Schools find they cannot get travel insurance for student language study trips, and have little choice but to cease school exchange visits, he wrote.

The 2012 white paper set out an objective to increase the numbers of Australian students studying abroad in Indonesia.

Currently, Europe and North America are the most popular destinations for Australian students choosing to study overseas.

In a bid to address this disparity and improve Asian literacy, the Australian government announced that it would offer $37 million through the AsiaBound scheme. The scheme aims to send 10,000 Australian students abroad and increase the number of students studying in Asia.

However, it was recently revealed that specialist university consortiums and private firms will be excluded from receiving the grants.

This despite the fact that the white paper singled out the university-led Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies, as a successful model for in-country learning.

*People-to-people links*

In a bid to strengthen people-to-people links between the two countries, the Australian government recently staged the inaugural Australia-Indonesia Youth Dialogue in Jakarta.

At the dialogue, young Australians and Indonesians gathered together to discuss how cultural links and understanding could be strengthened.

One suggestion was to ease the process for young Australians to obtain permits to work in Indonesia.

Bede Moore, director of Indonesian operations for the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association, said he hoped an accessible working holiday visa would be made available. 

The biggest difficulty for us is having some sort of flexible visa that you can easily apply [for] so that you can come and work up here, he said.

From my understanding, there is a working visa that you can have for both Australia and Indonesia thats already been agreed on, but people are struggling to get access to that.

Outside of his work for AIYA, Moore is also an entrepreneur. He said that reducing the bureaucracy involved in building a business could be an effective way to strengthen ties.

People who do what I am doing, you really build a knowledge of what the host country is like and that inspires an empathy which I think is really important for foreign relations, he said.

As part of Indonesias latest bid to increase tourist numbers, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari said that as part of Indonesias bid to increase tourist numbers, changes to the visa system are being considered, including the introduction of working holiday visas.

She said that working holiday visas have been suggested, especially for Australian tourism. Backpacker holidays are normally two months, three months or sometimes maybe six months. So maybe longer visas for backpack travel or a holiday visa.

Because Australia already offers for Indonesia a work visa for one year, I think thats maybe something we can explore also, she added.

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta has also revealed future plans to strengthen cultural ties with Indonesia.

According to Moriarty, Australia in 2014 is planing to launch the largest cultural presentation ever made in Indonesia. It is set to cover arts and culture, sports, innovation, science and education.

The value of the arts, culture and the creative industries in building and strengthening people-to-people links between Australia and countries in Asia is enormous, Moriarty said via e-mail.

Arts and cultural ties complement political and trade relationships, and can provide a platform for stronger social and economic ties.

*Misunderstandings*

For Tapsell, the lack of Indonesian literacy in Australia has far-reaching consequences, including for diplomatic ties.

There is an argument to suggest that a lot of the times weve got Indonesia wrong, occasionally weve had diplomatic incidents, and a lot of that could come down to greater understanding, he said.

There were some very poor comments made in the public realm when there was the ban on live cattle trade with suggestions that Indonesian Muslims didnt know about proper ways to kill cattle and so I think having more Indonesian speakers and having more students who have specialized in Indonesian degrees should really be taken up by various government departments, he added.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has visited Australia on official duties four times, more than any of his predecessors. In March 2010, he became the first Indonesian head of state to ever address the Australian parliament.

In his speech, Yudhoyono said a major challenge to the consolidation of the Australian-Indonesian relationship was to bring a change in each others mind-set.

Even in the age of cable television and Internet, there are Australians who still see Indonesia as an authoritarian country, or as a military dictatorship, or as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, or even as an expansionist power, he said in the speech.

The bottom line is that we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to people-to-people contact, when it comes to appreciating the facts of each others national life.

Still, for Bali visitor John Steele, hes open to visit other parts of Indonesia and learn more about the nations culture.

He said that although he wondered about other destinations in Indonesia, most other travelers did not.

I did think of other places but there wasnt a lot of information regarding it and I was the only one who inquired about it, he said.
I feel like there is still so much more to the country than I have been exposed to.

_Daniella White is taking part in a program run by the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies. This article is part of a series focusing on relations between Indonesia and Australia._

Australia, Indonesia Build Relations From the Ground Up | The Jakarta Globe



nufix said:


> Actually, if you follow every post he made, this guy is obsessed with the idea of Vietnam rules the whole ASEAN plus Australia and make those countries become Vietnam subordinates. And in order to achieve his obsession, he seems so sure that Vietnam can take control the whole Malacca strait even when navies from 3 traditional owners of Malacca strait (Malay-Indo-SG) are combined to protect the strait.
> 
> Indonesia-Australia relationship is too complex for him to understand, he'd like to see Australia bombing Indonesia or vice versa to support his dream instead.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, Indonesia-Australia relationship is more like two friends in a bar, supporting each other in critical times like when Australia supported the Independence of Indonesia and throwing each other's bottles when both countries have disagreements. But the fact that Indonesia lives next door to Australia makes the heat quickly disappear as both need each other role to keep stability in the region.



*Australia, Indonesia Build Relations From the Ground Up*
Daniella White | February 17, 2013




_Australian and Indonesian students take part in a study exchange program based in Yogyakarta. (JG Photos/Jimmy Walsh).	_

Twenty-year old John Steele is just one of almost one million Australians who traveled to Indonesia last year.

But like the majority of his fellow travelers, he never got beyond the allure of beaches and booze in Bali.

Its a cheap and easy option. A lot of people my age have gone [to Bali], or talk about going, he said.

Most Australians my age didnt seem interested in finding anything out about Indonesian culture. The main attraction was partying, warm weather and the beach.

In Australias government-commissioned white paper on Australia in the Asian Century, cultural understanding was identified as a key element to engagement in the region. But analysts claim that despite Indonesia being a favorite holiday destination for Australians, many have a critical lack of understanding of their closest Asian neighbor.

*Beyond Bali*

Ross Tapsell, a lecturer in Asian Studies from the Australian National University, said that Australians would benefit greatly from expanding their knowledge of Indonesia.

We have so many Australians that travel to Bali each year and basically end up in Western enclaves, he said.

Wouldnt it be wonderful if we had more Australians who wanted to venture out, make Indonesian friends, travel outside of Kuta and absorb more of what is a great country which is right on our doorstep.

Australias ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, agreed.

I think Indonesia is an incredibly rich and culturally diverse country and I think that many Australians would find it very useful and enriching to be able to go beyond [Bali] to have a broader Indonesian experience, he said in an interview.

While Moriarty said it was primarily up to the Indonesian government to promote destinations other than Bali, Australia as a neighbor could still play its part.

Australian tour operators could also be a bit more creative in terms of the packages that they present to tourists, he said.

In an interview with the Jakarta Globe, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said that Indonesia was focusing on increasing awareness as well as the accessibility of destinations around the whole country.

Weve been saying Beyond Bali for a long time, so this time it has to really happen, she said. We need to make sure that there is awareness, that there is the information and there is the connectivity.

*A common language*

In a 2012 Australian government-commissioned report, David Hill from Murdoch University in Perth warned that Australia needed to improve its understanding of Indonesian culture and language, or face the danger of being left behind.

Without reinvesting in Indonesian studies, Australia risks losing our comparative advantage and the consequent economic, political and strategic advantage that our previous expertise gave us in our relationship with Indonesia, he wrote in the report.

Hills report found that Indonesian language study in Australia was in crisis.

He found that more final-year high-school students studied Indonesian in 1972 than in 2009. Between 2001 and 2010, Australian university enrollments in Indonesian nationally dropped by 37 percent, despite a 40 percent jump in the overall undergraduate population.

The report also showed that since 2001, school enrollments in Indonesian classes declined on average by 10,000 per year.

There are currently about 190,000 Australian students studying Indonesian at school, but according to Hill, the vast majority of them are still in the lower levels of school.

He said the drop came at a time when Australia should have been focusing more than ever on Indonesia.

That enrollments grew during the Suharto dictatorship only to fall as Indonesia began democratizing after his fall in 1998 is ironic, and indicates a lost opportunity for engagement with a society opening up to the world, he wrote in the report.

The latest white paper recognizes the need to reinvest in Asian literacy, but some analysts have criticized the lack of clear policy direction.

The difficulty is, how do you implement this plan? And at the moment there hasnt been specifics as to how the government is going to continue or adopt programs to make this plan work, Tapsell said.

They already cut the national Asian studies program and have said they want to do something bigger, so lets see what the bigger program is and how its going to work.

In a statement to the Jakarta Globe, ambassador Moriarty stressed the importance of Australians gaining a greater knowledge of their closest Asian neighbors.

Popular Australian attitudes toward Indonesia more broadly suggest perceptions are still stuck in the past and could be refreshed, he said.

Education has a role. An objective of the white paper is to ensure that by 2025 every Australian student will have significant exposure to studies of Asia across the curriculum to increase their cultural knowledge and skills to enable them to be active in the region.

*History repeating*

Talk of increasing Australias Asian literacy is far from new. In 1994, then Prime Minister Paul Keating declared, No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia. If we fail to get this relationship right and to nurture and develop it, the whole web of our foreign relations is incomplete.

As a result, Keating implemented the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools program in 1995. It focused on increasing students abilities to become familiar with the language and culture of four key neighbors: Japan, Korea, China and Indonesia.

The strategy outlined in the 2012 white paper replaces Korea with India.

Tapsell sees the dramatic drop in Asian language studies since the mid-90s as a result of the policies of the conservative coalition led by Prime Minister John Howard that governed Australia from 1996 to 2007.

Its been steadily declining since 1996 and I think you can put that down largely to the federal government at the time, the Howard government, placing less of an emphasis on Asian languages and in particular Indonesian language. There hasnt been as much support for it as there should have been, Tapsell said.

He stressed the need to find a way for students to become engaged in Indonesian studies.

Its no use saying we need more Australians speaking Indonesian, we need to give them reasons as to why they should be interested in Indonesia and develop content which flourishes that interest, he said.

For example, make sure that if were doing a subject on volcanoes in primary school, lets use the example of Indonesian volcanoes.

*Education abroad*

Australia has long been a destination for Indonesians studying overseas. Currently, there are an estimated 15,000 Indonesians studying in Australia who provide $500 million to the economy, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Indonesia is the largest recipient of Australian foreign aid with A$574 million ($594 million) being provided from 2012 to 2013, with the largest component of the program supporting education.

As part of the Australian governments aid program, each year around 400 full scholarships are issued to Indonesian postgraduate students to complete their masters or PhD in Australia.

Past alumni of these awards include Vice President Boediono and Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa.

Hill pointed out in his report that while this meant the Indonesian government had an ability to understand Australia, no member of the Australian government could lay the same claim to understanding Indonesia.

Greg Moriarty acknowledged via e-mail that the number of Indonesians studying in Australia is, disparate to the number of Australians enrolled in Indonesian institutions.

In his report, Hill found that between 2007 and 2011, an average of only 53 Australian students per year enrolled in a study program of one semester or more at an Indonesian university.

Consequently, the Australian community largely misses out on the tremendous assets in language competence and political and cultural awareness brought back by students returning from in-country study in Indonesia, he said in the report.

Following the 2002 Bali bombings, the Australian government issued travel warnings for Indonesia. Australian citizens were advised to reconsider your need to travel to Indonesia. This warning was lowered to exercise a high degree of caution in May 2012.

Hills report found that 10 years of travel warnings had significant impact on people-to-people links.

Schools find they cannot get travel insurance for student language study trips, and have little choice but to cease school exchange visits, he wrote.

The 2012 white paper set out an objective to increase the numbers of Australian students studying abroad in Indonesia.

Currently, Europe and North America are the most popular destinations for Australian students choosing to study overseas.

In a bid to address this disparity and improve Asian literacy, the Australian government announced that it would offer $37 million through the AsiaBound scheme. The scheme aims to send 10,000 Australian students abroad and increase the number of students studying in Asia.

However, it was recently revealed that specialist university consortiums and private firms will be excluded from receiving the grants.

This despite the fact that the white paper singled out the university-led Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies, as a successful model for in-country learning.

*People-to-people links*

In a bid to strengthen people-to-people links between the two countries, the Australian government recently staged the inaugural Australia-Indonesia Youth Dialogue in Jakarta.

At the dialogue, young Australians and Indonesians gathered together to discuss how cultural links and understanding could be strengthened.

One suggestion was to ease the process for young Australians to obtain permits to work in Indonesia.

Bede Moore, director of Indonesian operations for the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association, said he hoped an accessible working holiday visa would be made available. 

The biggest difficulty for us is having some sort of flexible visa that you can easily apply [for] so that you can come and work up here, he said.

From my understanding, there is a working visa that you can have for both Australia and Indonesia thats already been agreed on, but people are struggling to get access to that.

Outside of his work for AIYA, Moore is also an entrepreneur. He said that reducing the bureaucracy involved in building a business could be an effective way to strengthen ties.

People who do what I am doing, you really build a knowledge of what the host country is like and that inspires an empathy which I think is really important for foreign relations, he said.

As part of Indonesias latest bid to increase tourist numbers, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari said that as part of Indonesias bid to increase tourist numbers, changes to the visa system are being considered, including the introduction of working holiday visas.

She said that working holiday visas have been suggested, especially for Australian tourism. Backpacker holidays are normally two months, three months or sometimes maybe six months. So maybe longer visas for backpack travel or a holiday visa.

Because Australia already offers for Indonesia a work visa for one year, I think thats maybe something we can explore also, she added.

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta has also revealed future plans to strengthen cultural ties with Indonesia.

According to Moriarty, Australia in 2014 is planing to launch the largest cultural presentation ever made in Indonesia. It is set to cover arts and culture, sports, innovation, science and education.

The value of the arts, culture and the creative industries in building and strengthening people-to-people links between Australia and countries in Asia is enormous, Moriarty said via e-mail.

Arts and cultural ties complement political and trade relationships, and can provide a platform for stronger social and economic ties.

*Misunderstandings*

For Tapsell, the lack of Indonesian literacy in Australia has far-reaching consequences, including for diplomatic ties.

There is an argument to suggest that a lot of the times weve got Indonesia wrong, occasionally weve had diplomatic incidents, and a lot of that could come down to greater understanding, he said.

There were some very poor comments made in the public realm when there was the ban on live cattle trade with suggestions that Indonesian Muslims didnt know about proper ways to kill cattle and so I think having more Indonesian speakers and having more students who have specialized in Indonesian degrees should really be taken up by various government departments, he added.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has visited Australia on official duties four times, more than any of his predecessors. In March 2010, he became the first Indonesian head of state to ever address the Australian parliament.

In his speech, Yudhoyono said a major challenge to the consolidation of the Australian-Indonesian relationship was to bring a change in each others mind-set.

Even in the age of cable television and Internet, there are Australians who still see Indonesia as an authoritarian country, or as a military dictatorship, or as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, or even as an expansionist power, he said in the speech.

The bottom line is that we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to people-to-people contact, when it comes to appreciating the facts of each others national life.

Still, for Bali visitor John Steele, hes open to visit other parts of Indonesia and learn more about the nations culture.

He said that although he wondered about other destinations in Indonesia, most other travelers did not.

I did think of other places but there wasnt a lot of information regarding it and I was the only one who inquired about it, he said.
I feel like there is still so much more to the country than I have been exposed to.

_Daniella White is taking part in a program run by the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies. This article is part of a series focusing on relations between Indonesia and Australia._

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/editorschoice/australia-indonesia-build-relations-from-the-ground-up/572174

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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> First: Bcz they were defeated in Great Viet(VN),so they couldn't use their best cavalry forces to attack u,and their forces also lack of food and other supply .So,just like Japan you won the war with a big luck.
> 
> Sencond:Indonesia is too far to VN core intetest,so we don't wanna have any trouble with u.order tribute payment from Thailand-Malay-Sing(US's allies) are enough
> 
> And we can shake hands to invade Aussi ,too.No need white men living in Asia,right



A Victory is a Victory. If the Mongol cannot maintain an expeditionary forces in Java than its the Mongol failure. The Kamikaze victory is because the Mongol uses river boat instead of Seafaring boat. We won not because luck, but because of Raden Wijaya.




> When the Yuan army arrived in Java, Wijaya allied himself with the army to fight against Jayakatwang and gave the Mongols a map of the country Kalang. According to the Yuan-shi, Wijaya attacked Jayakatwang without success when he heard of the arrival of the Yuan navy. Then he requested their aid. In return, Yuan generals demanded his submission to their emperor, and he gave it.
> 
> In November 1292, a Mongol force landed in Tuban, East Java, with the aim of revenge for Kertanagara's humiliation of the Mongol messenger. However, Kertanegara was already dead. Raden Wijaya made an alliance with the Mongols with the aim of attacking Singhasari, which by this time had fallen under the power of Jayakatwang. Jayakatwang was defeated and destroyed in 1293, at which point Raden Wijaya attacked the Mongol force. The Mongols, already weakened by tropical diseases, the climate, and imperial overreach, were forced to flee Java.[2] Raden Wijaya then established the Majapahit kingdom, taking the title Kertarajasa Jayawardhana, and establishing his palace in the area of Trowulan, which is now in Kabupaten Mojokerto, East Java.
> 
> Once Jayakatwang was destroyed by the Mongols, Raden Wijaya returned to Majapahit, ostensibly to prepare his tribute settlement, leaving his allies to celebrate their victory. Shi-bi and Ike Mese allowed Raden Wijaya to go back to his country to prepare his tribute and a new letter of submission, but Gaoxing disliked the idea and he warned other two. Wijaya asked the Yuan forces to come to his country unarmed.
> 
> Two hundred unarmed Yuan soldiers led by two officers were sent to Raden Wijaya's country, but Raden Wijaya quickly mobilized his forces again and ambushed the Yuan convoy. After that Raden Wijaya marched his forces to the main Yuan camp and launched a surprise attack, killing many and sending the rest running back to their ships. The Yuan forces had to withdraw in confusion, as the monsoon winds to carry them home would soon end, leaving them to wait on a hostile island for six months. The Yuan army lost more than 3,000 of its elite soldiers.
> 
> *Aftermath*
> 
> The three generals, demoralized by the considerable loss of their elite soldiers due to the ambush, went back to their empire with the surviving soldiers. Upon their arrival, Shi-bi was condemned to receive 70 lashes and have a third of his property confiscated for allowing the catastrophe. Ike Mese also was reprimanded and a third of his property taken away. But Gaoxing was awarded 50 taels of gold for protecting the soldiers from a total disaster. Later, Shi-bi and Ike Mese were shown mercy, and the emperor restored their reputation and property.[6]
> 
> This failure was the last expedition in Kublai Khan's reign. Majapahit, in contrast, became the most powerful state of its era in the region which is now Indonesia



BTW Are you Racist?


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> A Victory is a Victory. If the Mongol cannot maintain an expeditionary forces in Java than its the Mongol failure. The Kamikaze victory is because the Mongol uses river boat instead of Seafaring boat. We won not because luck, but because of Raden Wijaya.


But this kind of victory can't help you to have some good experience to defeat next World conqueror. Japan 'defeated' Mongol with luky Kamikaze, but it couldn't help them to defeat US and had to surrender with No condition .



> BTW Are you Racist?


No, bcz those White Aussie helped US to kill VNese-Laotian-Cambodian(and Indonesian in Borneo war too, right ??) in VN war and never say sorry, so , why we need them to stay in Asia ?? they may support bad guys to kill Asian people again.


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## Viet

*Myanmar's capital to offer 10,000 accommodations by 2014*

English.news.cn 2013-02-20 16:36:11
Xinhua





Myanmar's new capital Nay Pyi Taw


YANGON, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- More than 10,000 hotel rooms at over *80 hotels* will be available at Nay Pyi Taw hotel zone in Myanmar's new capital Nay Pyi Taw by 2014, local media reported Wednesday.

*At present, there are 31 hotels in Nay Pyi Taw hotel zone*, said the Weekly Eleven website.

The demand of accommodations will increase as many foreign visitors will come to visit Myanmar to attend the 27th *Southeast Asian Games* at the end of this year and the* ASEAN Summit *and other related Summits next year.

According to statistics, Myanmar has a total of 787 hotels with 28,291 rooms, the report said.

These include five five-star hotels, 18 four-star hotels, 83 three-star hotels, 115 two-star hotels, 103 one-star hotels, and 462 hotels with licenses.

In December 2012, *companies from Vietnam* signed a deal with Myanmar to invest 300 million dollars in hotels at Nay Pyi Taw. The massive build-operate-transfer deal was the first surge of investment into the hotel sector since the new foreign investment law was promulgated.

Myanmar could reportedly attract over* 1 million world tourists* to the country in the year, an increase of 200,000 compared with 2011, due to the significant changes in Myanmar last year.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> But this kind of victory can't help you to have some good experience to defeat next World conqueror. Japan 'defeated' Mongol with luky Kamikaze, but it couldn't help them to defeat US and had to surrender with No condition .



What experiences. Are you saying a 13 century victory over the Mongol is still relevant in the Information Ages? Compared to your country "regular victory" over the Mongol. Raden Wijaya allow the enemy into the country, used the enemy men and resources to overthrow the ruler, when the Mongol outlived their usefulness Raden Wijaya turns against them and establish the Greatest Kingdom in Southeast Asia. Why the hell do we want to defeat the "next world conqueror?" Indonesia prefer to be the "Big Cat" in the Litter box (Southeast Asia). Colluding with the "next world conqueror" than trying to defeat them.






> No, bcz those White Aussie helped US to kill VNese-Laotian-Cambodian(and Indonesian in Borneo war too, right ??) in VN war and never say sorry, so , why we need them to stay in Asia ?? they may support bad guys to kill Asian people again.



Water under the bridge...

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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> What experiences. Are you saying a 13 century victory over the Mongol is still relevant in the Information Ages? Compared to your country "regular victory" over the Mongol.
> 
> .


Of course. You think our women suddenly know how to fight as well as men in VN war and in 1979 war against China ?? In fact, they were trained to fight in People warfare tactic from century to century, there lots of women general in our history . 

And our People warfare tactic that lead us to victory also not a gift from GOD, it's created and used from 12 century already. Until now, No nation on earth can use People warfare tactic to fight against World conqueror as well as VNese.

Japanese don't know abt People warfare tactic and their leader also didn't have any experience when fighting with the Giant, that's why, they lost when luck was not in their side anymore .


> Indonesia prefer to be the "Big Cat" in the Litter box (Southeast Asia). Colluding with the "next world conqueror" than trying to defeat them.


What if they don't wanna collude with u, and nuke u instead coz you don't have ballistic missile warhead and can't enrich uranium to make nuke warhead to scare them ??


> Water under the bridge...



But the white don't think the same. They never say sorry for the bad things they did. 

btw: I'm not racist, I just want a fair justice. The killer can't get away without any charges. At least they must say : sorry .


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> Of course. You think our women suddenly know how to fight as well as men in VN war and in 1979 war against China ?? In fact, they were trained to fight in People warfare tactic from century to century, there lots of women general in our history .
> 
> And our People warfare tactic that lead us to victory also not a gift from GOD, it's created and used from 12 century already. Until now, No nation on earth can use People warfare tactic to fight against World conqueror as well as VNese.
> 
> Japanese don't know abt People warfare tactic and their leader also didn't have any experience when fighting with the Giant, that's why, they lost when luck was not in their side anymore .



Like I said not relevant anymore, Swords & Pikes anyone. We uses guns & rockets now. By your logic the Russian should still use Human Wave tactic instead of modernizing their armaments. People warfare although have some merit should not be used, because it is more an Act of Desperation than a sound tactical move.




_Satirical drawing in Punch Magazine(29 September 1894), showing the victory of "small" Japan over "large" China._




> What if they don't wanna collude with u, and nuke u instead coz you don't have ballistic missile warhead and can't enrich uranium to make nuke warhead to scare them ??
> 
> 
> But the white don't think the same. They never say sorry for the bad things they did.



You must be a barbarian if you think "weapons" can keep you safe from invader. Don't get me wrong I believe in offering one hand while arm the other, but this is the 21th century we have a thing called the UN. 

Easy, we make ourselves look valuable to other countries. Indonesia is already seen as "good" country and an important player to peace and security in the region. We're also a member of the G-20 and can you tell me which country that want to attack Indonesia?.


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Like I said not relevant anymore, Swords & Pikes anyone. We uses guns & rockets now. By your logic the Russian should still use Human Wave tactic instead of modernizing their armaments. People warfare although have some merit should not be used, because it is more an Act of Desperation than a sound tactical move.


Before 1945, Japan used gun and rocket to fight with US, and lost.

In 1950 ,Korea used gun and rocket with full of Soviet-China support to fight with US, and lost.

in 1956, VietNam used gun and rocket to fight with US,too, and won. If people warfare that we created from 12 century didn't work, so why did we win ??


> You must be a barbarian if you think "weapons" can keep you safe from invader. Don't get me wrong I believe in offering one hand while arm the other, but this is the 21th century we have a thing called the UN.


UN will protect weak nations ??pls ask Chinese-Russian-American , you will know UN is working for who 


> Easy, we make ourselves look valuable to other countries. Indonesia is already seen as "good" country and an important player to peace and security in the region. We're also a member of the G-20 and can you tell me which country that want to attack Indonesia?.


Any one having Nuke warhead plus nuke capable ballistic missile can easily attack and defeat you within few hours

Btw: believe what you want to believe, maybe UN will protect u , we only believe on our own power.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> Before 1945, Japan used gun and rocket to fight with US, and lost.
> 
> In 1950 ,Korea used gun and rocket with full of Soviet-China support to fight with US, and lost.
> 
> in 1956, VietNam used gun and rocket to fight with US,too, and won. If people warfare that we created from 12 century didn't work, so why did we win ??



"Winning" is such a strong word. The US never lose a single battle against the NVA. The only thing they lose to in Vietnam is to the Anti-War movement back home. 








> Any one having Nuke warhead plus nuke capable ballistic missile can easily attack and defeat you within few hours
> 
> Btw: believe what you want to believe, maybe UN will protect u , we only believe on our own power.



Name 1 country that actually want to attack us. You might not know this, but we're in a process of rearming. Soon we will have the most powerful Armed Forces in the region. 


























What power? Vietnam is not even as strong as you think.

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## nufix

Reashot Xigwin said:


> "Winning" is such a strong word. The US never lose a single battle against the NVA. The only thing they lose to in Vietnam is to the Anti-War movement back home.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Name 1 country that actually want to attack us. You might not know this, but we're in a process of rearming. Soon we will have the most powerful Armed Forces in the region.
> 
> 
> What power? Vietnam is not even as strong as you think.



Don't forget to add a simple comparison between both countries arms spending plus annual budget, that tells the bigger picture about a country's actual power.

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## NiceGuy

nufix said:


> Don't forget to add a simple comparison between both countries arms spending plus annual budget, that tells the bigger picture about a country's actual power.


Your higher military budget can't help you to have invisible 'mud men ' force like VN, they can sneak into Thailand-China territories, destroy enemies hard ware and retreated without being detected when ur forces can't. 

We also can train perfect spy to fool CIA when ur forces can't,too

We also have upgrade Shaddock with warhead of 1000 kg , no need to say again ,right

So, with small defense budget, but we can scare our big enemies, when your army is still not strong enough for even to protect your own country. You can pour more money, but it doesn't mean your forces with get better and be able to match with our 'mud men ' and perfect spy bcz they're not trained with hollow lessons from military academy but real experience in long hard and bloody battle field.


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> Your higher military budget can't help you to have invisible 'mud men ' force like VN, they can sneak into Thailand-China territories, destroy enemies hard ware and retreated without being detected when ur forces can't.
> 
> We also can train perfect spy to fool CIA when ur forces can't,too
> 
> We also have upgrade Shaddock with warhead of 1000 kg , no need to say again ,right
> 
> So, with small defense budget, but we can scare our big enemies, when your army is still not strong enough for even to protect your own country. You can pour more money, but it doesn't mean your forces with get better and be able to match with our 'mud men ' and perfect spy bcz they're not trained with hollow lessons from military academy but real experience in long hard and bloody battle field.








LOL lets see how your "Mudmen" compared to ours




Cause I think this guys can win because they're more Muddier 

Ooh... The Vietnamese can hit us with their "Mudmen" ooh I'm so scared its not like Indonesia have a Far Superior & Armed Special Forces compared to Vietnam.








...This is not even the tip of the iceberg.

The TNI true problem is that it can't be everywhere at once. On the account we have 7000 islands to control.





Please if you do fired at us with your Shaddok its not like you can penetrate our entire "missile defense shield"













LOL Indonesia have been embroiled in conflict since the creation of the Republic. So in your logic that sorta makes our troops better than yours.


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> Your higher military budget can't help you to have invisible 'mud men ' force like VN, they can sneak into Thailand-China territories, destroy enemies hard ware and retreated without being detected when ur forces can't.
> 
> We also can train perfect spy to fool CIA when ur forces can't,too
> 
> We also have upgrade Shaddock with warhead of 1000 kg , no need to say again ,right
> 
> So, with small defense budget, but we can scare our big enemies, when your army is still not strong enough for even to *protect *your own country. You can pour more money, but it doesn't mean your forces with get better and be able to match with our 'mud men ' and perfect spy bcz they're not trained with hollow lessons from military academy but real experience in long hard and bloody battle field.



that's relative, depends on what condition should the armed forces face. 

Yea yea, mud men shaddock CBU perfect spy Vietnam is almighty that even god himself is scared when he sees Vietcong walk down the street. Anything that can make you go to sleep, I shall agree.


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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> LOL lets see how your "Mudmen" compared to ours
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cause I think this guys can win because they're more Muddier
> 
> Ooh... The Vietnamese can hit us with their "Mudmen" ooh I'm so scared its not like Indonesia have a Far Superior & Armed Special Forces compared to Vietnam.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...This is not even the tip of the iceberg.
> 
> The TNI true problem is that it can't be everywhere at once. On the account we have 7000 islands to control.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please if you do fired at us with your Shaddok its not like you can penetrate our entire "missile defense shield"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOL Indonesia have been embroiled in conflict since the creation of the Republic. So in your logic that sorta makes our troops better than yours.


But ur 'mud men' can't sneak into enemy base(such as Malaysia-Aussie during Borneo confict) and destroy enemies hard ware like ours.

If we use our nuke capable missile to attack u(of course it never happen in real life),we will use our 'mud men' to destroy ur 'defense shield' first,then,u have nothing left to shoot down our missile 

And u also don't have perfect spy that can steal enemies's intelligence,too.

So what's the use of higher military budget ? Is it just used to take better photoshop pics like China PLA?


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> But ur 'mud men' can't sneak into enemy base(such as Malaysia during Borneo confict) and destroy enemies hard ware like ours.
> 
> And u also don't have perfect spy that can steal enemies's intelligence,too.



Oh they do manage to sabotage a few. Lost the war, but they did their job. The RPKAD is pretty much the Bastard Son of the SAS so I know they're better than your "Mudmen" will ever be.

Just because we can steal a country intelligence from under your nose doesn't mean we should. We are a peaceful country, you don't F us we don't F you. I'm almost got recruited to the BIN so I know what they're capable of.


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> *But ur 'mud men' can't sneak into enemy base(such as Malaysia during Borneo confict) and destroy enemies hard ware like ours.*
> 
> If we use our nuke capable missile to attack u(of course it never happen in real life),we will use our '*mud men' to destroy ur 'defense shield'* first,then,u have nothing left to shoot down our missile
> 
> And u also *don't have perfect spy that can steal enemies's intelligence,too.*



Try to read a book from Ken J. Conboy







And you will find that they are more than anything your mud men had ever done.

Of course you are welcome to do so, but first, try to buy some decent boats to get them into our territory.

Hook up onto my first sentence.

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## Reashot Xigwin

nufix said:


> Try to read a book from Ken J. Conboy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And you will find that they are more than anything your mud men had ever done.
> 
> Of course you are welcome to do so, but first, try to buy some decent boats to get them into our territory.
> 
> Hook up onto my first sentence.



Makaci Mas

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## NiceGuy

Reashot Xigwin said:


> Oh they do manage to sabotage a few. Lost the war, but they did their job. The RPKAD is pretty much the Bastard Son of the SAS so I know they're better than your "Mudmen" will ever be.
> 
> .


I tried to search abt ur special forces,but l didn't find any link said that ur special forces successfully sabotaged Aussia-Malay base and destroyed their hardware.



nufix said:


> Try to read a book from Ken J. Conboy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And you will find that they are more than anything your mud men had ever done.
> 
> Of course you are welcome to do so, but first, try to buy some decent boats to get them into our territory.
> 
> Hook up onto my first sentence.


So did they sobotaged successfully Aussie-Malaysia base during Borneo conflict?pls show me the quote


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## Reashot Xigwin

NiceGuy said:


> I tried to search abt ur special forces,but l didn't find any link said that ur special forces successfully sabotaged Aussia-Malay base and destroyed their hardware.



Search for Kevin Conboy book on Kopassus & read it. Cause I already forget most of it.

A Badass quote from the book.



> "I asked the US, 'what will you teach us? You failed riding the island off Cambodia (during the 1975 Mayagues incident). You failed in rescuing the hostages in Iran and the Son Tay prison in Vietnam. Will you teach us about that?' The US government got mad, so there was no more US Special Force training during my time"





> So did they sabotaged successfully Aussie-Malaysia base during Borneo conflict?pls show me the quote



Buy the book ya' Cheapskate.


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> I tried to search abt ur special forces,but l didn't find any link said that ur special forces successfully sabotaged Aussia-Malay base and destroyed their hardware.
> 
> 
> So did they *sobotaged* successfully Aussie-Malaysia base during Borneo conflict?pls show me the quote



edited, I am not going to continue this.


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## nufix

NiceGuy said:


> I tried to search abt ur special forces,but l didn't find any link said that ur special forces successfully sabotaged Aussia-Malay base and destroyed their hardware.
> 
> 
> So did they *sobotaged* successfully Aussie-Malaysia base during Borneo conflict?pls show me the quote



edited, I am not going to continue this.


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## Viet

Maybe we all can go back to economy and all other non-military stuffs?


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## nufix

*Bakries Start Bumi Pullout After Victory Over Rothschild*







Bumi Plc co-founder Nathaniel Rothschild, center, arriving for a stockholders meeting in London on Feb. 21, 2013. (Bloomberg Photo/Simon Dawson)	

The powerful *Indonesian Bakrie family* said Friday it would start the *process of divorcing from London-listed miner Bumi Plc after winning a crucial shareholder vote over bitter rival Nathaniel Rothschild.*

*Shareholders shot down a proposal by Rothschild to regain control* of the firm in an extraordinary meeting Thursday in London, *allowing the Bakries to follow through with their plan to exit the firm and keep their lucrative coal assets.
*
The Bakries and British financier Rothschild have been embroiled in a bitter fight for control of Bumi since soon after they set up the company in 2011.

Rothschild had been hoping to replace 12 of the firm's 14 board members &#8212; and include himself in the new line-up &#8212; saying he had concerns about the way the family was running the business.

However, after winning the vote the Bakrie Group said it was "delighted" that the shareholders showed support for the current board, which last week agreed to allow the Bakries' to divorce Bumi and buy its stake in Bumi Resources, the firm's crown jewel and Indonesia's largest thermal coal producer.

The Bakries now need shareholder approval to finalize their exit plan, which is expected to be a formality.

"We will restart the unwinding process today, and expect a resolution delivered to shareholders for approval as soon as possible," Bakrie Group spokesman Chris Fong told AFP.

"We do hope Mr Rothschild accepts this, so all stakeholders can be in unison as we head towards a final and acceptable resolution."

The board said it would now move on the plan by the Bakries to divorce Bumi by returning their 23.8 percent stake in the firm in exchange for a 10.3 percent stake in Bumi Resources.

The family then plans to buy the London-based firm's remaining 18.9 percent stake in Bumi Resources for $278 million.

The Bakries are one of the most influential families in Indonesia and its patriarch, Aburizal Bakrie, is preparing a run for president in elections due to take place next year.

Rothschild was in March of last year ousted as Bumi co-chairman and resigned from the board in October amid an ongoing spat with the Bakries.

However, the banking scion looks set to continue the fight and push for corporate governance in Bumi, saying in a statement by his NR Investments that he had "grave misgivings over the influence" of the Bakries and their allies.

He added that while "the current board may claim a pyrrhic victory", independent shareholders were still demanding "new leadership and management, an end to looting and corruption at Bumi".

Rothschild has repeatedly accused financial irregularities at Bumi Resources.

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## Viet

*ASEAN Economic Ministers to meet in Vietnam*


Updated : 2/22/2013 2:57:15 PM
VOV online







(VOV) - *The capital city of Hanoi will host the 19th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Retreat and Related Meetings from March 7-9.*

At the AEM meeting, the 10 ASEAN Economic Ministers and ASEAN Secretary General will discuss important initiatives to strengthen regional economic integration and set the directions for ASEAN economic integration in 2013, with a view to establishing the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

The meeting will be held alongside the third *ASEAN-EU Business Summit* (AEBS) with the participation of the ASEAN Economic Ministers, EU Trade Commissioner and business communities from ASEAN and EU.

The Retreat&#8217;s website at AEMRETREAT19 Organization Committee says the 3rd AEBS will examine cross-sectoral issues that can help businesses and policymakers learn from experiences in doing business as perceived by leading companies from ASEAN and the EU. They will also discuss potential opportunities and existing challenges in the two regions.

Meanwhile, the 12th *AEM-EU Trade Commissioner Consultations* will be also held in Hanoi, focusing on activities and initiatives to enhance economic cooperation and facilitate greater trade and investment flows between the two regions.


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## Nusantara

gua geleng kepala liat komentar WongApik

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## nufix

Nusantara said:


> gua geleng kepala liat komentar WongApik



cucoknya doi di namai WongEdan.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Netherlands to put new emphasis on ties with Indonesia*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Thu, February 21 2013, 11:43 AM





Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmerman and Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa

The Dutch government has committed to boosting its relationship with Indonesia, noting that economic, political and people-to-people contacts should be strengthened further, a minister says.

&#8220;Indonesia is a growing economic power in the region. We have historical ties but our relationship has not developed by itself. We need to invest more in people-to-people contacts, political, economic and cultural ties,&#8221; visiting Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The new push to improve bilateral ties will be marked by a series of visits by high-level Dutch officials.

Beginning with the foreign minister&#8217;s visit this week, and building throughout 2013 with other ministerial visits, the series will culminate in a visit by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, accompanied by a trade delegation, at the end of this year.

Timmermans is scheduled to meet his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa on Thursday to discuss international development and to identify areas where the already strong and diverse relationship between the two countries can be strengthened further.

&#8220;There is more to offer in our relationship,&#8221; Timmermans added.

Development cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands has been focused on advancing the education sector, good governance, providing clean water and sanitation and developing the eastern part of Indonesia.

During his two-day visit, Timmermans had a chance to meet with Indonesian students who studied in the Netherlands. There are 1.200 Indonesian currently attending universities across the Netherlands and 250 cooperative arrangements have been established among various education institutions in both countries.

The Dutch government also provided humanitarian and development assistance to a number disaster-stricken regions in Indonesia, including Aceh and Nias following the tsunami, and Yogyakarta and Klaten following the earthquake.

The Netherlands is one of Indonesia&#8217;s most important trade partners in Europe.

Amid a European weakening economy, trade between the two countries in between January and September 2012 reached US$3.314 billion, while efforts are currently underway to further boost that figure.

The Port of Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport have been the main entry points for Indonesian products into the European Union.

Similarly, Dutch companies have seen Indonesia as their gateway to the larger ASEAN market, which is home to more than 500 million people.

During his first day in Jakarta on Wednesday, Timmermans met with Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki &#8220;Ahok&#8221; Tjahaja Purnama to discuss water management and Jakarta&#8217;s heritage issues

Netherlands to put new emphasis on ties with Indonesia | The Jakarta Post

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia is top SEA destination for foreign investment*
By Thomas Cho | Posted: 22 February 2013 1956 hrs





_Jakarta Skyline by judhi_

SINGAPORE : Indonesia is the most popular destination for foreign investment in Southeast Asia, attracting a record level of foreign direct investment (FDI) of US$22.8 billion in 2012.

The country's FDI for the last quarter of 2012 rose 22.9 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board.

*The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy says Indonesia, now the 16th largest economy, is on track to become the world's 7th largest economy by 2030 as more foreign investors turn their eyes to Indonesia.*

The country's Investment Coordinating Board is expecting foreign direct investment to increase by 23 percent this year after growing 26.7 percent in 2012.

Experts say investors in China are showing keen interest in resource-rich indonesia's mining industry and consumer sectors.

The presence of a yuan-clearing bank in Singapore will also help to facilitate Chinese investments in Indonesia.

Tan Khee Giap, Co-director, Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, says: "Indonesia will be a rising middle power and, according to our studies, among ASEAN 10, the growth of Indonesia has the biggest spinoff to the Singapore economy because not only they are close to us, they will use our infrastructure - the seaport and the airport and also the spillover economic activities."

Japanese manufacturers are also expected to move part of their manufacturing operations to Indonesia following Japan's recent row with China over disputed islands.

Luky Eko Wuryanto, Indonesian Deputy Minister for Infrastructures & Regional Development, says: "Manufacturing factories have to be built also in our country so along that lines, in total, we probably privatise around 10 to 15 sectors, according to our analysis."

Indonesia's 140 state-controlled firms account for nearly a fifth of the country's gross domestic product last year.

Their revenues are estimated to have hit US$155 billion last year.

In particular, Jakarta has said it is open to liberalising its airline and banking sectors with deals like DBS's proposed acquisition of Bank Danamon pending approval from its central bank.

Luky Eko Wuryanto says: "Indonesia is also one of the fastest growing markets for airline passengers right now - more than 19 percent per year, we have been opening the airline industry."

Minister Wuryanto adds that Indonesia is keen to upgrade its sea ports and improve connectivity from the western part of Indonesia to other ASEAN countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Singapore remained the largest source of Indonesia's FDI in 2012, followed by Japan, South Korea and the US.

- CNA/ch 

Indonesia is top SEA destination for foreign investment - Channel NewsAsia

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## Malaya

*US firms urged to invest in PH, Asean infra projects*

By Louella D. Desiderio, The Philippine Star
Posted at 02/23/2013

MANILA, Philippines - American firms are urged to take part in infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian region, including the Philippines, given the availability of opportunities in that sector, a US official said.

Speaking at the Makati Business Club&#8217;s General Membership Meeting yesterday, Jose W. Fernandez, assistant secretary for economic and business affairs of the US Department of State said he would like more American firms to participate in infrastructure projects in the region as there are several opportunities available.

Citing estimates of the Asian Development Bank, Fernandez said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would require $60 billion a year for infrastructure over the next decade to meet the needs of the region to grow, presenting a huge opportunity for American companies.

American firms, however, are currently not tapping the huge opportunity available.

&#8220;American companies are world leaders in a number of areas that are needed in this part of the world and frankly, in my view, they are not taking advantage of those opportunities,&#8221; he said.

A number of firms from other parts of the world such as Korea, China, Spain and Brazil are, however, taking advantage of the available opportunities.

&#8220;Part of my message to my companies when I get back home is there is an opportunity here. You have to find ways of taking advantage of those opportunities,&#8221; Fernandez said.

Apart from encouraging more American firms to take part in infrastructure projects in the ASEAN, Fernandez said they also intend to encourage firms from the Asian region to invest in their country as part of deepening the relationship between the US and the ASEAN.

The ASEAN region is a major avenue of interest for the US given its strong economic performance.

While trade between the US and ASEAN is already quite strong, Fernandez said the US wants to continue to engage with the region.

US exports to the region exceeded $76 billion last year, making it the fifth largest destination of shipments.

Fernandez said the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement which seeks to further liberalize 11 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, offers huge economic opportunities for the ASEAN.

The comprehensive agreement, which is expected to enhance trade and investment among partner countries, as well as promote innovation, economic growth and support creation and retention of jobs, is slated for a new round of negotiations next month.

The Philippines is currently not part of the negotiations, but Fernandez said the US would continue to encourage the country to see how it could join the TPP.

&#8220;The TPP may be an agreement with high standards but it is an agreement that is open to everyone in the region that is prepared to meet those high standards,&#8221; he said.

&#8220;We&#8217;ve encouraged and will continue to encourage the government of the Philippines to enter into comprehensive technical discussions with TPP nations in order to identify areas of reform that are required in the TPP high standards,&#8221; he said further.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/02/23/13/us-firms-urged-invest-ph-asean-infra-projects

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## Reashot Xigwin

Special post about Indonesian-Nigerian Bilateral relations. 







*Nigeria-Indonesia Trade Volume Hits $2billion*
Leadership Editors's picture
Mon, 04/02/2013 - 1:54am | EVELYN OKORUWA





Nigeria&#8211;Indonesia trade volume currently stands at about $2 billion, the Indonesian Minister of Trade, Mr. Gita Wirjawan, has said.

He spoke during the Nigeria-Indonesia bilateral trade meeting and business luncheon in Abuja on Saturday .

The meeting was attended by the Nigerian Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr.Olusegun Aganga; the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Sudirman Haseng; representatives of over 20 Indonesian companies, presidents of both Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, and captains of industry (NACCIMA).

&#8220;Indonesia is currently a trillion dollar economy with trade volume in Nigeria at about $2billion,&#8221; Wirjawan said.

However, Aganga said that both countries would work together to double the trade volume by 2015 and noted that Nigeria and Indonesia will come up with strategic and implementable action plans to ensure that both countries leverage the cordial bilateral trade relationship to boost trade and increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Aganga said, &#8220;It is good to have country-to-country discussions and Bilateral Agreements but at the end of the day, most of these things come down to the people and how they put discussions and agreements into action. The Indonesian Minister of Trade and I have agreed that our technical teams will put together a strategic plan for Nigeria and Indonesia which we will implement going forward.

&#8220;In terms of trade, we have already set targets for ourselves in terms of where we want to be and what we want to achieve. One of our major objectives is to double the bilateral trade between the two countries by 2015, particularly , when we have met and have bilateral discussions and agreements. We will work together to make sure that this happens.&#8221;

The minister said that they were working together to create a vehicle that would make it easier for the private sector of both countries to flourish and co-invest in different sectors of the economy.

Aganga said, &#8220;I see this meeting as a symbiotic relationship between the two countries. They have some similarities with Nigeria in terms of natural resources in agro- commodities and oil and gas. One of the major decisions taken by the Indonesian Trade Minister and I is that we will create a vehicle that will make it easier for the private sector of both countries to flourish and co-invest in the different sectors of the economy.

&#8220;In line with our Industrial Revolution Plan, one of the things that we want to do in terms of growing the value chain, is to identify areas where we have competitive and comparative advantage so that we can attract more investment into these areas in order to create jobs, generate wealth and transform our economy&#8221;

Speaking during the event, the Indonesian Minister of Trade, His Excellency Gita Wirjawan, said that a Preferential Trade Agreement between Nigeria and Indonesia would soon be concluded as part of efforts to increase trade and investment between the two countries.

Nigeria-Indonesia Trade Volume Hits $2billion | Leadership Newspapers

*Nigeria: FG, Indonesia Sign MOU on SMEs *
3 February 2013





The federal government in Abuja yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian Government on technical cooperation for the development of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.

Alhaji Muhammad Umar, Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) signed on behalf of Nigeria.

His counterpart, Mrs Euis Sedah, Director-General, Small and Medium Scale Industries (SMI) Directorate of Indonesia, signed on behalf of her country.

Umar said, with the MoU, Indonesia would exchange technical know-how with Nigeria on cassava processing.

While describing the partnership as historic, the director-general believed that it would open a new vista in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

"There is no doubt that Nigeria will need the assistance of Indonesia in the proposed conversion of industrial parks to cluster parks and in the revamping and development of existing Industrial Development Centres (IDC)," he said.

The director-general said the expectation of Nigerians was that Indonesia would invest in Nigeria's textile manufacturing sector so as to produce in Nigeria its fabric, popularly called 'battik,' which was in high demand.

"This will help in the actualisation of the Federal Government's goals in job creation.

"We also expect to step up our cooperation through sharing of experience, training, commercial activities and technology transfer among small and medium entrepreneurs of both countries."

He said the MoU between SMEDAN and the directorate of SMI of Indonesia offered tremendous business opportunities, especially for Nigerian entrepreneurs.

He, therefore, urged the Nigerian businessmen to leverage enhanced bilateral relations to revamp the nation's economy.

In his remarks, Mr Sudriman Haseng, Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, said the cooperation would strengthen relationship between the two countries.

"We are both regional leaders, the cooperation would increase the benefit of the two nations in their relationship with other countries," he said.

While noting that small and medium entrepreneur development is key to economic development of any country, the envoy called on the Federal Government to focus more on strengthening the SMEs' sector in the country.

NAN

allAfrica.com: Nigeria: FG, Indonesia Sign MOU

*Indonesia weighs Nigeria&#8217;s 4 million-hectare land offer*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Sat, February 23 2013, 12:29 PM





_President SBY of Indonesia with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. _

The Indonesian government is still weighing the offer from the Nigerian government to develop agricultural businesses in the West African country, an official of the Indonesia and Commerce (KADIN) says.

&#8220;We are currently studying the offer. This is going to be a government-to-government decision,&#8221; Mintardjo Halim, the executive of the chamber&#8217;s African desk said in Jakarta on Friday.

Mintardjo said that as the study of the investment would continue until March, he could not yet disclose what kinds of the plantations would be developed, and how much the investment would be needed to meet the Nigerian government&#8217;s offer.

He, however, added that considering both countries shared the same climates, Indonesia could develop crude palm oil (CPO) plantation in the West African country.

Nigeria is seeking foreign partners including Indonesia to develop the country&#8217;s palm oil plantations.

The director general for export promotions at the Trade Ministry, Gusmadi Bustami, said early this week that Nigeria had offered 4 million hectares of land to Indonesia which could be used for CPO or other plantations. He said the developing a CPO plantation in the country would be quite promising given the country&#8217;s high demand for cooking oil.

At present, Nigeria imposes an import duty of up to 30 percent on CPO products. Developing CPO plantations in the country would enable CPO producers to avoid the high import duty, he said.

Gusmadi said that the Indonesian government would also ask for an import tariff reduction during preferential trade agreement (PTA) talks to be conducted in the second-half of this year.

&#8220;The country has a potential for palm plantations, though we don&#8217;t rule out any other crops. There are varieties of crops we can grow there and there are also possibilities that we won&#8217;t utilize the lots for growing only one kind of commodity,&#8221; Mintardjo said.

&#8220;But still, we also have to see first whether or not this investment will benefit both parties and fetch a win-win solution for us.&#8221;

Investing in Nigeria&#8217;s agricultural sector should be part of a bilateral trade cooperation agreement with Indonesia, which could include the lowering of import tariffs and the cuts in tax and trade barriers.

At present, the Nigerian government imposes high import duties on a number of goods in order to protect the domestic industry amid concerns over high unemployment rates. Indonesian exporters are eligible for exemptions, but they could face lengthy procedures to get the facility, he added.

&#8220;This investment will help them reduce reliance on oil production through our technology and expertise,&#8221; Mintardjo said.

Nigeria, Africa&#8217;s top oil producer with 160 million population, is seeking investors in various sectors to reduce its dependence on oil, which supports its 70 percent economy.

Slowdown in the global economy, on the other hand, has prompted Indonesia to no longer rely on its big export destinations &#8212; such as the United States, Japan, and the European Union &#8212; and shift to other growing markets, including countries in Africa.

Nigeria has become a destination for investment from Indonesia, with around 11 local firms having already entered certain sectors such as food and beverage, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Bilateral trade between the two emerging economies reached US$2.1 billion in 2011 and during the January-October period last year it totaled $2.7 billion. The trade volume is expected to reach $5 billion by 2015. (aml)

Indonesia weighs Nigeria

It's to be noted that back in 1960 Nigeria produced half of the world palm oil, now it covers around 7%

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## nufix

*Indonesian Economy Entering a 'Golden Age': KEN*
Yohannie Linggasari & Khara Gracia | February 26, 2013


Rising political turmoil has cast doubts on Indonesia&#8217;s economic growth, but business leaders and government officials urged players not to worry as the country&#8217;s economy is showing few signs of weakness.

The naming of Anas Urbaningrum, Democratic Party chairman, and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq as suspects in separate graft cases (both have resigned), as well as Golkar Party patron Aburizal Bakrie&#8217;s rift with British financier Nathaniel Rothschild, have muddied the waters ahead of the 2014 election. 

Anas was named a suspect after he was accused of accepting bribes on in the Hambalang sports center scandal, and Luthfi was declared a suspect in a beef import graft case. Meanwhile, Bakrie is trying to reclaim prized coal asset Bumi Resources.

But tycoon Chairul Tanjung, chairman of government think tank the National Economic Committee (KEN) and the recently established Indonesia Forum Foundation, is calling for calm.

&#8220;We can feel that this year, the political atmosphere is hotter than it was ahead of the 2009 election. Business players and the bureaucrats must remain calm and not be affected by the current condition,&#8221; Chairul said at the new foundation&#8217;s inauguration on Monday.

The cases have raised questions about whether major parties could maintain a pro-business climate and ensure that Indonesia meets its projected growth rate of more than 6 percent.

Bank Indonesia governor Darmin Nasution said that despite rising tensions the Indonesian economy remained intact. However, he warned that the country should start becoming a net exporter if it wanted to break into the world&#8217;s top seven economies by 2030.

&#8220;Indonesia&#8217;s economy is stably growing even though it is not the fastest-growing. We are more stable than India and China. Our economy can withstand outside impact,&#8221; Darmin said.

&#8220;Indonesia is entering its economic golden age but we tend to underestimate ourselves. Our economy is more mature now,&#8221; he added.

The economy grew by 6.2 percent last year as domestic consumption offset a current account deficit of $24 billion, compared with a surplus of $1.7 billion in 2011.

A report by the Boston Consulting Group last December said that Indonesia was an &#8220;extremely active&#8221; market for mergers and acquisitions, with a total of $7 billion in deals last year, and the number is expected to continue to rise.

Darmin said that Indonesia should capitalize on its growing economy by reviving sluggish industries.

&#8220;Our industries have been sleeping for the last 10 to 15 years. It&#8217;s time that we start to pay more attention on how to revive our industries,&#8221; he said.

Indonesia was a major industry player in the region in the 1990s, but the severity of the 1997-98 monetary crisis turned Indonesia into an importing country.

Sandiaga Uno, who controls Saratoga Capital, one of Indonesia&#8217;s largest private equity funds, said that business players must not be caught unprepared.

&#8220;Our economy is growing but so is social disparity. We have the means and opportunity to become a top seven economy by 2030, but also we need to share that means and opportunity by creating entrepreneurship opportunities for everyone,&#8221; he said.

Indonesian Economy Entering a 'Golden Age': KEN | The Jakarta Globe





*Danish trade minister to seek new opportunities in RI*
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Tue, February 26 2013, 11:02 AM


Danish Trade and Investment Minister Pia Olsen Dyhr is slated to lead a business delegation to Indonesia at the end of this week, aiming to explore business opportunities and tighten commercial links with local counterparts.

Danish Ambassador to Indonesia Martin Bille Hermann said that among the top items on the agenda would be an event announcing the Danish government&#8217;s new market strategy for Indonesia, which Denmark considers an increasingly important partner in the years ahead.

&#8220;What is clear is that there is potential to increase the commercial relation between our two countries,&#8221; Hermann told a press briefing in Jakarta, on Monday.

Exports from Denmark to Indonesia have been traditionally lower than similar European countries like Sweden and Germany. In 2011, Indonesia was the 60th biggest export destination for Danish firms. According to Danish statistics, exports expanded substantially by 70 percent to US$180 million last year, which is a positive sign for achievable growth in the future.

In terms of investment, Denmark also still lags behind other European countries, investing only $100 million in three projects last year, according to data at the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

During the three-day visit starting on Sunday, the trade minister is scheduled to visit Poglar pumping station, which utilizes Danish energy-efficient technology, in West Jakarta with Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and will announce a new cooperation program on the environment, energy and climate worth $50 million with National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana.

The minister&#8217;s visit will mark heightened efforts in the coming years to strengthen bilateral economic relations, according to Hermann. &#8220;There is a match between some of the challenges and opportunities in Indonesia and what are traditional Danish strengths,&#8221; he said, adding that Danish businesses would try to tap into Indonesia&#8217;s impressive economic growth.

They might focus on six specific sectors, including infrastructure, Hermann said.

Denmark, a member of the European Union, is one of the 20 richest countries in the world based on income per capita, thanks in part to its sizeable shipping industry and relatively significant share of North Sea oil reserves.

The Nordic economy, which relies largely on strong domestic consumer spending and investment, has recovered from recession quite quickly, growing by 1 percent per quarter in 2011, outpacing the 0.2 percent average in the 17-nation eurozone.

It is the first country in the world to be committed to leading the transition toward a green growth economy entirely non-reliant on fossil fuels by 2050 and this has been supported by a clear policy framework. Since 1980, the country has become a global leader in the development of new sustainable technologies.

Indonesian Association of Urban Planners secretary general Bernardus Djonoputro said at the briefing that Danish firms had a well-known reputation in cutting-edge innovation in green technology, which Indonesia could benefit from as it grew its economy through massive expansion in wide-ranging areas, especially infrastructure.

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## nufix

*Geothermal Energy To Be Priority For Power Plant*


JAKARTA&#8212;The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources still will prioritize the development of geothermal energy for power plant as early stages of new and renewable energy usage in Indonesia.

General Director of New Energy and Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Rida Mulyana said a geothermal well can be used for large capacity power plant. Therefore, the Ministry will prioritize the utilization of new energy is widely available in mountains area.

&#8220;For the beginning, we will prioritize the geothermal development. A geothermal wells can be used for power plant with hundreds megawatt capacity,&#8221; he said in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Rida said related to those things, MEMR is finalizing regulation concerning the geothermal usage and electricity feed in tariff from geothermal power plant. Since last year electricity feed in tariff from geothermal power plant set at US$0.1 &#8211; US$0.18 per kilowatt hour (KWH).

The imposition of electricity feed in tariff is adjusted to locations, such as in Sumatra set at US$0.1 per kwh in the high voltage and US$0,11 per Kwh at medium voltage. In Java, Madura and Bali set at US$0,11 per Kwh for high voltage and US$0,12 per Kwh for medium voltage.

In South Sulawesi set at US$0,12 per KWh for high voltage and US$0,13 per KWh for medium voltage. Then in North Sulawesi set at US$0.13 per KWh for high voltage and US$0.14 medium voltage. While West Nusa Tengara and East Nusa Tenggara set at US$0.15 per KWh for high voltage and US$0.16 per KWh for medium voltage.

Rida also confirmed that geothermal usage will not damage environment and conservation forest area. Because the geothermal utilization is only done by drilling in the geothermal reserves area for immediately use.

As is known, the geothermal utilization is categorized as mining activity, so it requiring the same license as mineral mining activity.

Therefore, the MEMR is working to fix it by removing geothermal utilization activity from mining sector.

In addition to fix the regulations, the MEMR is also working to harmonize forest conservation Law in Forestry Ministry. This is done to accommodate the utilization of geothermal location and renewable energy, mostly in the conservation area.

PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) President Director Nur Pamudji previously said inclusion of geothermal utilization as mining activity can hinder its utilization. Because the majority of geothermal energy in this country are located in forest area.

Until now, the geothermal and hydropower utilization only 12% of the entire power plant, and in 2020 it&#8217;s expected that geothermal and hydropower can take a portion of 17%. Geothermal energy itself is very promising to be used as alternative energy in the country, because Indonesia has geothermal resources as much as 29 gigawatt (GW). (aph)

Geothermal Energy To Be Priority For Power Plant - Bisnis.com

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## nufix

*Indonesia's Pertamina Waits For Approval In 4 Overseas Block Acquisition*
Riendy Astria, Arif Budi Winarto
February 27, 2013 21:46






JAKARTA: PT Pertamina (Persero) is waiting for final decision of oil and gas block acquisition in four countries. *Pertamina has signed a share purchase agreement with four countries.*

Pertamina President Director Karen Agustiawan said the company expects acquisition of* five oil and gas blocks. *However, Petrodelta&#8217;s acquisition plan of 32% shares which owned by the US oil and gas company, Harvest Natural Resources Inc, is canceled.

"Harvest&#8217;s shareholders rejected the acquisition proposal due to commercial reason," she said in a press conference after Pertamina&#8217;s Annual General Shareholders Meeting, Wednesday (27/2).

After Harvest refusal, she explained, Pertamina is still waiting for the decision of other four oil and gas blocks. Although reluctant to mention in detail, Karen had explained that *one of the proposal is acquisition of ConocoPhillips&#8217; subsidiaries, a multinational oil and gas from the United States that controls Block 405a in Algeria.*

As is known, Pertamina signed an acquisition agreement of ConocoPhillips Algeria Ltd, a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, which controls Block 405a in Algeria. The acquisition value is approximately *US$1.75 billion* or equal to IDR16, 8 trillion. Oil and gas of the block will be prioritized to meet domestic needs.

Pertamina will get some* additional oil production to 35,000 barrels per day* in 2013 from current production as many as 23,000 barrels per day.

Pertamina is also ready to work closely with Sonatrach, the Algerian NOC companies and another partner company in Block 405a in order to maximize oil production from the block.

Based on ConocoPhillips press release, a US$1.75 billion (IDR16, 8 trillion)* agreement has been signed in Jakarta.* The acquisition agreement is subject to preemption right by ConocoPhillips&#8217; partner in Blocks 405a and approval of the Algerian government. (11/t09/aph/tw)

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## Rechoice

*Vietnam to host 19th ASEAN Economic Ministers&#8217; Retreat*

VietNamNet Bridge &#8211; Vietnam will host the 19th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Retreat and related meetings from March 6-9 in Hanoi.
This was announced at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)&#8217;s press briefing in Hanoi on February 27.
The event will be attended by the ten ASEAN Economic Ministers, the ASEAN Secretary General and the EU Trade Commissioner, along with researchers, representatives from the business community, and ASEAN and EU media agencies.
The Retreat is one of many contributions from Vietnam to the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.
Economic integration is the spearhead of ASEAN cooperation and also the area in which ASEAN has achieved great success.
The 19th ASEAN Economic Ministers&#8217; Retreat is an important annual event of ASEAN economic cooperation which gives participants the chance to discuss essential initiatives to boost regional economic cooperation and set incremental goals towards the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.
As the 2015 deadline approaches, greater effort is required by members to turn ASEAN nations into a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region and a region of equitable economic development with full integration into the global economy.
Within the framework of the 19th AEM Retreat, the 12th Consultative Meeting between ASEAN Economic Ministers and the EU Trade Commissioners will be held on March 9. The participants will discuss the programs and initiatives to promote economic cooperation and trade and investment relations between the two regions. Vietnam is well placed to contribute to the dialogue as it is currently the coordinating country for ASEAN-EU economic cooperation.
The 3rd ASEAN-EU Business Summit will also be held on March 9, offering an opportunity for regional policy makers and the business community to compare notes on inter-sectoral issues and share business experience to tap the full potential of trade and investment between the two regions.
ASEAN and the EU are Vietnam&#8217;s most important trading and investment partners, with ASEAN currently standing as Vietnam&#8217;s third largest export market after the US and EU. Conversely, ASEAN is the second largest supplier of goods to Vietnam, behind China.
Vietnam&#8217;s trade turnover to ASEAN member countries reached more than US$38 billion in 2012. Meanwhile, the EU is the second largest export market and is a major investor in Vietnam.
As the coordinating country for ASEAN-EU economic cooperation and the host of the 19th AEM Retreat and Related Meetings, Vietnam expects to make constructive contributions to the ASEAN economic integration process, as well as to the strengthening of ASEAN-EU trade and investment.
Source: VOV
Tags:Vietnam, 19th

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## nufix

*Telkom Indonesia Eyes 5 Countries For Expansion*







JAKARTA: PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk eyes five countries for this year expansion target. The countries are *Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Macau, South Korea, and Taiwan.*

Director of Enterprise and Wholesale Muhammad Awaluddin said Telkom is ready to participate in a license tender as a telecommunications provider in Myanmar. He refused to detail the matters.

Previously, through a press conference, Telkom stated that it has submitted expression of interest letter to Myanmar Government.

Telkom is currently awaiting the Government's examination of the tender document as EoL submission schedule is extended to February 8 from January 25.

After Myanmar, Awaluddin said, Telkom will soon prepare for expansion to four other countries. However, the Company has not determined the kind of business models to be built there.

*Telkom earlier has expanded to Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Australia, and Timor Leste.
For Timor-Leste, through the brand Telkomcel, Telkom get a license as cellular service providers, while in Hong Kong, the company works as Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) service operator.*

Furthermore, in Australia, through its subsidiary Infomedia, Telkom implements Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) contact center.

&#8220;For the next four countries we are studying the markets, regulations and the type of technology we can apply there,&#8221; said Awaluddin after launching IndiPreneur on Monday (02/11). (T05/TW)

*G20 appoints Indonesia to co-chair Study Group Financing for Investment*







REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - G20 finance ministers meeting in Moscow, Russia, appoints Indonesia and Germany to co-chair Study Group Financing for Investment (SG-FI). The group will cooperate with World Bank, OECD, IMF, FSB, UN, UNCTAD and other international organizations to determine the future financing on infrastructure.

"Indonesia and Germany will report the development in the study group to finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting. It will become G20 commitment to be enacted on St Petersburg Conference next September 5-6, 2013," Indonesian Ministry of Finance stated on the press release on Monday. 

During the two-day G20 forum, Indonesia was represented by Minister of Finance Agus Martowardojo and Governor of Bank Indonesia Darmin Nasution. The release explains that the target of the study group is to cooperate with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to generate main principles of long term investment financed by investor institutions.
G20 finance ministers meeting have pledged to crack down on tax evasion by multinational companies. The final communique said members were determined to develop measures to stop firms shifting profits from a home country to pay less tax elsewhere. The 

UK, France and Germany were the main movers behind the drive.
The communique, as cited from BBC, also said members would refrain from devaluing their currencies to gain economic advantage, amid fears of a new "currency war". The fears had been sparked by Japan's recent policies, which have driven down the value of the yen, aiding its exporters.

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## nufix

*RI turns to the sun to widen electricity outreach*






Residents check the panels of a new solar power plant in Bangkled village in Bangli, Bali. The plant was inaugurated by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik last week. (Antara/Nyoman Budhiana)



*The future source of electricity in this country lies in space, millions of kilometers away, and not below ground where coal and oil are treasured, says Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik.
*

The newly operated electricity solar power plant in Karangasem has a 1 megawatt (MW) capacity and has cost approximately Rp 26 billion (US$2.7 million) to build. The 1.2 hectare electricity complex includes a unit of an on-grid main electricity plant of 1 MW capacity, as well as six units of off-grid plants each with a 15 kilowatt capacity.

&#8220;This power plant might only have 1 megawatt capacity, but this is just the beginning. We will build solar power plants with bigger capacities &#8212; there will be power plants with capacities of 5, 10 or even 50 megawatts next year, or afterward,&#8221; he said in a ceremony attended by top officials at the ministry, as well as local leaders from Bali.

The government plans to earmark Rp 400 billion this year to build solar power plants with various capacities in more than 100 areas throughout the archipelago, according to the minister.

Jero argued that there was a need for Indonesia to reduce its dependency on coal-powered electricity plants, and instead prioritize the development of power plants that used non-conventional sources of energy.

The minister pointed out the price of electricity generated from solar power plants was only $0.2 per kilowatt hour (kwh), cheaper than the $0.4 per kwh in coal-fired power plants that used subsidized fuel in their operations. &#8220;Oil is now already expensive &#8212; for too long, we have been pampered by oil,&#8221; he said.

The Indonesian government has found it difficult to widen electricity outreach in the country, especially in areas outside of the infrastructure-ready Java. Only 64.5 percent of Indonesia&#8217;s total population of 230 million have access to electricity, according to data from the World Bank. 

At the moment, the country still heavily depends on coal-fired power plants, considered as the enemy of environmental groups mainly due to generated pollution, as the plants use both coal and oil in their 
operations. 

There are 17 coal-fired plants with almost 3,000 MW of power still under construction. Ten of them, mainly in Kalimantan and the eastern part of the country, should be completed this year, adding 1700 MW of supplies.

The figure was relatively insignificant compared to the 48 MW solar power plants that the ministry started building in 177 locations throughout Indonesia last year. 

Nevertheless, Rida Mulyana, the ministry&#8217;s director general for renewable energy, said that solar power plants, though their capacities were limited, should be seen as an alternative for expanding electricity outreach in remote, mountainous areas given that coal-fired power plants were difficult to build.

Solar power plants are especially useful in tourist areas where electricity is required without generating excessive pollution or harming the surrounding environment, say observers.

The government, for example, already built solar power plants in six tourist areas in 2011: Bunaken in North Sulawesi, Wakatobi and Tomiya in Southeast Sulawesi, Banda in Maluku, Raja Ampat in Papua, and Derawan in East Kalimantan.

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## nufix

*Competition in Indonesian people's wealth management heats up*






Privileged: A priority banking lounge for premium customers at a Standard Chartered branch in Jakarta. As the number of wealthy people in Indonesia rises, banks are looking to make money through managing peoples wealth. 


*Competition in the wealth management business has recently intensified, with major local banks giving more attention to the countrys growing middle-class to maintain their growth.*

Banks such as ANZ Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Mandiri and Standard Chartered Bank have designed their own investment packages to lure customers from the countrys growing middle-class to use the banks wealth management services. 

In addition to the increase in investment options, the banks have also placed more resources and marketing effort into expanding their wealth management services. 

ANZ Indonesia vice president director and consumer banking head Ajay Mathur said the demand for wealth management services had grown as more people sought other forms of investment options, beyond time deposits or savings, to get higher returns.

Banks should be more creative and offer investment products and services, as unlike in Western countries, the Indonesian middle-class focused more on capital gain than on capital preservation, Mathur said. 

Here, customers are seeking greater returns on every rupiah they spend, so they are seeking products that give them that kind of return, he added.

Under its signature priority banking program, ANZ offers investment products such as bonds, mutual funds and insurance to its clients *whose annual income starts from US$50,000. *Mathur said the bank cooperated with its Australian partner in determining and creating investment products and services to its Indonesian customers. He said with its Australian connection, the bank could, for example, provide more reliable advice related to investing in the Australian dollar.

*ANZ Indonesias priority banking and wealth management services currently contribute to about 30 percent of the banks total revenues.* In 2013, it aims to record a 35 percent growth in its wealth management by launching new products and collaborating with a new investment management firm.

According to a recent report by global consulting firm McKinsey, *the financial services industry in Indonesia,* specifically savings and investments, *is expected to become the fastest-growing segment, with double digit growth between 2010 and 2030. 
*
And as household income increases, as does the share of income that people spend on discretionary goods and services, including savings and investments.

BNI is also increasing its marketing efforts to expand the banks wealth management services. 

The banks deputy head for consumer and retail product management, Teddy Atmadja, said the bank would open more executive lounges in the countrys major airports to tap into the countrys growing middle-class.

By opening more executive lounges, the banks customer service managers would have the chance to speak to more affluent people about a wide range of wealth management services provided by the bank. 

*So far, government bonds, equity funds and fixed-income funds are three investment products that are most preferred by customers,* he said. 

To ensure its pool of potential clients, the bank would also tap into its developing affluent segment of younger and technologically savvy customers. We need to nurture the younger clients by providing attractive products and easy access to our financial services, he said, adding that the banks state-owned enterprise status provided leverage as it offered a sense of financial assurance to its would-be customers. 

*BNI expects a double increase in revenues from its wealth management services to about US$ 100 billion by intensifying services to high-end clients through its Emerald priority banking service. *

Like BNI, British-based Standard Chartered Bank is also targeting young professionals to expand its business by holding annual wealth management seminars in several cities. According to Standard Chartereds wealth management general manager Lanny Hendra, young professionals have enough savings to invest and are more financially literate.

For the last several years, weve seen an increase in the number of young clients within our customer base, including the children of our more advanced customers. All of them are already using investment as a way to prepare their futures, she said.


Contacted separately, Bank Mandiri, another state-owned bank, expects the growth of high-net-worth individuals in the Asia Pacific region to impact positively on its priority banking and wealth management businesses. 

Mandiri senior vice president for mass banking Riza Zulkifli said the bank reshaped its wealth management strategy last month by increasing customers minimum balance benchmark to Rp 1 billion from the previous Rp 500 million for each client. Given the increasingly fierce competition, Mandiri would manage its priority customers personally, so that they would increase their share of wealth, he wrote in email sent to The Jakarta Post.

This years competition will even be tighter, with Citibank trying to re-secure a strong foothold in the business. Citibank retail investment and consumer treasury director Harsya Prasetyo said that the bank expected to see a minimum of 15 percent growth in the wealth management business now that the Bank Indonesia (BI) sanction had been lifted.

In 2011, BI forbade Citibank from acquiring premium customers for a year following an embezzlement scandal involving one of its customer relationship managers, Malinda Dee.

Harsya said Citibank was excited to acquire new Citigold clients and that the bank was developing a new acquisition strategy, which would involve new products and new partnerships with new investment firms.

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## nufix

*Indofood.co Boosts Stake in China Minzhong to Almost 30 Percent*





Indofood Tower

*Indonesia&#8217;s food production Indofood Sukses Makmur has announced that it has raised its stake in China Minzhong Food Corporation Limited from to almost 30 percent of the total issued share capital.*

In a press release obtained in Jakarta on Tuesday, Indofood said that the increased stake was reached through the *acquisition* of *94.2 million shares from Tetrad Ventures in Singapore* for S$1.12 per share on Thursday. The company now has a 29.33 percent stake, up from its original 14.95 percent.

&#8220;As a leading total food solution company with operations in all stages of food manufacturing, CMFC&#8217;s integrated cultivation and processing capabilities provide a strategic fit to our business development,&#8221; Indofood president director and CEO Anthoni Salim said.

Anthoni said that with the higher stake, Indofood could leverage Mizhong&#8217;s business model, technology and expertise to strengthen its supply chain and expand its product portfolios.

&#8220;We believe that this strategic alliance will be mutually beneficial to both companies,&#8221; he added.

*Lin Guorong, CMFC executive chairman and chief executive officer, said that the two companies have identified many potential synergies. He cited strategic cooperation in the supply chain and product distribution in the fast moving markets of China and Indonesia.*

&#8220;Indofood&#8217;s recent share-holding acquisition in CMFC represents a vote of confidence in the long-term prospects of the company and the strategic alliance would bring forth the next stage of the company&#8217;s growth and development through broadening of the market exposure in the future,&#8221; Lin said.

Indofood operates four complementary strategic business groups&#8212; in consumer brand products, wheat flour and pasta production, agribusiness and distribution.

CMFC is an internationally accredited integrated vegetable processor in China with distribution to 26 countries. It is publicly listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.

Indofood Boosts Stake in China Minzhong to Almost 30 Percent | The Jakarta Globe

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## nufix

*Jakarta to Replace Billboards With LED Screens*
SP/Deti Mega Purnamasari |






*Grand Indonesia Tower in Jakarta with 60,000 S.F. of LED*


*The Jakarta administrative said that it would no longer issue permits for new billboards as part of plans to clean up the capital. 

&#8220;Eventually we will not allow any new billboards. We want to stop it and we will not issue new permits,&#8221; Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said on Wednesday. &#8220;If the advertisers want to promote their products, they can put the ads on buses.&#8221; 
*
Basuki said Jakarta&#8217;s ubiquitous billboards would be replaced by light-emitting diode (LED) screens. He said the Jakarta administrative would provide free LED screens, with advertisers needing only to submit their films to be displayed on the screens. 

&#8220;We will provide the LED screens and people can use them for free if it&#8217;s needed, they just need to prepare their films, just like the one at Taman Anggrek [mall],&#8221; he said. 

The city administrative would be more selective in managing the outdoor advertisements, he added. 

For the capital&#8217;s current billboard advertisers, the banners will remain for the length of their permits, but will not be renewable. 

Basuki said the LED screens would only be placed in certain places, such as at bus stops, to keep the city neat and orderly. He said the city administrative would begin talks with advertising agencies to execute the plan.

JKGB @2013

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## Viet

nice pic of the tower at night

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## Malaya

*Palace says Sabah standoff not a stumbling block to ASEAN integration*
By: Philippine News Agency
March 6, 2013 






The regional grouping agreed on this last year during a summit in Cambodia to realize the ASEAN Community by 2015.

*President Benigno Aquino III and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak have been in touch with each other on the Sabah crisis and both are working to resolve the issue at the soonest possible time, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing in Malacanang Tuesday.
*
Hindi po magiging sagabal ito [Sabah]. Nakita natin at the highest level, nag-usap na si Prime Minister Najib at saka ang Pangulong Aquino. Hindi namin ito nakitang isang obstacle, Lacierda told reporters.

Lacierda said the administration doesnt believe the Sabah issue would be an obstacle to the ASEAN's goal of achieving a single community by 2015.

The Presidents perspective is much broader and he cares not only for the 180 people holed up in Lahad Datu, the Palace spokesman said.

He cares not only for the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah, he also has to be concerned with the interest of the 95 million Filipinos here in the Philippines. We have a national interest to protect and to promote.

The ASEAN Community will be based on three pillars, namely, a security community, an economic community and a socio-cultural community.

Palace says Sabah standoff not a stumbling block to ASEAN integration - InterAksyon.com

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Belarus and Indonesia plan to create joint nanoproduct.*





This was stated today in Minsk by the Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences Sergei Chizhik. According to preliminary information, the countries will produce carbonic, metallic and ceramic nanoparticles. And the project with Vietnam is already prepared for implementation: Belarusian-Vietnamese atomic microscopes will appear on the market soon. Several Arab and Asian countries are also ready to cooperate with Belarusian scientists. This is explained by the fact that Belarus already has competitive nanoproducts which are in demand on the world market.


*Belarus, Indonesia eager to cooperate in nanotechnologies*

(Nanowerk News) Belarus and Indonesia plan to implement projects involving the creation of nanotechnology products. The information was released by Mr Sergei Chizhik, Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, on 5 March, BelTA has learned.
Some time ago the official visited Indonesia. During the trip the possibility of cooperation between Indonesian and Belarusian organizations in the area of nanotechnologies was discussed. The possibility of working together to make carbon, metal, and ceramic nanoparticles was considered. &#8220;Nanotech is one of the fields where we can find partners abroad,&#8221; underlined Sergei Chizhik.
Belarus also plans to implement a project with Vietnam. The project involves the production of atomic force microscopes. Apart from that, several Arab countries are ready to cooperate with Belarusian scientists.
Sergei Chizhik also mentioned the creation of a center for transfer and commercialization of nanotechnologies in Belarus. In his words, the center is part of the concept for developing the nanotech industry in the country but there is no need to accelerate the creation of the center because it is necessary to upgrade nanotech manufacturing standards in the country first. Nanotech industry development in Belarus is one of the most important areas. All the modern electronics uses nanoscale technologies. It is remarkable that healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry are moving in the same direction, too, he said.
Mr Dmitry Krupsky, Head of the Science and Innovation Policy Office of the Economy Ministry, remarked that the fifth technological paradigm has only ten years at most to live. The development of nanotechnologies will be the key part in the sixth technological paradigm. It is one of the reasons behind the adoption of the concept to develop the nanotech industry in Belarus and the establishment of a relevant association founded by 18 organizations. At present eight organizations of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus have specialized labs and sections to make nanotech products. Six organizations of the Industry Ministry and nine small businesses also specialize in nanotechnologies in Belarus.
There are plans to set up an interagency council to develop the nanotech industry under the Council of Ministers in the near future. Apart from that, nanotech producers are supposed to be granted a 50% income tax privilege.
Source: BelTA

Read more: Belarus, Indonesia eager to cooperate in nanotechnologies

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## Rechoice

*Honeywell partners with PetroVietnam University to serve South East Asia*











For this collaboration, Honeywell Process Solutions will provide the full suite of equipment  both hardware and software  that will be used in the curriculum.

The College is located at PetroVietnam University, where thousands of students are expected to go through its courses over the next three years.

I believe the college will be a great resource for Vietnamese students, said Jose Simon, Director - Global Service Operations, Honeywell Process Solutions.

We have been working closely with PetroVietnam to provide inputs to the curriculum so that students who enroll will be equipped with all the necessary skills to cover every aspect of maintaining a safe, reliable and efficient plant.

Developed with more than two dozen standard and customised courses, the Honeywell Automation College will cater to both undergraduates in process and chemical engineering and experienced engineering professionals, including plant operators, maintenance technicians, implementation engineers, system administrators and management.

As part of the training, students at the college will also gain hands-on experience with Honeywell process automation solutions such as the Experion Process Knowledge System and Safety Manager.






Pictured above (L-R): Mai Trang Thanh (Honeywell Vietnam President); Tran Van Hoa (GM Training and HR, PetroVietnam); Jose Simon (Global Director of HPS Lifecycle service); Le Phuoc Hao (Rector, PetroVietnam University); Hoang Hung (Vice Rector, PetroVietnam University).

The college will enable professionals to maximise the value of their Honeywell products, and is integrated with other Honeywell Automation Colleges in 50 cities around the world, offering students the same global training environment provided to Honeywells customers and employees.

As a leading state-owned economic enterprise, PetroVietnam manages all projects and operations related to oil and gas exploration, production, storage, processing, transportation and distribution, as well as enhancement of value of oil and gas resources in the country, said Le Minh Hong, vice president, PetroVietnam.

With Honeywell we are confident of improving training quality to meet the surging demand for high quality talent for Vietnams energy needs.

Students can contact either PetroVietnam University (PVU) or Honeywells team in Vietnam to register for classes.


Honeywell partners with PetroVietnam University to serve South East Asia | PACE

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## nufix

edited, double post


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## nufix

*Indonesia offers 'new wave' of opportunity*







*Surabaya, East Java Provincial Capital.*

Indonesia is at the early stages of a period of strong economic growth, creating a wave of new middle-class and affluent consumers (MACs) that will grow in both size and purchasing power through 2020, says the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

With the fourth-biggest population in the world, a stable political climate and strong local demand, Indonesia's economy is currently growing at 6.4 per cent a year. *Such growth is lifting millions from lower-income socioeconomic levels into the MAC categories.* The number of MACs in Indonesia is projected to double between 2012 and 2020,* from 74 million to 141 million. At that point, the island of Java alone will have more MACs than the entire population of Thailand.*

*During that period, some 8 million to 9 million people will enter the middle class each year. *

"These consumers are the sweet spot of this market," said Vaishali Rastogi, a BCG partner.

"They're beginning to move beyond basic necessities to products that offer greater convenience and comfort, such as home durables, white goods, cars and financial services," said Rastogi.

BCG has found out that Indonesian consumers tend to be extremely family oriented, and as they move from lower-income classes into the middle and affluent classes, they are more likely to buy things that improve living conditions for their families than splurging on themselves. Some 63 per cent say they never spend on themselves until the needs of the family have been met (compared with 46 per cent in China).

Such findings point to categories in which consumers would be willing to trade up as they enter the MAC segment, such as education, home renovations, consumer durables and health care.

Similarly, it has also been found out that even when MACs splurge on big-ticket items, they justify their purchases by focusing on functional benefits. For example, home durable products are viewed as long-term investments. Consumers justify the purchase of DVD players and flat-screen televisions as a way to save money on going out to the movies.

"This has implications for the way that companies market their products," said BCG partner Dean Tong.

"Because functionality is so crucial, brand name recognition and clear messaging regarding product features will become increasingly important," said Tong.

Companies must also understand if they are to effectively reach MACs, says the report. The MAC population is becoming more dispersed. Indonesia currently has 12 cities millions of MACs. *By 2020, however, this number will roughly double, to 22, (including emerging cities such as Palembang, Makassar, Batam, Semarang, Pekanbaru and Padang).
*






"Companies that are currently reaching 50 per cent of the MAC base will need to double their regional presence if they want to maintain the same level of reach," said another BCG partner Eddy Tamboto.

"They will need to think about how they operate and scale up, how they organise their sales forces and supply-chain networks and how they distribute goods to address demand in the lower-tier cities that they might have overlooked before," he said.

Indonesia offers 'new wave' of opportunity | IR News | Inside Retail Asia



These cities will likely follow what China did, dispersing the economic center onto each region, thanks China for the lesson.

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## nufix

*Two Indonesian Cities (Jakarta & Bali) Top Global Cities Property Performance Rate as a result to the high jump on people's spending power.*







*Indonesia second China in The Total Increase of Billionaires by 2022.*







The Wealth Report 2013: Examining High Net Worth Individuals from around the world - YouTube

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## Viet

not too bad Indonesia! Congrat

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## nufix

08 MAR 2013 | PROPERTY


*Jakarta Most Appealing Property Investment in Asia Pacific*






*Kuningan Central Business District, South Jakarta (02/13)*

JAKARTA &#8211; Jakarta places the first as city with the most prospective property sector investment across Asia Pacific in 2013, Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PWC)&#8217;s surveys reports. Jakarta shifts Singapore to the third place, from last year&#8217;s first position.s

On the scale of one to nine, Jakarta&#8217;s highest property investment prospect across the region stands at 6.01 points, higher than other largest cities, including Shanghai (5.83), Singapore (5.78), Sydney (5.69), Kuala Lumpur (5.68), Bangkok (5.67), Beijing (5.65) and Osaka (4.82). 

Jakarta Most Appealing Property Investment in Asia Pacific - Indonesia Finance Today

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## nufix

*RI women deemed most assertive in SEA*
Mariel Grazella, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Fri, March 08 2013, 12:19 PM
A- A A+
Paper Edition | Page: 3






Indonesian women professionals have outdone their Southeast Asian peers in proactively demanding pay raises and promotions, a move that has borne highly favorable results to their careers, a recent study on women and the workplace reveals.

The yearly study, conducted by global consulting firm Accenture, involved 500 professional women across Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Accenture conducted the study, titled &#8220;Defining Success Your Way&#8221;, to mark the annual International Women&#8217;s Day (IWD), which falls every March 8.

Neneng Goenadi, executive director of PT Accenture Indonesia, said the objective of the study this year was comprehending the way women &#8220;defined success in their lives and careers&#8221;.

&#8220;It&#8217;s more than just balancing, you need to integrate your work and life to attain satisfaction,&#8221; she told The Jakarta Post in a limited report result release on Thursday.

She added that a striking difference this year was that women were as assertive as their men colleagues in demanding pay rises and promotions.

*The study found that 80 percent of the respondents asked for a raise and another 73 percent requested promotion. These percentages have outdone results from other Southeast Asian countries.*

Thailand is the first runner up in both categories with 53 percent of respondents having asked for a raise and 43 percent saying they have requested a promotion.

*The voicing of career needs by Indonesian women professionals did not fall on deaf ears. *_Only 5 percent of those who asked for raises ended up empty-handed. _The remaining women were rewarded with various forms of raises and incentives.

Meanwhile, 15 percent of respondents requesting a promotion received new and better roles, with another 59 percent given new, sometimes unexpected, roles.

Neneng noted that the assertiveness women exhibited in the workplace benefited companies, especially the human resource team, in gauging employee needs.

She said workplaces had to implement systems that enabled a work-life balance, given the premium professionals placed on it.

As many as 76 percent of respondents said they would turn down jobs offering a poor work-life balance with another 81 percent placing an importance on flexible work schedules. Another 63 percent defined career success through the attainment of work-life balance.

&#8220;Facilitating this integration can be done in a myriad of ways, from providing day care facilities in offices to allowing a certain period of time working remotely from the office,&#8221; she said.

Neneng added that a new feature in the study this year was the element of technology. A majority of respondents, 90 percent, said that technology had allowed them to keep flexible schedules.

*&#8220;Another new thing is that a majority of women &#8212; 58 percent &#8212; admitted that they were workaholics,&#8221; she noted.*

RI women deemed most assertive in SEA | The Jakarta Post

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## EastSea

*Suu Kyi's Party Confronts Transition Pangs*
On the Agenda as Now-Aging Opposition Members Convene: How to Morph Into a Viable Contender to Govern Myanmar

YANGON&#8212;As Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party seeks to morph from a symbol of defiance into a party that can actually govern Myanmar, it finds itself hobbled by an aging leadership and sniping from former supporters over compromises it has begun to make.





Members of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, meet at the headquarters in Yangon on Wednesday.

Admiration for the party rests almost solely on the role and leadership of Ms. Suu Kyi, and analysts note the lack of a new generation of leaders capable of succeeding her. Many current party leaders are in their 70s and 80s, and Ms. Suu Kyi is 67 years old.

"Decision-making and influence within the party has been very much centered upon one individual. Even very senior party members defer to [Ms. Suu Kyi], unwilling to take decisions without consulting her," said Daniel Gelfer, a director at political consultancy Vriens & Partners in Myanmar.

With Ms. Suu Kyi often on the road and meeting with leaders overseas, "this is unsustainable," he said.

At a three-day event in Yangon, 900 party members from across the country will choose the party's new core leadership and central committee&#8212;the team that will take on President Thein Sein's reform-minded cabinet, composed mostly of former generals, in the next elections. Party leaders will also set the NLD's policy priorities.

Party leaders say they are focusing on pushing the current government to be more transparent to rid the country of corruption. They also want to change the 2008 constitution to remove the enshrinement of political power for Myanmar's military.

There is no question that the party is seen as the main challenger to Mr. Thein Sein's government in 2015: In the 2012 by-elections, the NLD won 43 out of the 44 seats contested. Still, the party has fewer than 10% of Parliament's more than 600 seats, held largely by current or former soldiers linked to Myanmar's military regime.

Many of the country's 60 million citizens revere Ms. Suu Kyi and her party to a large degree because of her father, Gen. Aung San, who was widely considered a nationalist hero and the key figure in the country's independence from British colonial rule. Ms. Suu Kyi is also celebrated for standing up to the military in a pro-democracy uprising in 1988. It was bloodily suppressed, and she spent most of the next 21 years under house arrest. Refusing a standing offer to leave the country to keep the spirit of opposition alive, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

But the party was slowly eviscerated by arrests and members drifting away after the military refused to honor NLD wins in parliamentary elections in 1990. Now, to be viable as an opposition force, leaders need to find a new generation to replace them in the coming years.

"There must be change, there must be a fresh crop of youth," said U Tin Oo, the party's deputy leader and a former political prisoner once detained with Ms. Suu Kyi. "I myself will be 87 in two years, when it comes to election time." Mr. Tin Oo said that training younger members of the party, as well as pushing for more women to assume leadership roles in the NLD, is a priority though he says that in townships farther away from Yangon, older members often feel they deserve leadership roles because of their experience with persecution under military government. "Sometimes the older members think the new generation did not share the same experience as them," he said.

The opposition party is also increasingly drawing flak from human-rights groups and observers who say it has moved too far away from its founding principles, remaining silent or relatively uncritical of outstanding abuses and ethnic strife in the country.

Ms. Suu Kyi, for example, chose not to take sides on the issue of violence between Muslim Rohingyas and the majority Buddhists in Rakhine state, where dozens of Rohingyas died and more than 100,000 were displaced from their homes.

"Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD gained great moral authority through years of resistance to military rule and human-rights abuses," said Phil Robertson, deputy director for the Asia division of Washington-based Human Rights Watch. "But in the rush to play politics, they risk squandering precisely those principles of protecting rights for all that made them so special."

Others say that Ms. Suu Kyi and her party are simply being realistic, balancing the myriad priorities facing the nascent political party in a fast-reforming country. Ms. Suu Kyi has gone out of her way to not offend the army, refraining from criticizing their actions in Kachin state, which saw heated conflict and unprecedented shelling earlier this year. NLD leaders and some analysts say, though, that the party is seeking the most constructive way forward in working with the country's leaders.

"We understand that many of the generals are still the same people, in civilian clothes," said Mr. Tin Oo, "But we have to be practical. We had been conflicting for 25 years, and where did that get us? We need to focus on some win-win policies and work together, not zero-sum games." Mr. Tin Oo says many longtime democracy activists like himself are already seeing improvements internally, are able to move freely and regroup politically, though human-rights issues&#8212;especially when concerning ethnic minorities&#8212;still "needs improving."

Some businesses, too, privately worry that while Mr. Thein Sein's ruling ministers are actively engaged in the country's sweeping process of economic and social reforms&#8212;including in drafting the new foreign-investment law, speaking with foreign businesses and working toward modernizing some of Myanmar's most antiquated industries&#8212;opposition leaders are only just finding their footing politically and would be unprepared to assume ministerial positions in 2015.

Sean Turnell, an economist from Sydney's Macquarie University and a personal adviser to Ms. Suu Kyi on economic policy, says while he remains impressed by her "natural and intuitive feel for good economic policy," he has "reservations" about some of the leaders below Ms. Suu Kyi.

Questions remain on whether the army-drafted 2008 constitution will actually be changed before the 2015 elections. Currently, Ms. Suu Kyi is prohibited from becoming president because her family members are foreign citizens. Mr. Thein Sein has promised to form a committee to look into changes and has said he would accept Ms. Suu Kyi's bid for the presidency if she does run.

But changes would require the support of at least 75% of parliament, still largely constituted of former generals. The changing role of the military under the democratizing government is still unclear, even to longtime observers. But they have so far remained compliant with Mr. Thein Sein's reforms.

A version of this article appeared March 7, 2013, on page A14 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Suu Kyi's Party Confronts Transition Pangs.

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## nufix

*Semen Indonesia Eyes To Acquire Cement Factory In Myanmar*






Semen Padang, a subsidiary of Semen Indonesia

*MALANG: After successfully acquired Thanglong Cement Vietnam, PT Semen Indonesia Tbk is eyeing to acquire a cement factory in Myanmar.*

Semen Indonesia Marketing Director Amat Pria Darma said acquisition plan of a cement factory in Myanmar is still under internal evaluation.

"The problem is the current political situation in Myanmar which is still volatile. Thus, it&#8217;s not profitable to invest under such circumstances. Political turmoil obviously has negative impact on economic growth," he said during Fun Bike Carnival Fresh and Fun in Malang, East Java, Sunday (3/3).

According to him, the acquisition process of Thang Long Cement plant, Vietnam, has been completed. PT Semen Indonesia has invested IDR1.5 trillion.

*With such large investment, PT Semen Indonesia holds 70% of Thang Long Cement shares. The cement production capacity reached 2.3 million tons which is mainly used to meet domestic consumption.*

However, if there is an excess production, the cement can be exported to neighboring countries such as Singapore and Bangladesh. (k24/T07/tw)

Semen Indonesia Eyes to Acquire Cement Factory in Myanmar - Bisnis.com

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## Viet

Vietnam´s PM opens ASEAN-EU Business Summit


Updated : 3/9/2013 1:07:15 PM
Voice of Vietnam












(VOV) - *Prime Minister* Nguyen Tan Dung has delivered an important speech to the third ASEAN-EU Business Summit (ASEAN-EU 2013), opened in Hanoi on March 9.

The summit is part of the *19th ASEAN Economic Ministers&#8217; Retreat and the 12th ASEAN Economic Ministers and EU Trade Commissioner (AEM-EU) Consultations.*

The summit&#8217;s participants also included EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh, and 600 representatives from leading ASEAN and EU businesses.

In his speech, PM Dung described the summit as a good opportunity for the ASEAN and EU business communities to foster cooperation and connectivity and pass on their recommendations to ASEAN and EU management agencies.

The event is especially signifcant as *ASEAN nears fulfilling the goal of building its community by 2015* while economic relations between ASEAN and the EU continue to develop.

The establishment of the ASEAN community, the regional body&#8217;s foremost priority, depends on the crucial pillar of the economic community. It will engender favourable conditions for investment capital circulation and trade exchange, creating business operation expansion opportunities and greatly benefiting the more than 600 million ASEAN people.

In conjunction with building the economic community, ASEAN is sparing no effort to deepen its integration with regional and global partners. Enhancing cooperation with the EU in the name of sustainable development and prosperity is a major focus.







The trade and commercial cooperation between the two blocs has grown steadily in spite of global economic doldrums. *The EU is ASEAN&#8217;s second biggest trade partner *and the source of its biggest foreign investment inflow. ASEAN is the EU&#8217;s third biggest trade partner.

The EU has also provided most of the technical support ASEAN received for its common development target and its experience has proven very valuable during ASEAN&#8217;s community-building process.

Dung said that as the coordinator of ASEAN-EU economic cooperation, Vietnam always supports propelling *ASEAN-EU trade and investment *to new heights. The EU and a number of ASEAN member states including Vietnam are accelerating bilateral free trade area (FTA) agreement negotiations that will serve as firm foundations for future comprehensive ASEAN-EU cooperation.

*Vietnam welcomes and wants to encourage the business community&#8217;s involvement in ASEAN&#8217;s* and the EU&#8217;s combined efforts to strengthen the relationship between the two blocs.

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## nufix

*Rupiah Investment Offers The Most Attractive Return in Asia*






*IDX Jakarta Stock Exchange Building*

JAKARTA &#8211; Return on investment in financial assets in the form of rupiah, seen in the uncovered interest parity as of February 2013 was higher than the other countries in Asia, according to the data of Bank Indonesia. This shows that Indonesia is one of the destinations of foreign fund placement that provides attractive return.

*Bank Indonesia&#8217;s Monetary Regulation Review as of March 2012 showed that since last year, Indonesia&#8217;s uncovered interest parity has rebounded. Indonesia&#8217;s return stands at 4.5 percent, higher than Philippines&#8217; 0.5 percent, South Korea&#8217;s 2.5 percent and Malaysia&#8217;s three percent.*

Rupiah Investment Offers The Most Attractive Return in Asia - Indonesia Finance Today

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## nufix

*Volkswagen to Start Investing in Indonesia*







German-based carmaker Volkswagen will begin investing in Indonesia as part of its expansion plans, Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat announced on Monday.

The government has given Volkswagen permission to invest in Indonesia, Hidayat said, adding that the company agreed to the requirements the state asked them to fulfill, including joining a domestic partnership and using national components.

He told reporters that the auto manufacturer will start realizing their plan in early 2014.

&#8220;I told them that as long as they follow the regulations, I will give them the green light,&#8221; he said as quoted by Republika.co.id.

The scheme was set into motion after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with Volkswagen executives during his visit to Berlin last week.

The company expressed their interest in investing in Indonesia in 2012, saying that it wanted to open a $140 million manufacturing *plant with a production capacity of 50,000 units per year. *

The industry minister stated that the move would be financially beneficial for the country. He noted that Volkswagen had exceeded its production capacity in Japan, so it wants to expand further in Asia.

&#8220;That shows that VW is very popular and they want to pass that on to Indonesia,&#8221; he said.

Hidayat said Volkswagen will partner up with Indomobil Sukses International, the country&#8217;s second-largest auto distributor after Astra International.

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## nufix

*Road Building to Drive Sales of Heavy Trucks in Indonesia*
Dion Bisara | March 11, 2013







*Increasing demand due to infrastructure improvement, fleet rejuvenation and lively domestic trade will drive up sales for medium and heavy-duty trucks in Indonesia, said Munich-based consulting firm Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. *

Market value for the trucks  defined as vehicles at more than six tons gross weight  will reach $3 billion over the next two years, from $2.5 billion last year, the firm said. 

Improvements in infrastructure would be driving that demand, Roland Bergers managing partner for Southeast Asia, Joost Geginat, told the Jakarta Globe last week. 

Better roads and an expanded toll road network, Geginat said, would allows trucks with larger load capacities to operate and provide more efficient modes of transportation for businesses. 

The government has been committed to boosting infrastructure projects across the country. 

*In May 2011, Yudhoyono outlined an economic development master plan, known as MP3EI, that calls for $413 billion *in investment in roads, ports, bridges, airports and manufacturing centers. The plan aims to catapult the country into the ranks of the 10 biggest economies in the world by 2025. 

The country has been growing by more than 6 percent annually over the last three years, with domestic consumption accounting for more than 50 percent of the $850 billion economy. That means that more goods [will need] to be transported within the country, Geginat said. 

New trucks are also replacing the old ones, Geginat said, as many companies in Indonesia will need to cope with tighter emissions and overloading restrictions. The trucks are getting old and there will be a lot of modernizations, he said. 

The Environment Ministry has set a deadline for new motorcycles to apply Euro III emission standards by Aug. 1, 2013. Other vehicles are still using Euro II standards, but officials said it might be raised in the future. 

Bambang Brodjonegoro, head of fiscal policy at the Finance Ministry, said that the government was mulling a plan to impose an emissions excise on sub-standard vehicles. But we are still studying what standards will be used, he said last week. 

Medium and heavy truck sales in Indonesia reached 143,255 units last year, up 19 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Indonesia Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo). Medium and heavy duty trucks accounted for 46 percent of truck sales. The larger portion of sales are light trucks and pickups, the data showed. 

Geginat said that Indonesias truck market is still dominated by Japanese original equipment manufacturers with their budget trucks, including the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter, Toyota Dyna, and Hino Dutro.

Those OEMs benefit from established local production, high levels of local content and an extensive after-sales services network, he said. 

Western OEMs looking to enter the Indonesia market, Geginat said, are aiming for the premium truck segment, offering higher capacity with more efficiency, safety features and superior emissions standards.


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## nufix

*Bali Infrastructure Project On Schedule*
BY MUHAMMAD RINALDI






*Benoa Floating Toll Road, one of infrastructure project in Bali.*

JAKARTA - Commission V of the House of Representatives hoped that Dewa Rutji intersections underpass project can be completed on time. The Commission also hoped that Nusa Dua - Ngurah Rai - Benoa toll road as handled by PT Waskita Karya Tbk (WSKT) can be completed according to schedule.

Laurens Bahang Dama, Head of Commission V, s*aid that the projects should be completed prior to the APEC Summit in November.* He said progress for each project has reached 83 percent. 

Bali Infrastructure Project On Schedule - Indonesia Finance Today


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## nufix

*JCI's Performance Correlates with Global Stock Exchanges*
BY DONNY SUSILO & FIRDAUS NUR IMAN







JAKARTA &#8211; Movements of the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) have high correlation with the movements of the global benchmark stock indexes in the first three months of 2013. Investors have created this as solid basis to decide on the appropriate measures in investment.

Muhammad Alfatih, senior technical analyst from PT Samuel Sekuritas, said *the movements of the JCI in early 2013 were in line with the movements of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Hang Seng Index (Hong Kong) and NIKKEI Index (Japan). The high growth of the JCI on a year to date follows the growth of the three benchmark indexes.*

JCI's Performance Correlates with Global Stock Exchanges - Indonesia Finance Today


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## nufix

*Indonesia's Pertamina Partners With Thai Petrochemical on $5 Billion Project*
Tito Summa Siahaan | March 13, 2013







*State-owned energy company Pertamina has chosen Thailand&#8217;s PTT Global Chemical as a partner in the development of a $5 billion petrochemical facility in Indonesia, it announced on Monday. *

The decision was made *after* months of *deliberations with 11 companies being considered,* including South Korea&#8217;s SK Global Chemical and Japan&#8217;s Mitsubishi. 

&#8220;PTT Global Chemical is a company with a global reputation in [the] petrochemical sector,&#8221; Karen Agustiawan, Pertamina&#8217;s president director, said in a statement. 

&#8220;The partnership between both companies is expected to not only build petrochemical plants&#8221; but also to involve marketing and research and development to gain market share across Asia, Karen said. 

*She added that Pertamina planned to make petrochemicals a key part of its business as it strived to become a regional leader by 2025. *

The partnership with PTT will center on *the construction of a petrochemical plant with an annual production capacity of 250,000 tons of ethylene and 350,000 tons of polypropylene* &#8212; materials key for producing plastic. 

It will also produce each year 400,000 tons of polyethylene (plastic) and polyvinyl chloride, which is widely used as a construction material. 

The companies will commence a feasibility study for the construction of the plant soon, with an agreement due to be signed early next month. A joint venture will be established in December, ahead of the plant&#8217;s construction next year. 

Hanung Budya, Pertamina&#8217;s marketing director, had previously said that Pertamina and its partner planned to invest &#8220;no less than $5 billion&#8221; in the construction of the plant. He added that Pertamina must at least control a 51 percent ownership in the joint venture. 

The petrochemical plant is expected to go on stream in 2017, with Pertamina aiming for a 30 percent market share at that time. 

*PTT owns the largest petrochemical facilities in Thailand,* with an annual capacity of 8.2 million tons, using advanced technology and high energy efficiency. *Pertamina has the largest oil refinery assets in Southeast Asia. *

The facility will be built near one of Pertamina&#8217;s existing oil refineries in Balongan, West Java; Plaju, South Sumatra; and Tuban, East Java. The company has not yet decided which location to use. 

Karen, head of Pertamina since 2009, had her term extended &#8220;temporarily&#8221; by the national government last week.


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## nufix

edited wrong section


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## Viet

A master plan to promote ASEAN&#8217;s image


Updated : 3/13/2013 10:27:41 AM








(VOV) -The second ASEAN Communications workshop was held by the *Ministry of Information and Communications* (MIC) in Hanoi on March 12.

Participants were informed about the government&#8217;s Programme of Action to Promote ASEAN Cooperation and its plan to set up the National Information Committee on ASEAN and disseminate information on the bloc&#8217;s social and cultural affairs from now until 2015.

Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, a representative from the *Ministry of Industry and Trade* (MoIT), suggested related agencies create a channel to receive people&#8217;s feedback about ASEAN.

Regarding to upgrading of the* Ministry of Foreign Affairs *(MoFA) website, Thuy said other ministries should have their own websites linked to the MoFA to improve the quality of information.

Quan Duy Ngan Ha, MIC Director General of Department of International Cooperation, said the plan to *promote ASEAN&#8217;s image* until 2015 aims to highlight ASEAN&#8217;s important role, position and remarkable achievements, as well as each member country&#8217;s history, culture and daily life.

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## Viet

Vietnam, Japan establish ASEAN's first BPO partnership


English.news.cn 2013-03-13 15:52:23	
Xinhua






HANOI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- *Vietnam's FPT Software* and Japan' s Agrex have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the first joint venture of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in the ASEAN region, reported by Vietnam News on Wednesday.

The venture, known as F-Agrex, is designed to implement global BPO.

Specifically, Agrex's 50 years in implementing BPO and FPT's 15-year experience in managing large-scale software projects will be fully tapped to deploy high-quality and competitively priced BPO projects in the Japanese market.

*F-Agrex plans to expand its BPO service to other potential markets, including Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.*

According to FPT Software chairman Hoang Nam Tien, BPO is a sector that needs much human resources, but Vietnamese businesses have not yet paid much attention to it. So, F-Agrex would open a new trend for Vietnamese BPO service.

The venture is scheduled to be operational from July this year, first providing BPO service for Japanese businesses, then later globally.

The number of staff in the first year of operation would be 100 people, and up to 500 people in the following year.

FPT Software is a subsidiary of Vietnamese software giant FPT Corporation (FPT), and Agrex of Japan's IT Holdings.

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## nufix

*Building Palm Oil Sovereignty Indonesia*







It has been 1 year after Indonesia started the implementation of Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) standards in March 2012.

*As the largest palm oil producer in the world, this country wants full sovereignty in production while still sticks to the agreed standard guidelines. When introducing the ISPO, the Government promised to submit ISPO notifications to the World Trade Organization (WTO) after 1 year of implementation.*

The application of the ISPO standards should be related to the WTO provisions. Hopefully, ISPO can be recognized by the consuming countries to avoid non-tariff barriers.

*As we know, Indonesia and Malaysia are the two major manufacturers of crude palm oil (CPO) which controls 90% world palm oil market. Indonesia&#8217;s actual production last year reached 26.5 million tons, while Malaysia to 18.7 million tons.
*
In global market, palm oil is the closest rival of vegetable oils, such as soybean oil and sunflower oil produced by European countries and the United States.

Indeed, *the existence of ISPO aims to replace certification organized by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) formed by Europeans*. Besides citing the cost of more expensive, RSPO forum often considered unfair because it is not voicing the interests of producers of palm oil.

In the dialog on a private television, the Minister of Agriculture Suswono said the Government now faces a great deal of work to take care of ISPO certification. Application of ISPO certification is mandatory for any future oil palm plantation companies in Indonesia that sanctions will be set up for companies that do not have this certificate.

From 1,212 palm oil companies that exist today, only 200 companies will receive ISPO certification this year. Looking ahead, ISPO certification of all CPO producers should be completed in 2014.

At the external level, the Government has to deliver academic verification in international forums.

In the near time, Indonesia should be able to use the momentum of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bali as a venue to introduce the application of ISPO.

Through this forum, the government must emphasize CPO is an eco friendly product with low carbon emission, so it couldn&#8217;t endanger environment as alleged by Environmental Protection Agency.

Another thing should be concerned by government is to improve land efficiency. If we compared with Malaysia CPO&#8217;s production, Indonesia&#8217;s CPO productivity is still in lower level.

For comparison, Malaysia&#8217;s CPO product last year came from 4 million hectare, whereas Indonesia from 9 million hectare. Mathematically, if we refer to Malaysia&#8217;s CPO productivity level, Indonesia should be able to produce palm oil up to 42 million tons through maximizing the existing land area.

Therefore, CPO producers need land management to enhance production. The effort also needs support from researchers to develop high yield palm oil varieties in order to increase productivity.

In addition, we couldn&#8217;t ignore infrastructure improvement such as access road to the palm oil field including expanding harbor to back up CPO trade activity. On the other hand, the government efforts to accelerate downstream sector must be continued in creating value added for CPO&#8217;s derivative with stick and carrot approach.

*Finally, government's efforts to internationalize CPO as well as must support by industry to maintain Indonesia as the largest palm oil producer. At least, the government could break down the US and allies black campaign on CPO. *(aph)

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Enter, Indonesian Dragon - The Long Reach Of Asia's Next Booming Economy*





Makassar's economic leap forward - (Jerry Toisa) By Bruno Philip and Chloé Hecketsweiler
LE MONDE/Worldcrunch

MAKASSAR &#8211; The nostalgic traveler who goes to Indonesia with the idea of walking in the footsteps of Joseph Conrad and living out their own Spice Route literary adventures will be stunned by the sheer luxury of Makassar&#8217;s airport.

A symbol of Indonesia&#8217;s rapid modernization and economic growth, this city of 1.5 million inhabitants does not look anything like the quaint capital of the old Sultans of Gowa, described by Conrad at the end of the 19th century as the &#8220;most beautiful city in Netherlands East Indies.&#8221; In its streets, McDonald's and Starbucks now stand alongside the local shops.

*Situated 1,400 kilometers northeast of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, Makassar is on Sulawesi Island (formerly known as Celebes). It is one of the symbols of the economic rebirth of Indonesia, which is now the fastest-growing economy of the G20 countries after China &#8211; 6.3% in 2012. A recent report published by McKinsey Global institute said that with a 8.6% growth rate, Makassar was one of the fastest-growing middleweight Indonesian cities.*

Mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin is quite happy to explain why Makassar is now so successful: &#8220;First, you need to know that Makassar is ideally situated &#8211; we have become the &#8216;hub&#8217; of Eastern Indonesia for both transportation and trade because we are strategically located between Borneo and Papua New Guinea,&#8221; he explains. &#8220;From the moment I became mayor, I sensed that Makassar could be a boon for investors.&#8221; Makassar, which has been called &#8220;the gateway to East Indonesia&#8221; must now become the region&#8217;s &#8220;living room,&#8221; to quote Mayor Sirajuddin&#8217;s favorite metaphor &#8211; it must become a &#8220;place to stay, not just a place to stop over.&#8221;

*To understand Makassar&#8217;s rapid growth, it must be placed in a historical context. Indonesia is a young nation &#8211; its real independence dates back to 1949, when the Dutch colonizers decided to relinquish control for good. But the country only started to turn itself around in 1998, when President Suharto, a ruthless dictator, was forced out of the post he had been occupying since 1967. The transition toward democracy hailed in a new political and economical era that turned this mostly Muslim (88%) country of 246 million people upside down.*

Foreign investors rushing in

According to Sofjan Wanandi, an ex-Suharto crony turned businessman, &#8220;Our success started at the beginning of the 2000s, and really grew these past eight years, during which we have benefitted from an unprecedented political stability.&#8221;

*&#8220;About 50 million Indonesians earn between $3,500 and $5,000 a year,&#8221; less than China or Thailand but more than India or Vietnam, says Wanandi. &#8220;We have a dynamic demography and many agricultural and mineral resources. Our only big problem is the lack of infrastructure,&#8221; says the 70-year-old magnate, wearing a colorful batik shirt. &#8220;If we had better infrastructure, the country&#8217;s growth rate could be higher than 8%,&#8221; he says.*

The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will finish his second mandate in 2014, is well aware of that. Last year the government unblocked a $420 billion fund to finance a network of highways, airports and seaports. This is a blessing for the Indonesian industry, which has witnessed in a short period of time the emergence of very powerful companies, such as the one owned by Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, who is building Makassar&#8217;s new airport.

Foreign investors are eager to join the party &#8211; their investments grew by 37% in 2011, reaching $19 billion, a number the IMF believes could grow to $21 billion this year. &#8220;The Japanese and Koreans are by far the top investors but the Europeans are starting to get on board,&#8221; says Jean-Pierre Felenbok from Bain & Company, which just opened an office in Jakarta. &#8220;The French have been reluctant to invest here since the Asian crisis of 1997, so they&#8217;re a bit late to the party, but things are starting to change.&#8221; As a matter of fact, some French companies have already been investing in Indonesia for a while: Alstom, Schneider, Total, Lafarge, Danone or even L&#8217;Oréal, which inaugurated in September 2012 its biggest factory in the world near Jakarta.

For all foreign companies investing in the archipelago, the objective is double: to benefit from the huge internal demand, but also to use the country as a base for exports in the region. And as an added bonus, Indonesia&#8217;s labor costs are relatively low compared to other southeastern Asian nations, and even compared to China. &#8220;Today, Indonesian labor costs half as much as Chinese labor in the big industrial cities of eastern China,&#8221; says Felenbook.

Bureaucracy and corruption

The only drawback is that democracy brought with it a certain bureaucratic red tape that didn&#8217;t exist during the dictatorship. &#8220;The decision process is very slow, very complicated nowadays. Every project must be approved by the central government, then the local governments, via the Parliament,&#8221; explains Wanandi.

*Fauzi Ichsan, one of the directors of the Standard Chartered Bank in Jakarta explains: &#8220;We had the choice between two models: India or China. We chose India, by trying to imitate its combination of liberal economy and democracy. Unfortunately the side-effects of our choice include the bureaucratic inefficiency of local governments.&#8221;*

Another thing foreign investors complain about is Indonesia&#8217;s corruption problem. Despite efforts by the government to reduce corruption, it is deeply rooted in the country. In Transparency International&#8217;s 2012 list of most corrupt countries, Indonesia fell down 18 places &#8211; to 118th out of 176.

*The mayor of Makassar dismisses these critics: &#8220;Here, we go fast. We speed things up, we can get you a building permit in three days, instead of 12; or an export license in a month, whereas it will take much longer in other provinces,&#8221; says Sirajuddin. These kinds of practices are inherited from Makassar&#8217;s long history of being a commercial hub. Since the 16th century, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, Indian, Javanese, Siamese and Malay traders have been sailing to Makassar to buy gold, pearls, copper and spices.*

*Makassar is now a modern city, open onto the strait that bears its name. A futuristic-looking mosque, blue and white, looks at the newly-concreted seafront. Along the waterfront, huge red letters spell out Makassar&#8217;s big ambitions.*

You have to go past the street that leads to the port, with its shady bars and brothels disguised as karaoke parlors, to realize the full measure of Makassar&#8217;s fast-growing expansion. In the port, huge cranes are loading containers onto cargos, while further down, passengers embark and disembark from boats headed to Java, Papua New Guinea and Maluku Islands.

*In the cargos leaving Indonesia, there is mostly coal &#8211; Indonesia is the world&#8217;s first coal exporter &#8211; oil, gas, gold, nickel, cobalt, rubber, and of course palm oil. All of these resources are fuelling Indonesia&#8217;s economic growth and making Indonesian multinationals like Sinar Mas, Wilmar, Golden Agri-Resources (all of them are in the palm oil business), Bumi Resources and Adaro energy (coal) prosper. Wilmar alone, one of Asia&#8217;s top agribusiness companies, has 90,000 employees. Its 2011 benefits topped $44 billion.*

*Indonesia&#8217;s exports only represent 25% of the country&#8217;s GDP, compared to 70% on average for the rest of Southeast Asia.*

The true force of this country is their huge internal market, powered by the fast developing middle class &#8211; 50 million Indonesians who earn more than $4000 a year. &#8220;And this figure grows by 3 to 5% every year!&#8221; adds Felenbok. 


Photo by - Jerry Toisa

All rights reserved ©Worldcrunch - in partnership with LE MONDE

Crunched by: Leo Tilmont

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## nufix

*Foreign Capitals Boost JCI To New Highest Record*






*Small party thrown in Jakarta Composite Index, IDX Building.*

JAKARTA &#8211; Strong foreign capital inflow into the market boosted Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) to new highest record by 28 times in this year.

The foreign funds as of March 2013 reached IDR20.28 trillion, while it was around IDR15.36 trillion last year. JCI also booked 12.32% higher this year.

Mutual Fund Benchmark Index CIMB-Principal IDX30 managed by PT CIMB-Principal Asset Management incised return of 12.9%, or recorded tracking error of 0.85% from IDX&#8217;s benchmark, IDX30, which gained a return of 13.75%.

Meanwhile, the mutual funds index 45 owned by PT Kresna Asset Management scored 12.12% return. In that period, return LQ-45 index has grown 13.15%. Mutual funds Nusadana LQ45 Tracker OSK also obtained return below its benchmark index which is equal to 12.44%.

Vice President and Head of Investment CIMB-Principal Fadlul Imamsyah sees the yield spread of mutual fund products with the performance of LQ30 is relatively safe. Since, CIMB had pegged the maximum tracking error at 2%. (t03/msw)

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## nufix

*Golden Agri to spend $550m for expansion*







*The world&#8217;s second-largest oil palm plantation firm Golden Agri-Resources Ltd. (GAR), part of the Sinar Mas Group conglomerate, is earmarking US$550 million for capital expenditure (capex) this year as it plans to acquire more concession areas and increase the capacity of its refineries.*

About $200 million of the capex figure would be allocated for its upstream business, while the rest would be channeled to its downstream business.

GAR plans to acquire between 35,000 and 40,000 hectares of new concession areas, mostly located in Kalimantan. By year-end, it hopes to have up to 503,400 hectares of plantation areas, including plasma, 8.6 percent higher than 2012.

In its downstream division, the firm is expanding the capacity of its North Sumatra refineries and expects to produce 2.6 million tons of refined products in 2013, up 30 percent from the previous year.

*GAR, which is 49.9 percent owned by the family of tycoon Eka Tjipta Widjaja through investment company Flambo International Limited, operates in Indonesia and China.* In Indonesia, it owns and runs oil palm plantations, mills, refineries and also produces palm oil derivative products, such as cooking oil, margarine and shortening. In China, it owns and operates crushing and refinery facilities, and manufactures refined edible oil and food products.

The firm is aiming to book between 5 percent and 10 percent growth in palm-product output by the end of 2013. Based on its 2012 unaudited financial report, its crude palm oil (CPO) production volume rose slightly by 9 percent to 2.36 million tons, while that of palm kernel climbed 14 percent to 554,000 tons.

*GAR&#8217;s total revenues increased 1.7 percent to $6.05 billion. Indonesia accounted for $4.76 billion or 78.7 percent of the revenues, followed by China with 21.3 percent.*

CPO remained the biggest contributor to the revenue figure at 44 percent. Unbranded refined palm products, branded products, soybean meal and soybean oil made up 29 percent, 8 percent, 8 percent and 4 percent of revenues, respectively.

*Meanwhile, PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, a GAR subsidiary, is planning to build a new oleo-chemical plant this year in an effort to diversify its business.* According to Sinar Mas Group managing director G. Sulistiyanto, *the $245 million plant will be located in Dumai, Riau province.*

He said that Sinar Mas Agro had submitted a proposal to the government as it was looking to acquire incentives in the form of a tax holiday. &#8220;We are still waiting for feedback,&#8221; he added.

On Wednesday, Sinar Mas Agro, along with GAR, launched a forest conservation pilot project, which focuses on preserving high carbon stock (HCS) forests. Sinar Mas Agro president director Daud Dharsono said that the project was expected to help Indonesia, as the world&#8217;s largest palm oil producer, cope with the growing demands for HCS forest conservation.

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## nufix

*Iraq Offers Urea Fertilizer Project to Indonesia*
BY NURUL FITRIANI







*JAKARTA &#8211; Iraqi Government offers opportunity for Indonesia to build urea factory in the country. Hatta Rajasa, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, said that the government prefers partnership in fertilizer raw materials procurement first.
*
He said that Iraq also invited PT Inti to modernize broadband networks in the country. (*)

Iraq Offers Urea Fertilizer Project to Indonesia - Indonesia Finance Today



*Astra International Sells 103,501 Cars as of February*
BY SOPIA SIREGAR







JAKARTA &#8211; Indonesia's PT Astra International Tbk (ASII)* recorded 103,501 car sales for January to February period.* Mulawarman, Public Relations Astra International, said sales grew 8.2 percent from 95,667 units in the same period last year.

Toyota brand contributed 71,274 units from the total sales, followed by Daihatsu with 26,409 units. 

Astra International Sells 103,501 Cars as of February - Indonesia Finance Today


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## nufix

*Pertagas assigns $500m for Java gas pipeline*
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Fri, March 15 2013, 12:28 PM







*Pertamina Gas (Pertagas),* a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, *will spend up to US$500 million this year to build a 267-kilometer gas pipeline from Gresik, East Java to Semarang, Central Java,* a company executive says.

Gunung Sardjono Hadi, the president director of Pertagas, which transmits and distributes natural gas, said it had already secured all permits to build the pipeline and was waiting for the final investment decision from its shareholders to deliver natural gas from East Java to Central Java.

&#8220;We expect to begin construction by the middle of the year and can finalize construction by the end of 2014,&#8221; he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of an energy seminar on Wednesday in Jakarta.

*The pipeline was designed with capacity of up to 500 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) once it commences operations.*

*Earlier this year, Pertagas revealed its plan to invest $500 million to build 350 kilometers gas pipeline to connect Belawan Port in North Sumatra and Arun regasification plant in Aceh. *

The pipeline, equipped with a capacity of 200 mmscfd, will transport natural gas shipped from Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in West Papua, totaling around 80 mmscfd, for state-owned utility firm PLN and the rest for the industry surrounding Medan in North Sumatra. 

The pipeline project is scheduled to commence in April, while the completion is expected by the end of 2014. For the operation of the planned Gresik-Semarang pipeline, Pertagas expects to win an ongoing bid to secure natural gas from Madura Strait offshore block operated by Canada&#8217;s Husky Energy Inc., according to Gunung. 

It is eyeing up to 70 mmscfd from several fields in the block that will produce a total output of 120 mmscfd.

&#8220;We hope to have an announcement on the utilization of the gas fields by the end of March,&#8221; Gunung said.

Apart from the Madura Strait block, the firm is also looking toward natural gas from other fields in East Java, including Terang Sirasun Batur field operated by Kangean Energy Indonesia, he added.

*Based on estimates, East Java will have a natural gas surplus of between 130 mmscfd and 250 mmscfd from 2013 through 2015 due to an absence of pipelines to move the energy source from Gresik to Semarang.*

Pertagas&#8217; pipeline is designated as &#8220;open access&#8221;, meaning any party can utilize it to deliver gas by paying usage fees as long as the capacity of the pipeline is still sufficient.

The Gresik-Semarang pipeline is a part of the Trans Java pipeline project that will stretch more than 600 kilometers, connecting Bekasi and Cirebon in West Java, Cirebon and Semarang, and Semarang and Gresik.

Once the Trans Java pipelines come into operation, it will help supply the industry, particularly on Java island, currently the home of the majority of industrial activities, industry officials have said.

Indonesia is the world&#8217;s third-biggest liquefied natural gas exporter after Qatar and Malaysia. However, a lack of distribution infrastructure greatly hinders the industry from benefiting from the country&#8217;s abundant gas supply. 

Pertagas assigns $500m for Java gas pipeline | The Jakarta Post

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## nufix

*Brio Sales Brisk for Honda in Indonesia*
Jakarta Globe | March 15, 2013






*Honda in Indonesia International Motor Show 2012*

*Honda&#8217;s Brio hatchback subcompact has seen strong demand from Indonesian consumers since its introduction in August. 

Total accumulative sales of the car reached nearly 10,000 units as of February, according to a statement by Jonfis Fandy, marketing director at Honda Prospect Motor. HPM is the sole distributor of Honda cars in Indonesia. *

*That represents more than 12 percent of Honda&#8217;s total share in the first two months of 2012, which stood at 15,275 units. *

&#8220;Honda Brio [sales] are expected to surpass the 10,000 milestone in March. This is a great achievement,&#8221; Jonfis said. 

Honda controls roughly 7.6 percent of the car market in Indonesia. 

The Brio retails at around Rp 160 million ($16,500) to Rp 180 million, cheaper than the Honda Jazz hatchback, usually priced above Rp 200 million. 

Jonfis said other products aside from the Brio also performed well. 

Sales leaders include the Honda Jazz, Honda CR-V (sports utility vehicle), Honda City (sedan) and Honda Civic (sedan). 

The Honda Jazz, which just had a facelift, saw a 28 percent monthly rise in sales to nearly 3,000 units as of end of February. 

Car sales in Indonesia as a whole jumped 22.76 percent in January and February of this year, data from the Indonesia Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) showed. 

Sales in January alone surged by more than 25 percent. 

Indonesians bought 199,984 units of cars in the first two months of this year, up from 162,913 for the same period in 2011.


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## nufix

*Toyota Officiates Kerawang II Factory*
15 MAR 2013 | BY EKARINA






*Toyota Karawang Plant*

KARAWANG &#8211; PT Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) officiated the second factory in Karawang under PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing. Masahiro Nonami, President Director of Toyota Manufacturing, said initial capacity will be around 70,000 units per year, and will gradually increased to 120,000 units by early 2014.

He said total production capacity from factory I and II will reach 250,000 units per year by 2014. (*)

Toyota Officiates Kerawang II Factory - Indonesia Finance Today


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia aims for universal health care by 2019*


Photo: Alisa Tang/IRIN




_Who picks up his bill?_

JAKARTA, 15 March 2013 (IRIN) - A new healthcare-for-all programme in Indonesia&#8217;s capital, Jakarta, is under scrutiny following the recent death of two patients who allegedly received inadequate hospital care. National officials are monitoring the city&#8217;s response and experience ahead of the rollout of a government scheme to provide universal health care by 2019.

*Last November the Indonesian capital&#8217;s governor, Joko Widodo, launched a healthcare programme that sought to cover all 10 million of Jakarta&#8217;s residents by 2014.*

Under the initial phase of the programme, called Kartu Jakarta Sehat (Healthy Jakarta Card), 4.7 million people will be eligible for affordable health care in third class hospital wards (the cheapest ward where one room is occupied by three or more patients) in more than 90 of the city&#8217;s 147 hospitals this year, said Dien Emawati, head of Jakarta Health Department. The governor has said he wants all public hospitals to join the programme.

*&#8220;Kartu Jakarta Sehat has some shortcomings, but it&#8217;s working and it&#8217;s progress compared to the previous programmes,&#8221; Emawati told IRIN.*

Unlike the healthcare scheme under the previous governor, residents are not required to prove their income status, a lengthy process that often involved bribing officials.

Automatic eligibility has resulted in an increase of up to 70 percent in the number of people treated, Emawati said.

&#8220;Some hospitals have been overwhelmed by patients, partly because the programme has prompted underequipped and understaffed `puskesmas&#8217; [government-run health clinics] to refer patients directly to hospitals [rather than attempting treatment first],&#8221; she said.

*When local media reported the death of a premature baby in February after she was denied neonatal intensive care by at least eight hospitals, the public&#8217;s attention - and fury - turned on the new healthcare programme.*

*The Health Ministry said the baby was not refused treatment because of the family&#8217;s inability to pay, but rather because a hospital&#8217;s neonatal intensive care unit was full, or it did not have such a facility.*

*In the latest case, a 14-year-old girl died from an intestinal infection on 9 March after hospitals reportedly denied treatment.*

*Government response*

In response to the rising number of patients as well as complaints about inadequate treatment, Emawati said her office is working with the University of Indonesia&#8217;s medical school and Cipto Mangunkusomo national hospital in Jakarta to improve health workers&#8217; skills.

The Jakarta administration also seeks to strengthen the role of hospital medical committees to ensure appropriate treatment. The medical committee includes doctors appointed by the Jakarta government to oversee implementation of the citywide health care programme and audit the appropriateness of treatment (including drug dispensation).

*Following local protests over the baby&#8217;s death, the administration set up &#8220;Hotline 119&#8221; for people to get information on the availability of class III rooms in hospitals across the capital.*

From most to least expensive, the hospital wards are: VVIP, VIP, first class, second class and third class. By law, at least 25 percent of a hospital&#8217;s patient wards must be third class.

*Governor Widodo has urged hospitals to convert some of their second class wards into third class ones to cope with rising demand for care among the poor, and warned of sanctions if patients were turned away based on income.*

When the government rolls out universal health coverage nationwide in 2014, it may face similar problems as Jakarta does now, said Kartono Mohamad, a health care reform proponent and former chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association.

&#8220;In the first few months demand will be high [and] hospitals will struggle to cope,&#8221; Mohamad said. &#8220;Even people with minor complaints will seek treatment. These kinds of things will need to be anticipated, both in terms of infrastructure and resources.&#8221;

&#8220;Trade-offs are inevitable&#8221; in trying to reach efficiency, equity, and sustainability in health care access, concluded research on nine low and middle-income countries&#8217; experiences with national insurance schemes.

*Health insurance for all*

Indonesia is seeking to provide all Indonesians with health insurance by 2019, as mandated by a 2004 law.

The government has set up an administering body called BPJS Kesehatan, which will begin operating in January 2014 with an initial investment of US$2.6 billion to harmonize existing national and regional health schemes launched in recent years to help the poorest access health care.

Mohamad said in the early phase of its operation, BPJS will take over the role of one of the state insurance companies currently covering 27 million residents, which means it will serve civil servants and salaried employees who already have insurance policies with that company. Both state insurance companies will eventually be disbanded, and their assets taken over by BPJS.

*Currently about 60 percent of Indonesia&#8217;s 240 million people are covered by health insurance.*

A government health waiver for the poor, Jamkesmas, covers 76 million people while state-run insurance companies cover another 45 million.

There is still disagreement within the government about the amount of premiums to be paid to BPJS. The Health Ministry proposes 22,000 rupiah ($2.30) per person monthly, with the government covering this for the poorest, while the People&#8217;s Welfare Ministry is seeking a lower premium of $1.50.

For universal health care to work nationwide, Indonesia also needs to regulate the pharmaceutical sector, said Mohamad, adding that &#8220;invisible costs&#8221; like kickbacks to hospital staff and officials have boosted drug prices multi-fold.

*&#8220;The absence of a drug policy has prompted pharmaceutical companies to compete to persuade hospitals and doctors to prescribe their products. The practice leads to doctors being bought and as a result, drugs have become increasingly expensive,&#8221; he said.*

*Indonesia has 25 health workers per 10,000 residents on average - which meets the World Health Organization&#8217;s minimum of 23 workers per 10,000 residents - but most of this resource is in densely-populated urban centres, leaving parts of the archipelago completely uncovered.*

&#8220;The idea of universal health coverage as mandated by the law is still far off,&#8221; Mohamad concluded.

ap/pt/cb 

IRIN Asia | Indonesia aims for universal health care by 2019 | Indonesia | Health & Nutrition

 I cried a little when I read the news.


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## nufix

*Indonesia Executes First Convict in Four Years*
Camelia Pasandaran & SP/Erwin Sihombing | March 15, 2013

*A Nigerian drug dealer was executed by firing squad on Thursday night in Indonesia's first execution of a convicted felon since 2008. *

&#8220;Last night, Adami Wilson was executed, [he was] a drug dealer,&#8221; Indonesia's Attorney General Basrief Arief said on Friday. &#8220;The [execution] place was around the Thousand Islands.&#8221;

Basrief said that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) planned to execute nine more convicts this year.

*Despite Indonesian courts sentencing 113 people to death in 2012, the government has mulled over commuting death sentences as part of a wider push to move away from capital punishment. Three Islamic militants involved in the 2002 Bali bombings were the last convicts to be executed in Indonesia in November 2008. *

*Adami, 48, was sentenced to death in 2004 for smuggling 1 kilogram of heroin *by the Tangerang District Court, according to reports in Majalah Detik. He filed an appeal the same year, but it was declined. 

In prison, Adami ran a drug distribution ring in an attempt to earn enough money to buy his way off death row, he told the magazine. He had heard from other convicts that inmates could bribe their way to a life sentence for Rp 1 billion ($103,050).

In September of last year, Adami was temporarily admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment. The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) re-arrested Adami after they caught one of his couriers carrying drugs. 

*Adami was executed Thursday night* as the first of 10 scheduled executions to be held this year. 

His embassy told the Jakarta Globe that police failed to inform them of the execution of a Nigerian national. 

Yakubu Adamu, the first secretary of the Nigerian embassy in Indonesia, declined to offer additional details about their interaction with Adami. 

&#8220;We have protocols to follow and you will have to talk directly to the ambassador,&#8221; Yakubu said, adding that he still wanted to find out more information about the case before speaking with the press.

*Bilateral cooperation*

*Indonesia and Nigeria signed a memorandum of understanding to fight drug trafficking between the two countries just last month, *when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa visited the country to meet their counterparts &#8212; Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Foreign Minister Joy Ogwu. 

Insp. Gen. Anang Iskandar, head of the BNN, who was part of the president's entourage on the two-day visit in February, had said the cooperation included an information exchange on drug smuggling activities from Nigeria to Indonesia.

&#8220;*This MoU between Indonesia and Nigeria is very important. As we know, there are many Nigerians that [are] involved in the drug networks in Indonesia,&#8221; said Anang, as quoted by PresidenSBY.info. *

Anang, who said a*t least 13 Nigerians had been sentenced to death in Indonesia, explained that the Nigerian government had made no special request to reduce sentences or to extradite their citizens who had been arrested for drug-related crimes in Indonesia.*

But after their visit on Feb. 2, Nigeria's presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, tweeted several posts contradicting Anang's comment.

&#8220;Pres. Jonathan requested for stay of execution of Nigerians on death row in Indonesia while both explore agreement on exchange of prisoners,&#8221; Reuben tweeted on his account @abati1990. 

&#8220;Both Presidents pledged to work together towards attaining a more balanced and mutually beneficial relatnship btw (sic) Nigeria and Indonesia.&#8221;

Human rights

A human rights organization told the Jakarta Globe that Adami's execution would not deter other drug-related offenders. 

&#8220;We need to uphold human rights instead of executing people who took the opportunity from the bad system that allows drug distribution in the country, as well as inside the jail,&#8221; said Bhatara Ibnu Reza, the operational director of human rights group Imparsial.

&#8220;No pro-death sentence arguments can prove that the death penalty can successfully uphold the law, or have a deterrent effect.&#8221;

Bhatara said that the death sentence as ultimate punishment would not result in a moral society, but would instead make the society embrace violence as the only punishment.

&#8220;We will become a draconian society,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Indonesia surely will be condemned by other countries for this.&#8221;

In a press conference last year, Marty said the policy of commuting a death sentence for a drug crime is not something that happens just in Indonesia. 

"This policy is also practiced in other countries, and Indonesians are among the beneficiaries of such clemency."

Last year, Yudhoyono spoke out against the death penalty, saying that Indonesia was moving against a global push to end capital punishment.

&#8220;We must not wrongly punish people,&#8221; Yudhoyono said after commuting a death sentence for a convicted drug trafficker to life in prison in October. The move later garnered criticism after the convict, Meirika Franola, was caught allegedly running a drug ring behind bars. Yudhoyono said later that he would review the sentence. 

According to data from the AGO, there are 20 inmates on death row in Indonesia whose sentences are final, meaning that all efforts to appeal or seek remission have been denied.


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## nufix

*European, US Carmakers Race Japanese in Indonesia*
Olivia Rondonuwu | March 17, 2013






This photo taken on March 9, 2013 shows Ferrari luxury sports cars displayed in the lobby of an upscale commercial center in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Western companies experiencing a slowdown in sales close to home are turning to Southeast Asia\'s biggest economy, looking to take advantage of both a burgeoning middle class willing to spend and an elite looking for high-end toys. Indonesians are buying new motors in big numbers, with 288 new cars hitting Jakarta\'s roads every day, worsening its already crippling traffic and polluted air. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)	

*Bentleys and McLarens could become a more common sight alongside three-wheeled pedicabs and Japanese cars on Jakartas roads, with European auto giants making a push into the Indonesian market.*

Western companies experiencing a slowdown in sales close to home are turning to Southeast Asias biggest economy, looking to take advantage of both a burgeoning middle class willing to spend and an elite looking for high-end toys.

In 2012, Indonesias car market grew 25 percent to a record 1.1 million units, IHS automotive analyst Jessada Thongpak said.

But Indonesia, with its 240 million inhabitants,* will emerge as the largest market in the region from 2014,* Thongpak told AFP.

Indonesians are buying new motors in big numbers, with *288 new cars hitting Jakartas roads every day.*

However, Western car makers complain they are losing out to Japanese firms owing to Indonesias high tariffs on imported sedans and luxury cars and the absence of a free trade agreement. Japanese firms have the benefit of a trade agreement and no levies. Added to this is the fact European makers are subject to higher safety standards than their Japanese competitors.

*The EU has been in talks with Jakarta on a deal to open its market and allow European firms to compete on a level playing field.
*
That comes as new-car registrations in Europe dropped 8.7 percent on-year in January to the lowest level for that month since 1990, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

But progress is slow and brands such as Mercedes, BMW and Chevrolet, are upping assembly and output Indonesia to get around the taxes  cars face a 40 percent tax if imported as finished products but just 10-15 percent if put together in the country.

*All global brands are already in Indonesia and they are heavily investing and expanding their production capacity, Thongpak said.*

*Germanys Volkswagen is planning to build an assembly plant in the next four years, and Chevrolet has revived its dormant plant outside Jakarta to assemble 40,000 cars a year, including its new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) Spin which was designed for the Indonesian market.*

But Japanese brands are still the favorites, with firms such as Toyota and Nissan popular thanks to the development of cars that can carry families while also being strong enough to negotiate tough driving conditions.

Taking a spin around the busy Hotel Indonesia roundabout in the heart of Jakarta, every other car is a Toyota or Daihatsu, with those brands having more than 50 percent of Indonesias car market.

Taking Mitsubishi and Nissan into account, Japanese brands supply around 95 percent of the Indonesian market.

Toyotas success began in the 1970s, when it produced the Kijang, a family car and favorite in Indonesia. It scored another success in 2003 when it began producing the Avanza and Daihatsu Xenia, MPVs for under $20,000.

And European carmakers are looking to build on their share of the high-end market, with BMW and Volkswagen introducing more expensive motors for those who need not worry about the huge tariffs.

Expensive European cars, usually considered those that cost upwards of $55,000.

*Luxury and sports cars are becoming a more common sight, particularly in the capital, as Indonesias elite grows in millions in the recent years.*

*I live in Jakarta and its fascinating. In Brussels, you can drive around for many kilometers, and you wont see any Ferraris, trade first secretary for the EU in Indonesia Walter van Hattum said.*

*But in Jakarta, you have Rolls-Royces parked next to a shopping mall.*

British brand McLaren is preparing to launch its first showroom in a Jakarta shopping mall lobby in May beside Bentley and Jaguar showrooms.

McLaren Automotive Asia told AFP that it expects to each year sell 20 units of passenger cars with off-road price tags between $670,000 and $740,000 to add to the current 12 McLaren cars in the country.

Key for us is the desire by Indonesias discerning elite to own a McLaren, its Asia Pacific director Ian Gorsuch told AFP in an emailed statement.

Obviously they will not be able to enjoy its full potential during the rush hour, he admitted.

Agence France-Presse


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## nufix

*indonesia's Local Vendors Aggressively Market Tablets*
18 MAR 2013 / BY CORRY ANESTIA 






*MITO Tablet*

JAKARTA - PT Intech Surya Abadi, tablet computer vendor of Advan brand, and PT Maju Express Indonesia, handset vendor of Mito Mobile Indonesia, aggressively market tablets this year, aiming at increasing both brand&#8217;s market share in Indonesia.

Marketing Director of Intech Surya Tjandra Lianto said the company plans to focus on marketing 8-inch screen tablets this year. The company estimated last year the contribution from 8-inch tablets remained around 15 percent towards total marketed tablets.




*R80 Aeroplane, The next N250 that will exceed ATR*







IPTN N250, A 50 seats passenger propeller plane.

Jakarta - The eldest son of former Indonesian President BJ Habibie, Ilham Habibie has ambitions to continue his father's dream that produce the Regio Prop 80 (R80).


So how R80 is built, what its prospects? Do the same with the R80 aircraft N-250? Here's an interview with Ilham detikFinance when met at his office in Mega Kuningan, last weekend.

*What's the difference Ghatotkacha N-250 from BJ Habibie Regio Prop 80 from a Ilham Habibie and his friends?*

N-250 with the R80 is very different. The difference is in the size of them, R80 is much larger than the N-250, because the R80 has a capacity up to 80 seats while the N-250 just 50 seats.

The wing length is much larger and, because it was bigger so it needed a big wing to lift weights. Landing Gear is also much greater because the fuselage is bigger than the N-250.

Then cockpit technology, Aircraft flight control system is different, so you can imagine N-250 project began 15 years ago, of course the technology is now changing, just the computer how many times we change, how many times the phone has changed, certainly technology in aircraft N-250 and R80 would be much different.

But there are few similarities between the N-250 with R80, the wing is on top of the fuselage, still used as a propulsion propeller plane and if split fuselage curves or contours similar to the N-250.

*You still maintaining engine aircraft with propellers. Some people are still hesitant to use aircraft that use propeller?
*
Yes we wear propellers. That's the truth, people have a lot of explanation. First aircraft use propellers or jet engines? the propeller, so the technology is more mature.

Many aircraft now use jet engine devoted to long distance. 

*Why did you choose the R80 still use a propeller?*

Propeller plane designed for short distance. Why? with propellers fuel consumption will be much more efficient. Compare if airlines use jet planes for short distances.

In addition we see the extent of the state-Marauke Sabang, which is composed of many islands and the distance between one city to another if an aircraft is close enough. Mind you, at this time all airlines overburdened if the price of oil (Avtur) up, they dizzy, why? Because aviation fuel consumption by 50% over the cost of the entire operation.

Some countries are also currently implementing the rule, that the aircraft should be fuel efficient, because it concerns the emissions and the environment, many people says emissions above (plane) 8 times more harmful to the ozone layer than that of the mainland. Even the company is required production aircraft fuel-efficient aircraft as if they are not subject to penalties or fines could be very high tax.

And R80 is designed for distance less than 600 km or shorter distances. So that was certainly R80 will be very fuel efficient. So airlines like Citilink, Wingsair choose shorter routes using propeller engine aircraft such as the ATR.

*You seem very ambitious to be able to produce the aircraft?* 

Ambitious? I am sure there are many people in Indonesia who have a spirit. Air and I was one of them.

Money? currently in the early stages needed U.S. $ 400 million dollars. But it's not just their own personal funds, there are some capital from some quarters but also personal, not corporate funds.

And someday, when the company or the R80 is evolving and require huge funds, we could sell its stake to the public.

Many people misunderstand, that we founded the company, PT Ragio Aviation Industries (RAI), which is a combination of his own company, PT Ilthabie Rekatama with PT Eagle Cap is a miik Erry Firmansyah who is a former Managing Director of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) will set up a rival aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI).

No, the true R80 production will use the PT DI, and later PT DI also will be one of the shareholders in PT RAI.

*R80 later will enter which class? Rivaling Airbus, Boeing or ATR?*

We should benchmark it on the ATR. Our reference market is ATR, they use the same propeller. But it will be going above R80 ATR, why? First our passenger capacity will be greater that 80 seats while only 70 seats maximum ATR, ATR has yet to be producing more than 70 seats.

Excess R80 more than the ATR, our machines faster but more fuel efficient, but not faster than the jet, because if the same pace with the jet means very wasteful of fuel.

R80 should be a benchmark in the ATR, but the price is much cheaper than the ATR. Cheaper it mandatory for our production in Indonesia, parts also made in Indonesia.

Will the R80 can compete with aircraft manufacturer in the world? Will selling well in the domestic market, wait for later in 2018.

R80 Yes our target production can have later in 2018.

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## nufix

*Indonesia's Economy to Grow 6.2% in 2013: World Bank*
Randy Fabi | March 18, 2013




The World Bank on Monday cut its growth forecast for Indonesia to 6.2 percent this year, from its 6.3 percent estimate in December, citing an expected moderation in domestic investment growth. 

"Investment will...continue to be a key source of growth but is expected to moderate somewhat from its rate of increase in 2012, as indicated by the slower pace of imported capital goods spending," the World Bank said in its quarterly economic outlook for Indonesia. 

Growth in capital imports has been declining since early 2012, with capital imports down by 12.1 percent year-on-year in January 2013. Analysts say the fall in capital goods imports is partly due to the weakness in commodity prices, which has led to lower investment in mining and oil sectors. 

Indonesia's resilience to the global economic slowdown has continued to attract foreign investment in recent years, but the country's first annual trade deficit in 2012 has put pressure on the rupiah currency. 

As in much of the region, strong domestic demand has helped cushion the economy from the worst of the global downturn. The central bank has said it expects the current account to improve in the first quarter of this year, as exports are seen picking up with an economic recovery in major markets such as China and the United States. 

Inflation in Southeast Asia's largest economy is expected at 5.5 percent this year and 5.2 percent in 2014, the World Bank projected. 

The country's headline inflation hit a 20-month high of 5.3 percent in February, the statistics bureau said earlier this month, after restrictions on some food imports pushed prices higher. 

"The outlook for CPI inflation is dominated by the risk of upside pressures from policy decisions relating to minimum wages, trade restrictions on foods, as well as the temporary effects of electricity tariff subsidy reform," the World Bank said. 

Indonesia has managed to contain inflation by continuing to subsidize fuel costs, though that has meant heavy government spending on subsidies. 

Many economists say the subsidies must be cut, but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is reluctant to take this measure, especially with national elections due next year. 

The World Bank estimated a fiscal deficit of 1.9 percent of Indonesia's GDP in 2013 due to higher projected fuel subsidy spending and potentially weaker revenue collection. 

Reuters

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## Reashot Xigwin

*ASEAN&#8217;s Gini: Out of the bottle*
Curtis S. Chin, Bangkok | Opinion | Thu, March 21 2013, 10:32 AM



As the 10 ASEAN member states continue their push toward a more cohesive ASEAN community, much of the focus has been on what more needs to be done by each nation in the countdown to an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) prior to 2015.

*Adopted and signed by ASEAN leaders in November 2007 in Singapore, during their annual summit meeting, the &#8220;Blueprint&#8221; for economic integration under the AEC envisioned &#8220;a single market and production base&#8221; and a Southeast Asian region that would be &#8220;highly competitive,&#8221; characterized by &#8220;equitable economic development&#8221; and &#8220;fully integrated into the global economy&#8221;.*

*But perhaps lost in all the debate over what the AEC might mean in terms of freer &#8212; if not free &#8212; trade in goods and services, skilled labor, investment and capital flows are the implications for Southeast Asia if the gap between the rich and the poor grew and grew, and no one noticed.*

Equitable development under the AEC does not and should not, after all, necessarily mean equitable results. It should mean equitable opportunity. 

*Under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, I served as US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, an institution focused on reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region&#8217;s least developed nations in part through finance a range of infrastructure projects and programs, as well as efforts to foster greater regional economic integration. Critically, Southeast Asia&#8217;s leaders must also focus on inequality of opportunity if development is to be sustainable. More equal access to public services, such as education, water, electricity and sanitation, should be critical concerns. *

*Now based in Thailand at a regional institute focused in part on educating a next generation of future government, civil society and business leaders, including hundreds of students from the ASEAN region, I am often struck by the contrasts between the images governments might seek to project and the realities on the ground. Also striking are people&#8217;s own images of the countries in which they live.*

While delivering a guest lecture at Chulalangkorn University&#8217;s Sasin Graduate Institute of business administration, I asked, &#8220;Which nation in Asia is the most &#8216;unequal&#8217; when it comes to the Gini coefficient, or index &#8212; a measure of income inequality?&#8221;

*Pakistan, India and Vietnam were among the responses. Imagine the surprise, when I informed them of the CIA World Factbook&#8217;s rankings: While the African nations of Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho top the charts as the most unequal in the world, Thailand is ranked as the most unequal in Asia. Coming in as the 12th most unequal worldwide, Thailand is followed in Asia by No. 13 Hong Kong and No. 19 Papua New Guinea. Sweden has the most equal distribution of average family income of more than 130 ranked nations and territories.*

*For the Southeast Asia nations for which data is available, the rankings in order of most unequal to least unequal distribution of family income are: Thailand (12th most unequal); Singapore (29th), Malaysia (33rd), Philippines (36th), Cambodia (45th), Vietnam (73rd), Indonesia (78th) and Laos (70th).*

Some of these figures are startling. Indeed, the rankings also underscore one of the fundamental challenges of policy. That is, the accuracy of data. Rankings are only as good as the source data. GIGO, as they say: Garbage in,
garbage out. 

The inconvenient truth is that even as a changing Asia helps drive the global economy, the region remains home to two-thirds of the world&#8217;s poor, and an estimated 1.7 billion people still struggle on less than US$2 a day, according to the ADB. Approximately 700 million live on less than $1 a day.

*Ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples are often marginalized and excluded from the benefits of the region&#8217;s growth. Some 43 percent of the Asia-Pacific population do not have access to improved sanitation facilities, and growing numbers moving to Asia&#8217;s teeming cities face deteriorating sanitation and environmental conditions and inadequate housing and infrastructure, according to the ADB.*

So, does the &#8220;official&#8221; Gini index really matter to ASEAN?

In some ways, it remains a philosophical question for Southeast Asia &#8212; about the role of government, business and civil society, and about what level of inequality a society can accept. 

*A nation can be made up of equally poor people and would fare much better in the Gini rankings. Perhaps more important than official Gini coefficients are trends and attitudes as to whether or not things are getting better and for whom.*

Respected Singapore diplomat Tommy Koh once wrote that technology, globalization and domestic policy are the key drivers of inequality today. In discussing Singapore&#8217;s relatively high Gini coefficient, Koh wrote that the number did not capture some of Singapore&#8217;s strengths: a strong rule of law, a non-corrupt government and most importantly, equality of opportunities and social mobility. 

There is indeed more to a nation than its Gini coefficient.

*Certainly, Southeast Asia &#8212; like much of Asia and the Pacific &#8212; has been transformed these last decades. Poverty has decreased and tens of millions live better lives. And people everywhere should welcome an Asia that is both more prosperous and more at peace with itself.*

*With the twin jinni&#8217;s of technological progress and globalization out of the bottle, there is no putting them back in. *

As Southeast Asia moves toward greater economic integration and cooperation, how its leaders, businesses and everyday citizens answer the question, &#8220;What if the gap between the rich and the poor grew and grew, and no one noticed?&#8221; will help define what kind of community the AEC will truly be.

_The writer served as US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank (2007-2010). He is senior fellow and executive-in-residence at the Asian Institute of Technology, and a managing director with River Peak Group._

ASEAN

The Genie really is out of the bottle in here.

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## Malaya

*ASEAN countries urged to boost investment*
Thursday, March 21, 2013







Kuala Lumpur: The member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should further boost investment to weather uncertainties of the current global economic climate, said its deputy secretary-general Lim Hong Hin Thursday.

One of the important lessons of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 is that recovery may not be sustainable without growth in private investment, Lim said.

The ongoing global economic uncertainties offer ASEAN the same lesson that the 10-nation bloc needs a domestically generated growth to sustain its medium-term growth prospect, reported Xinhua quoting Lim.

The deputy secretary-general for ASEAN economic community was speaking at the forum on the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), which came into effect in 2012 to boost investment in the region.

Strong domestic demand, especially domestic investment, has helped the economy of ASEAN countries remain dynamic despite the global uncertainties.

According to Mustapa Mohamed, minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of ASEAN grew by 5.2 percent in 2012, outpacing the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a 5 to 6 percent annual growth for the period of 2013 to 2017 in ASEAN.

However, Lim said the ASEAN countries should do more to boost investment. "The dependence of most ASEAN countries on external demand has been an Achilles' heel that made us vulnerable to the crisis," he said.

He urged the ASEAN countries to make the ACIA work in order to face the challenge posed by global uncertainties and realize the goal of achieving ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

"We have to make sure that it is not just another agreement, but something that will create a difference in transforming our different investment regimes into one integrated regime that can create opportunities for our economies, and more importantly, for the market," he said.

ASEAN groups Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

ASEAN countries urged to boost investment


*Hugh Stephens: Canada can&#8217;t afford to ignore ASEAN*

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be holding its 22nd Leaders&#8217; Summit in Brunei Darussalam between April 24th and 25th. Canada should be paying attention. The outcomes of this meeting, and the directions that it sets for ASEAN&#8217;s security and economic agenda, can significantly affect our rediscovered interests in the region.

ASEAN, 10 nations in the heart of Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) has been around since 1967, but it is only in recent years that it has become the linchpin of economic growth and trade in the region. With a market of 600 million people, ASEAN covers the spectrum of development from advanced service economies like Singapore to economies just emerging from decades of mismanagement like Laos and Myanmar, to mixed but growing economies like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Tiny Brunei, with a population of just 400,000, is one of the world&#8217;s wealthier states owing to its enormous oil resources. What this grab-bag of economies has in common is a desire to hang together (lest they hang separately) in dealing with their politically and economically powerful neighbours &#8211; China, Japan, Korea and India &#8211; while at the same time strengthening engagement with the U.S., their southern neighbours (Australia and New Zealand), Russia, and, yes, even Canada.

Canada has recently focused its efforts at revitalizing links with ASEAN. Although a &#8220;Dialogue Partner&#8221; since 1977, Canada seemed to lose interest from the 1990s onward. That is changing. We appointed our first ambassador to the ASEAN in 2009, signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 2010 and last year Minister Ed Fast inaugurated a new Canada-ASEAN Business Council, based in Singapore.

The ASEAN Summit will need to deal with two particularly difficult issues: security concerns related to China&#8217;s aggressive claims to most of the South China Sea and economic and trade issues, including two regional trade pacts currently under negotiation. China is flexing its muscles to assert its claim to 90% of the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea, bolstering its threadbare legal claim by populating and establishing administrative regulations over minuscule islets, and leaning on countries with competing claims to settle with it bilaterally. ASEAN, for its part, wants to deal with China as a bloc and seek multilateral solutions. While Canada has no direct security interests in the South China Sea, the area is a potential international flashpoint with the United States refusing to recognize Chinese sovereignty over what it considers to be international waters.

Of more direct interest to Canada are the trade and economic issues centred on ASEAN. The organization is the hub of a number of trade agreements with its neighbours &#8211; China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. These bilateral agreements are now being rolled into one big package known as the RCEP (Regional Cooperative Economic Partnership) Agreement. Building on the agreement it already has with ASEAN, each of the &#8220;spoke countries&#8221; will have to negotiate agreements with each other. These negotiations between China and Japan, Japan and Korea, India and China etc. will likely prove difficult. That said, the breadth of the RCEP makes it a likely foundation for the ultimate goal of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP).

While the RCEP includes all 10 ASEAN countries, it excludes economies on this side of the Pacific. That niche is filled by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the regional trade bloc now under negotiation from which Canada was initially excluded. The TPP is not only an alternate track to an Asia Pacific trade agreement, but one with a higher degree of discipline in terms of opening markets.

The fact that four ASEAN countries are part of the TPP process is a concern to some ASEAN leaders, fearing a split between those members with preferential access to North America and those without. However, the presence of four ASEAN economies within both the TPP and RCEP can serve as a bridge between the two tracks. There has been much discussion about whether these tracks are complementary or competing. For now, they are presumed to lead ultimately to the same trade objective. The good news is that Canada is firmly embedded in the TPP process.

Although seemingly far away, the upcoming ASEAN Summit must be on Canada&#8217;s radar.

Canada can

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## nufix

*Increased military budget reflects strong deterrent effect: Navy chief*
March 2013

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - *The increase in the military budget of South East Asian countries reflects strong defense posture and deterrent effect in the region that could develop mutual respect, said Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy Admiral Marsetio.*

"The rise of defense budget of countries in the region reflects the increasing deterrent effect. It is just reasonable for the them to increase their military budget," said Marsetio in his after attending the Jakarta International Defense Dialogue here Thursday.

Although Indonesia decided to raise its military budget, the government and the military will consistently give priorities to the sense of brotherhood and national sovereignty. 

He believed that other countries which had raised their budget for developing their military facilities will be responsible for their military strength and will obey common rules.

*"Although they have raised their budget, they will certainly maintain mutual respects in their relations and obey the rules in force," he said.*

Meanwhile, Maritime Commander for the Pacific Region of the French Defense Ministry Rear-admiral Anne Cullerre said budget increase for defense was needed to build stability and security in the region.

"This is what we want how to create stability and peaceful condition in the region," said Cullerre.

Besides, she said that joint naval exercises also could be conducted to promote military and security cooperation among countries. 

"The more parties who join, work together and build interoperability, the better thing to nurture mutual trusts," Cullerre said.(*)
Editor: Heru

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## cirr

*China, Thailand invest in hydropower*

By Soe Sandar Oo | Monday, 25 March 2013 

China and Thailand are interested in investing in hydropower projects in the Thanlwin River, said a senior official from the Ministry of Electric Power&#8217;s Department of Hydropower Implementation on March 20.

&#8220;They [China and Thailand] are interested because they are worried about future electricity demand. Due to increasing populations and development, the production rate cannot meet the consumption rate of electricity in these countries,&#8221; he said.

*There are six hydropower projects scheduled to be implemented in the Thanlwin River*. In northern Shan state there is the *1400* megawatt (MW) Kounloan project, *1000* MW Noungpha, *200* MW Manthaung and *7110* MW Mountone projects.

Additionally there is the *4000* MW Yourthit project in Kayar state and the *1360* MW Hatgyi proect in Kayin state.

&#8220;It is just at the research stage. There are so many stages that need to be done in order to implement a hydropower project. But some people think we are starting and they want to protest against the projects for the sake of environment,&#8221; he said.

Chinese companies *Hanergy Holding Group Ltd*, *Hydrochina Corporation*, *China Three Gorges Corporation* (CTGC), *China Datang Overseas Investment Co, Ltd* (CDOI) and *Sinohydro Corporation* have *each signed a Memorandum of Understanding with local companies*.

*Thailand&#8217;s EGAT International (EGATI) is interested in a build operate transfer agreement with a local company and has already signed an MoU with local companies and investors.*

&#65288;That makes a total of six&#65289;

Thailand has begun to worry about its long term future power sources after it was announced on March 6 that the Yadana offshore block will stop exporting gas to Thailand from April 4 to 15 for some maintenance work, the official said.

&#8220;If we have no plan management to uncover the public for SIA and EIA, we will not continue the projects. This is a new era and everything will go on very openly and we will listen to what the people say,&#8221; he said.

There have been rumours that the excess water from the dams would flow to Thailand, causing activists from the country to demand the projects be cancelled.

The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Electric Power, U Myint Zaw, said at the sixth regular sectional meeting of the first Pyithu Hluttaw that the rumours are not true.

China, Thailand invest in hydropower

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Low awareness of 2015 Asean integration noted*
By Ronnel W. Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
5:18 am | Monday, April 1st, 2013

MANILA, Philippines&#8212;Citizens of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members generally don&#8217;t know much about or are uninterested in the regional grouping even as the 2015 threshold for building an integrated economic bloc approaches.

A study released by the Asean Secretariat found that three out of four people (76 percent) &#8220;lack a basic understanding&#8221; of what Asean is and what it is striving to do.

However, four out of five (81 percent) are &#8220;familiar with&#8221; or have heard of Asean. According to those who prepared the report, this &#8220;significantly surpassed the expected public awareness.&#8221;

The 11-page study presents the results of a survey that covered 2,200 respondents from the general public as well as in-depth interviews with 261 business leaders in 11 sectors&#8212;all spread out across the capital cities of the 10 Asean members.

Businesses have a relatively better understanding of Asean as some of them are taking part in activities related to the promotion of Asean integration, according to the report.

Even then, the data show that 55 percent of business respondents only have &#8220;a basic understanding&#8221; of what Asean is and 30 percent lack any basic knowledge of the grouping.

&#8220;The overall level of understanding for both businesses and general public is still low because of a general lack of interest alongside an ineffective use of communication channels,&#8221; the report said.

&#8220;However, it is good to note that the overall perception and attitude towards the Asean community is positive,&#8221; it added.

The survey shows that businesses and the general public both perceive Asean integration as having positive impacts on the region.

Businessmen who were surveyed generally believe the planned Asean Economic Community will improve the overall economy of the region, helping Asean compete globally. 

Low awareness of 2015 Asean integration noted | Inquirer Business

* Keeping faith in the Asean way*
By Farish A. Noor

*DEALING WITH FUTURE CHALLENGES: Southeast Asia needs to remain on course for integration by 2015*

IN the space of a week, several worrying developments have taken place close to our Southeast Asian region which merit our attention.

It was reported that a flare-up occurred in the South China Sea when a Chinese vessel fired flares at a Vietnamese fishing boat. China has since stated that the clash was due to the fact that the Vietnamese vessel was fishing in Chinese territorial waters -- though China's claim on vast areas of the South China Sea is precisely the issue that has to be resolved in the first place.

Then came the news that North Korea has decided to cut off its military hotline to South Korea, coming at a time when North Korea has demonstrated an increasingly bellicose stance towards the South, and its allies.

North Korea's threats of engaging in war with its neighbour, and the even more serious threat of taking its confrontation further afield, has stirred anxiety among other countries in East Asia that wish to de-escalate the potential for conflict in the region.

While all of this is happening, we in Asean need to remain on the course towards Asean integration by 2015. For, whether we like it or not, and whether we are ready for it or not, the pace and momentum have been set by developments that have accumulated over the past decade.

Asean today is more integrated than ever before, with Asean countries spreading their investments far and wide across the region, and building floating economies where their capital has been dispersed overseas as well: a smart strategy of not putting all of one's eggs in one basket, and to link our economies closer with the awareness that what-ever happens to one Asean country in the future will impact on the rest of Asean as well.

It is with these factors in mind that we need to retain faith in Asean and Asean's capacity to absorb changes and contingency whenever they arise.

The recent security crisis as a result of the incursion by some armed Filipinos into Malaysian territory cannot, and should not, be a reason to stall the process of Asean integration in the near future.

I raise these concerns now as I feel that we need to do more to boost the level of inter-Asean contacts and co-operation in the years to come as we will be dealing with some real challenges in the decade ahead.

For a start, Asean needs to come together to deal with the very real shift of power that we will see soon.

China's forays into the South China Sea have to be understood in the context of its internal regional politics, and the need to feed the country's massive population.

The relative decentralisation that has taken place in China over the past decade means that the southern provincial governments have been left to fend for themselves when dealing with the challenge of food production and food distribution.

The growth of China's fishing fleet and their increased visibility further south of the Chinese coast is an indication of China's growing need to feed itself, and the changing demographics of China's southern cities and coastal regions.

Like it or not, Asean has to find a way to cater to its own food security needs while not antagonising a powerful neighbour like China.

This can only happen if Asean can work in cooperation with one another, and not when some Asean countries are harbouring long-held primordial historical claims on other parts of neighbouring countries.

To put it bluntly: Asean cannot continue to bicker about historical claims of the past when the pressing needs of the moment are more urgent.

Then there will be the challenge of dealing with the waning of American power, as well as the decline of Europe as an economic partner.

Here, too, Asean needs to come together to adjust to the new realities on the ground and to work together rather than against each other.

The decline of American power, coupled with the rise of China's economic power, entails a shift in the polarities of regional power as well.

But for Asean to adjust to these changes, and to benefit from them as a region, it has to behave like a regional pact in the first place.

In the recent past, some Asean countries have opted to deal with either the US or China unilaterally.

The Philippines, for instance, cooperated with China when it came to the survey of the South China Sea, without inviting its other Asean neighbours (though Vietnam was later brought into the project as well).

Ideally, Asean states should recognise that what is good for the region is good for them as well, and the spirit of Asean cooperation needs to be upheld and further strengthened all the time.

As the countdown to Asean integration in 2015 continues, it is hoped that the Asean spirit and its culture of inter-state dialogue will be further enhanced.

Asean has come in for a bit of criticism over the past decade, and accused of institutional inertia and group-think among elites.

But this does not mean that more meaningful people-to-people contact cannot be enhanced as well, or that Asean cannot think out of the box to deal with complex issues such as diaspora communities, overlapping communities and our complex past.

What is needed, however, is faith in the Asean dialogue process; and also the awareness that apart from the European Union, Asean is the only other multi-state body that has prevented wars between states since 1967.

Anyone who doubts the importance of that can simply look at the deteriorating situation between the two Koreas and learn to appreciate the value of dialogue and cooperation.
.	




Asean has to find a way to enhance food security while not antagonising a powerful neighbour like China, which is increasingly feeling the need to feed its huge population. Pic by Lano Lan

Read more: Keeping faith in the Asean way - Columnist - New Straits Times Keeping faith in the Asean way - Columnist - New Straits Times

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## Viet

*Chinese troops to take part in 10+8 joint drill in Brunei: spokesman*

(Xinhua)
20:23, March 28, 2013 





BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China will send troops to take part in the *ASEAN+8 *joint drill to be held in Brunei in June, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said Thursday.

The joint drill will be held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and eight partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the Republic of Korea and the United States), spokesman Yang Yujun said at a press conference.

In 2012, members of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus agreed to hold joint *humanitarian rescue and disaster relief* exercises, as well as establish a group of military medical experts under ADMM-Plus, Yang said.

In April 2011, the first experts' working group meeting on humanitarian rescue and disaster relief under ADMM-Plus, *co-chaired by China and Vietnam*, made a three-year plan that includes the joint drill.

"China has kept close and positive communication with Brunei and other members," said Yang. "China hopes the joint drill will boost pragmatic cooperation in disaster relief among member countries, as well as the sound development of ADMM-Plus."

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## Reashot Xigwin

*SBY meets new ASEAN supremo*
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Mon, April 08 2013, 6:56 PM





_President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (right) welcomes ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh following his arrival at the Presidential Office for an official visit on Monday. At the meeting, Yudhoyono and Minh discussed several issues concerning regional cooperation and an increasing of Indonesia&#8217;s role in the regional bloc. [JP/Jerry Adiguna]_

ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh paid a courtesy visit to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at his office on Monday. It was the first formal meeting between the two leaders since Minh was inaugurated as secretary general on Jan. 7.

&#8220;I appreciate Indonesia and President Yudhoyono for the continuing strengthening of ASEAN, especially in progress towards the ASEAN community,&#8221; Minh told the press.

The former Vietnamese deputy foreign minister said he and Yudhoyono mostly discussed the establishment of the ASEAN Community by 2015.

Minh said that at the meeting, he also voiced concern about the tension in the South China Sea.

&#8220;We need an environment of peace and stability and ensure the adoption of a standard code of conduct, especially relating to the South China Sea,&#8221; he said.

Presidential foreign affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that Yudhoyono welcomed the appointment of Minh.

"The President highlighted the importance of a rule-based ASEAN with good policy coordination. That is the fundamental condition we need towards the ASEAN Community,&#8221; he said. (ebf)

SBY meets new ASEAN supremo | The Jakarta Post

*Indonesia ready to cooperate with new ASEAN secretary general *

Posted on April 9, 2013, Tuesday

JAKARTA: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that Indonesia is ready to cooperate with new ASEAN Secretary General, Le Luong Minh, to realise ASEAN programmes.

&#8220;Your role will be very important and Indonesia is ready for realising the 2015 ASEAN Community,&#8221; Indonesian President told Le Luong Minh at the former`s office here on Monday, reports Antara news agency.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi and Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam, were present when Susilo received Le.

Susilo said that ASEAN has been working on the establishment of the Asean Community by 2015.

&#8220;We have to push for the realisation of a lot of things to ensure the readiness of the architecture of the ASEAN Community,&#8221; the president said.

Le was officially sworn in as ASEAN&#8217;s new secretary general on Jan 9, 2013 replacing Surin Pitsuwan from Thailand.

He was previously Vietnam`s Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister.

During the meeting, Le promised that he would continue the achievements made by ASEAN for the past 46 years and realise ASEAN&#8217;s dream to set up a community by 2015.

He also pledged to encourage negotiations for the Code of Conduct (CoC) on South China Sea. &#8211;Bernama

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/0...ew-asean-secretary-general-new/#ixzz2PwctC6gK

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia works to spread AC knowledge*

Published: 9 Apr 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

JAKARTA : Indonesia's efforts to inform its citizens about the implementation of the Asean Community (AC) at the end of 2015 set a good example for Thailand to follow, say a group of MPs.

Officials from the House of Representatives travelled to Indonesia on March 24-27 to study the country's progress to become part of the AC, which takes effect Dec 31, 2015.

The 15 delegates attended meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and parliament.

Pannipa Sermsri, deputy secretary -general of the House of Representatives, said the delegation learned a lot from their counterparts in charge of raising AC public awareness.

The Indonesian government had instructed state agencies to provide the public with the necessary information on the AC and the possible impacts of increased regional integration, she said.

She said the government was concerned about the legal ramifications of the AC.

Officials are trying to inform the public about AC integration through various capacity-building programmes and legal training, she said.

Rosmalawab Chalid, the director for Asean Functional Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the government's programme included 16 activities such as seminars, workshops, public lectures, focus groups and media discussions.

Somchart Tammasiri, director of the Bureau of Legal Services for the House of Representatives, said the parliament here is also concerned over legal matters and more can be done to inform the public about the effects of regional integration.

He said each member of Asean has unique legal structures and challenges.

Mr Somchart said he proposed that Asean establish a model legal code for its members to refer to when creating their own laws.

"If Asean has no the model law, it will be harder for Asean to work harmoniously," he said.

Indonesian officials expressed interest in the idea, Mr Somchart said.

He said the Indonesian government's programmes showed it was aware about integration, though the public still lacked substantial knowledge about it.

Thailand has the same situation, he said.

Rahmat Pramono, the secretary of the Directorate-General, Asean Cooperation at Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the Thai delegation his government must work harder still to educate the general public about the importance of the AC.

A Japanese research institute found in a survey that most Indonesians still lack understanding on the establishment of the AC, and many students were unsure whether their country would benefit from regional integration, Mr Pramono said.

He said his ministry launched the information programme to boost the public's understanding.

Partogi Nainggolan, a senior researcher and head of the Research Division of the Indonesian House of Representatives, said he is concerned over political and security problems when the region unites as a single community two years from now.

Each Asean state has its own unique challenges, he said, mentioning the Rohingya minority in Myanmar's Rakhine state in particular.

Indonesia works to spread AC knowledge | Bangkok Post: news

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## Nike

Hi nice efforts u have done bro, keep the job is up and i will trying to contribute at here as soon as i get accustomed in here

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## Fsjal

PHL lags behind ASEAN peers in food exports | Economy | GMA News Online

The Philippines is behind its neighbors in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region when it comes to food exports, the 250-member strong Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization (Philfoodex) said in a statement over the weekend.

&#8220;The Philippine food export turnover is still far behind our ASEAN neighbors. For example, Thailand has an average of $20 billion annual revenue from food exports,&#8221; said Philfoodex president Roberto C. Amores in the statement, adding that &#8220;much can still be done to enhance our export performance.&#8221;

In 2012 the Philippines exported $3.55 billion worth of food products, up 11.56 percent year-on-year and constituting 6.8 percent of the country's total exports that year of $51.99 billion. Food exporters expect the value of exports to increase 6 percent this year and 10 percent in 2014 .

Many of the country's food exporters are micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that could benefit from government assistance in gaining access to technology and financing, said Amores.

&#8220;The government should continue to address the problem of MSMEs&#8217; lack of access to financing for them to expand and modernize their facilities to meet international standards,&#8221; he said.

Philfoodex also suggested removing import and export duties on raw materials and lowering power rates, saying that the rates in the economic zones are 40 percent lower than are available to exporters outside the ecozones. &#8220;[T]he same price should be available to exporters outside of the economic zone,&#8221; the statement said.


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## Nike

*Foreign giants bid on Rp 20t power grid*
_The Jakarta Post, Jakarta _| Business | Mon, April 08 2013, 6:28 AM
A- A A+

At least five multinational companies will take part in a tender for the construction of an undersea power grid connecting South Sumatra and West Java that was recently opened by state-owned electricity company PLN.

Nasri Sebayang, construction director of PLN, said recently that the five foreign companies included Siemens from Germany, Hitachi from Japan, Toshiba from Japan, the consortium of ABB and Marubeni from Switzerland and Japan, and a consortium of Alstom from France and state-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA), had formally passed the pre-qualification process.

"The bidders completed the pre-qualification selection process in 2012 and are ready to join the tender," he told Antara

The 700-kilometer South Sumatra-Java transmission network, which will have a capacity of 500 kilovolts (kV), will be used to transmit power supply from a number of coal-fired power stations currently being built in South Sumatra to Java. Nasri said he expected that the Rp 20 trillion (US$2.06 billion) undersea power grid project would start this year and would be completed in 2016.

I hope this move will reduce blackout events in Sumatra island

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## Fsjal

madokafc said:


> Hi nice efforts u have done bro, keep the job is up and i will trying to contribute at here as soon as i get accustomed in here





Hi, must be new here. I hope you enjoy your stay here.

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## Nike

*RI to review deal with Malaysia, Thailand*
_Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta _| Headlines | Tue, April 09 2013, 9:20 AM
A- A A+

Paper Edition | Page: 3

The rubber industry in Indonesia, the worlds second-biggest rubber producer, will propose a review of the supply management that it has implemented in the past six months to cut overseas supply, along with Thailand and Malaysia.

Indonesian Rubber Association (Gapkindo) chairman Daud Husni Bastari said on Monday that the mechanism was still poorly supervised and it was unclear whether stakeholders carried it out according to their commitments.

The review proposal will be rolled out during a meeting of the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) from Wednesday to Friday on Thailands resort island of Phuket, which will decide further moves on shoring up rubber prices.

Our main concern is that we dont know whether members have already implemented the supply curb consistently and whether there will be additional output from new plants, Daud told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview.

The supply arrangement is based on the prediction of demand over a long span of time and is seen as strategic in curbing supply in the long term as overproduction will in turn significantly erode prices.

In a deal reached in August, three ITRC members  Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia  representing 70 percent of the worlds rubber output, pledged to curb supply to bolster prices through an agreed export tonnage scheme (AETS) and supply management scheme (SMS) after prices slumped to a record low of around US$2.7 per kilogram.

Under AETS, producers cut supply to the market by as much as 300,000 tons from October last year to March this year, while through the SMS, they controlled production through a variety of measures, including replanting and removing aging trees.

The measures came up after futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange plunged to a three-year low of ¥205.6 ($2.09) in August last year.

Rubber for September deliveries gained 6.6 percent to close at ¥270.3 per kilogram in Tokyo, the largest daily gain since November 2011, Bloomberg reported.

During October to December last year, Indonesia slashed as much as 111,000 tons from the market, inching closer to the commitment of 117,000 tons for six months, ending in March this year, according to the latest data available at Gapkindo. Thailand and Malaysia, the worlds largest producers, earlier planned to pare down 143,000 tons and 40,000 tons respectively.

Last year, Indonesia exported 2.44 million tons of natural rubber, down by 4.15 percent from a year earlier.

This year, Indonesia expects to see its rubber output rise slightly by 2.36 percent to 3.04 million tons, the association estimates.

Daud said that his association would also ask for the extension of the rubber supply arrangement with other Southeast Asian producing nations, such as Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, during the meeting.

Vietnams output will soon catch up with Malaysia, and our concerted efforts along with other countries in ASEAN may be good for managing supply and sustaining prices in the long run, he said.

Thailand has said it would ask for an extension of the reduction in exports from the three biggest suppliers during the meeting to curb prices, said Thai Deputy Agriculture Minister Yuttapong Charasathien as quoted by Bloomberg.

However, Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said that Indonesia would not offer a position before the two measures were reviewed.

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Dont Let the Flames of Nationalism Engulf Southeast Asia*
By Mong Palatino
April 6, 2013




Nationalism was the powerful and revolutionary idea which inspired and mobilized the people of colonized countries in Southeast Asia to fight for their political independence after World War II. Then, post-colonial governments invoked it to unify their nations against real or imagined foreign aggressors. 

*In the era of globalization, nationalism became appealing once more for people who wanted to preserve their local identity and culture, especially in developing nations with governments that are suspicious of the Western promotion of the Washington Consensus.*

On the whole, nationalism is useful and even necessary to stabilize the hegemony of nation-states. But its unifying power could also turn deadly if allowed to mutate into xenophobia, creating race-based prejudices, ethnic hatred, and religious conflict.

*Today, there seems to be a surge of this deadly brand of nationalism across Southeast Asia. *

Burma is embroiled in conflict as riots between Buddhists and Muslims flared up anew in the towns of Meikhtila, Minhla, Moenyo and Latpadan. More than 40 people have already been killed in the two weeks of conflict, while shops, houses, and places of worship have been burned to the ground. 

President Thein Sein blamed the violence on religious extremists who exploit the noble teachings of religions and tried to plant hatred among people of different faiths for their own self-interest.

Buddhism is a state religion in Burma. Meanwhile, Muslims comprise about four percent of the countrys population. 

What is most unfortunate in the Meikhtila riot is that it *was a mere private dispute in a market which turned ugly and became a bloody riot in a town* where Buddhists, Muslims, and people of other faiths have historically lived peacefully as neighbors. 

The civilian government must immediately investigate the possibilities that someone or some groups deliberately instigated some of the recent violence in Burma. It should also probe its police and army officers who are suspected of being involved in the riots, as reported by Tomas Quintana, UN special envoy on human rights in Burma.

Francis Wade speculates the riots could also reflect the disturbing rise of anti-Muslim sentiment in Burma. Likewise, dissident scholar Maung Zarni warned against genocidal Buddhist racism whose proponents have chosen to pursue a destructive nationalism that is rooted in the fear of losing property, land, and racial and religious purity.

While religious nationalism is stoking the flames of violence in Burma, the issue of national identity has triggered a divisive debate in Singapore. The Singaporean governments population strategy published in January mentioned the protection of a so-called Singapore Core as it continues to accept more foreign workers and immigrants to reverse the countrys shrinking and aging population. 

Many Singaporeans rejected the proposal to increase the number of foreigners and demanded that Singapore remain a country of Singaporeans. More and more Singaporeans are blaming the influx of foreigners for rising prices, worsening traffic, and difficulty finding jobs. Fortunately, the heated debates on the meaning of Singaporean identity and citizenship has not escalated  *at least for now*

The motivation to define an authentic citizen is not limited to Singapore. In 2006, researchers from the Chulalongkorn and Mahidol Universities in Bangkok claimed that they have already identified the Thai gene sequence  the so called true Thai DNA. Moreover, the Filipino genome project was revived in February, eliciting discussions on Filipino race and ethnicity. While the scientific basis of these initiatives is benign, the results can easily be appropriated by ultra-nationalists to bolster racist agendas. 

Meanwhile, Malaysia has allegedly stolen Indonesias cultural heritage, provoking nationalist outrage on the part of the latter. While Indonesia and Malaysia have good relations as neighbors, they often clash over the ownership of certain cultural icons. In 2009, Indonesia accused Malaysia of stealing Balinese dance. Last year, an Indonesian education official claimed that Malaysia has misappropriated seven Indonesian cultural products as part of its national heritage.

*Territorial wars are natural triggers for nationalist propaganda, as seen in the way that the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute in Preah Vihear sparked an intense ultra-nationalist hate campaign in both countries. Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu wanted to reclaim Sabah for the benefit of the Philippines, but the Malaysian government insists that Sabah will remain part of Malaysia forever.*

Don

& there's still people that believe in a "unified ASEAN"

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## Reashot Xigwin

*ASEAN told not to copy EU concept*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Fri, April 19 2013, 1:01 PM





A senior envoy of the European Union and Indonesian expert has urged the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not to copy the EU common market concept, saying that the single market to be implemented by ASEAN should be based on the economic levels of the association&#8217;s members.

EU Ambassador to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam and ASEAN Julian Wilson said on Thursday that the EU had proved that a single market could bring economic advantages to its members but ASEAN should also learn from the mistakes the EU had made.

*&#8220;I don&#8217;t like the idea of saying that ASEAN can learn from what we have done because in fact we made some mistakes. ASEAN can learn from our mistakes as well as learn from our success,&#8221; he told reporters on the sideline of EU-ASEAN Economic and Policy Forum.*

The Vice President&#8217;s deputy secretary for political affairs, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, said that ASEAN should establish a single market concept based on their own economic condition.

*&#8220;ASEAN regionalism is different from that of the EU. ASEAN is much more politically driven while the EU is much more economically driven,&#8221; she said. In addition, Dewi argued that with the wide gap in the economic condition among the ASEAN members, it would be quite difficult for the association to use the European single market as a copy of the region&#8217;s proposed ASEAN Economic Community.*

Dewi also emphasized that the EU became a strong single market as it was a supranational body in which each member gave part of its sovereignty to the union, such as imposing the single currency policy. In terms of ASEAN, the member countries are still reluctant to compromise their views but the market sometimes requires them to have a common policy.

Meanwhile the ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh stressed that ASEAN ministries in the last meeting had agreed and endorsed the deliverable and the post 2015 agenda. He believed that ASEAN could make the single market timely and made their own countries proud.

The ASEAN single market is expected to facilitate the free flow of goods and services in which the tariff among member countries could be reduced 0 to 5 percent.

*The single market will be fully implemented in 2015 in ASEAN-6 (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines) and in 2018 for CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) making it a bloc with 600 million population and US$2.2 trillion in GDP.* (koi)

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## Reashot Xigwin

*After the bank of BRICS its time for a bank of ASEAN?*

Saturday April 20, 2013
*A bank for Asean?*
By DALJIT DHESI
daljit@thestar.com.my

*THE decision to create a development bank last month by the five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, known as BRICS in short, was an interesting development.*

The move was seen as an alternative venue for funding to the existing global financial lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and other regional development banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

These countries have in principle agreed to create a development bank to provide initial funding for infrastructure projects worth US$4.5 trillion.

*The announcement of the creation of the BRICS Bank in Durban, South Africa was viewed by many commentators and industry observers as the shifting of the economic power from the west.*

*Although the proposal to create a BRICS development bank was well received by its member countries, the mechanism in which it would operate was not spelt out in detail.*

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) secretary-general Angel Garra was reported in a foreign press as saying one of the important things which the proposed bank needed to consider was its criteria for loans and the policy for the conditions of the loans.

*So, if the BRICS nations are pushing for such a bank to be established, then should Asean also consider developing an Asean bank? Local economists are quick to point out that its establishment would depend on its mandate.*

A local prominent economist feels the setting up an Asean bank is less compelling if its focus is on development financing given the presence of the long established Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Moreover, regional initiatives such as the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI), Asian Bond Fund (ABF) and Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) were already in place to increase the flow of the region's surplus savings into infrastructure and private investments via the regional bond markets.

*However, the economist says if the proposal for an Asean bank is aimed at accelerating financial integration to support the creation of the Asean Economic Community by 2015, then it could be a worthwhile pursuit given the relatively small and segmented banking markets as well as the slow pace of financial integration among member countries.*

While the concept of an Asean bank is appealing, its sources of funding, mandate and implementation approach would have to be thought out carefully given the smallish and highly-segmented domestic banking markets in the region.

Who knows maybe a few years down the road, the Asean regulators and governments may announce the establishment of such a bank if its mandate and objectives are met in view of the growing importance of Asean as the region's economic power house.

A recent research by the Economist Corporate Network (ECN) and sponsored by Baker & McKenzie suggested that global companies were optimistic about the opportunities that the Asean Economic Community would bring.

Companies saw the potential growth opportunities in Asean in the short as well as long term, it said, adding that the region grew in real terms by an annual average rate of 5.5% between 1999 and 2012, and the number of middle class households in Asean was projected to rise from 40 million in 2010 to 85 million by the end of 2017. This provides a strong base for consumer growth, it noted.

A bank for Asean?

*ASEAN looking a bit like 97*

Apr 22, 2013

An economic upturn always has the potential for crisis. Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) appear to be blessed with an economic boom. *But there is a feeling of deja vu as current circumstances closely resemble those on the eve of the Asian financial crisis, which started in July 1997.*

The Thai capital of Bangkok is enjoying an unprecedented construction boom, with the prices of new condominiums in Wacharapon and Sai Mai districts having doubled in the past three years while new shopping centers are being built in the commercial section of Si Lom. Signs of a boom are also seen in rural cities as well, with new buildings cropping up in Chiang Mai and other areas.

As of the end of 2012, more than 8,000 Japanese corporations had advanced into markets of Thailand while their American, European, South Korea and Taiwanese counterparts are also stepping up their business activities there.

On March 19 the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra surprised the world by announcing plans to construct four high-speed railway lines, including the 680-kilometer Bangkok-Chiang Mai line and the 450-km Bangkok-Nong Khai line, at cost of 2 trillion bahts (about ¥6.5 trillion), which is equivalent to a whacking 20 percent of the nations gross domestic product. Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said the funds will be raised through domestic and overseas borrowing, which will be paid back over 50 years. The sum is enormous even with a simple comparison with the ¥300 billion Japan borrowed from the World Bank to build the bullet train line between Tokyo and Osaka in time for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Repayment of the debt ended in 1981.

In what appears to be another reckless spending spree, the Yingluck government since 2011 has been providing farmers with loans, using the seed rice it received from them as collateral. Because the assessed value of the rice was set 40 to 50 percent higher than the international market price, many farmers have chosen to default on the loans. The loan scheme has turned into a scheme of subsidies. It is feared this situation will burden the government to the tune of ¥200 billion to ¥300 billion a year.

The resulting high price of Thai rice has caused the country to fall from its position as the largest rice exporter in the world (through 2010) to a third place behind Vietnam and India.

*A boom harboring potential crisis is also noticeable in Indonesia, whose gross domestic product accounts for 40 percent of ASEANs total GDP. The number of automobiles sold there in 2012 surpassed 1 million for the first time, and sales of home electric appliances registered an increase of 13 percent in January from the same month of 2012. After entering his second term in 2009, President Susilo Bangbang Yudhoyono is blessed with national economic stability and strong personal consumption. Its about to make his country the undisputed ASEAN leader.*

There is a downside. Indonesia recorded a trade surplus of over $20 billion in 2010 and in 2011. But it suffered a deficit of $1.626 billion in 2012 as exports fell 6.6 percent from the previous year as shipments of coal to China and manufactured goods to Europe dropped. Meanwhile, imports increased 8 percent because of growing imports of consumer goods for the wealthy and middle classes and of production equipment for foreign-owned factories operating in Indonesia.

This sharp turn indicates that Indonesia has not escaped the industrial structure typical of developing nations, where a domestic boom results in increased imports of both consumer and capital goods, which negatively affect trade balance.

To prevent overheating from consumption, the Indonesian government in June 2012 adopted new rules requiring purchasers of motorcycles  one of the biggest purchase items for salaried workers  to make a down payment equivalent to 20 to 25 percent of the price. This caused motorcycle sales in 2012 to fall 11.8 percent to 7.06 million units. It is estimated that sales this year will plummet further to about 5.5 million units.

Despite the government move, strong demand still prevails, creating bottleneck inflation. The consumer price index (CPI) for February rose 5.3 percent from the same month of 2012. As this is so close to the upper limit of the central banks inflation target of 4.5 percent give or take 1 percentage point, the bank may turn to a tight money policy.

Vietnam has also suffered from the pressure of rising prices. With a tight money policy, the rise in CPI fell from 18.1 percent in 2011 to 9.1 percent in 2012. But this has resulted in a net decrease in investment in fixed assets while consumer spending rose by a mere 6.2 percent  quite low for a developing country.

Auto sales in 2012 fell 33 percent to fewer than 100,000 units while sales of motorcycles fell 3.7 percent to 4.23 million units due to a cap placed on their production volume and restrictions on import of parts.

*In Japan, certain circles make much of Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines (known by the acronym VIP) because of their economic growth. But these countries have achieved high growth rates at the expense of trade deficits, fiscal deficits and inflation. In 2012, the fiscal deficit amounted to 2.96 percent of GDP in Vietnam, 1.62 percent in Indonesia, and 1.88 percent in Indonesia. Though these numbers are far smaller than those of Japan and other advanced nations, they are expected to balloon as these countries spend huge sums on infrastructure construction and other projects in 2013.*

This tendency draws a large inflow of capital from foreign sources, reflected in the stock markets. Since the spring of 2012, benchmark stock indices in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have continued to hit new highs. Capital inflows from overseas, trade and fiscal deficits, stock and property market bubbles, an overall construction boom  all are reminiscent of ASEAN countries on the eve of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

*To prevent recurrence of the crisis, the Chiang Mai Initiative for multilateral currency swaps among ASEAN countries, China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea was adopted. ASEAN countries also have tried to reduce trade deficits and accumulate foreign reserves. Although their financial stabilization mechanism has been strengthened, an onslaught by speculative funds could be massive.*

Another potential threat to ASEAN nations, China and South Korea is the recent fall in the value of the Japanese yen. This again resembles the situation in 1997. At that time, the value of the yen declined from ¥94 to the dollar in 1995 to ¥108 in 1996 and to ¥120 in 1997 before the crisis.

*If Japan improves its competitiveness thanks to a cheap yen, ASEAN countries will lose their competitiveness. Their exports and industrial production will decelerate, thus leading investors to withdraw funds from the countries. Thus its possible that a new Asian currency crisis could be touched off by the economic policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which calls for massive monetary easing to end deflation and to lower the value of the yen.*

*The impact of a new Asian crisis would certainly be far more serious than the previous crisis, because this time China is in the same boat as ASEAN countries. China is beset with rapidly rising wages, a rising currency (renminbi) that is weakening Chinese export competitiveness, and a rapid decrease in state-owned companies profits. With the trade surplus shrinking, the economic growth rate fell to 7.8 percent in 2012. To help buoy the economy, China has increased investment in infrastructure construction. The government hopes to raise the necessary funds through land sales, which will lead to higher land prices. Bubbles are coming back.*

*Investors fear that any burst of economic bubbles in ASEAN would cause a chain reaction involving China. This would lead to large-scale flights of capital from China. A new crisis encompassing China and ASEAN would greatly impact natural resources- exporting nations like Australia, Brazil, Canada and Russia. The shock from the new crisis would dwarf the Lehman Brothers shock of 2008.*

While ASEAN countries undoubtedly have high potential for economic growth, their economies are still plagued by structural weaknesses. It is high time they became more aware of the potential risks that could stymie a promising future.

ASEAN looking a bit like '97 - The Japan Times

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## Reashot Xigwin

*SBY kicks off ASEAN tour*
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Mon, April 22 2013, 12:38 PM






State visit: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (second left) and his wife Kristiani Herawati (right) are seated at a table for lunch with his Singapore counterpart Tony Tan (second right) and his wife Mary Chee Monday in Singapore. Yudhoyono will also receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore during his visit to the city-state. (AP/Wong Maye-E) 

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has departed to Singapore where he will *begin his five-day state visit to three ASEAN nations.
*
The Garuda Indonesia Boeing B737-800 carrying the President, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and delegates took off from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in East Jakarta on Monday morning.

Among Cabinet members accompanying the President were Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam.

*"I will attend the Indonesia-Singapore annual Leaders&#8217; Retreat in Singapore, then I will visit Myanmar to have a bilateral meeting with President U Thein Sein in Nya Pyi Taw," Yudhoyono told a press conference before departing.*

*From Myanmar, Yudhoyono will fly to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, to attend the 22nd ASEAN Summit.*

On the sidelines of the summit, Yudhoyono will also attend the 9th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit and the 7th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit.

*Yudhoyono said he would also receive an honorary doctorate from Nanyang Technological University&#8217;s (NTU) Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).*

In 2009, the NTU was put under the scrutiny of the Indonesian people following the death of the Indonesian student, David Hartanto Widjaja.

A Singaporean court declared David had committed suicide. His family believed it was not possible for David to intentionally end his life, saying he had displayed no signs of depression. The public outcry at that time pushed the Indonesian government to carry out decisive action to ensure Singapore would bring &#8220;justice and the truth.&#8221;

*The visit to Myanmar, meanwhile, will come amid the long-time sectarian violence involving the Rohingya muslims.*

*"The conflict involving the Rohingya has always been in Indonesia's attention. We will ensure that the democratization process in Myanmar is in place," Yudhoyono said.*

The President and delegates are scheduled to return to Indonesia on April 26.

SBY kicks off ASEAN tour | The Jakarta Post

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## Malaya

*Phl to push for Asean integration despite territorial dispute*
By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) | Updated April 24, 2013 

*MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will push for the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) alongside a legally binding code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea despite territorial disputes involving member countries.*

President Aquino leaves tonight for the 22nd ASEAN summit in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei with members of his Cabinet.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday Malacañang is optimistic the West Philippine Sea issue will be discussed with Brunei as chairman of ASEAN.

Were optimistic that we will see progress because of the 22nd summit, she said.

Valte said the Philippines is grateful that Brunei had put maritime security as one of the priority issues to be tackled.

How crucial is this particular (summit?) There is a new chairman of the ASEAN, the priorities also change, she said.

I understand that Brunei, as chair, has now set their own list of priorities for the agenda to be taken up in the summits to follow. On our part, regardless of the chairmanship, we have always been pushing for this particular (issue). Weve been consistent in pushing for our interventions.

As you know, last year there was an (ASEAN) consensus that its time to talk about this particular subject matter. And we will see what will happen in Brunei...how the talks on the code will push forward.

Last week, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the summits theme under Bruneis chairmanship is Our People, Our Future Together, emphasizing the importance of realizing the vision of an ASEAN community by 2015.

This year also marks the 46th year of ASEANs existence. Last years summit was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Hernandez said several things will be discussed in the summit: the ASEAN Community 2015; the ASEANs central role and the regional architecture; ASEANs future direction; and exchange of views on regional and international issues.

He added that the three pillars of the ASEAN community which we hope to be able to establish in 2015 will also be taken up: political security, the economic community, and socio-cultural, as well as administrative matters and how to run and direct ASEAN as it goes forward, he said.

Observers have questioned the ability of ASEAN to integrate in two years because of disputes among members, different levels of economic development and other concerns.

Thailand and Myanmar have a border dispute, while the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam claim some areas in the West Philippine Sea.

But having one political voice and becoming a single market will make ASEAN strong and more progressive.

Phl to push for Asean integration despite territorial dispute | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

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## Malaya

*Myanmar's ready for challenges of ASEAN chairmanship: foreign affairs official*
Published on Wednesday, 24 April 2013 






*Aung Linn, the director general of ASEAN affairs department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seen after the Senior Officials' Meeting yesterday (Photo - EMG)*

*Myanmar is prepared to face the challenges of the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), senior official visiting in Brunei for the 22nd ASEAN Summit told Eleven Media yesterday.*

*&#8220;We are prepared to face all the challenges - the economic challenges, political challenges, social challenges, and everything,&#8221; *Aung Linn, the director general of ASEAN affairs department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said after a meeting between the senior officials of member nations.

Myanmar will take the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014, and is preparing for it, Aung Linn said.

He noted that solving the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and achieving the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will play critical roles at the time Myanmar chairs the ASEAN next year.

*&#8220;Regarding the South China Sea issue, our country is not directly involved in it. However, as a member of the ASEAN, we will stand and work together with ASEAN countries and the others to solve them,&#8221;* he said.

With regard to achieving the AEC by 2015, he said, &#8220;There are goals towards AEC. We will have to fulfill these goals as ASEAN members.&#8221;

He also said Myanmar is continuing its reforms towards democracy. The country is reforming its economic and social sectors but is still lagging behind in terms of development for which it is perceived as driving force for more reforms, he told the foreign reporters.

The 2-day ASEAN Summit will start today, and it is the first one held by Brunei which took ASEAN chair in 2013.

Myanmar's ready for challenges of ASEAN chairmanship: foreign affairs official - Eleven Myanmar | Eleven Myanmar

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Timor Leste one step closer to ASEAN membership*
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Sat, April 27 2013, 10:13 AM





President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had fulfilled his commitment to promote Timor Leste&#8217;s ASEAN membership during the 22nd summit in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei Darussalam, a minister says.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Friday that the ten member states had agreed to Timor Leste&#8217;s participation in its next meetings thanks to lobbing by Indonesia.

&#8220;We are still waiting for a formal decision,&#8221; Marty said at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport after arriving from Bandar Seri Begawan.

Marty was part of a delegation accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on his five-day ASEAN tour, which also included state visits to Singapore and Myanmar.

The approval of Timor Leste&#8217;s bid to have a greater role in ASEAN was also included in the summit Chairman's Statement.

&#8220;We were encouraged by the progress in discussions by the ASEAN Coordinating Council [ACC] and the ACC Working Group [ACCWG], on all relevant aspects related to the application by Timor Leste, as well as its possible implication on ASEAN, and agreed to explore the possibility of Timor Leste&#8217;s participation in ASEAN activities within the context of its need for capacity building,&#8221; the statement read. (ebf)

Timor Leste one step closer to ASEAN membership | The Jakarta Post


*RI brings Timor Leste a step closer to ASEAN membership*
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Sat, April 27 2013, 10:07 AM


The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to allow Timor Leste to &#8220;participate&#8221; in the grouping&#8217;s next meetings, thanks to lobbying by Indonesia during ASEAN&#8217;s 22nd Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei Darussalam, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Friday.

&#8220;It was a small but significant improvement [in Timor Leste&#8217;s bid to attain full ASEAN membership],&#8221; Marty said at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in East Jakarta after arriving from Bandar Seri Begawan. &#8220;We are still waiting for the formal decision on it.&#8221;

The foreign minister, however, did not delve into the limitations on Timor Leste&#8217;s &#8220;participation&#8221; in ASEAN&#8217;s upcoming meetings.

Marty was among President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono&#8217;s delegation carrying out a five-day ASEAN tour, which also included state visits to Singapore and Myanmar. The Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800 carrying the President, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and delegates touched down on Friday afternoon.

The approval of Timor Leste&#8217;s bid to have a greater role in ASEAN was also included in the summit chairman&#8217;s statement.

&#8220;We were encouraged by the progress in discussions of the ASEAN Coordinating Council [ACC] and the ACC Working Group [ACCWG] on all relevant aspects related to the application by Timor Leste, as well as its possible implication for ASEAN, and agreed to explore the possibility of Timor Leste&#8217;s participation in ASEAN activities within the context of its need for capacity building,&#8221; the statement read.

Indonesia&#8217;s commitment to supporting Timor Leste&#8217;s bid to join ASEAN was also reiterated by Yudhoyono when he met visiting Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Jakarta last month.

The &#8220;small&#8221; improvement achieved in Bandar Seri Begawan might be seen as a &#8220;big&#8221; step by Dili as Timor Leste&#8217;s bid to join the bloc has been to no avail for years, despite Indonesia&#8217;s repeated stress on the importance of having Indonesia&#8217;s former 27th province in ASEAN.

Indonesia annexed Timor Leste (at that time East Timor) in 1975, but lost control of it after a referendum in 1999. Timor Leste formally declared independence in May 2002.

Dili has proposed its inclusion as an ASEAN member since 2007 but its formal application was submitted in 2011 under Indonesia&#8217;s ASEAN chairmanship.

Before leaving for Jakarta, Yu-dhoyono said that Indonesia&#8217;s next task after the summit would be ensuring its readiness to welcome the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

&#8220;You ought not to say that &#8216;we&#8217;re not ready&#8217;. Stop complaining. Let&#8217;s do something together,&#8221; he told the press in Bandar Seri Begawan as quoted by Antara news agency.

The President said that he would immediately set up a committee to ensure the readiness of Indonesia to welcome the AEC. He said that he had assigned Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa to establish the committee.

The committee will include representatives from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the state government, local administrations, business, labor unions and experts. The committee will identify, among others things, industrial sectors that still need to be enhanced ahead of the implementation of the AEC.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/04/27/ri-brings-timor-leste-a-step-closer-asean-membership.html

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## Martian2

*I explain the importance of USPTO patents for a higher Filipino standard of living*

In the comment section:

Martin Su &#8226; 4 minutes ago

There is a strong correlation between the inventiveness of a country and its income level.

Last year in 2012, Taiwan ranked fifth in the world and was granted 11,624 USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) patents. China ranked ninth in the world and received 5,341 USPTO patents.

In sharp contrast, the Philippines received only 46 USPTO patents.

In conclusion, if Filipinos desire a higher standard of living then you will have to become more inventive. If you are stuck in the middle-income-trap, it is due to your failure to innovate.

Article link: Middle-income trap | Inquirer Opinion

----------

Related information:

Greater China opens up a 2,663 USPTO-granted patents lead on Germany!

Mainland China could pass France and the U.K. in the number of USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) granted patents by next year. Greater China comprises mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

The four largest exporters in the world (e.g. #1 China by using Greater China patents, #2 U.S., #3 Germany, and #4 Japan) are also the four largest USPTO patent holders.

PATENT COUNTS BY ORIGIN AND TYPE, CY 2012

Patents granted by the United States for the year 2012.

1. U.S. 134,187 patents
2. Japan 52,773
(Greater China 17,704)
3. Germany 15,041
4. South Korea 14,168
5. Taiwan 11,624
6. Canada 6,459
7. U.K. 5,876
8. France 5,857
9. China 5,341
10. Italy 2,546
...
India 1,733
Singapore 841
Hong Kong 739 (Patent office counts Hong Kong as a separate entity)
Russian Federation 339
Brazil 256
Malaysia 219

These countries are sometimes mentioned by the media as the "next China":

South Africa 158
Mexico 153
Poland 96
Greece 93
Argentina 67
Turkey 55
Thailand 46
Philippines 46
Ukraine 42
Chile 38
Egypt 28
Indonesia 12
Vietnam 4

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## Reashot Xigwin

*Surakarta hosting ASEAN Blogger Festival*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Sun, May 12 2013, 2:17 PM

The local chapter of the ASEAN Blogger Community is hosting the 2013 ASEAN Blogger Festival Indonesia (ABFI), aimed at increasing public awareness of the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

Three-hundred bloggers from all over Indonesia and other ASEAN member nations are in Surakarta, Central Java, from May 10 to 12, for the event, sponsored by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the local administration, among others.

Advisor of the Indonesia-chapter ASEAN Blogger Community, Ambassador Hazairin Pohan, said Surakarta was chosen to host the festival to promote the city's heritage sites to ASEAN member nations in which it would become ASEAN cultural heritage-connecting ***.

Indonesian bloggers back the establishment an ASEAN Blogger Community, marked by an awareness on the importance of creating a caring and sharing society among netizens in ASEAN towards the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Saturday said.

The statement said that the festival would feature discussions on social media in the ASEAN integration process; workshops on photo and video blogging, online businesses, and online advocacy; heritage site visits; exhibitions; cultural performances; competitions, among other things. (ebf)


*ASEAN dolls sold in Phitsanulok are becoming popular*




PHITSANULOK, 10 May 2013 (NNT) - A shop in Tha Thong, Muang district, Phitsanulok has become popular, selling ASEAN doll pottery in many shapes and sizes.

The dolls replicate pairs of male and female folks dressed in traditional costumes of each ASEAN country, attracting the passers-by to enter the shop. Mrs.Pornthip Yuchamnong, 27, the owner of the shop says that originally the shop sold pots and dolls for garden decorations. However, as many government and private sector units are enthusiastic in promoting the advent of ASEAN Community and holding several events showcasing ASEAN culture on a regular basis, while ASEAN exhibitions in schools have also become common, the shop decided to bring in ASEAN dolls to cater for those exhibitions.

Mrs. Pornthip designs the dolls herself and sends her patterns to pottery factories in Nakhon Ratchasima, or Khorat, to be made and sent back to the shop. She anticipates her shop to be the first in Thailand to make ASEAN dolls from pottery. The dolls come in three sizes, 50 and 70 centimeters and 1.1metres tall, each in 10 sets of ASEAN costumes with a starting price of 18,000 baht per set. Schools and government units have shown great interest by making several orders. For those interested, the numbers to contact are 083-4114153, 084 -626 1265. 

Thai Asean Dolls |


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Indonesia Seeks to Develop ASEAN Furniture Zone in Solo*
By Jakarta Globe on 6:07 pm May 23, 2013.






_Workers weave rattan chairs in Jakarta in this December 12, 2012 file photo. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)_

Solo, Central Java. An Indonesian business association on Thursday said it sought to partner with Asean furniture makers to develop a special zone in the Central Java town of Solo dedicated solely for the industry.

The zone should span at least five hectares to be able to accommodate dozens of furniture makers from Southeast Asia, the Indonesian Furniture and Handcrafts Association (Asmindo) said on Thursday.

Asmindo chairman Ambar Tjahyono said the association was planning to invite 60 major furniture makers  members of the Asean Furniture Industries Council  to join in the project.

*We will invite them to invest in Indonesia, to partner with Indonesians. I wish we can build an industrial zone together in Solo, Ambar told Indonesian news portal bisnis.com on the sidelines of an Asmindo meeting in Solo.*

*He added Solo was a top choice for the regional furniture zone location as it already served as a hub for Indonesias furniture industry, citing a 13,000-hectare area in Kalijambe, in the outskirts of Solo, where dozens of local furniture makers are based.*

*Ambar said the new zone was expected to support the growth of the regional furniture industry while countering the influx of furniture from China, ahead of the opening of the Asean Economic Community in 2015, which will open free trade between 10 member states of Asean.*

*We want to counter this threat. Asean countries should be flooded with products from Indonesia, and Asean should be able to dam up products from China, Ambar said.*

*He added that Indonesias furniture market was now already dominated by imported products from China.*

Indonesias furniture exports reached $1.8 billion last year, and the domestic furniture industry is targeting to increase the figure to $2 billion this year. In January, exports reached $164 million, a 4 percent rise from the figure in January 2012.

Indonesia Seeks to Develop Asean Furniture Zone in Solo - The Jakarta Globe

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## visom

*Japans Abe to Offer Myanmar 40 Billion Yen New Aid*
By Mariko Ishikawa & Yuki Yamaguchi - May 25, 2013 7:57 PM PT

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will offer Myanmar 40 billion yen ($395 million) of new funds and exempt about 200 billion yen of delinquent debt when he meets President Thein Sein today, Jiji Press reported without citing anyone.

As Myanmars largest creditor, Japan last year agreed to settle $6.6 billion in debt and provide loans to help repay the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. Japan has sought closer ties since the 2010 election that brought Thein Sein to power, hosting him in Tokyo last year and sending Finance Minister Taro Aso to Myanmar in January with business leaders.

Support for Myanmar will lead to growth for Japan, Kyodo cited Abe as saying to reporters in Myanmar yesterday. Abe is the first Japanese leader to visit the South Asian country in 36 years, as his nations companies seek to invest in an economy that has some of the cheapest labor in Asia. Myanmars annual pay burden for a worker in manufacturing totaled $1,100 per year, less than half the cost in Vietnam and a sixth that of Thailand, according to a Jetro survey published in December.

Japanese companies are looking to diversify manufacturing operations following recent wage increases in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and a territorial dispute with China that soured ties between Asias biggest economies.

Suzuki Motor Corp. got permission from Myanmar in February to form a manufacturing subsidiary to make small trucks beginning this month. Sumitomo and NEC Corp. last week signed a contract to help improve the countrys communications network.

Mitsui & Co. (8031) in March said it would import 5,000 metric tons of rice from Myanmar, its first purchase in more than four decades. The trading company may invest 15 billion yen to build three rice-milling plants in Myanmar capable of processing 300,000 tons a year for the Middle East and Africa, a Mitsui spokeswoman said in March.

Abe yesterday met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and his itinerary during the three-day visit includes a visit to the port and industrial estate at Thilawa, 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of Yangon, Myanmars biggest city. Mitsubishi Corp. (8058), Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. are helping to develop the port, part of which is set to open as early as 2015.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yuki Yamaguchi in Tokyo at yyamaguchi10@bloomberg.net; Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net


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## Malaya

*Rule of law &#8211; a fundamental feature of ASEAN since its inception*

Thursday 30th of May 2013

MANILA, May 30 (PIA) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had embraced the concept of the rule of law, especially at the international level, ever since its inception in 1967, and it continues to be a cornerstone until now. 

First recognised in ASEAN&#8217;s founding document the Bangkok Declaration as a means to achieve regional peace and stability, the concept of the rule of law is now enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. 

&#8220;The concept of rule of law in the ASEAN Charter is read in conjunction with ASEAN&#8217;s commitment to democracy and good governance, adherence to constitutional government and to the promotion and protection of human rights,&#8221; said ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh on May 28 at the Third High Level Meeting of the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy held at the European Commission in Brussels. 

Minh said that the importance accorded to the rule of law has been brought to new heights in the ASEAN Charter where it is embraced officially as both a purpose and a principle despite lack of authoritative definition of concept of rule of law. 

&#8220;Although the core elements of the concept, such as equality before the law and the supremacy of the law, are widely accepted, the application of this concept into national political systems and legal structures varies greatly according to the specific contexts and capacities,&#8221; said Minh. 

Minh said that the rule of law is fundamental for any functioning democracy as it incorporates elements such as a strong constitution with constitutional limits on power, human rights, an effective electoral system, a commitment to gender equality, laws for the protection of minorities and vulnerable groups and a strong civil society. 

Apart from its charter, the ASEAN has also developed a number of instruments and mechanisms to facilitate cooperation among its member states which help to uphold and strengthen the rule of law. 

&#8220;These instruments include the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint, and the ASEAN Law Ministerial Meeting,&#8221; said Minh. 

&#8220;The ASEAN Way has brought us to where we are now. War among the ASEAN Member States is unthinkable. And we are one of the fastest growing regions in the world today,&#8221; he added. 

The Third High Level Meeting, which discussed the rule of law, highlighted the experiences and achievements of regional organizations, and the United Nations in promoting the rule of law in the regions and globally. 

The meeting was hosted by Dr. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission and attended by the heads and representatives of regional organisations including the ASEAN, the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Pacific Island Forum, the Organisation of American States and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. 

The meeting was co-organized by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the European Commission. 

The meeting also agreed to continue the constructive dialogue among the heads of regional organizations on the topic of democracy and development at the Fourth High Level Meeting of the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy which is expected to be held in Cairo in 2014. 

This next meeting in Cairo will also discuss the development of the post-2015 Development Agenda and the role that Regional Organizations can play in it. 

The ASEAN Secretariat was the host of the Second High Level Meeting which was held in 2012 with the theme &#8220;Promoting and Ensuring Inclusive Political Participation and Representation in our Regions&#8221;. (www.asean.org)# 

PIA | Philippine Information Agency | Rule of law ? a fundamental feature of ASEAN since its inception

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## longyi

*Timor-Leste keen to join ASEAN*







_
Timor-Leste's Prime Minister Rala Xanana Gusmao_


SINGAPORE: Timor-Leste said it is committed to building its human resources in order to contribute fully to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Timor-Leste's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao made these remarks during a lecture in Singapore on Tuesday, organised by the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Mr Gusmao, who is also the countrys Defence and Security Minister, noted that since 2008, Timor-Leste has enjoyed average economic growth rates of above 10 per cent annually.

However, despite having some of the world's most competitive tax rates, it still needs to radically improve its human resources, as well as build core national infrastructure and eliminate extreme poverty.

Timor Leste is the youngest nation in the Asia-Pacific.

Speaking to Channel NewsAsia after the lecture, Mr Gusmao explained why it is important to be part of ASEAN.

"In this globalising world, we cannot be alone. And looking at our geographical location, we are part of Southeast Asia. That is why we said better to join, to participate in one or another way not only to the region but to the world. We are in a small way trying to be a 'contributory' at least in ideas, in finding solutions to a few problems that we can think about or we can address, he said.

Timor-Leste keen to join ASEAN - Channel NewsAsia


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## Reashot Xigwin

*More ASEAN franchises invade Indonesian market*
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Mon, June 03 2013, 10:55 AM





Show off: Around 143 local franchises and 36 foreign franchisors attend International Franchise, License and Business Concept Expo and Conference (IFRA), which ran from Friday to Sunday at the Jakarta Convention Center. The annual event lures locals as well as global franchise players. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

Indonesia remains an attractive destination for foreign franchising companies especially from other members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) despite the growing competition in the franchising business.

Malaysian Franchise Association (MFA) chairman Abdul Malik Abdullah said on Friday that Indonesia was definitely a potential market for Malaysian franchisors, where they would target not only the food and beverage sector, but also healthcare, beauty and education.

&#8220;We currently have 20 franchise brands in Indonesia and we believe that there is good opportunity to tap into the market, especially with easier flow of goods and services under the ASEAN single market in 2015,&#8221; he told the Post in the International Franchise License and Business Concept Expo & Conference (IFRA) in Jakarta.

Speaking at similar event, Singaporean Franchising and Licensing Association (FLA) general manager Wesley Goh said that there were at least 10 Singaporean franchises currently operating in the country and there would be some more to come this year.

The advertising and operation manager of Singaporean blended ice franchisor Coolblog, Winson Keh, said that his company planned to open its first outlet in the country by year end following its successful presence in Malaysia.

&#8220;We are currently looking for a potential partner here in Indonesia as we already have more than 250 outlets in Malaysia and aim for 400 outlets next year. We have also been granted &#8216;halal&#8217; certification [permissible according to Islamic law] from the Malaysian government,&#8221; he said.

Besides Malaysia and Singapore, the Philippines will also expand its franchise businesses into the country. The Philippine Franchise Association chairman Samie Lim said there were currently five Philippines&#8217; franchises already operating in the country, which range from retail to service sector, such as Penshoppe, Potato Corner and Crystal Clear Water Store.

&#8220;We are aware of ASEAN Economic Community and we expect to expand to other ASEAN countries, Indonesia is our top priority considering the huge market population and similarities we share,&#8221; he added.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Franchise Association (AFI) chairman Anang Sukandar said that Indonesia was indeed a huge market for everyone, but he was afraid franchising business at home would be dominated by foreign firms.

&#8220;We have less than 15 franchisors going global, but there are a lot more foreign franchisors coming in. I think lack of support from the government is still a problem for potential franchisors to expand their business abroad,&#8221; he added.

Both Malaysian and Singaporean franchisors enjoyed support from their respective governments. The Malaysian government provides four percent interest rate-loans for their local franchisors and gives financial assistance for those willing to go global. Meanwhile, the Singaporean government provides grants of between 50 to 70 percent of needed fund for local franchisors willing to go global as well as free business consultancy.

Indonesia&#8217;s franchising business has grown during the first several years. As of last year, there were more than 2,000 franchises including licensed business opportunities (BOS), more than double from two years previously with an estimated combined revenue of Rp 115 trillion (US$11.74 billion), or up 15 percent up from a year earlier, according to statistics from the Indonesian Committee for Franchises and Licenses (WALI). (koi)

More ASEAN franchises invade Indonesian market | The Jakarta Post

*The ASEAN way of consensus based decisions remains a valid approach*
By Rupa Damodaran


KUALA LUMPUR: The ASEAN way of consensus based decisions remains a valid approach despite the fast changing landscape and challenges in the region.

Brunei's second minister of foreign affairs and trade Peihin Lim Jock Seng said the 10-member ASEAN grouping to gether with its three dialogue members namely Japan, China and Korea, have promoted peace and stability through this process.

&#8220;Whatever we do (with the dialogue partners), the de cisions must also benefit the people by reducing poverty and creating employment,&#8221;he said, during a luncheon address on &#8220;Rethinking ASEAN and its responses to a changing Asia- Pacific&#8221;.

Lim however admitted that frustrations do arise but at the end of the day, it was important for the grouping to keep the `within the family'.

&#8220;There are minus x or plus x situations in certain situations but when it comes to fundamentals, it is resolved by way of consensus.&#8221;

He was asked how the ASEAN grouping is able to resolve issues with its `non interference in each others affairs' and different political systems.

One of the success stories of the regional grouping was the cooperation that followed the SARS pandemic and also the creation of the Chiangmai Initiative following the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

Lim was also confident that the `rising temperatures' in the maritime areas in the region can be cooled using the mechanism under a multilateral framework like the recently formed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The first round of RCEP talks which involved 16 Asia- Pacific nations &#8211; which involves ASEAN countries and its partners namely Japan, China, Korea, India, New Zealand and Japan, was concluded in Brunei last month.

Once concluded in 2015, it will serve as one of the largest trading blocs in the world with a 3.4 billion population and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$21.4 trillion

Read more: The ASEAN way of consensus based decisions remains a valid approach - Latest - New Straits Times The ASEAN way of consensus based decisions remains a valid approach - Latest - New Straits Times


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## Malaya

*22ND WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ON EAST ASIA*
*Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia and Philippines agree to work on ASEAN common visa*

NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar &#8211; Ministers and tourism authorities of Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines have expressed their intention to collaborate with relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to facilitate travel in the region by developing a common smart visa system, and have signed the &#8220;Statement of Intent on SMART Visa&#8221; today at the 22nd World Economic Forum on East Asia. The meeting is taking place in Nay Pyi Taw from 5 to 7 June.

&#8220;By signing this letter of intent, ministers and tourism authorities agree to work hand-in-hand for the implementation of this system, whose objective will be that of eliminating those barriers to the movement of tourists which are currently creating disincentives to travel. Such objectives will be achieved in close coordination with the governmental entities in each of their respective countries,&#8221; said U Htay Aung, Union Minister of Hotels and Tourism of Myanmar. The statement of intent forms a part of joint efforts to improve growth of the national and regional travel and tourism sectors along with social integration.

More specifically, ministers of tourism have agreed to collaborate on working towards the ASEAN Common Visa initiative as called upon by leaders at the ASEAN Summit, which took place in Jakarta in November 2011. It also builds on the single visa scheme for tourism travel between Cambodia and Thailand, which was implemented on 1 January 2013. Progressive relaxation and an ASEAN common visa would also benefit non-ASEAN nationals who intend to visit the ASEAN countries.

According to Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, &#8220;Considering that tourism is a priority sector under the ASEAN Economic Community and that it constitutes a significant contribution to the integration of ASEAN countries, it is important to be &#8216;smart&#8217; about visa facilitation for travel.&#8221; Given the experience of other countries and regions, it is expected that ASEAN countries will also experience the positive impact of implementing a smart visa on the growth of the tourism sector, increased investments in the travel and tourism industry, and job creation.

&#8220;By recognizing the importance of the connectivity in tourism activities, the statement of intent expresses our desire to give a boost to the tourism sector by facilitating the movement of tourists across borders; by going towards a smart visa through adopting best practices; and maximizing the use of technology to reduce the inefficiencies of the traditional visa application process,&#8221; stated Ramon R. Jimenez Jr, Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines.

The statement of intent was signed during the World Economic Forum&#8217;s Travel & Tourism High-Level meeting held today under the theme &#8220;Building Myanmar's Travel & Tourism Industry: Driving Growth and Job Creation&#8221;. &#8220;Facilitating travel to stimulate economic growth and job creation is one of the pillars of the summit, and is a core activity of the Forum&#8217;s Industry Partners and Members of the Global Agenda Council on New Models for Travel & Tourism,&#8221; said Thea Chiesa, Director, World Economic Forum.

Over 900 participants from 55 countries are taking part in the World Economic Forum on East Asia, which is being held for the first time in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The meeting welcomes over 100 public figures representing 15 countries, including heads of state or government of Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam. More than 550 business leaders, over 60 Global Growth Companies and nearly 300 young leaders from Young Global Leaders and Global Shapers communities, together with other members of civil society, academia and media are convening to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Myanmar and East Asia today.

22nd World Economic Forum on East Asia Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia and Philippines agree to work ...


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## Malaya

*S. Korea hints at trilateral FM talks with U.S., China at ASEAN forum*

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is studying the possibility of holding trilateral talks with top diplomats from the United States and China on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Brunei later this month, a diplomatic source said Monday.

The move comes as North Korea issued a surprise proposal for talks with the U.S. on Sunday, after months of raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula following its third nuclear test early this year.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have been invited to attend the 27-member, three-day ASEAN Regional Forum, which will be hosted by Brunei on June 30.

"The government's stance is to hold multilateral meetings with relevant nations in the wake of the ASEAN Regional Forum," the source said on the condition of anonymity.

"Under the current circumstance, it would be very useful if a South Korea-U.S.-China meeting is held," the source said.

However, it remains uncertain whether top diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and China could hold a trilateral meeting since such talks have never taken place so far.

Responding to the North's offer of dialogue, the U.S. said it has been open to talks with Pyongyang, but the North must comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions and live up to its international obligations.

In a statement, U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said, "Our desire is to have credible negotiations with the North Koreans, but those talks must involve North Korea living up to its obligations to the world, including compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions, and ultimately result in denuclearization."

"We will judge North Korea by its actions, and not its words and look forward to seeing steps that show North Korea is ready to abide by its commitments and obligations," Hayden said.

Ahead of summit talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping early this month, North Korea offered talks with South Korea.

But Pyongyang's dialogue offer with Seoul, which would have been the first of its kind in years, was scuttled last week due to disputes over who would represent the two sides.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Xi are scheduled to hold their first summit in Beijing later this month. China has expressed frustration against its wayward ally North Korea, particularly after the North's third nuclear test in February.

S. Korea hints at trilateral FM talks with U.S., China at ASEAN forum | YONHAP NEWS


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## Malaya

*It' time to put ASEAN on the map amid EU meltdown*
By Jaspal Bindra (Shanghai Daily)
June 17, 2013 

As demand slumps in debt-ridden Europe, the ASEAN region looks increasingly attractive for profit-hungry British corporates.

Recent data showed a 5.8 percent drop in UK exports to the European Union, underscoring the need for British businesses to look elsewhere for growth. Many have already done so - a good example being Diageo, the world's biggest drinks company, which famously set its sights on generating half its turnover in faster-growing markets by 2015. At 42 percent, it has nearly reached this mark, two years ahead of time.

Often forgotten in the excitement about China and India, the Association of South East Asian Nations is widely seen as the big growth story of 2013. Its prospects are the stuff of envy for struggling Western economies: rising incomes and spending, an abundant workforce and GDP growth easily outstripping the global average. 

On top of this, ASEAN boasts a wide array of strengths: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are rich in natural resources. Countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam are strong contenders as alternative manufacturing bases to China, and Singapore is one of world's most sophisticated hubs for business and financial services. When Rolls-Royce invested in its first big aerospace manufacturing facility outside the UK, it chose to do so in the city state, making this ASEAN member its gateway to the fast-growing markets of Asia.

If it were a single economy, ASEAN (which also counts Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar) would be the world's ninth largest by GDP - bigger than India and Russia - and its third most populous with 600 million people. 

A growing center of trade, ASEAN is increasingly where the action is, with corporates busy setting up distribution, sourcing and manufacturing to capture opportunities within the 10 markets and more widely across Asia. Strategically placed across important new trade corridors, ASEAN is part of the world's biggest regional trade agreement (measured by population) with China, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. This ASEAN plus six grouping represents around a third of the world's GDP and almost half of its population. 

Between 2005 and 2010, intra-ASEAN trade surged 55 percent, and ASEAN trade with the rest of Asia has continued to grow strongly. 

In 2011, China overtook the EU as ASEAN's largest trading partner, emphasizing the attractiveness of ASEAN as a hub from which to connect with customers across Asia. Another good reason to put ASEAN on the map: it is on a path to economic convergence, with plans for an ASEAN economic community by 2015. While the plans are ambitious and some concrete achievements are needed to solidify momentum for ASEAN integration, trade is already one successful aspect.

*Room for growth*

The 10 members have come a long way since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Lower debt, stronger banking sectors and more robust balances of payments all help to cushion ASEAN against external shocks, as evident during the latest crisis. The Philippines was just upgraded to investment grade, following in the footsteps of Indonesia last year. And despite outperforming the rest of the world for years, ASEAN still has plenty of room for growth, with trade, a growing middle class, burgeoning consumerism and urbanization all acting as strong drivers.

Standard Chartered believes urbanization alone could yield a tripling of ASEAN's GDP per capita, and help it outpace global growth for years to come, as the less urbanized parts of ASEAN catch up with the likes of Singapore and Malaysia. This year, ASEAN growth is expected to reach 5.3 percent, against IMF's 3.3 percent forecast for the world. Not surprisingly, given the state of economies in the West, foreign investor confidence in the region has been growing steadily, with ASEAN attracting 7.6 percent of global foreign direct investment in 2011, up from 4.3 percent in 2006.

The recent efforts of Myanmar - once the world's biggest rice exporter - to reconnect with the world economy further strengthens ASEAN as a trade bloc and attractive base for multinationals including UK corporates. This year Standard Chartered has re-entered Yangon after a decade's absence. To us, as to many others, ASEAN and the wider Asia region is becoming increasingly important to our business. 

As ever, nothing can be taken for granted. The 10 ASEAN member nations are very different, challenges remain on the path to economic integration and sustained growth is dependent on the right mix of fundamentals, policy and confidence. But, for now, all the excitement about ASEAN is well founded and UK corporates would do well to put the region on the map. 

It' time to put ASEAN on the map amid EU meltdown - People's Daily Online


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## Malaya

*Asean links with the Middle East*
Gregor Stuart Hunter
Jun 17, 2013 

*What is the asset class and geography you are focused on?*

Equities in the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Asean shares some similarities with the Middle East. The population is pretty young. What's going on in Asean is that we're seeing signs of a huge infrastructure boom across many of their markets, which many Middle Eastern investors can identify with. A lot of Middle Eastern people have been to Asean - Malaysia receives a lot of Middle Eastern tourists, and Thai hospitals get a lot of Middle Eastern patients.

*What is the outlook for the month ahead in your opinion?*

There might be some volatility. If you look at the performance year-to-date of these markets, they've all done phenomenally well. We've already seen one round of profit-taking in markets like the Philippines, but the recovery has been extremely fast. A lot of investors just want to buy the dips because the fundamentals are so strong. There's a lot of money waiting on the sidelines. Year-to-date, foreigners have been net sellers.

*What are the main risks (either upside or downside) to the outlook?*

We think that the stronger US dollar is a reflection of the US economy. This should ultimately be positive for Asean economies. The strong US dollar sometimes has a negative correlation with Asian markets, but we don't necessarily think that this should be negative for South East Asian markets. We worry about a flood of hot money into this region. The regulators in the region have the memories of the Asian financial crisis still in their heads so they're always very worried about asset bubbles and hot capital inflows. But they don't want harsh capital controls to scare aware foreign investors.

*What is the best investment at the moment in your opinion?*

There aren't too many high profile names in South East Asia. A number of these companies are still emerging, so you don't have big sophisticated companies - yet.What's happening in South East Asia is a strong domestic demand story which has gained a lot of momentum over the past few years. There's a growing middle-class population. A lot of industries which once would not have been viable now become viable, like convenience stores and supermarkets. This region is becoming a lot more vibrant and a lot stronger. As this region becomes more integrated, it is more and more resilient against external shocks. As trade barriers and tarriffs fall it becomes more efficient &#8230; the investment opportunities become greater and I would think that growth becomes more sustainable and entrenched.

*What was the best investment you were ever involved in?*

What we did really well was to identify very good long-term thematics in the healthcare industry, and healthcare stocks in Thailand. We could see that one company we invested in was a consolidator, which was consolidating in a growth market.

*What was the worst?*

We did miss out on the very strong yield compression trade in 2011. We missed out a lot of the very high yielding stocks, the Thai telcoms in particular. We were resistant, in that there was a lot of flip-flop in the regulatory environment. We have since corrected some of that.

Asean links with the Middle East - The National

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## Malaya

*Asean and navigating the reefs*
By FINTAN NG

NO, this is not about the consensus-building process that Asean is famous or infamous for. It's about finding common ground where the region's interests are concerned but not through a process which may not be as effective.

One glaring example of how ineffective the Asean way is can be found in the disputes between China and Asean over the South China Sea. However, supporters of this slow process of consensus-building still believe in it.

&#8220;It's frustrating but it works,&#8221; is how Brunei's second minister of foreign affairs and trade Pehin Lim Jock Seng described the Asean way during a luncheon talk held at the 27th Asia Pacific Roundtable two weeks ago.

But consensus was sorely lacking last July when Asean failed for the first time in its history to issue a joint statement following a foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia over how to deal with China's claims in the South China Sea.

Analysts pointed the finger at host country Cambodia, which insisted that the dispute not be mentioned in the statement. China has considerable commercial interests in the country and is Asean's largest trade partner.

This disunity has also meant that China can insist on bilateral talks with member states which it has a dispute with instead of multilateral talks.

Meanwhile, the resurgent US interest in the region will complicate matters. Inevitably there will be a clash between China and US interests. There are some who are wary of the renewed US interest in the region and feel that Beijing can balance out Washington.

Ambassador Christopher Hill, a former assistant secretary of state said at the same roundtable that no one should be made to choose between China and the United States.

Therefore, how should Asean go about forging a new way? Perhaps the answer lies in history. In 1948, Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice-president, said in a speech to that country's national committee that Indonesian diplomacy should be based on two pillars anti-colonialism and an independent as well as active foreign policy.

The days of colonialism or even neo-colonialism is over but the second pillar of an independent and active foreign policy is still relevant.

Hatta's speech was titled &#8220;Mendajung Antara Dua Karang&#8221; or &#8220;Rowing Between Two Reefs&#8221;. Asean's two reefs are China and the United States.

Nobody is saying that Asean member states should surrender their sovereignty over foreign policy but Hatta's speech is still relevant today and perhaps lessons can be learned and common ground found for the good of the region.

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## Malaya

*Asean economic ministers enhance trade ties with US*
Wednesday 19th of June 2013 

MANILA, June 19 (PIA) -- A high-level Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) delegation visited the United States on June 10-14 to further enhance trade and investment relations between the two sides. 

The delegation, led by Second Minister Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei, composed of economic ministers from Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines; vice-ministers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam; and senior officials from Asean countries. 

The delegation visited Los Angeles specifically the Port of Los Angeles which is the main gateway for trade between Asean and the US, San Francisco (Silicon Valley), and Washington D.C., as well as multinational corporations Fox Studios, Covidien, Mattel, and Google. They also held consultations with the private sector including venture capitalists. 

The delegation met with top US government officials, including Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, Acting US Trade Representative; Cameron Kerry, Acting Secretary of Commerce; and Francisco Sanchez, Undersecretary of Commerce for International Affairs. The delegation also made a courtesy call to Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose and Congressman Devin Nunes at Capitol Hill. 

The total trade between Asean and the US reached US$ 198.8 billion in 2011 which made the United States the fourth largest trading partner of Asean. For investment, the United States is the third largest investor in Asean investing more than US$5.8 billion in 2011. 

&#8220;The Ministers gained better insights of the issues faced by investors through their interaction with business community and reiterated their commitment for timely realisation of an Asean Economic Community by 2015 which will create a single market and production base for them to establish new or expand existing operations in the region,&#8221; said Lim Hong Hin, Asean Deputy Secretary-General for Asean Economic Community. (Home)

PIA | Philippine Information Agency | Asean economic ministers enhance trade ties with US

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## Malaya

*Political, Economic Stability Key Factors For Asean's Economic Transformation*

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (Bernama) -- Political as well as economic stability will be key factors for the Asean economic transformation which began after the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.

The Singapore Institute of International Affairs chairman Simon SC Tay said following the crisis, Asean countries had done a lot to build the economy as well as political stability, despite being shadowed by two emerging economic giants, China and India.

"But with these two countries facing problems, more attention is now been placed on South East Asia," he said at the fifth CIMB Annual Asia Pacific Conference here Wednesday.

He was a panelist at the conference.

Simon said due to the crisis, integration amongst Asean countries had been emphasised, with more business friendly policies being developed.

However, he disagreed with nationalistic and protectionism policies, saying, it will in the end hurt the economy.

"Asean integration is imperative, particularly in the economic sector," he said.

Meanwhile, the co-founder and chief executive officer of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) Tan Sri Michael Yeoh said the Asean leadership needs to address the growing democracy challenge along with demographic and development challenges.

Also a panelist at the conference, he said while development challenges focused on the need for inclusive and sustainable development, and the demographic challenge was about an aging society, that of democracy emphasised human rights and protection.

"How Asean governments deal with this challenge is more important and crucial, when more people expect more freedom and greater human rights," he added.

The two-day conference, from today, focuses on leadership vision and strategies as Asian countries and regional businesses seek to enhance growth, adaptability and stability in a globalising and rapidly changing landscape.

-- BERNAMA

BERNAMA - Political, Economic Stability Key Factors For Asean's Economic Transformation

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## cirr

Published: Thursday June 20, 2013 MYT 11:03:00 AM

*China&#8217;s Comtec to build one of world&#8217;s largest solar wafer making plants in Kuching for RM1.2bil*

By YU JI

KUCHING: China-based Comtec Solar will build a RM1.2bil solar wafer manufacturing plant at Samajaya Free Industrial Zone near here, which will be one of the world's largest such facilities.

The factory, to be built by SinoHydro and scheduled for completion by the end of this year, will create 1,300 new jobs.

The company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said 80% of its workforce here would be Malaysians, "with most holding diplomas as field engineers and technicians," according to a press release on Thursday.

Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said at the formal launch that Comtec's entry signified international confidence in Sarawak's economy and the Samajaya Free Industrial Zone.

The industrial park, in 2009, welcomed its first solar ingot and wafer manufacturer, MEMC Electronic Materials Inc, from the US.

"Among the factors that prompted Comtec Solar to choose Sarawak was the state's competitive costs of production and attractive investment incentives," said Second Resource Planning and Environment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, who also spoke at the launch.

"At the end of 2012, Comtec Solar began to engage my ministry on its proposed investment. Within a couple of months of negotiations with the state Government, the investment was confirmed."

Comtec's entry into Samajaya is the first since another major plant, Sanmina-SCI, closed to relocate to China last year, resulting in the loss of about 1,000 jobs.

Chinas Comtec to build one of worlds largest solar wafer making plants in Kuching for RM1.2bil - Nation | The Star Online

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## ViXuyen

*Four Vietnamese students win Joint the Spirits Award from EADS*

EADS Names Join the Spirit Award Winners

Paris/Le Bourget, 18 June 2013 

EADS Innovation Works has announced the winners of its "Join the Spirit" high performance computing competition at a prize giving ceremony held during the 50th Paris Air Show.

The contest challenged graduate students from around the world to submit the fastest code to solve a problem related to aeronautics using multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) on a single computing node. The first prize went to the Kota team comprising students Thuy Diem Nguyen and Chau Khoa Pham from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The runners-up were Thai Son Nguyen and Thi Phuong Nhung Ngo, a team of two Vietnamese students studying at the University of Bolzano in Italy.

The competitors, working alone or in teams of up to three persons, were challenged to create problem-solving codes, which were tested live. They could submit their codes and compare their performance against others via an on-line leaderboard.

Join the Spirit is a contest initiative organised by EADS Innovation Works, which operates EADS' network of research laboratories. Three contests have already been launched on different topics. The aim is to stimulate innovation and promote EADS' relations with universities and their students.

Sébastien Remy, Head of EADS Innovation Works, said: We are very happy to see that there was strong participation in this contest. It shows that a new generation of computer engineers is ready to work with us and they are more than welcome.

The award ceremony took place at Le Bourget during dedicated student workshops organized by EADS. Around 25 students watched Sébastien Remy, Head of EADS Innovation Works and Yann Barbaux, Airbus Chief Innovation Officer, present the prizes to the two teams. The winners received an EADS prize of $10,000 and a quadrocopter from Parrot, a global leader in wireless devices for mobile phones. Parrot is also sponsor of the current Join the Spirit contest Find me if you can.

EADS Global Website - EADS Names

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## Reashot Xigwin

*In Search of an Asian or Asean Identity*
By KHANH VU DUC / ASIA SENTINEL| Wednesday, July 3, 2013 |






_Women stand under the Asean flag at a human rights and democracy demonstration ahead of the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov. 16, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)_

Much is made about the 21st century belonging to Asia, but what exactly does this mean? This is not a question of the region&#8217;s rising economic and political importance, but the broad strokes in which observers seem to brush over the continent is rather misleading. Talks of Asian growth are largely specific to China and Southeast Asian countries as opposed to the continent of Asia.

The confusion largely stems from the absence of any agreed definition of an Asian identity, due in part because Asians themselves are not necessarily united beyond the continent on which they inhabit. In common parlance, &#8220;Asia&#8221; is sometimes used to refer only to the peoples of East and Southeast Asia; however, Asia encompasses far more than those countries bordering or in the Pacific.

With respect to that fast economic development in Southeast Asia, the region is no less united in pursuit of prosperity and resolving territorial disputes. Asean has served as the primary vessel through which Southeast Asian nations address and manage regional concerns; however, the forum has proved rather ineffective in dealing with the South China Sea disputes. Hopes of an Asean unity may appear far off, but it is a far easier task than an Asian unity.

*The Asian Identity*

From a large portion of the Middle East and the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean, &#8220;Asian values&#8221; nonsense to the contrary, Asia cannot be defined as one language, one people, or one religion. It is not surprising that Asia is often broken down to sub-regions such as the Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia so as to better describe who and what one is discussing.

Talk of one unifying Asian identity is, at present, a hypothetical exercise given its size. If there is an Asian identity, it will be so vague as to be nonexistent. Regardless, a discussion on Asian identity does provide an opportunity to compare against Europe, no less diverse, and its successful establishment of a European identity.

Simply put, Europe, even with the broadest of generalizations, is a far more cohesive entity than Asia. There exists a quality to &#8220;being&#8221; European-born from possessing certain shared values and beliefs, a shared continental history despite language, religious, and cultural differences. Western Europe and Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and Southern Europe&#8212;though each is different, they are also similar. The relative locality of nations and their shared borders, to say nothing of their history, have undoubtedly factored into the creation of a European identity and, as a result, the establishment of the European Union.

Asia, however, is a creation of Ancient Greece and has been perpetuated since, rather than a term originating from the continent. The term has only ever been used for broad strokes as opposed to referring to a specific group of people; and as such, it is not hard to imagine why no meaningful Asian identity has been established.

Distance as a consequence of Asia&#8217;s geographic size, in addition to its colonized past, has instead limited the exchange of historical cultural interactions between Asian nations. Although modern technological advances in communication and transportation such as the Internet and air travel have essentially eliminated, if not significantly reduced, barriers between Asian countries, creating an Asian identity similar to that in Europe would be no small feat, to say nothing of a potential integrated economic zone akin to the European Union.

Despite these difficulties, the Asia Cooperative Dialogue appears to have taken the first step toward fostering pan-Asian unity. Created in 2002, the organization aims to incorporate &#8220;every Asian country and building an Asian Community without duplicating other organizations or creating a bloc against others.&#8221; Only time will tell just how effective the ACD will prove.

*An Asean Unity*

*If not Asia, then what about Asean?*

At the heart of Asia-Pacific are China and the member states of Asean; however, the future bodes ill for Asean unity. The 2012 Asean Summit in Cambodia saw for the first time in the organization&#8217;s history a failure by member states to issue a joint closing statement, due in part to disagreements over China and the South China Sea.

The apparent failures of Asean may be attributed to a combination of its diverse membership and soft touch toward confronting issues. Although there is much to respect about the Asean way, it must be said that the Asean way has thus far proved ineffective in dealing with the South China Sea disputes. If Asean is to remain relevant in the coming years, it must change to reflect the times.

First, China is no longer a peasant country as it once was during the establishment of Asean. In today&#8217;s Asia-Pacific, China is a giant. It has economic, diplomatic and military weight. Though many Asean member states (especially Vietnam and the Philippines) are apprehensive with respect to China&#8217;s increasing assertiveness in the region, they are unable to muster an appropriate response, as evidenced during the 2012 Asean Summit.

Second, Asean must recognize its limitations. The organization is without a natural leader. That every member state is equal may appear ideal, but it leaves Asean rudderless when tackling challenges such as the South China Sea disputes. Asean needs a leader, a state possessing the influence and resources necessary to muster its fellow members into action.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, for Asean to endure, it must be rooted in something deeper than economic pursuits; and as such, the organization must put forth core values on which it will build for the future. These values should include individual freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Talks of Asean unity cannot have any real hope of success without encompassing those intangible qualities that are beyond monetary value.

For the similar reasons regarding an Asian identity, Asean unity is difficult to establish due to the fact that Asean member states are quite diverse, linguistically and culturally. Southeast Asia includes a number of ethnic groups and their respective languages, and dozens of religions as diverse as Christianity and Islam to Buddhism and Confucianism. Southeast Asia is no more united in identity than Asia.

Nevertheless, Asean unity is important largely because foreign interests do not always align with those of Asean states. China cannot be expected to hold the best interest of Asean at heart, and why should it? Chinese foreign policy is explicitly Chinese. Without a common foreign policy, Asean, and Southeast Asia as a whole, will be subject to the dictations of foreign powers.

Asean must grow to be more than an organization, more than a forum for discussion. It must seek to establish and grow an identity. Southeast Asia is far too vague, too broad, to define and unite; however, Asean if given a proper mandate, can aspire to champion the causes of Southeast Asia.

Khanh Vu Duc is a lawyer and part-time law professor at the University of Ottawa who researches on Vietnamese politics, international relations and international law.

In Search of an Asian or Asean Identity | The Irrawaddy Magazine

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## Reashot Xigwin

*S&P says PHL, Indonesia continue to lead ASEAN economies*
By SIEGFRID O. ALEGADO, GMA NewsJuly 30, 2013 5:00pm


Standard & Poor&#8217;s on Tuesday raised its Philippine economic forecast for the year but cut its growth projection for Asia-Pacific as a whole and citing the impact of a slowing growth in China, the world's second largest economy.

In its report &#8220;Credit Conditions: Increased China Downside Risk Dampens Asia's Growth,&#8221; the debt-watcher revised its 2013 gross domestic product (GDP) growth outlook for the Philippines to 6.9 percent from 6.5 percent in May. 

*&#8220;The more domestically-led ASEAN economies, headed by the Philippines and Indonesia, continue to outperform the more trade-dependent newly industrialized economies,&#8221; the report read. *

The revised projection now falls within the Philippine government&#8217;s 6 to 7 percent goal this year and is slightly higher than last year&#8217;s 6.8 percent. 

The debt-watcher, however, trimmed its 2014 economic forecast for the Philippines to 6.1 percent from 6.3 percent. 

S&P sees ASEAN economies growing 5.5 percent this year before accelerating to 5.6 percent next year.

&#8220;The ASEAN sub-region will continue to be the bright spot in Asia-Pacific, owing to the larger contribution of domestic demand to growth in these economies,&#8221; the report read. 

The debt-watcher noted the downward revision for its Asia-Pacific forecast was largely prompted by cuts made in China&#8217;s economic forecast. 

&#8220;We now see real GDP growth in Asia-Pacific at 5.3 percent this year, down slightly from our 5.5 percent forecast in May,&#8221; the report read. 

S&P sees Asia-Pacific growth accelerating to 5.6 percent next year. 

&#8220;Growth in Asia-Pacific came in weaker than expected in the first half of 2013 undercut by sluggish external demand and internal growth drivers,&#8221; the report read, adding that the &#8220;main risk factor for the region is a continued slowdown in China.&#8221;

China&#8217;s growth is forecast at 7.3 percent this year and the next, slower than the 7.5 percent target of the world&#8217;s second largest economy. 

*In an interview with reporters Monday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan noted the economy will remain robust this year on domestic demand and a continued uptick in manufacturing and investments.*

*Philippine output expanded by 7.8 percent in the first quarter, the fastest in Asia, on the back of strong domestic demand and rising investments. &#8212; VS, GMA News*

S&P says PHL, Indonesia continue to lead ASEAN economies | Economy | GMA News Online

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## Nike

*Can Asean last another 
50 years?*

BA Hamzah, The Nation/ANN, Bangkok | World | Wed, July 31 2013, 5:51 PM

Malaysia's Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed caught me off-guard with his recent remarks on the lack of awareness of Asean integration plans among those surveyed by the Asean Secretariat. However, on closer examination of the Report, "Surveys on the Asean Community Building Effort, 2012", the situation doesn't appear to be that gloomy.

The regional grouping will celebrate its golden jubilee in 2017, but we can only guess whether there will be a centennial celebration for Asean in 2067. After all, predicting Asean's future or destiny is a very delicate proposition. William Shakespeare reminds us, "it is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves".

In "Vanished Kingdoms", Professor Norman Davies of Oxford reminds us that power is transient. He writes: "Sooner or later all things come to an end. &#8230; All states and nations, however great, bloom for a season and are replaced."

It is no small feat for Asean to have bloomed for almost 50 years; the League of Nations lasted only for 39 years. Will Asean face the same destiny as the European kingdoms in Norman Davies' book, or the League of Nations? Your guess is as good as mine.

Some leaders are overtly obsessed with keeping the Asean experiment alive forever. As a part of the 1967 generation, like many, having enjoyed the peace dividends, I am appreciative of Asean. I witnessed many crises in the region before the group's founding fathers summoned the moral courage to design Asean as the architecture for Southeast Asian political security and peace.

Countries in the region have been through crisis after crisis, some spilling over into neighbouring states. For Indonesia, the Sukarno-inspired confrontation against Malaysia, for example, forced some of us to join the military. The American war in Indochina has also scarred our history.

I have the impression that the successful Asean experiment to establish political security has lulled us, made us complacent and ignorant of the region's dark past. Asean was formed primarily for political and security reasons. Today, while acknowledging the value of political cooperation, Asean leaders put more emphasis on economic and cultural links.

Despite the so-far mostly successful experiment in regionalism, should our present leaders continue to indoctrinate and compel the immediate generation to demand that the generation of 2067 keeps Asean intact? Are we not being over-presumptuous to suggest that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander?

Is it ethical to impose our values on future generations? Should the current generation decide on the shape and destiny of Asean in 2067? Winston Churchill put it elegantly when he said, "The empires of the future are the empires of the mind." Of course, the minds of future generations will have to determine what they wish to do with Asean.

The Chinese have a saying: If you are planning for one year, plant rice. If you are planning for a decade, plant trees. If you are planning for a century, invest in education. In the Churchillian sense, education is about moulding critical minds. Education that broadens the minds of citizens is critical to the destiny of Asean. All Asean countries should educate, not indoctrinate, their citizens on the importance of Asean for regional security, trade and cultural exchange.

Quo vadis Asean in a new geo-political environment? The US, China, India and Japan have "returned" to the region. The footprints of their rivalry are everywhere, in the South China Sea and in the Straits of Malacca.

In a transformed regional geo-political outlook, the strategic value of Asean has declined. With the big powers back in the region, competing for influence and primacy, and the proliferation of new regional security and economic institutions, Asean has lost its centrality and near-monopoly over regional security.

Regional maritime security, for example, is now subject to very intricate power plays between the external powers and client states. If leaders do not read the tea leaves properly, we will become pawns in the big power games once again.

The future of Asean is for the generations to decide. They may wish to be part of a larger community, like the East Asia Community. We can only hope they will decide wisely. They may wish to ponder George Santayana's dictum that "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

BA Hamzah is a Malaysian scholar on regional affairs.

Can Asean last another 50 years? | The Jakarta Post
This will became a nice discussions wether or not ASEAN will be lasting for a long time

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## EastSea

*Hoang Thanh Trang is European Women&#8217;s Chess Champion*

Aug 3, 2013
Hungarian Grandmaster Hoang Thanh Trang drew her last round game against the former continental champion Viktorija Cmilyte (Lithuania) to secure the first place in the tournament and claim the title of 2013 European Women&#8217;s Chess Champion.
Trang played very well throughout the event, scoring seven victories and conceding only four draws for a total of 9 points from 11 games.
She cemented the lead after beating the defending champion Valentina Gunina in round 8 and proceeded to defeat former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in round 10.
Trang rating performance was 2663 and she earned 26 elo-points.






GM Hoang Thanh Trang has double Citizenships, Vietnamese and Hungarian.

Six players shared the second place with 8,0 points each: IM Salome Melia GEO 2428, IM Lilit Mkrtchian ARM 2454, GM Viktorija Cmilyte LTU 2497, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk RUS 2489, IM Bela Khotenashvili GEO 2512 and GM Monika Socko POL 2435.
Acording to tie-breaks, Melia won the silver medal, while Mkrtchian earned the bronze.
The 14th European Individual Women&#8217;s Chess Championship was held from 23rd July to 3rd August in Belgrade, Serbia.
A total of 168 players from 35 countries competed in the Championship (Ksenija Tomin, who is listed to make 169, did not play a single game). The number of participants is equal to the 10th European Women&#8217;s Championship which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 2009.

*Final standings:*
1. GM Hoang Thanh Trang HUN 2467 &#8211; 9
2. IM Melia Salome GEO 2428 &#8211; 8
3. IM Mkrtchian Lilit ARM 2454 &#8211; 8
4. GM Cmilyte Viktorija LTU 2497 &#8211; 8
5. GM Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS 2489 &#8211; 8
6. IM Khotenashvili Bela GEO 2512 &#8211; 8
7. GM Socko Monika POL 2435 &#8211; 8
8. WGM Kashlinskaya Alina RUS 2334 &#8211; 7.5
9. WGM Arabidze Meri GEO 2320 &#8211; 7.5
10. WGM Pogonina Natalija RUS 2478 &#8211; 7.5
11. WGM Kovanova Baira RUS 2371 &#8211; 7.5
12. GM Muzychuk Anna SLO 2594 &#8211; 7.5
13. WGM Girya Olga RUS 2437 &#8211; 7.5
14. GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2497 &#8211; 7.5
15. WGM Ozturk Kubra TUR 2293 &#8211; 7.5
16. GM Cramling Pia SWE 2523 &#8211; 7.5
17. IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2465 &#8211; 7.5
18. IM Atalik Ekaterina EUR 2430 &#8211; 7.5
19. IM Milliet Sophie FRA 2396 &#8211; 7.5
20. GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan SCO 2385 &#8211; 7.5
21. IM Kovalevskaya Ekaterina RUS 2407 &#8211; 7
22. WGM Daulyte Deimante LTU 2363 &#8211; 7
23. IM Guramishvili Sopiko GEO 2421 &#8211; 7
24. GM Lagno Kateryna UKR 2542 &#8211; 7
25. GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2507 &#8211; 7
26. GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2558 &#8211; 7
27. IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2393 &#8211; 7
28. GM Kosintseva Tatiana RUS 2528 &#8211; 7
29. IM Matnadze Ana ESP 2412 &#8211; 7
30. GM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2471 &#8211; 7
31. IM Bodnaruk Anastasia RUS 2440 &#8211; 7
32. IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2454 &#8211; 7
33. WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra RUS 2401 &#8211; 6.5
34. WGM Ziaziulkina Nastassia BLR 2321 &#8211; 6.5
35. IM Khurtsidze Nino GEO 2443 &#8211; 6.5
36. WGM Schleining Zoya GER 2368 &#8211; 6.5
37. IM Savina Anastasia RUS 2368 &#8211; 6.5
38. IM Romanko Marina RUS 2368 &#8211; 6.5
39. IM Peptan Corina-Isabela ROU 2439 &#8211; 6.5
40. WIM Schut Lisa NED 2277 &#8211; 6.5
41. WGM Mammadova Gulnar AZE 2322 &#8211; 6.5
42. WGM Voicu-Jagodzinsky Carmen ROU 2296 &#8211; 6.5
43. WGM Zawadzka Jolanta POL 2393 &#8211; 6.5
44. WGM Yildiz Betul Cemre TUR 2287 &#8211; 6.5
45. IM Vega Gutierrez Sabrina ESP 2402 &#8211; 6.5
46. WGM Kochetkova Julia SVK 2328 &#8211; 6.5
47. WGM Majdan-Gajewska Joanna POL 2375 &#8211; 6.5
48. IM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2484 &#8211; 6.5
49. IM Sedina Elena ITA 2313 &#8211; 6.5
50. WGM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2405 &#8211; 6.5
51. Ibrahimova Sabina AZE 2168 &#8211; 6.5
52. IM Ovod Evgenija RUS 2386 &#8211; 6.5
53. WGM Shadrina Tatiana RUS 2377 &#8211; 6.5
54. IM Purtseladze Maka GEO 2349 &#8211; 6
55. IM Lomineishvili Maia GEO 2351 &#8211; 6
56. WGM Charochkina Daria RUS 2326 &#8211; 6
57. WIM Olsarova Tereza CZE 2203 &#8211; 6
58. WGM Ivakhinova Inna RUS 2291 &#8211; 6
59. WGM Makropoulou Marina GRE 2220 &#8211; 6
60. WGM Chelushkina Irina SRB 2265 &#8211; 6
61. WGM Sandu Mihaela ROU 2237 &#8211; 6
62. WGM Cosma Elena-Luminita ROU 2329 &#8211; 6
63. IM Galojan Lilit ARM 2320 &#8211; 6
64. WGM Kursova Maria ARM 2351 &#8211; 6
65. WIM Hairapetian Anna ARM 2214 &#8211; 6
66. WIM Abdulla Khayala AZE 2241 &#8211; 6
67. WGM Melamed Tatjana GER 2384 &#8211; 6
68. WIM Mikadze Miranda GEO 2314 &#8211; 6
69. WIM Franciskovic Borka CRO 2277 &#8211; 6
70. WIM Nikoladze Sopio GEO 2163 &#8211; 6
71. WGM Dolzhikova Olga NOR 2244 &#8211; 6
72. WIM Berke Ana CRO 2145 &#8211; 6
73. WIM Balaian Alina RUS 2237 &#8211; 6
74. IM Klinova Masha ISR 2322 &#8211; 6
75. WGM Srebrnic Ana SLO 2203 &#8211; 6
76. WGM Molchanova Tatjana RUS 2296 &#8211; 5.5
77. WIM Rakic Marija SRB 2294 &#8211; 5.5
78. WIM Bronnikova Elizaveta RUS 2245 &#8211; 5.5
79. IM Gvetadze Sofio GEO 2341 &#8211; 5.5
80. WIM Tarasova Viktoriya RUS 2300 &#8211; 5.5
81. WIM Styazhkina Anna RUS 2242 &#8211; 5.5
82. WGM Papp Petra HUN 2276 &#8211; 5.5
83. WFM Cherednichenko Elena UKR 2167 &#8211; 5.5
84. WIM Umudova Nargiz AZE 2253 &#8211; 5.5
85. WIM Vega Gutierrez Belinda ESP 2148 &#8211; 5.5
86. WIM Isgandarova Khayala TUR 2219 &#8211; 5.5
87. Martynkova Olena UKR 1851 &#8211; 5.5
88. Azimova Karina RUS 2037 &#8211; 5.5
89. WGM Mamedjarova Zeinab AZE 2256 &#8211; 5.5
90. WIM Eric Jovana SRB 2223 &#8211; 5.5
91. WGM Zakurdjaeva Irina RUS 2291 &#8211; 5.5
92. WIM Baraeva Marina RUS 2185 &#8211; 5.5
93. WGM Kaps Darja SLO 2235 &#8211; 5.5
94. WIM Drljevic Ljilja SRB 2187 &#8211; 5.5
95. WGM Manakova Maria SRB 2351 &#8211; 5.5
96. WGM Benderac Ana SRB 2225 &#8211; 5.5
97. IM Foisor Cristina-Adela ROU 2387 &#8211; 5.5
98. WFM Zarkovic Mila SRB 2070 &#8211; 5.5
99. WFM Folkova Martina CZE 2189 &#8211; 5.5
100. WFM Petrukhina Irina RUS 2190 &#8211; 5.5
101. WIM Olsarova Karolina CZE 2246 &#8211; 5
102. WIM Pavlidou Ekaterini GRE 2210 &#8211; 5
103. WGM Videnova Iva BUL 2301 &#8211; 5
104. FM Stetsko Lanita BLR 2209 &#8211; 5
105. WGM Bulmaga Irina ROU 2403 &#8211; 5
106. WGM Vojinovic Jovana SRB 2376 &#8211; 5
107. WFM Belenkaya Dina RUS 2191 &#8211; 5
108. WGM Rogule Laura LAT 2329 &#8211; 5
109. WFM Korchagina Viktoria RUS 2068 &#8211; 5
110. WFM Shulakova Svetlana RUS 2194 &#8211; 5
111. WFM Batyte Daiva LTU 2161 &#8211; 5
112. WIM Petrovic Marija SRB 2104 &#8211; 5
113. Nonkovic Bogdana SRB 2081 &#8211; 5
114. WGM Stjazhkina Olga RUS 2243 &#8211; 5
115. Kruljac Petra CRO 2092 &#8211; 5
116. WIM Kazimova Narmin AZE 2208 &#8211; 4.5
117. WFM Novkovic Julia AUT 2102 &#8211; 4.5
118. WFM Golubeva Oksana RUS 2149 &#8211; 4.5
119. Gueci Tea ITA 2018 &#8211; 4.5
120. Utiatskaja Irina RUS 2047 &#8211; 4.5
121. WFM Khalafova Narmin AZE 2107 &#8211; 4.5
122. WIM Gavasheli Ana GEO 2170 &#8211; 4.5
123. WIM Makka Ioulia GRE 2171 &#8211; 4.5
124. WIM Baraeva Irina RUS 2171 &#8211; 4.5
125. Jacimovic Sara BIH 1971 &#8211; 4.5
126. WFM Visanescu Daria-Ioana ROU 2061 &#8211; 4.5
127. Velikic Adela SRB 1992 &#8211; 4.5
128. Imeeva Aisa RUS 2079 &#8211; 4.5
129. WFM Bokuchava Madona GEO 2109 &#8211; 4.5
130. WGM Mamedjarova Turkan AZE 2267 &#8211; 4.5
131. WCM Gjergji Rozana ALB 1917 &#8211; 4.5
132. Panic Anastasija SRB 1948 &#8211; 4.5
133. Kezele Tamara SRB 1994 &#8211; 4.5
134. Nikolovska Dragana MKD 1848 &#8211; 4.5
135. Todorovic Violeta SRB 2117 &#8211; 4.5
136. WFM Miladinovic Lena SRB 2083 &#8211; 4.5
137. WIM Djukic Sandra SRB 2197 &#8211; 4.5
138. WCM Egorova Ayyyna RUS 1991 &#8211; 4
139. WFM Coimbra Margarida POR 2093 &#8211; 4
140. WFM Zivic Radmila SRB 2029 &#8211; 4
141. Serefidou Despina GRE 1971 &#8211; 4
142. Kaplan Ebru TUR 1885 &#8211; 4
143. Olea Liliana ROU 1905 &#8211; 4
144. Injac Teodora SRB 1713 &#8211; 4
145. WCM Oliveira Maria Ines POR 1978 &#8211; 4
146. Dizdarevic Barbara SRB 1981 &#8211; 4
147. Gurcan Aytolun TUR 1705 &#8211; 4
148. WFM Bogumil Tatiana RUS 2084 &#8211; 4
149. Milutinovic Stefana SRB 2035 &#8211; 3.5
150. Blagojevic Tijana MNE 2058 &#8211; 3.5
151. Bejatovic Bojana MKD 2002 &#8211; 3.5
152. WIM Vrabic Anita SLO 2112 &#8211; 3.5
153. WFM Khropova Larisa RUS 1987 &#8211; 3.5
154. WCM Cemhan Kardelen TUR 2052 &#8211; 3.5
155. Ivekovic Ivana CRO 1858 &#8211; 3.5
156. Rakic Teodora SRB 1862 &#8211; 3.5
157. Mahmutbegovic Nadina BIH 1800 &#8211; 3.5
158. Nestorovic Katarina SRB 1484 &#8211; 3.5
159. Korbovljanovic Natasa SRB 1877 &#8211; 3.5
160. Brankov Kristina SRB 1903 &#8211; 3.5
161. WIM Pihajlic Amalija SRB 1882 &#8211; 3.5
162. Rudovic Anja SRB 1549 &#8211; 3
163. WFM Paramentic Mila SRB 1936 &#8211; 3
164. Sekulovic Dusica SRB 1805 &#8211; 3
165. Milanovic Maja SRB 1969 &#8211; 2.5
166. Sarjanovic Andjela SRB 1655 &#8211; 2.5
167. WIM Velickovski-Nejkovic Maja SRB 2083 &#8211; 2
168. Jankovic Milanka SRB 1619 &#8211; 1


Hoang Thanh Trang is European Women&#8217;s Chess Champion | Chessdom

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## StarCraft_ZT

China Foreign Minister to Visit Vietnam

By Vu Trong Khanh and Nguyen Pham Muoi

HANOI&#8212;Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will start a Vietnam visit Saturday to boost bilateral ties, amid disputes over territories in the South China Sea between China and other countries in the region.

Mr. Wang Yi will meet his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh on Sunday, before meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the General Secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong on Monday, Vietnam&#8217;s Foreign Ministry said.

China, Vietnam and other countries in the region have been embroiled in long-standing territorial disputes over parts of the South China Sea, including the mineral-rich Spratly and Paracel Islands.

&#8220;The visit is aimed at promoting the implementation of the agreements reached during the recent China visit by Vietnam&#8217;s President Truong Tan Sang and the 6th meeting of the Vietnam &#8211; China Bilateral Cooperation Committee,&#8221; spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luong Thanh Nghi, told The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Nghi said the two ministers will discuss international and regional issues, as well as ways to deepen cooperation between the two countries, especially in economic relation.

This will be the second time the two foreign ministers meet in less than two months. They met in Beijing June 20 when Mr. Pham Binh Minh escorted Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang in his first visit to China.

&#8220;Both sides believed that while working together to safeguard the stability of the South China Sea, they should try every way to properly handle the South China Sea issue and strengthen maritime cooperation,&#8221; the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the two ministers met in June.

Vietnam has several times this year accused Chinese vessels of harassing its fishermen in what it calls the East Sea, also known as the South China Sea.

In the latest incident in July, Vietnam accused crew members of a Chinese vessel of searching two Vietnamese fishing boats in waters near the Paracel Islands, beating the fishermen and taking away their personal items.
&#8220;This has violated Vietnamese sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago (also known as the Paracel Islands)&#8230;and violates the spirit of treating fishermen in a humane manner and international laws,&#8221; Mr. Nghi said in a statement on the ministry&#8217;s website July 18.

Mr. Nghi said Vietnam lodged a formal complaint with the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi over the incident, adding that Vietnam has requested an investigation by the Chinese and compensation for the fishermen&#8217;s losses.

Former Vietnamese general consular to China Duong Danh Dy said Mr. Wang&#8217;s visit is aimed at easing tensions between the two countries after Vietnam and other countries have recently urged China to agree on early negotiations for a code of conduct in the South China Sea dispute.

&#8220;Though Vietnam and China are close neighbors, Mr. Wang only visits Vietnam after he has visited four other Asean countries since he took office in March,&#8221; Mr. Dy said. Mr. Wang has visited Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei during this period.

In May, Vietnam accused a Chinese vessel of ramming a fishing boat in its waters. In March, it also accused a Chinese vessel of firing at a Vietnamese fishing boat and burning its cabin.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry had disputed the allegations in March, saying that &#8220;relevant Chinese parties&#8221; had taken &#8220;proper and reasonable actions&#8221; against illegal fishing activity.

China has had de facto control of the Paracels since it seized them from South Vietnam in a brief conflict in 1974. In July last year, Beijing established a new city, Shansha, with its own garrison on the island of Yongxing to administer the islands.

In the trade front, Vietnam has been struggling to reduce its trade deficit with China, which has been eating into its already-thin foreign exchange reserves. Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of $16.4 billion with China in 2012, or more than 10% of Vietnam&#8217;s gross domestic product. This widened from a $13.5 billion trade deficit in 2011.


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## Viet

szft517 said:


> China Foreign Minister to Visit Vietnam
> 
> By Vu Trong Khanh and Nguyen Pham Muoi
> ...
> 
> In the trade front, Vietnam has been struggling to reduce its trade deficit with China, which has been eating into its already-thin foreign exchange reserves. Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of *$16.4 billion* with China in 2012, or more than 10% of Vietnam&#8217;s gross domestic product. This widened from a $13.5 billion trade deficit in 2011.


Vietnam must put more pressure on China on the economic front, aiming to reduce this deficit. This trade gap is not sustainable in the long run.


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## StarCraft_ZT

Viet said:


> Vietnam must put more pressure on China on the economic front, aiming to reduce this deficit. This trade gap is not sustainable in the long run.



I thought China has the deficit before. _From your side_, if you want to give more pressure, you should first make your product more competitive and then balance your trade structure. Vietnam import machine&equipment, steel product, and some raw materials from China, while export cloth, marine products, electronic and rice. Generally speaking, _you import the raw materials and then use the raw materials to make products to be exported to China and other countries in the future_. That is where Vietnam's deficit comes from. In the long run, it is dangerous. You should make products that cannot be surpassed, like Japan's SLR and vehicles. But, it's my impression that Vietnam performs a good job than other ASEAN countries recently.

As far as I know, my uncle's brick factory located in north China has a good relationship with Vietnam customers. They are honest business men I can see. They have been importing bricks and other raw materials from my uncle. And the chemical fertilizer factory in my hometown city also export product to Vietnam. They are all in north China, I think south China provinces have more economic ties with Vietnam.

I suggest Vietnam develops shipbuilding industry with great great great effort. Because this is a big and comprehensive industry that requires integration with other advanced industries, such as steel, chemical engineering, electronic mechanical and sea exploration. Ocean economy should be your advantage.  I said too much...I forget our island dispute. Whatever, the whole shipbuilding industry will have an incentive and positive influence on your whole industry department and pull your overall heavy industry up to a high level. Now, China, S.Korea and Japan have advantage in this industry, as a coastal country, Vietnam also has the potential to share the market.

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## Viet

@szft517

China started the economic reform since 1978, while Vietnam came later by 1986. It is not only this time gap from 8 years that makes huge difference between the two countries. China´s economy today is probably 15 years ahead of Vietnam. The matter is even worse as the gap increases year by year as the growth rate of China is much higher than Vietnam. 

One of the main reasons for this as when Vietnam started rebuilding the country, she came from zero...devastated by three Indochina wars and economic failures. Vietnam economy constantly lacks of money and expertise ever since. Unlike China, Vietnam is small, does not have a huge basis of Overseas Chinese, compared to the number of 3ml Overseas Viets.

It is very hard for Vietnam to compete with China in manufactured products as China is more advanced. Vietnam may find some niches, but it does not change the whole picture. As for the trade deficit, Vietnam must export more farm products to China as our products such as rice, fish, shrimps, etc... are much cheaper and some of better quality. 

For example, China imports from Vietnam more than 1ml ton of rice at present. Why not double or triple the amount to 3ml per year? You can enjoy cheap rice (side affect: move helps keep inflation under controll) and help Vietnam a bit to reduce the deficit.

In Vietnam, there is a strong sentiment against China´s trade practice. Many people feel you don´t play fair. A lot of story tell on how you only seek your benefits and leave scorched earth back. That is not good for a close neighborship considering how complicated our common history is.

You are right at the point suggesting Vietnam develops shipbuilding industry and other advanced industries, such as steel, chemical engineering, electronic mechanical and sea exploration. But all takes time. Luckiky Japan is committed to helping Vietnam in achieving the goal to become an industrialized nation in 2020. We will see how far we can go. It is quite ambitious.

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## StarCraft_ZT

Viet said:


> @szft517
> 
> China started the economic reform since 1978, while Vietnam came later by 1986. It is not only this time gap from 8 years that makes huge difference between the two countries. China´s economy today is probably 15 years ahead of Vietnam. The matter is even worse as the gap increases year by year as the growth rate of China is much higher than Vietnam.



Yes, from 1978 to 1986 maybe, China established 4 special economic zone, Shenzhen, Ningbo... Before 1993, China only opened and conducted reform policy in several coastal provinces. After 1993, China opened the entire market. Although Vietnam is a little late in open and reform, your political reform is obviously ahead of China.



Viet said:


> One of the main reasons for this as when Vietnam started rebuilding the country, she came from zero...devastated by three Indochina wars and economic failures. Vietnam economy constantly lacks of money and expertise ever since. Unlike China, Vietnam is small, does not have a huge basis of Overseas Chinese, compared to the number of 3ml Overseas Viets.



Rest in peace. Yes, your are right, Vietnam does not have so many abundant natural resources and human resources to develop. Unlike, South Korea and Japan, which got most advanced technology transfer from US. After cultural revolution and great leap, China died 30 million people, GDP grows at negative numbers at that time......nobody could imagine that situation.



Viet said:


> It is very hard for Vietnam to compete with China in manufactured products as China is more advanced. Vietnam may find some niches, but it does not change the whole picture. As for the trade deficit, Vietnam must export more farm products to China as our products such as rice, fish, shrimps, etc... are much cheaper and some of better quality.



The Asian tigers seized the opportunity of western industry upgrade and transfer, you can do it too, because labor cost in China is rising dramatically, they would like to move factories to Vietnam. 



Viet said:


> For example, China imports from Vietnam more than 1ml ton of rice at present. Why not double or triple the amount to 3ml per year? You can enjoy cheap rice (side affect: move helps keep inflation under controll) and help Vietnam a bit to reduce the deficit.



Well, in Northeast China and most South China, we both grow rice. I am not a agricultural expert, so I don't no if China's rice supply is enough. Vietnam rice noodles is famous and good. Maybe you heard agriculture industrialization, it means produce advanced food product using modern equiment. You can make instant rice noodles product with different packing style and different flavor, such as Chicken, Beef... Then, Chinese people would like to buy more instant rice noodles, because such product is convenient to cook, just with some boiled water. You can get profits several times bigger than just the rice. This is just an example, you can exploit your own resources to make the best product.



Viet said:


> In Vietnam, there is a strong sentiment against China´s trade practice. Many people feel you don´t play fair. A lot of story tell on how you only seek your benefits and leave scorched earth back. That is not good for a close neighborship considering how complicated our common history is.



Even inside China, different regions and industries are not on a fair ground.



Viet said:


> You are right at the point suggesting Vietnam develops shipbuilding industry and other advanced industries, such as steel, chemical engineering, electronic mechanical and sea exploration. But all takes time. Luckiky Japan is committed to helping Vietnam in achieving the goal to become an industrialized nation in 2020. We will see how far we can go. It is quite ambitious.


Hope you can make it, since China is in the middle age of industrialization, many industrial departments in China are the same as Vietnam's. That means we are directly on the trade competition, while Japan is more advanced, Japan don't need to compete with Vietnam in primary product sector, so Japan could help you in most cases. Good luck.

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## Nike

> *Asean economies facing sharp slowdown
> *
> Paolo G. Montecillo, Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN, Manila | Business | Fri, September 06 2013, 7:59 AM
> 
> Southeast Asian economies like the Philippines face a sharp deceleration in growth as a result of a credit crunch brought on by a shift in the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve.
> 
> The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (Icaew) also warned that, although Southeast Asian economies have more stable economic foundations, the countries might also have to deal with the slowdown in ChinaSoutheast Asias largest trading partner.
> 
> While we believe that the strong underlying fundamentals for the regionmean that the onset of tighter monetary policy in the US will not trigger the currency crises we saw in the late 1990s, volatility is creating a more uncertain environment, said Icaew.
> 
> Citing a study by the Centre of Economics and Business Research, the group said that a repeat of the Asian crisis of 1997 was unlikely given the lower debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratios of the countries in the region.
> 
> But the slowdown in capital inflow is acting as a serious pressure on regional markets, said Icaew, which has 140,000 members around the world.
> 
> The report noted that the Philippines GDP growth for 2013 could hit 5.3 per cent in 2013, slowing down from the 6.8 per cent reported the year before.
> 
> The slower growth rate for the year implies a sharp deceleration in growth in the second half, following a first half expansion of 7.6 per centthe fastest in Southeast Asia.
> 
> Icaews forecast is also lower than the Philippine governments 6 to 7-per cent target for the year, and the International Monetary Funds projection of 7 per cent.
> 
> But Icaew remains optimistic, expecting the countrys growth to be higher by six-tenths of a percentage point than the average GDP expansion the Philippines has recorded in the last five years.
> 
> The Philippines has huge scope for increases in productivity. Even though the country may experience an initial lag as workers are retrained, new capital is invested and new supply chains are developed, strong growth in consumption and government spending will drive GDP up, Icaew said.
> 
> However, beyond this, high unemployment and poverty levels, as well as a need to lift interest rates in response to tighter monetary conditions in the US may drag growth down to 4.6 per cent in 2015.
> 
> Asean economies facing sharp slowdown | The Jakarta Post



I think this is will became the bad news for all of ASEAN countries community like myself


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## Viet

*ASEAN becomes key battleground for China-Japan rivalry*


2013-11-02 09:45 (GMT+8)
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1701&MainCatID=17&id=20131102000008







_Shinzo Abe at the 23rd ASEAN Summit in Brunei, Oct. 10. (Photo/Xinhua)_

Since tensions flared up again between Japan and China over disputed islands in the East China Sea last summer, the confrontation has gradually shifted from the sea and aerial fronts to strategic rivalry, with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) emerging as a key battleground.

China's president, Xi Jinping, premier, Li Keqiang, and other top officials from the country have visited nine out of 10 ASEAN member states with the exception of the Philippines since early this year. Notably, Beijing and Manila have their own territorial contentions in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile in Japan, since Shinzo Abe reassumed the post of prime minister in December last year, he and his deputy Taro Aso, foreign minister Fumio Kishida and defense minister Itsunori Onodera have also visited eight ASEAN member states. Abe now plans to visit Laos and Cambodia in mid-December, completing the goal of visiting all ASEAN member states within a year of his inauguration.

Compared with Japanese prime minister Takeo Fukuda in the 1970s, who sought to improve relations with Southeast Asian nations through Official Development Assistance (ODA), Abe's diplomacy with regards to ASEAN seems to be predicated on the strategic goal of counterbalancing China.

Abe has stepped away from past administrations' strategy of coordination and reconciliation with China, and is inclined towards following in the steps of the United States' Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy.

Japan is seeking to build a multilateral strategy cooperation net featuring the United States, Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, India and Australia through offering incentives such as economic cooperation which ostensibly aim at maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region but are in fact intended to counterbalance China's growing influence.

In 2013, Japan and ASEAN member states carried out exchange projects in a wide range of fields, including political dialogue, economy, culture, youth and tourism.

Japan's direct investment in the ASEAN bloc topped US$10 billion during the first half of the year, and the country recently promised to provide Vietnam with US$540 million in loans for infrastructure development. It is also negotiating with Vietnam, Thailand and other parties on marine cooperation and has taken the initiative to say that it is willing to provide patrol boats to Vietnam and the Philippines, who both contest parts of the South China Sea with China.

However, if viewed from the perspective of geostrategy, history or practical interests, Japan does not enjoy an edge over China. The ASEAN nations attach importance to maintaining balanced relations with their more powerful neighbors, but they will not become a pawn in the strategy to contain China that easily.

China is actively taking part in a multiple cooperation system led by ASEAN and bilateral trade has topped US$400 billion annually and is expected to touch US$1 trillion by 2020. Beijing claims that its imports will hit US$10 trillion during the next five years, with outbound investment touching US$500 billion, and overseas trips by Chinese tourists topping 400 million visits.

Given these considerable business and trade opportunities and shared interests, the ASEAN nations are unlikely to overlook them in a hurry.

As China strengthens its trade and economic cooperation with ASEAN, it has also upgraded its relations to the "good neighbor, good friend and good partner" level with countries with whom it has territorial disputes in the South China Sea, such as Vietnam and Malaysia. Indonesia has also been afforded this status and has no territorial quarrel with China. These relations are expected to gradually move towards a comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership.

For ASEAN members, the Chinese leadership's calls for a "maritime Silk Road," the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the promotion of a regional security and cooperation framework seem to have been more tangible and substantive than Japan's assistance measures.

The emergence of China is an undeniable fact and East Asian nations can only seek to strike a balance between threats and interests. The ASEAN nations may not believe Beijing's claims of not seeking hegemony, but they have at least cast away the "zero-sum" game that prevailed in the Cold War era and established a win-win and peaceful developmental pattern.

If Tokyo does not adjust its mindset and try to improve relations with Beijing, it will risk becoming even more alienated.


----------



## Reashot Xigwin

* Misunderstanding the ‘Asean Way’ *
by bunn nagara





_Forging ahead: Delegates attending a photo call at the 5th Asean–UN Summit as part of the 23rd Asean Summit in Brunei. Asean began as a highly improbable organisation but over time, Asean and its member nations have not only survived but prospered. — Bernama_




*The strength of Asean, or the effectiveness of its Secretariat, is only what its least willing member would allow it to be.*

TOO often are standard arguments repeated at international conferences, particularly those of a regional strategic nature, regardless of whether those arguments are true or correct.

There is, for example, the one about Asean’s supposedly flaccid process of consensual decision-making. But even if a demonstrably better alternative exists, which critics typically fail to identify, what assurance is there that it will work better for South-East Asia?

The efficacy of decision-making systems varies from place to place, depending on local conditions. Several notable organisations besides Asean rely on consensus, among them the permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

If reaching decisions by consensus is good enough for a core UN body tasked with ensuring peace around the world, it should be good enough for Asean. And in terms of their respective founding purposes, Asean has worked even better than the Security Council.

Among the most urgent forms of policy decision-making is dispute resolution and settlement. In this region in particular, political anthropology acknowledges the special place of consensus building in the public interest.

In littoral South-East Asian states, the processes of _musyawarah_ (consultation) and _muafakat _(consensus) are traditional norms. Their equivalents in South Pacific island culture are local group consultation and collective decision-making through consensus.

It comes as no surprise that these processes have evolved into today’s “Asean Way”. All of Asean’s original five members, and all but one (landlocked Laos) of its current 10 members, are littoral states.

Seeking and building consensus as a basis for collective decisions have strengths that are often overlooked, including by some Asean nationals. Others from outside the region are often better equipped to acknowledge those strengths.

This happened during a session on “Asean Community Building: The Road Ahead” in this year’s Asean-Australia-New Zealand (AANZ) Dialogue in Kuala Lumpur organised by ISIS Malaysia during the week.

A Vietnamese delegate belittled the Asean Way without reasoning why or offering any likely alternative. He said Asean must revise its work culture of establishing consensus among member nations.

He also argued that the Asean Secretariat had to be a policy coordinator rather than a mere “post office”. Those issues had been current in the 1990s when Vietnam joined Asean, but Asean had moved on since although still with some distance to go.

Some of the more thoughtful Australian and New Zealand delegates defended the Asean Way in terms of its achievements. Asean delegates could be as appreciative if they let themselves think through the issues first.

* Asean’s achievements are not inconsiderable. It began by bringing together five neighbouring nations, neighbours with outstanding differences in cultures, ethnicities, histories, experiences, ideologies, political systems, territorial delineations and even perceived national interests.*

Asean thus began as a highly improbable organisation, with some of its members like Malaysia having been given low chances of survival themselves by their past colonial masters. But over time, Asean and its member nations not only survived but prospered.

* Asean has since doubled its membership to include all 10 countries in the region, adding to the differences of identity among members along the way. Not only has Asean survived and grown, it is also reaching further: from key treaties to a charter, it is now aiming for full community status by 2015.*

None of these would have been possible without working through the Asean Way of mutual consultation and consensus. In a regional neighbourhood pockmarked with ideological divides, economic disparities, competing interests, mutual suspicions and (still) territorial disputes, the idea of Asean could well have floundered in 1967 without consultation and consensus.

There could easily not have been an Asean today, or ever. But how do other regional organisations currently compare with Asean?

* Neither the African Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Organisation of American States nor the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation matches Asean on comprehensiveness, inclusiveness or maturity. Meanwhile, others like Mercosur and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation look to Asean for encouragement and inspiration.*

For many years, Asean was said to be second only to the European Union in terms of success. But that was before the EU succumbed to its current economic difficulties.

Nonetheless, Asean cannot afford to be complacent or self-congratulatory. Its 45-year record is not without disappointments and frustrations. Self-criticism can be useful if it works to ensure self-improvement. Asean and its various undertakings can generally be better and more successful.

A balanced perspective on Asean, its role and its responsibilities remains in short supply. Neither unreservedly praising Asean’s virtues nor glossing over its imperfections is helpful to its cause.

At the same time, condemning some imagined flaw is no good either. But it happened in the same session on Asean Community Building, at least in the way an Indonesian delegate saw it.

She had observed that the target date for achieving full Asean Community status had been set back from January to December 2015, concluding that the delay signified a failure in Asean community building.

Unfortunately, nobody in that session mentioned that the date for establishing the Asean Community had been brought forward five years from 2020 to 2015. An 11-month delay is negligible compared to fast-tracking it by 60 months.

Nonetheless, even to imagine that establishing community status among sovereign nations anywhere can be pinpointed to a particular date is simply wrong-headed. It is a process that comprises several elements, among them developing social interfaces, institutional familiarisation, regulatory harmonisation and constant negotiation and adjustment across an entire region.

All that in practice means it would take time, patience and understanding. The reality, however, can be particularly challenging.

While policymakers and diplomats talk up the prospects of the timely arrival of the Asean Community, seeing that as reflective of their own performance, the business sector and civil society groups talk down its chances as a measure of their lost or deferred opportunities.

Serious analysts must therefore provide the correct antidote to both maladies by way of a realistic assessment. They need to avoid compounding either polarity by buckling under it.

Some priorities such as a more effective Asean Secretariat with more resources and a stronger mandate are undisputable. But such issues are often captive to a lack of political will.

A Philippine delegate asked emphatically whether Asean member nations really wanted a stronger Asean Secretariat. The implication was that the Secretariat, and the Asean Secretary-General, could only be as effective as Asean member nations wanted or allowed them to be.

Another implication is that any move to empower the Secretariat further could – for some Asean countries at least – challenge the position or status of one or more member countries.

Such apprehensions are not unique to Asean. They are common in regions where individual nations still experience insecurity, particularly in relation to their neighbours.

How Asean overcomes these apprehensions would be a measure of its maturity. Since Asean countries mature at different rates, when Asean would collectively forge ahead as a single Community remains an open question.



_> Bunn Nagara is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia._

_The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.

Misunderstanding the ‘Asean Way’ - Behind The Headlines | The Star Online_


----------



## MarveL

*



*

*RI to host ASEAN + 8 humanitarian relief drill *
_The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Thu, December 12 2013, 7:56 AM_


*Indonesia will host a joint military exercise for ASEAN* _member states and eight partner countries_ on the Batam Island on March 21 next year to increase the region’s capacity in humanitarian relief, Indonesian Navy chief of staff Adm. Marsetio said on Wednesday.

He said he hoped that the *ASEAN* member countries and the eight additional countries scheduled to participate, namely the* US, South Korea, Australia, Russia, China, India, New Zealand and Japan, would attend.*

“In March Indonesia will also hold the fourth Jakarta International Defense Dialogue themed “Building Maritime Collaboration for Security and Stability,” Marsetio said on the sidelines of the 2013 International Maritime Security Symposium at the Borobudur Hotel, Central Jakarta.

Marsetio underlined the great significance of maritime freedoms for the global good.

He noted that there is a necessity to facilitate humanitarian and disaster relief in times of need, especially for countries in the Ring of Fire.

“Through confidence-building efforts we will further enhance maritime cooperation and maintain regional peace and security,” Marsetio said.

Speaking at the Symposium, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Chief of Staff Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano underlined that humanitarian assistance and disaster relief would be a major field for strengthening defense cooperation and exchange.

Kawano cited the concerted efforts by the international community in carrying out disaster relief operations after the 2011 great east Japan earthquake.

He noted that when ground infrastructure was damaged, it was up to the navy to offer sea-basing capabilities as a supply station hub and central command post.

“Smooth communication and high interoperability were the success factors,” he said.

Malaysia Navy Chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said that ASEAN Navies will continue to play their roles in contri-buting to peace and stability in the region.

He underlined the greater need for exchanging information in enhancing Maritime Domain Awareness, or the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could have an impact on security, the economy or the environment.

“A strong regional cooperative mechanism would allow for a greater flow of information,” Jaafar said.

He said that confidence-building measures, such as joint exercises, had been proven to be one of the most effective measures in promoting regional peace and stability.

“The Malacca Strait Patrol is a good example of a collaborative effort in conducting an operation at sea,” he said.

Jaafar noted that the ASEAN navies are making progress in adopting the ASEAN Information Sharing Portal and the ASEAN Maritime Security Information Sharing Exercise initiated by the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Indonesian Navy.

“I believe this open line communication should be enhanced to a personalized level, where communication is just a phone call away,” he said.

A similiar exercise was held in Brunei Darussalam last June, in which 18 Asia-Pacific countries participated in the four-day ASEAN Defense Minister’s Meeting-Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine Exercise.

*More than 1,200 military personnel were involved in the exercise, held in the jungles of Borneo.*

RI to host ASEAN 8 humanitarian relief drill | The Jakarta Post

--​

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## MarveL

*A united region: The ASEAN Community 2015*






Recent articles in these pages, especially discussion on education reform and its role in regional cooperation through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have given many Filipinos an idea of the challenges and prospects that ASEAN faces when the regional community is established in 2015. Even then, however, the reference to ASEAN was only through its economic pillar labeled as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). While this is welcome, a thorough dialogue on ASEAN and not only the AEC is needed. We provide a short overview of what ASEAN is and some of its challenges in this essay.

Bangkok, Thailand hosted on 8 August 1967 the Heads of State/Government of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, who established ASEAN through the ASEAN (Bangkok) Declaration. For these five Southeast Asian Leaders, the creation of ASEAN was the institutionalization of the ties that bound these nation-states. The five countries, aside from sharing geography, share the ties of history, culture and mutual interests, and similar challenges and problems. Given all of these, the Leaders (as heads of states/governments are called in ASEAN) found it fitting to coalesce and share in the responsibility of strengthening the economic and social stability of the region, hence the decision to institutionalize cooperation through the creation of a regional organization.

Later on, the founding members of ASEAN were joined by Brunei Darussalam on 7 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. These ten member-states now comprise today’s ASEAN. Timor Leste has indicated its willingness to join the regional association but current members are still holding discussions on this.

In the early years of ASEAN, there was skepticism regarding its lifespan, more so if it would be able to achieve its aims and purposes spelled out in the Bangkok Declaration. Despite the challenges that faced the organization and the region as a whole, ASEAN, for all its flaws and limitations, remains as the sole regional organization in Southeast Asia that embodies the interests of the ten member-states. In 2007, the Association adopted a charter that codified regional norms and commitments made by the member-states. The commitment of the organization to keep its relevance, assert its centrality, and remain as the driver is clearly manifested by ASEAN’s continuing effort to integrate the region through the creation of a regional community by 2015.

It was during the 30th anniversary of ASEAN when the ten Heads of State/Government adopted the ASEAN Vision 2020. The ASEAN Vision 2020 agreed on “a shared vision of ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies.” Years later, after the adoption of the Vision, the Leaders, during the 9th ASEAN Summit in 2003, embarked on a grand goal to transform the organization into an ASEAN Community.

This Community, as embodied in the document Bali Concord II, is comprised of three pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, and Socio-cultural Community. These three pillars are not mutually exclusive of each other; rather they are closely linked and are mutually reinforcing to ensure a durable, peaceful, stable and prosperous Southeast Asian region, at least according to the governments of each member-state. Each of these pillars is guided by a Blueprint which serves as one of the roadmaps in the realization of an ASEAN Community.

The ASEAN Community was originally envisioned by the Leaders to commence in 2020. However, during the 12th ASEAN Summit held in January 2007 in Cebu, Philippines, the Leaders decided to accelerate the regional integration to 2015. One of the primary reasons for the decision to fast track regional integration was to reinforce ASEAN’s centrality and to ensure that ASEAN remains as the driving force in drawing the continuously evolving regional architecture.

*ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC)*

The ASEAN Political-Security Community is committed to ensuring an ASEAN Community living in a peaceful, democratic, and harmonious environment. Guided by the APSC Blueprint, the APSC designed ASEAN to be a rules-based Community of shared norms and values. In addition, it binds the member-states to share in the responsibility for comprehensive security in the realization of a cohesive and stable region in light of the continued dynamism of the world at large. The commitment to the APSC is in no way detrimental to each member state’s sovereign right to pursue an independent foreign policy and defense arrangement and, more importantly, the right to non-interference in each of the member-state’s internal affairs.

Since the creation of ASEAN in 1967, supporters of ASEAN have always boasted one major feat: that no war has erupted in this part of the world. This is not to say, however, that differences did not arise between and among the member-states on political-security issues, for there were differences and there are existing tensions within ASEAN regarding certain issues, but the member-states are intent and committed to solving any disputes through peaceful means. The body is also cognizant of the fact that the security of one member-state is linked to one another, hence the need to promote peace and security not only within ASEAN but to the larger stage in general. Thus, the existence of regional security dialogue fora such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Defense Minister Meeting (ADMM), among others, are clear manifestations that the body gives importance to dialogue to ensure peace. While critics say that these remain to be talk shops, these different platform afford the member-states the avenue to talk to one another and build trust and confidence with each other.

*ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)*

The end-goal of ASEAN economic integration is the full realization of an ASEAN Economic Community, wherein the region will be transformed “into a single market and production base, a highly competitive region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.” The AEC has always been compared to that of the EU Single Market but it should be understood that AEC is not a customs union or a full common market. In the Philippines, it is the AEC that is almost always referenced in discussions regarding regional integration.

The decision to create the AEC was part of ASEAN’s strong commitment to deepen and broaden economic integration which requires liberalization and cooperation among the ten member-states. But even before AEC, as early as 1977, ASEAN had already laid down the groundwork for deeper integration. And in 1992, ASEAN created the Common Effective Preferential Tariff for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Through the creation of AFTA, ASEAN member-states are geared towards the attainment of a common goal: that of reducing, eliminating tariffs on trade, with few exemptions, to better facilitate trade. Cutting down the cost of doing business effectively translates into a more competitive and efficient ASEAN.

The AEC can bank on ASEAN’s strengths such as the region’s strategic location, its vibrant population which is estimated at 600 million, abundant natural resources, young work force, among others. However, much work still needs to be done especially in closing the development gap between and among the member-states, i.e. ASEAN-6 and CLMV. ASEAN also needs to address the region’s poor state of infrastructure which hinders investment and the slow implementation of AEC commitments, to name a few.

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC)

The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community gives ASEAN its human face as ASCC is committed to creating an ASEAN that is people-oriented and socially responsible. As ASEAN puts it, it is a “caring and sharing society” because at the end of the day, all actions undertaken by ASEAN are meant to uplift the lives of its peoples and for the betterment of the whole Community in general.

The ASCC will work to ensure that it is the people of ASEAN who will benefit from all of these integration initiatives. ASEAN member-states are expected to invest heavily on its people’s education, training, science and technology development, job generation, and social protection. If ASEAN is able to provide these to the people, cross-cutting issues such as poverty elimination, closing the development divide, equitable economic growth, among others, will be addressed as well.

The ASCC is expected to bring into the people’s consciousness the acceptance of a regional identity and graduate from being boxed in having a domestic identity. To be able to successfully do this, the people, should first and foremost, have national consciousness to be able to promote a regional one and a shared identity. For its part, ASEAN has heavily encouraged closer people-to-people contact by making travel easier through visa-free arrangements, educational exchanges, incorporating ASEAN studies in education curricula, among others. The initiative to create a regional identity, however, cannot be a purely governmental affair but should also start from the grassroots to gain better traction.

*ASEAN Community in 2015*

The year 2015 is a big year for ASEAN for the envisioned regional Community will finally materialize. But what will an ASEAN Community look like?

With regard to political-security, ASEAN will continue to be a rules-based Community especially with an ASEAN Charter in place. The member-states, as is the case right now, have promised to work more closely with one another in solving non-traditional security issues like maritime piracy, disaster management, transnational crimes, and the like. However, when it comes to traditional security issues, member-states may be hesitant to discuss some issues especially when these will impinge on their sovereignty and territorial integrity. ASEAN member-states highly value a peculiar brand of diplomacy – the ASEAN Way, hence, anything perceived to alter the status quo may not bode well for the bloc.

It is in the economic pillar where ASEAN cooperation has been widely touted to be successful. The Member-States find it easier to cooperate with one another vis-à-vis the two other pillars. As such, when the AEC commences in 2015, it can be expected that the economies will aggressively open up given that barriers to trade – both tariff and non-tariff will be eliminated. Economies will be liberalized to achieve the goal of ASEAN becoming a single market and production base.

On the socio-cultural front, we should hope for an ASEAN that is more in touch with its people. Initiative towards greater people engagement should happen and we should hope that the peoples of ASEAN will have vigorous contact with one another. The road to achieving a regional identity may be hard but only in investing heavily on people-to-people initiatives will this become a reality. Continuous contact will help the peoples of ASEAN understand one another and learn the peculiarities of each and everyone’s culture.

The creation of an ASEAN Community in 2015 is definitely one thing to look forward to. Integration may have birth pains in the beginning but at the end of the day, there are many opportunities that each member-state can take advantage of that will benefit the people of ASEAN.

A united region: The ASEAN Community 2015

*A united region: The ASEAN Community 2015*






Recent articles in these pages, especially discussion on education reform and its role in regional cooperation through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have given many Filipinos an idea of the challenges and prospects that ASEAN faces when the regional community is established in 2015. Even then, however, the reference to ASEAN was only through its economic pillar labeled as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). While this is welcome, a thorough dialogue on ASEAN and not only the AEC is needed. We provide a short overview of what ASEAN is and some of its challenges in this essay.

Bangkok, Thailand hosted on 8 August 1967 the Heads of State/Government of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, who established ASEAN through the ASEAN (Bangkok) Declaration. For these five Southeast Asian Leaders, the creation of ASEAN was the institutionalization of the ties that bound these nation-states. The five countries, aside from sharing geography, share the ties of history, culture and mutual interests, and similar challenges and problems. Given all of these, the Leaders (as heads of states/governments are called in ASEAN) found it fitting to coalesce and share in the responsibility of strengthening the economic and social stability of the region, hence the decision to institutionalize cooperation through the creation of a regional organization.

Later on, the founding members of ASEAN were joined by Brunei Darussalam on 7 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. These ten member-states now comprise today’s ASEAN. Timor Leste has indicated its willingness to join the regional association but current members are still holding discussions on this.

In the early years of ASEAN, there was skepticism regarding its lifespan, more so if it would be able to achieve its aims and purposes spelled out in the Bangkok Declaration. Despite the challenges that faced the organization and the region as a whole, ASEAN, for all its flaws and limitations, remains as the sole regional organization in Southeast Asia that embodies the interests of the ten member-states. In 2007, the Association adopted a charter that codified regional norms and commitments made by the member-states. The commitment of the organization to keep its relevance, assert its centrality, and remain as the driver is clearly manifested by ASEAN’s continuing effort to integrate the region through the creation of a regional community by 2015.

It was during the 30th anniversary of ASEAN when the ten Heads of State/Government adopted the ASEAN Vision 2020. The ASEAN Vision 2020 agreed on “a shared vision of ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies.” Years later, after the adoption of the Vision, the Leaders, during the 9th ASEAN Summit in 2003, embarked on a grand goal to transform the organization into an ASEAN Community.

This Community, as embodied in the document Bali Concord II, is comprised of three pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, and Socio-cultural Community. These three pillars are not mutually exclusive of each other; rather they are closely linked and are mutually reinforcing to ensure a durable, peaceful, stable and prosperous Southeast Asian region, at least according to the governments of each member-state. Each of these pillars is guided by a Blueprint which serves as one of the roadmaps in the realization of an ASEAN Community.

The ASEAN Community was originally envisioned by the Leaders to commence in 2020. However, during the 12th ASEAN Summit held in January 2007 in Cebu, Philippines, the Leaders decided to accelerate the regional integration to 2015. One of the primary reasons for the decision to fast track regional integration was to reinforce ASEAN’s centrality and to ensure that ASEAN remains as the driving force in drawing the continuously evolving regional architecture.

*ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC)*

The ASEAN Political-Security Community is committed to ensuring an ASEAN Community living in a peaceful, democratic, and harmonious environment. Guided by the APSC Blueprint, the APSC designed ASEAN to be a rules-based Community of shared norms and values. In addition, it binds the member-states to share in the responsibility for comprehensive security in the realization of a cohesive and stable region in light of the continued dynamism of the world at large. The commitment to the APSC is in no way detrimental to each member state’s sovereign right to pursue an independent foreign policy and defense arrangement and, more importantly, the right to non-interference in each of the member-state’s internal affairs.

Since the creation of ASEAN in 1967, supporters of ASEAN have always boasted one major feat: that no war has erupted in this part of the world. This is not to say, however, that differences did not arise between and among the member-states on political-security issues, for there were differences and there are existing tensions within ASEAN regarding certain issues, but the member-states are intent and committed to solving any disputes through peaceful means. The body is also cognizant of the fact that the security of one member-state is linked to one another, hence the need to promote peace and security not only within ASEAN but to the larger stage in general. Thus, the existence of regional security dialogue fora such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Defense Minister Meeting (ADMM), among others, are clear manifestations that the body gives importance to dialogue to ensure peace. While critics say that these remain to be talk shops, these different platform afford the member-states the avenue to talk to one another and build trust and confidence with each other.

*ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)*

The end-goal of ASEAN economic integration is the full realization of an ASEAN Economic Community, wherein the region will be transformed “into a single market and production base, a highly competitive region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.” The AEC has always been compared to that of the EU Single Market but it should be understood that AEC is not a customs union or a full common market. In the Philippines, it is the AEC that is almost always referenced in discussions regarding regional integration.

The decision to create the AEC was part of ASEAN’s strong commitment to deepen and broaden economic integration which requires liberalization and cooperation among the ten member-states. But even before AEC, as early as 1977, ASEAN had already laid down the groundwork for deeper integration. And in 1992, ASEAN created the Common Effective Preferential Tariff for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Through the creation of AFTA, ASEAN member-states are geared towards the attainment of a common goal: that of reducing, eliminating tariffs on trade, with few exemptions, to better facilitate trade. Cutting down the cost of doing business effectively translates into a more competitive and efficient ASEAN.

The AEC can bank on ASEAN’s strengths such as the region’s strategic location, its vibrant population which is estimated at 600 million, abundant natural resources, young work force, among others. However, much work still needs to be done especially in closing the development gap between and among the member-states, i.e. ASEAN-6 and CLMV. ASEAN also needs to address the region’s poor state of infrastructure which hinders investment and the slow implementation of AEC commitments, to name a few.

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC)

The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community gives ASEAN its human face as ASCC is committed to creating an ASEAN that is people-oriented and socially responsible. As ASEAN puts it, it is a “caring and sharing society” because at the end of the day, all actions undertaken by ASEAN are meant to uplift the lives of its peoples and for the betterment of the whole Community in general.

The ASCC will work to ensure that it is the people of ASEAN who will benefit from all of these integration initiatives. ASEAN member-states are expected to invest heavily on its people’s education, training, science and technology development, job generation, and social protection. If ASEAN is able to provide these to the people, cross-cutting issues such as poverty elimination, closing the development divide, equitable economic growth, among others, will be addressed as well.

The ASCC is expected to bring into the people’s consciousness the acceptance of a regional identity and graduate from being boxed in having a domestic identity. To be able to successfully do this, the people, should first and foremost, have national consciousness to be able to promote a regional one and a shared identity. For its part, ASEAN has heavily encouraged closer people-to-people contact by making travel easier through visa-free arrangements, educational exchanges, incorporating ASEAN studies in education curricula, among others. The initiative to create a regional identity, however, cannot be a purely governmental affair but should also start from the grassroots to gain better traction.

*ASEAN Community in 2015*

The year 2015 is a big year for ASEAN for the envisioned regional Community will finally materialize. But what will an ASEAN Community look like?

With regard to political-security, ASEAN will continue to be a rules-based Community especially with an ASEAN Charter in place. The member-states, as is the case right now, have promised to work more closely with one another in solving non-traditional security issues like maritime piracy, disaster management, transnational crimes, and the like. However, when it comes to traditional security issues, member-states may be hesitant to discuss some issues especially when these will impinge on their sovereignty and territorial integrity. ASEAN member-states highly value a peculiar brand of diplomacy – the ASEAN Way, hence, anything perceived to alter the status quo may not bode well for the bloc.

It is in the economic pillar where ASEAN cooperation has been widely touted to be successful. The Member-States find it easier to cooperate with one another vis-à-vis the two other pillars. As such, when the AEC commences in 2015, it can be expected that the economies will aggressively open up given that barriers to trade – both tariff and non-tariff will be eliminated. Economies will be liberalized to achieve the goal of ASEAN becoming a single market and production base.

On the socio-cultural front, we should hope for an ASEAN that is more in touch with its people. Initiative towards greater people engagement should happen and we should hope that the peoples of ASEAN will have vigorous contact with one another. The road to achieving a regional identity may be hard but only in investing heavily on people-to-people initiatives will this become a reality. Continuous contact will help the peoples of ASEAN understand one another and learn the peculiarities of each and everyone’s culture.

The creation of an ASEAN Community in 2015 is definitely one thing to look forward to. Integration may have birth pains in the beginning but at the end of the day, there are many opportunities that each member-state can take advantage of that will benefit the people of ASEAN.

A united region: The ASEAN Community 2015


----------



## MarveL

*ASEAN Para Games 2014 opens in Naypyidaw*

The opening ceremony for the 7th ASEAN Para Games – hosted in Burma for the first time ever – was held at Wunna Theikdi Stadium in Naypyidaw on Tuesday evening.

The regional sporting event, for athletes with disabilities, is being held to promote friendship, equality and unity among the participating ASEAN countries: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to state media, 20,000 people attended the ceremony, which featured traditional Burmese music, dancing, a torchlight performance and fireworks.

A total of 1482 athletes with disabilities will fight for 339 gold medals, in competitions such as archery, athletics, boccia, blind chess, football, goal ball, power lifting, swimming, table tennis, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.

The games will go on until 20 January.


----------



## Wholegrain

@Lux de Veritas

Southern Han Chinese and their relationship with the Baiyue | Page 14



Lux de Veritas said:


> I have all along suggest "y chromosome" genetist migration theory and anthropological theory could have need further reconciliation. I think I have made myself clear enough.
> 
> If you cite O3 Y chromosome, do it all the way, and conclusion is Chinese come from SE Asian, as most leading Y chromosome expert propose. So the similarity of Northern and Southern Chinese Y chromosome could be due to people from South moving North.
> 
> Y-Chromosome Evidence for a Northward Migration of Modern Humans into Eastern Asia during the Last Ice Age
> 
> Investigative Genetics | Full text | Inferring human history in East Asia from Y chromosomes
> 
> PLOS ONE: Human Migration through Bottlenecks from Southeast Asia into East Asia during Last Glacial Maximum Revealed by Y Chromosomes
> 
> 
> IQ shows nothing about ancestry. Today, the high IQ centers of China are Shanghai, Guangdong, Taiwan and HK are all former barbarian land. The Yellow river plains and Xi-an, cradle of Han civilization are now low IQ, poor people receiving state aid.
> 
> 
> 
> This is a reasonable voice that we may move on from here.



It seems you have no damn idea what those scientific papers are talking about.

That migration happened in PREhistoric times, before there were ethnic groups even existing.

In the PREHISTORIC era during the last ice age, the Y Chromosome Haplogroup O did indeed originate in southeast asia. Then these Y chromosome haplogroup O bearers moved in a major migration from southeast asia all the way to northern China. 

Then, the Y Chromosome O started mutating into subclades along the way of the migration. Those Y chromosome O people who moved to northern China became Y Chromosome O3a, those other Y chromosome O people in southern China and southeast asia also mutated during their migration, and became O1 or O2.

That was all in prehistoric times. Then in historical times, that means in recorded history, ethnic groups began to form. The Huaxia (Northern Han Chinese) ethnic group formed among Oa3 bearers in northern China, while Baiyue tribes formed among O2 and O1 peoples in southern China. Then, we have the recorded conquests of the Qin and Han dynasty conquering southern China, and the migrations of northern Han to southern China during the Han, Eastern Jin dynasty, Tang dynasty, and southern Song dynasty. Those Oa3 migrants displaced their O2 cousins that they left behind in southern China.


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## Lux de Veritas

Wholegrain said:


> @Lux de Veritas
> 
> Southern Han Chinese and their relationship with the Baiyue | Page 14
> 
> 
> 
> It seems you have no damn idea what those scientific papers are talking about.
> 
> That migration happened in PREhistoric times, before there were ethnic groups even existing.
> 
> In the PREHISTORIC era during the last ice age, the Y Chromosome Haplogroup O did indeed originate in southeast asia. Then these Y chromosome haplogroup O bearers moved in a major migration from soutisssheast asia all the way to northern China.
> 
> Then, the Y Chromosome O started mutating into subclades along the way of the migration. Those Y chromosome O people who moved to northern China became Y Chromosome O3a, those other Y chromosome O people in southern China and southeast asia also mutated during their migration, and became O1 or O2.
> 
> That was all in prehistoric times. Then in historical times, that means in recorded history, ethnic groups began to form. The Huaxia (Northern Han Chinese) ethnic group formed among Oa3 bearers in northern China, while Baiyue tribes formed among O2 and O1 peoples in southern China. Then, we have the recorded conquests of the Qin and Han dynasty conquering southern China, and the migrations of northern Han to southern China during the Han, Eastern Jin dynasty, Tang dynasty, and southern Song dynasty. Those Oa3 migrants displaced their O2 cousins that they left behind in southern China.



You think I am not aware? I have never dispute this stance-- and even suggested it, though not exactly similar to your positions, unfortunately, I got so much censure from PRC that I got sick of it. The PRCs here is a kinda source of entertainment.

And its better for you to moderate your tone in and try not to be too affirmative and misleading-- for my amusement with you guys.


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## Martian2

*China should annex Myanmar | My comment on BusinessWeek*

My comment on BusinessWeek (12 days ago).

I believe China should walk in the footsteps of John C. Calhoun and a young United States.

In fifteen years, the PLA Navy will be strong enough to hold its own against the US Navy. We are on the verge of China's Manifest Destiny. We will redraw the map of Asia in a manner similar to the redrawing of North America by America's original thirteen colonies.

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China’s Oil Pipeline Through Myanmar Brings Both Energy and Resentment | BusinessWeek


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## Zero_wing

Lux de Veritas said:


> You think I am not aware? I have never dispute this stance-- and even suggested it, though not exactly similar to your positions, unfortunately, I got so much censure from PRC that I got sick of it. The PRCs here is a kinda source of entertainment.
> 
> And its better for you to moderate your tone in and try not to be too affirmative and misleading-- for my amusement with you guys.



Again he's a typical chinese propagandist nothing more


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Activists call for protection of LGBT rights in Southeast Asia at ASEAN People's Forum*

The ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC) calls on the ASEAN governments to place greater priority on the well-being and welfare of all peoples in its 10 member-states

22 March 2014 | By Sylvia Tan




Photo: facebook.com/aseansogie.caucus
_ LGBT rights activists attending the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Civil Society Conference/ ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) in Yangon, Myanmar from 21 to 23 March 2014 are continuing to lobby its 10 member-states to promote and protect the rights of its LGBTIQ people._

The 10 member-states are: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The ACSC/APF is held ahead of the ASEAN Summit in May which will also be hosted by Myanmar, the Chair of ASEAN this year.

The ASEAN SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression) demand that laws that directly or indirectly criminalize LGBTI people be immediately repealed. It also calls for all individual national level human rights groups to include the promotion and protection of the equal rights of all people as well as to ensure equal access to health and social services regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Chumaporn Taengkliang, co-founder of Together for Equality Action Group (TEA) from Thailand said in a statement, 'Each country in the ASEAN has laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, contrary to their constitutions that guarantee fundamental rights and liberties for all. Meanwhile, state sanctioned violence continues unchecked. In such environments, we face barriers from fully enjoying our fundamental rights, accessing services, and living a fulfilling and meaningful life without fear, shame and guilt.'

Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar – all of which are former British colonies – criminalize gay sex. None of the 10 member-states recognize same-sex unions or marriage.

In an update posted on their website on Friday, the group noted that throughout the plenary sessions, 'the question of if and when the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration will include provisions protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people remained unanswered.'

The group also reported that when the idea of including LBTQ women’s issues alongside general women's issues was raised, the panel 'responded with consensus that LGBTIQ issues like are too contentious for the women’s movement to support on the ASEAN platform and should be pursued and raised by the individual groups.'

To follow updates from the ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, visit their blog.

- See more at: Activists call for protection of LGBT rights in Southeast Asia at ASEAN People's Forum | Gay Star News

Support the Yogyakarta Principles for more inclusiveness: The Yogyakarta Principles: The Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity


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## nufix

I am personally have no problem with LGBT, but I hate to see them waving around their rainbow flags and banners around, they are more annoying than a vacuum salesman.


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## Reashot Xigwin

*A Small Step Forward for ASEAN LGBT Rights*
LGBT activists face a tough battle winning acceptance in Southeast Asia, but there are some modest signs of change.

By Kirsten Han
March 28, 2014





_Image Credit: REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco_

Photographs show Myo Min Htet and Tin Ko Ko clad in traditional Burmese garb, hands clasped as they walk down the aisle past smiling guests. They pour champagne over a stacked tower of glasses. Another photo shows Tin Ko Ko giving his partner a kiss on the cheek.

Although they still have no legal status as a married couple, the ceremony was Myanmar’s very first public gay wedding.

It’s a small step towards acceptance of the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, intersex and questioning (LGBTIQ) community in Myanmar. It’s a trend that activists and advocates in the region want to encourage, but they’re not stopping there: they want recognition of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression throughout ASEAN too.

With 10 Southeast Asian countries represented, the ASEAN SOGIE Caucus is a network of human rights activists doing work related to issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). They want SOGIE to be included in the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, thus affording legal protection to the LGBTIQ community.

It’s not going to be easy, and they know it. “Because of the ASEAN principles of non-interference and consensus decision-making, combined with the problematic emphasis on regional particularities, it is really an uphill climb for LGBTIQ activists in asserting SOGIE inclusion in the ASEAN,” writes Filipino activist Ging Cristobal in an email.

An infographic produced by the caucus highlights the laws in ASEAN countries that target and discriminate against LGBT people. For example, section 377 of the penal codes of Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore – a leftover from these countries’ history as British colonies – still outlaws sex between consenting male adults, and is often also known as the “sodomy law.” There are also laws prohibiting transgender people from changing their name and gender in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Media regulations mean that there is a dearth of the kind of LGBT characters and content that might improve social understanding and acceptance.

But it’s not just about laws. Violence and harassment in society can make life hellish for LGBTIQ people. A study carried out in Thailand last November found that one-third of 2,000 LGBT students had been physically harassed. A report by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission found that 15 lesbians had been murdered in Thailand in the six years from 2006 to 2012. This, despite it being the only ASEAN country that supported the UN declaration of LGBT rights. Hate crime also occurs in the Philippines, despite studies reporting that it is among the most “gay-friendly” countries in the world.

Residents of ASEAN countries can be just as conservative as their legislators, if not more so. A webpage published by Singapore’s Health Promotion Board addressing questions on homosexuality and bisexuality ignited a firestorm of debate after conservative Christians both in and out of Parliament raised objections. They had taken exception to the webpage stating that homosexual relationships were “not that different” from heterosexual ones, saying that it was a signal to young Singaporeans that there was nothing wrong with homosexuality.

A Malay Studies professor at the National University of Singapore also attracted complaints after posting a Facebook note describing lesbianism as a “cancer” and a “social disease” that needed to be “cleansed.” The backlash led to the university affirming its commitment to respecting sexual orientation within the institution, yet worries remain about the voices of conservatives dominating the discussion on LGBT rights.

These situations show how strong the opposition to granting the LGBTIQ community equal rights and protection can be. With societies resistant to the idea of granting LGBTIQ equal rights and recognition, governments can often find easy excuses to oppose any change.

“SOGIE issues are deliberately being excluded within ASEAN,” Cristobal writes. “There have been directives from the governments of Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore to oppose any inclusion of SOGIE in any human rights instruments such as the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the recent declaration on the elimination of violence against woman and children.”

That’s not to say that there aren’t any encouraging developments. The Vietnamese government announced in 2012 that they were considering legalizing same-sex marriage. “It was a nice surprise. We expected to have this in 2015,” LGBT rights advocate Le Quang Binh told me in 2012. Although the government ultimately didn’t move forward, it did decriminalize same-sex weddings and now allows same-sex couples to live together.

The caucus was present at the ASEAN People’s Forum over three days in March, where it reached out to other advocacy groups and built alliances. “This way, we educate mainstream groups to see the relevance of SOGIE inclusion in all human rights works of the different sectors of society,” Cristobal explains.

In the run-up to the forum the group had launched the ‘We Are #ASEANtoo’ online campaign, encouraging supporters to post photographs of themselves asserting their inclusion in ASEAN. The campaign received the support of the deputy head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)’s Southeast Asian office, as well as the Indonesian representatives to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, among others.

But activists may not necessarily be as supportive as one might imagine. In a context where LGBTIQ issues are seen as highly controversial, some groups find the subject of SOGIE far too “contentious.” The caucus’ blog quoted Siriporn Skrobanek, a member of the ASEAN Women’s Caucus as saying, “We would like to include SOGIE, but as if ASEAN will consider LGBT in its considerations!”

Taking up such a battle is seen not just as a lost cause, but a potential danger: advocacy groups could lose whatever influence and support they currently enjoy in their country. SOGIE issues are therefore put on the backburner, and neglected.

This reluctance to include LGBTIQ people in the collective struggle makes the campaign even more difficult; how can activists make governments acknowledge the rights of LGBTIQ people when even other advocacy groups refuse to include them?

“We were concerned that the lack of protection and recognition of LGBTIQ persons in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration would… leave them vulnerable to systematic violence and discrimination endorsed by the state,” the caucus wrote in a blog post summarizing some of their thoughts on the forum.

Until ASEAN officially recognizes and protects the rights of LGBTIQ people, activists will continue to struggle in their fight against discrimination and prejudice. But if Myo Min Htet and Tin Ko Ko’s joyful wedding has taught us anything, it is that change will come, slowly and surely, with or without official recognition.

_Kirsten Han is a writer, videographer and photographer. Originally from Singapore, she has worked on documentary projects around Asia and written for publications including _Waging Nonviolence_, _Asian Correspondent_ and _The Huffington Post_._

A Small Step Forward for ASEAN LGBT Rights | The Diplomat


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## BoQ77

*News: Secretary of Defense Hagel, defense ministers discuss Asia-Pacific rebalance during first US hosted ASEAN defense forum*
Login to Vote!
Defense Media Activity – Hawaii News Bureau[/paste:font]


 

 




Story by Staff Sgt. Chris Hubenthal







 Staff Sgt. Chris Hubenthal
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers, and military leadership observe an U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey flyover during the U.S. ASEAN Defense Forum at the USS Anchorage April 2, 2014, at Ford Island, Hawaii. ASEAN nations include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Hubenthal)

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii - U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel hosted the first Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Forum to take place in the U.S. from April 1 to April 3 as part of a 10-day long trip across the Asia-Pacific region where Secretary Hagel will speak with ASEAN defense ministers.

The forum included a roundtable discussion at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Inouye Regional Center. The focus was on humanitarian and disaster relief, a matter of concern in the Asia-Pacific region. 

“Humanitarian assistance and natural disasters are with us every day and will continue to be,” Secretary Hagel said. “The more we continue to understand the science behind those natural disasters the more we can communicate and coordinate our efforts to help each other.”

Rajiv Shah, U.S. Agency for International Development administrator joined the secretary in leading the ASEAN roundtable. 

“Natural disasters have cost the world roughly 300 billion dollars and 30,000 lives in the last two tears alone,” Shah said. “This is a unique opportunity for us to learn together how we can be supportive of your efforts as defense ministers, often called in when times are toughest and expected to perform under conditions of little information and extreme crisis.”

The ASEAN contingent then toured the U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage, the most decorated ship of its kind on the west coast that can launch versatile airframes like the U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey to disaster areas where others can't breach. After the tour Secretary Hagel spoke about the importance of the ASEAN collaboration and cooperation.

“The focus was on our efforts to bring our capabilities together as countries who share our futures, our interests, and our histories, in the Asia-Pacific region,” Secretary Hagel said. “We started the day focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief but we can do more, we will do more, we are doing more. I think there is ample evidence on how we can collaborate and cooperate.”

Secretary Hagel provided examples of ASEAN collaboration including the response to the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. He also pointed to the collective response by the ASEAN countries to last Falls destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

“In both cases, nations in the region were able to set aside rivalries and differences and instead work together,” Secretary Hagel said. “At the same time, both cases underscore the reality that nations must engage in more practical security cooperation ahead of time in order to work together more effectively when challenges arise.”

Secretary Hagel emphasized that the forum underscores the need for Asia Pacific nations to work together in providing regional security as well as bringing aid and relief to countries affected by natural disasters.


Read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/123877...sean-defense-forum#.Uz1D685IXgE#ixzz2xoz9Eeoe

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## Reashot Xigwin

*ASEAN's 'Dhaka committee'*
Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com

Published: 2014-04-03 09:43:09.0 BdST Updated: 2014-04-03 11:51:08.0 BdST


*The ten-nation ASEAN formally launched a “Dhaka Committee” on Wednesday to herald a new era in its relationship with Bangladesh.*
* 

 *
*
Dhaka sees it as a rare move by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) because such committees are usually formed in countries that are its dialogue partners.

The Committee formally started its journey on Wednesday at a reception joined by ministers, politicians, diplomats, businessmen, and officials of the foreign ministry.

Malaysian High Commissioner Norlin Othman has been made the Chair of the ‘Dhaka Committee’.







All ASEAN countries, except Cambodia and Laos, have missions in Dhaka.

Though Bangladesh is not yet a dialogue partner of the ASEAN, its secretariat has already approved the 'Dhaka Committee'.

Foreign ministry officials in Dhaka feel this is probably a prelude to making Bangladesh a dialogue partner of the ASEAN, which is one of Asia's economic powerhouse.

Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, and Laos are the members of the grouping that was formed in Aug 1967.

Analysts suggest Bangladesh should keep trying to become part of ASEAN.That, they say, would help Bangladesh access both technology and markets and boost its diplomatic clout.

As the ASEAN countries plan to open their markets to each other by 2015, joining it may be a boon for Bangladesh.

There are half a million workers from Bangladesh in the ASEAN countries and some like Malaysia are looking for more labour from Bangladesh, specially for its farms.

Bangladesh is at the crossroads of South and South-east Asia and also holds the key to the BCIM corridor that India and China intend to develop to connect the two Asian giants.
More from this section*


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Whither Asean identity and consciousness?*

By Johan Jaaffar | Twitter: @Johan_Jaaffar | zulu.jj@hotmail.com






* CHALLENGES AHEAD: Despite Asean being the melting pot of cultures and diversity, it still lacks the mindset, identity and oneness for a people-centred regional community*
NEXT year Malaysia will take over the chairmanship of Asean. The detractors are saying Asean is already 47 years old and exhibiting serious symptoms of mid-aged crisis. It has lost its lustre and a sense of purpose. In fact, there are those who questioned the relevance of the association. Many would like to believe that Asean is steeped in rhetoric but little on substance.

* The truth is for almost five decades Asean has played an important role in ensuring security, socio-cultural dynamics and economic wellbeing of its member states. Asean covers a land area of more than 4.4 million kilometres, a population of 620 million and a combined gross domestic product of at least RM7.8 trillion. It is a force to be reckoned with. It is as diverse as any regional organisation, perhaps even more so. At least 150 major and minor languages and dialects are spoken here. Asean is indeed the melting pot of cultures and diversity.*

Asean is also a study in anachronism. It has a first world nation and some of the poorest third world countries. It consists of sprawling metropolises as well as far-flung hammocks hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest town. There are areas that are fully wired and yet there are pockets where even a dial tone has never been heard of.

* Asean is about Richistan (the land of the rich) and hundreds of millions of others living on less than RM5 a day. Asean is all that and more.*

* What seem to be the unifying factors for Asean? Some would argue there is a dire need for an Asean consciousness, whatever that means. Or perhaps an Asean mindset, which is almost utopian in execution. Or the need to create an Asean community which is the goal adopted by the member nations.*

The road map for the Asean community is already in place, but the way can be bumpy and problematic. However, Asean has weathered some tumultuous times, endured cultural baggage and issues pertaining to territorial disputes together. The report card has not been stellar but things would have been worse without Asean.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in his keynote address at the National Colloquium on Malaysia's chairmanship of Asean 2015, harped on the idea of a "people-centred Asean". He argued that Asean should no longer be the domain of the elite and the specialists alone.

"A people-centred Asean will see the most direct involvement of all sectors of society in Asean activities." He mentioned "one Asean for all."

Now, that's the catch. To get Asean to work and think like one is a daunting task. Asean needs rethinking, realignment and re-inventing. It needs rebranding and remarketing. The notion of Asean should mean one thing for everyone, but for now it is just a matter of interpretation, conjecture and clever guess.

* Asean is merely perceived as "the government thing" by the populace. There is no Asean mindset, identity or even awareness. Perhaps not yet.*

* In fact Asean matters little to the young. That is the saddest part. If we believe in the future, we have to instil Asean-ness in the young. They must understand what Asean means to them. They are the future stakeholders of Asean. They must be engaged at all cost. Whoever is responsible to ensure the success of an Asean community must first shape an Asean mindset among the young.*

I gave a talk about the role of the media (conventional and social) to promote an Asean mindset in the colloquium. I suggested, among other things, the need for editors and journalists to talk to each other. We need to set up appropriate vehicles for a healthy media dialogue. There must be quality interactions among media practitioners.

I believe it is about time for the formation of an association of Asean editors. At the same time, on the social media front, we must encourage Asean netizens to engage each other. The media can help to contextualise and create an Asean consciousness or identity. The Asean bonding can only be achieved if we are willing to break cultural, geographical and political barriers for a better, more peaceful and prosperous Asean.


Read more: Whither Asean identity and consciousness? - Columnist - New Straits Times Whither Asean identity and consciousness? - Columnist - New Straits Times


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## Harkness

*ASEAN and UN Peacekeeping*
ASEAN will slowly develop and evolve regional peacekeeping coordination capacity.





By Carl Thayer
April 25, 2014

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has set the objective of creating an ASEAN Community by the end of 2015. The ASEAN Community will be based on three pillars or communities: the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

After the ASEAN Political-Security Community is created, what role could ASEAN and the United Nations undertake in peace operations in Southeast Asia and globally? How would ASEAN’s existing capacity and structure have to change in order to deploy on peace operations?

These questions and other questions were posed at an international conference on “The New Landscape of Peace Operations: A Dialogue with South East Asia and Vietnam.” The conference was convened in Hanoi from April 15-16 under the co-sponsorship of the Swedish International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the Frederick Ebert Stiftung (FES) based in Germany, and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University.

The conference was the last in a series of similar conferences held regionally by SIPRI in Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia, South America, Central Asia and Northeast Asia. The Hanoi conference was attended by delegates from the United Nations, Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia. It was conducted under Chatham House rules.

The conference was held in Hanoi because Vietnam will become the newest member of ASEAN to contribute to peace support operations under the UN. Seven other members of ASEAN have participated in UN peace operations. As of January 31, total Southeast Asian contributions (including police, military experts and troops) stood at: Brunei (26), Cambodia (342), Indonesia (1,697), Malaysia (909), Philippines (703), and Thailand (33). Singapore contributed 22 personnel in 2013.

The Dialogue with Southeast Asia and Vietnam was preceded by an invitation-only national seminar titled “Contributing to Peace Operations: Experiences, Challenges and Priorities.” There it was announced that Vietnam has approved the setting up of a Peacekeeping Center and Vietnam will make a modest contribution by deploying two military observers to the Sudan this year. At the same time, Vietnam will commence detailed planning for further commitments, including humanitarian missions involving mine clearance and medical assistance.

The national seminar delved deeply into the obstacles and challenges that Vietnam faced in reaching a decision to commit to UN peace operations. Vietnam, in fact, refrained from making its annual UN levy on peacekeeping from 1975 until 1994. Vietnam currently contributes $1 million annually.

At the national seminar it was revealed that, due to lack of consensus among policymakers, Vietnam’s Master Plan on contributions to UN peace operations, originally scheduled for release in 2013, has been postponed to 2015. A key factor in this decision was uncertainty about public support for sending Vietnamese military personnel abroad, especially if there were casualties.

Vietnamese participants highlighted other obstacles and challenges. One major impediment was legal in nature. In 2013, Vietnam amended Article 64 in its state constitution and inserted the clause “[the people’s armed forces] shall contribute to the protection of peace in the region and in the world” to provide sanction for its participation in UN peace operations.

This year, Vietnam’s National Assembly will give legal effect to the constitutional amendment by passing a resolution providing for the deployment of armed forces personnel abroad in the service of the UN. The National Assembly will follow up later by drafting a Law on Peacekeeping authorizing Vietnam to meet its international obligations.

*ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network*

In 2003, Indonesia proposed a Plan of Action to assist in the creation of the ASEAN Political-Security Community by 2020 (since brought forward to 2015). The ASEAN Political-Security Community was proposed as a mechanism for ASEAN states to settle disputes and security issues among themselves. It included a proposal to create an ASEAN peacekeeping network.

In 2004, Indonesia proposed at a meeting of ASEAN senior officials the creation of an ASEAN peacekeeping force that could be deployed to assist in the settlement of internal disputes such as the conflicts in Aceh and the southern Philippines.

According to Marty Natalegawa, then Acting Director General for ASEAN Cooperation (and now Indonesia’s Foreign Minister):

_What we are saying is ASEAN countries should know one another better than anyone else and therefore we should have the option for ASEAN countries to take advantage of an ASEAN peacekeeping force to be deployed if they so wish._

Natalegawa’s proposal was quickly scotched by Thailand and Singapore.

Nevertheless, individual ASEAN members have welcomed the role of outside military observers in conflict settlement. For example, in 2003 Indonesia permitted unarmed military monitors from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (as well as the European Union) to observe the ceasefire in Aceh. The following year, the Philippines invited Malaysian military personnel to Mindanao to observe Malaysian-mediated peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Four ASEAN members – Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – contributed troops and civilian police to the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. In 2006, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste sought assistance from Malaysia (as well as Portugal, Australia, and New Zealand) to provide assistance in restoring stability after a domestic crisis erupted into large-scale violence.

In 2011, in a set back for ASEAN efforts to play a mediating role in the border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, Thailand declined Indonesia’s offer to send military personnel to observe a ceasefire. At that time, Indonesia was chair of the ASEAN Standing Committee.

In a more positive development, Indonesia’s 2003 proposal for a network of ASEAN national peacekeeping centers gradually took shape. The Three-Year Work Program (2008-2010) adopted by the 2nd ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) in 2007 included a provision for establishing a network among ASEAN peacekeeping centers in order to conduct joint training and exchange of experiences.

In 2009, the proposal for creating a network of ASEAN peacekeeping centers was included in the _ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint_. The 5th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in 2011 adopted the Concept Paper on the Establishment of ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network (APCN) and included a provision on networking in its second Three-Year Work Program (2011-2013).

The first meeting of the APCN was held in Kuala Lumpur in September 2012. It was co-hosted by Thailand and Indonesia and attended by Cambodia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The second meeting was held in Bogor in September 2013 with the participation of all national peacekeeping centers as well as military representatives from Laos and Myanmar.

*ASEAN and UN PKO*

The international conference on “The New Landscape of Peace Operations: A Dialogue with South East Asia and Vietnam” did not adopt any formal recommendations. SIPRI, however, will prepare and publish a conference report offering a summary of the discussions.

In looking at the future, conference participants reached consensus that ASEAN, as a regional association, was unlikely to become involved in UN peace support operations outside Southeast Asia under the ASEAN flag.

The eight troop contributing countries were likely to continue to support traditional UN peace operations on an individual basis. They were less likely to support multi-dimensional or robust peacekeeping efforts.

Indonesia, which is currently ranked as the world’s seventeenth largest contributor to UN peacekeeping missions, has set itself the objective of becoming one of the top ten troop contributing countries. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made this commitment when he opened the Indonesia Peace and Security Center in Sentul, West Java on April 7.

Participants found it difficult to identify realistic scenarios in which the United Nations would become involved in peacekeeping missions in Southeast Asia over the next five to ten years. Rather, ASEAN members preferred to operate through regional mechanisms, especially for peace-building missions. Participants also felt it unlikely that ASEAN would agree to assemble a standby force for regional contingencies in the near term.

Participants were generally in agreement that Southeast Asia’s norms upholding sovereignty and non-intervention, and the requirement of consent by the host state, would mitigate against any ASEAN-initiated intervention among its members. Participants from Southeast Asia also noted that these norms held stronger sway than the newer norms of the Responsibility to Protect and Protection of Civilians.

The most likely future development is expansion of the ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network to include all ten members. This was touted as an example of ASEAN connectivity. The APCN was also expected to promote specialist niches of expertise among its members.

The prospect of ASEAN interoperability and standby arrangements were viewed as long-term objectives. ASEAN, however, could be expected to take the lead in dealing with armed conflict between its members or the serious outbreak of domestic violence in a state. But ASEAN would use primarily diplomatic and political tools such as those enumerated in Article 23 of the ASEAN Charter – good offices, consultation, mediation etc. – to meet its obligations. ASEAN and its members would resist the use of force.

Depending on the circumstances, individual ASEAN members might contribute to conflict resolution at the invitation of the host state or by the consent of the parties concerned.


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## Zero_wing

Again ASEAN is a good Economic Forum but A regional Political or anything else ASEAN is useless heck we cant even Unite on an Issue that in reality concern us all the china threat and having a United voice on stoping china's Imperialist designs in the region so again its no duh ASEAN as regional group is big F#^*ing epic fail its should just stick to economic matters not trying to copy the EU.

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## eazzy

Maybe Chinese imperialism would not be a problem if you didn't suddenly decide to claim Chinese territory thinking you could do anything since China was isolated and you had USA backing... ASEAN is 10countries...2 of them actively complain about Chinese imperialism...maybe you are the problem.


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## Zero_wing

Ha real chinaman using French flag nice one chinaboy china is rule breaker and international felon from the very start and what do you call forcing your way in? Oh please cut the BS of chinese Bull yours my foot cant even prove that ITCLOS if it was so true why not put it to the test? why so afraid to commit and submit or you have nothing to stand on?


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## Reashot Xigwin

*ASEAN moves closer to regional defence industry collaboration*

Jon Grevatt, Bangkok - IHS Jane's Defence Industry
26 May 2014






The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) took another step towards establishing a formal arrangement for regional defence industrial collaboration during the 8 th ASEAN defence ministers' meeting (ADMM), which ended on 21 May in Myanmar.

In a joint declaration, regional defence ministers agreed to adopt the terms of reference for an "ASEAN defence industry collaboration consultative group" that will draw up a range of related activities for discussion and approval during the 9 th ADMM in Malaysia in 2015.

The consultative group will propose a framework of activities related to education and training, an outline of feasible areas of industrial collaboration, and suggest measures to overcome continuing concerns in the region about the ownership and funding of collaborative projects as well as the transfer of technologies and intellectual property between ASEAN member states

To read the full article, Client Login
(134 of 306 words)

Janes IHS


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## Reashot Xigwin

*Free Speech Under Attack in Southeast Asia*
Mainstream and social media are increasingly the target of state censorship in the region.





By Mong Palatino
June 05, 2014




_Image Credit: Rohan Radheya_

One undeniable and distressing sign that Southeast Asian democracy is regressing is the rising incidence of media freedom violations in the region. If political reforms are slow or are being reversed, the state of free speech is faring even more badly.

The muzzling of the press under Thailand’s coup regime reflects the exceedingly difficult conditions facing journalists today, not just there but in other Southeast Asian states as well.

However, Thailand’s situation needs particular attention because of the sudden reversal of people’s hard-won civil liberties, as the army continues to tighten its grip on Thai society. When martial law was declared, the army quickly seized control of media facilities, such as the newsrooms of television, radio stations and newspapers. TV was only allowed to broadcast army announcements and patriotic songs from the Second World War era. Critical editors and journalists were summoned and silenced by the junta. “Inappropriate” websites were blocked, and dissenting netizens were warned that they could face prosecution for undermining authorities.

Proof of the army’s distrust of news agencies is a government report warning citizens that they could suffer from mental stress if they consume too much news. To remain healthy, the public was advised to read only news stories from state-run sources. Indeed, free speech was an early casualty under Thailand’s military dictatorship.

Elsewhere in the region, media is also being restricted through more intense regulation. Policymaking, which has targeted both the mainstream and new media, avoided direct censorship in favor of vague and broad measures that diminished opportunities for free expression, while expanding the regulatory powers of the state.

*For example, East Timor’s parliament has recently passed a media law which was immediately condemned by human rights advocates and journalists as a threat to media freedom. They specifically questioned the mandate of a proposed Press Council that will oversee and approve media licenses.*

*In Cambodia, a draft cybercrime law criminalizes web content that generates “political cohesiveness” – whatever that might mean. In the Philippines, the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of cyber libel. In Singapore, there is concern that the anti-harassment law could be used to prevent journalists and researchers from pursuing critical or investigative topics involving the government. Indonesia said it needed to protect the public from **** when it banned video-streaming website Vimeo, but this action infuriated many people who responsibly using the site to access information.*

While media laws can provide protection to media producers, they are also often used to intimidate or even punish government critics. There is a recent trend of public officials pursuing or threatening to use legal actions against critics.

*In Singapore, the prime minister has sued an unknown blogger for defamation, even though the latter has apologized. In Malaysia, the prime minister has threatened to take legal action against an independent website for allowing “seditious” comments on their portal. In Myanmar, some journalists were detained for reporting about corruption, or for interviewing government officials during office hours.*

*Vietnam’s mainstream media remains under strict state surveillance, while social media networks are regularly blocked. Dissident bloggers are arrested and given harsh prison sentences. When Brunei announced its plan to implement Sharia Law in the whole country, the Sultan warned netizens not to criticize the policy. The Philippine press is one of the freest in the region since it does not have a board of censors, yet the Philippines is listed among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists because of the high number of unsolved media killings.*

It seems that the vision of a single ASEAN community uniting on a common platform has been realized already. But rather than economic integration or joint military exercises, this shared platform is the undermining of free speech and the heavy regulation of the media.

Free Speech Under Attack in Southeast Asia | The Diplomat


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## athlon

Zero_wing said:


> Again ASEAN is a good Economic Forum but A regional Political or anything else ASEAN is useless heck we cant even Unite on an Issue that in reality concern us all the china threat and having a United voice on stoping china's Imperialist designs in the region so again its no duh ASEAN as regional group is big F#^*ing epic fail its should just stick to economic matters not trying to copy the EU.


I think economic challenge is just the first step, strengthening the foundation of the forum. It has a big chance to strengthen other aspects in the future. Maybe politic, military, culture, and elses. Who knows...


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## Zero_wing

athlon said:


> I think economic challenge is just the first step, strengthening the foundation of the forum. It has a big chance to strengthen other aspects in the future. Maybe politic, military, culture, and elses. Who knows...



Again economics only


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## athlon

Zero_wing said:


> Again economics only


Yes, for now


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## Zero_wing

Ya if and only if ASEAN can get it togther otherwise its still a talk shop or a water cooler party


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## kalu_miah

'Floating schools' for sea gypsy kids to open in Basulta | Nation, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

*'Floating schools' for sea gypsy kids to open in Basulta*
By Roel Pareño (philstar.com) | Updated June 14, 2014 - 3:09pm





ZAMBOANGA CITY - The indigenous local sea gypsy children from the Badjao and Sama tribes will no longer be left out from education even at sea as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and a Bangladesh-based non-government organization (NGO) will open floating schools on Sunday to the natives in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (Basulta).

The Bangladesh-based NGO called BRAC will launch the Floating Learning Centers in the coastal villages of Tampakan and Tongtong in Siasi town, Sulu in coordination with the ARMM-Department of Education (DepEd) led by Secretary Jamar Kulayan.

At least seven floating schools will be opened as classes resumed throughout the ARMM region.

Three of the floating schools be will designated for Bongao and Pamglima Sugala towns in Tawi-Tawi; another three for Siasi town, Sulu; and one in Lamitan City, Basilan.

Floating learning centers are docked along coastlines, particularly in the island communities that are unable to contribute a land or space. It also targets children in communities along the shorelines and areas that are far from public schools, according to BRAC’s country representative M Nazrul Islam.

BRAC's officials observed that members of the Badjao and Sama tribes are aloof with other larger tribes and appear reluctant in mingling with others.

Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
831864460

“That’s why most of them prefer not to be in school. The BRAC Floating Learning Center is the best learning facility, we thought, that would fit their culture, that would build their trust and confidence, and would make them feel the sense of ownership, which is most important consideration to the sustainability of the project,” he added.

ARMM Regional Gov. Mujiv Hataman said the program will be of great contribution to his administration’s effort to provide children more opportunities to get basic eduction.

Hataman said they have already started the program with the hiring of close to 2,000 qualified teachers a few weeks ago.

An estimated 40,000 out-of-school children will benefit from the Floating Learning Centers this school year.

There are already 312 BRAC learning centers in Maguindanao, 610 in Lanao del Sur, 118 in Tawi-Tawi, 102 in Sulu and 78 in Basilan.

Creating opportunity for the world’s poor | BRAC-Creating opportunity for the world’s poor
BRAC (NGO) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Zero_wing

actual is basilan sir am not trying to be a gramar nazi just making a correction


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## R2D2

*MAFTA

Multilateral Agreement for a Free Trade Alliance*

I propose formation of an economic block MAFTA composed of Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Bangla Desh, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, CARs, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Venezuella, Japan, Cuba, Bolivia, Ireland, Brunei Dar as Salam and Palestinian Authority for free trade without or reduced customs duties.

A MAFTA secretariat should be formed in Istanbul or Kuala Lumpur to coordinate all the activites.

Pakistan and Afghanistan in particular can benefit from adaptation of the advanced technologies from brotherly countries. An example is the recent Metro Bus project in various cities of Punjab with the help of Turkey.

Malaysia and Indonesia are rich in Palm oil and can meet the needs of member countries. Malaysia is also ahead in technology.

Pakistan is a big exporter of Textile and Leather goods.

Brazil is an important member of BRICS group and the biggest exporter in south America.

Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela are major exporters of crude oil. Russia is also a big exporter of gas and can supply Pakistan through its purchased gas from Turkmenistan.

Japan is the technological giant of the East and is already helping Pakistan in various projects.

Cuba is known for its independent policy and is the leading voice of the leftist world and will help us in gaining more space and allies diplomatically. The Cuban doctors performed selflessly during the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

Republic of Ireland is known for its independent foreign policy on the European mainland as opposed to Britain which is always toeing the American line.

Iran has patched up its differences with America and is emerging on world stage as a mature power.

Turkey is leading the Muslim world in moderate thought, technology, foreign investment and outreach.


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## Muslimdaughter

*List of ASEAN countries GDP, International Monetary Fund 2011 estimates.*

Rank Country GDP (millions of USD) GDP (PPP) (Millions of USD) *GDP (PPP) per capita*
1 Indonesia......... 845,680..... 1,124,000..... 4,666
2 Thailand.......... 345,649..... 616,783 ..... 9,398
3 Malaysia.......... 278,680..... 447,279 ..... 16,240
4 Singapore....... 259,849..... 314,911..... 59,710
5 Philippines...... 213,129..... 390,408 ..... 4,080
6 Vietnam.......... 122,722..... 299,985 ..... 3,359
7 Burma............ 51,925..... 82,679 ..... 1,325
8 Brunei........... 15,533..... 20,969 ..... 49,536
9 Cambodia..... 12,861..... 33,463 ..... 2,239
10 Laos............ 7,891..... 17,433 ..... 2,768

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## Dayax

*JAKARTA, 19 June 2014. * -As the year 2015 approaches, the realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is becoming of greater interest and concern to businesses, the general public and policymakers. Therefore, putting in place a comprehensive monitoring mechanism that accurately reflects progress and achievements of the AEC Blueprint outcomes is paramount.

A two-day brainstorming workshop was held on 9-10 June 2014 in Jakarta to develop a more effective and comprehensive integration monitoring system for ASEAN. The workshop provided a forum to develop and exchange ideas amongst current practitioners in ASEAN Secretariat and regional economic integration resource persons from the OECD and UN-CRIS as well as international experts.

The discussion focused on the AEC Scorecard, which is the current tool used to monitor compliance of the initiatives under the AEC Blueprint. Further, the discussion looked at developing a set of integration indicators which would complement the current compliance tool with an outcome-based monitoring system.

Amongst other issues discussed at the workshop were the collaboration between monitoring activities at national and regional levels, cross-sectoral approaches and the distinction between regional development and regional integration. On the one hand, regional development refers to the ultimate goals of regional integration such as economic growth and improvement of welfare in ASEAN.On the other hand, regional integration refers to the more immediate objectives such as free movement of goods, services and skilled labour, and freer flow of capital.

The ideas and recommendations developed in this workshop provided a platform for ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office (AIMO) to further develop a more comprehensive and effective regional integration monitoring system.

The workshop was officiated by H.E. Dr. Lim Hong Hin, Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community and Mr Frank Viault, Head of Cooperation from the EU Delegation to ASEAN. It was hosted by the AIMO and supported by the ASEAN Regional Integration Support from the EU (ARISE) programme.

source: Asean






Nine junior/mid-career diplomats participating in the 6th Diplomatic Training on the Development of ASEAN Community visited the ASEAN Secretariat today to learn more about ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). They were briefed by a Senior Economist of the Secretariat Ms Pitchaya Sirivunnabood, Ph.D. and engaged in discussion covering ASEAN Economic performance, impacts of AEC on ASEAN Community and some key issues and follow-up actions on AEC.

The visit to the ASEAN Secretariat is part of the 4-day programme organised by the Centre for Education and Training (CET) of Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme brings together diplomats from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan and Timor Leste.​
source: ASEAN org


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## somsak

human development: Height.
I guess physical height could be seen as human development. What do you think?

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## Cossack25A1

I have always wonder if the Philippines is ready for this (2015 ASEAN Economic Integration) as the PH's constitution enforces a 60/40 Economic restriction on everything.

We should really re-consider easing the restriction.


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## Brutas

An economic alliance between ASEAN-China-Korea would be a world power to reckon with. Definitely would be more influential in the world stage than EU or may be even US (economically) !


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## Edison Chen

somsak said:


> human development: Height.
> I guess physical height could be seen as human development. What do you think?



No China's data.


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## Zero_wing

china is not part of ASEAN plus its lower standards is not really in develop world its a newly industrialized country category


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## Nike

somsak said:


> human development: Height.
> I guess physical height could be seen as human development. What do you think?



Indonesia doesn't update their average heights data's for so long,


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## Cossack25A1

somsak said:


> human development: Height.
> I guess physical height could be seen as human development. What do you think?



Filipinos can reach the average ASEAN people height however this would be possible if better nutrition for the populace are implemented as the only Filipinos that reach the average height (and taller) are those that grew up in Europe, Canada and USA.

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## Zero_wing

True but the rural areas are the places to look and to start with as well. As for ASEAN integration the 1987 constitution needs to be amended or replace i for one favor replacing the 1987 constitution its post marcos constitution nothing more. 

The Philippines needs a better more updated constitution and no more biacammerial Congress please base the Government after the Katipunan a far better model of Government than stupid biacam anyway getting off topic here if the Philippines is going to make ASEAN integration work for the Philippines it needs to change the current constitution but its a long process to do so.


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## guitar01

somsak said:


> human development: Height.
> I guess physical height could be seen as human development. What do you think?



Indonesia's data is taken from population above 50 years old. I estimate the real number would be around 165-170. I'm 175 and I'm only slightly taller than average in jakarta.


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## fuse2014

somsak said:


> human development: Height.
> I guess physical height could be seen as human development. What do you think?




I don't believe it... I'm 5'11 inches or 181cm and I have pure native Indonesian genes (sundanese) and there are some people who are even higher than me in my place here, especially the younger one...

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## BoQ77

Thai poor children in a class of "Sawasdee Thailand project" : "Don't go Vietnam, teacher" ( Don't leave us ) to Le Quyen - the Vietnamese teacher, who is volunteer for teaching poor Thai children.

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## Dante

On what basis you making this comment?I think what ASEAN intend to do is become a power of balance, and by that, problems with China should be tackle by caution and taking the interest of all ASEAN members into consideration

And certainly not by dragging other outsider power and suggesting them to make a mess in the region, because now all those powers are projecting their capability in ASEAN and creates some kind of instability within the region

Beside if we talking about China-Phillipine conflict, is partly escalate because Phillipine inability to provide presence in the territory they claim, and their long decades problem supporting their own military for territorial defence

So imagine how you will react when you have a careless neighbour and then when someone breaking in their house, they accuse you as being not helpful and then they drag some thugs to guard their house and those thugs actually made you feel insecure


Zero_wing said:


> Again ASEAN is a good Economic Forum but A regional Political or anything else ASEAN is useless heck we cant even Unite on an Issue that in reality concern us all the china threat and having a United voice on stoping china's Imperialist designs in the region so again its no duh ASEAN as regional group is big F#^*ing epic fail its should just stick to economic matters not trying to copy the EU.


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## Zero_wing

Good point again ASEAN is useful only in terms of Economy nothing else


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## BoQ77

Vietnam will host the upcoming 24th ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet (AARM-24), the 15th ASEAN Conference of Army Commanders (ACAMM-15) and the 4th Conference of ASEAN Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (ASMAM-4) in Hanoi, announced the Ministry of National Defense at a press briefing in the capital on November 7.

The AARM-24 will take place at the Mieu Mon National Military Training Centre in Hanoi.
The AARM-24, themed “Solidarity, friendship, understanding and mutual learning” will held from November 11 to 28 in Hanoi.

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## BoQ77

ASEAN-25 Summit, EAS, ASEAN-Australia.

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## sicsheep

Edison Chen said:


> No China's data.



our average for male is 174.7 cm, female 158.6 cm, making us the highest Asian country? 
Human height - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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## Reashot Xigwin



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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN Today - Desember 2014





_Interesting ASEAN News channel_
.


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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN TODAY this month - JANUARY 2015







.


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## Martian2

This Is Asia's 'Undisputed Loser' From Oil and Fiscal Cuts Are Looming - Bloomberg

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## NiceGuy

Martian2 said:


> This Is Asia's 'Undisputed Loser' From Oil and Fiscal Cuts Are Looming - Bloomberg


Native ASEAN people learned a profound lesson from letting those Chinese-Camb like Pol Pot, Chinse-VNese like Ieng sary in power. When war break out wt Chinese, those ungrateful Chinese will immediately forget who grew them up and help China to kill their savior

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## Cossack25A1

*ASEAN’s Post-2015 Vision: Inclusive And Non-Elitist? – Analysis*
*January 15, 2015 RSIS*

2015 is the marker year for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) to be realised. Whilst the focus will invariably be on the AEC, the formulation of a post-2015 ASEAN vision requires equal care and attention. It should be more inclusive and grass-roots driven.

By Dylan Loh Ming Hui and Don Rodney Ong Junio*

One of the cornerstones of the ASEAN Community building project is its “people-centred” approach to regional integration as opposed to the elite-driven and state-centric approach that ASEAN has been generally associated with.

As ASEAN enters 2015 – a watershed year with the realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) – it is timely to examine how successful has ASEAN become in ensuring that voices from below are included in its various efforts to institutionalise a sense of regional community in Southeast Asia, especially in the context of formulating a post-2015 ASEAN vision.


*The ASEAN Way as the Elite Way?*
Well-established norms such as the ASEAN Way have limited the space for non-state actors to engage ASEAN. This is true for regional cross-cutting issues such as migration, human rights, and environmental protection that are being championed by civil society groups. However, this does not mean that there are no direct channels of engagement between civil society and ASEAN.

For example, one of the well-established regional fora held in parallel with the ASEAN Summit is the ASEAN Civil Society Conference / ASEAN Peoples’ Forum which was initiated in 2005 and has been held every year since then except in 2008. The forum brings together Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) across the region to discuss various issues affecting Southeast Asia.

The outcome of the forum is an official statement that is presented to an “interface meeting” where government representatives from ASEAN member-countries are present. Whether recommendations submitted by civil society groups are taken up by ASEAN is a different issue. There are also various issues associated with the ASEAN Civil Society Conference such as alleged intimidation and restrictions imposed by host governments during these meetings.

This brings into question the commitment of ASEAN in engaging civil society groups and its willingness to accept views coming from other stakeholders. Nonetheless, for some civil society groups, having this direct channel of engagement to ASEAN government officials, albeit weak, is counted as a small victory.

Even in the lead up to the AEC 2015, there were mutters of confusion from businesses, both small and large, on the impact and benefits that the AEC would bring. While governments in ASEAN are certain of the economic benefits arising from the AEC, the ‘lay stakeholders’ – general ASEAN citizens and businesses – are left to wonder what the fuss is all about.

ASEAN is 48 years old this year. However, the general awareness of ASEAN amongst the populace is worryingly low. In a 2007 survey conducted by the ASEAN Foundation, 60% of ASEAN respondents agreed (and strongly agreed) that if ASEAN were to disappear, it would make no difference to their lives.


*An inclusive and grassroots-driven process*
Moving forward, ASEAN should recognise that it does not have the monopoly of promoting the interest of ASEAN and its peoples. A people-centred approach to regional community building embraces and accepts the diversity of views from within ASEAN. To that end, ASEAN in constructing its post-2015 vision should embrace an inclusive and grassroots-driven modality in its community building efforts.

Firstly, more spaces should be opened for collaboration between ASEAN together with its instrumentalities and civil society groups. In this regard, increased interface between civil society and ASEAN and the institutionalisation of such interface are crucial steps in the right direction. However, this is not enough to shed ASEAN’s perceived elite-driven approach to regional integration.

The growing number of attendance in the ASEAN Civil Society Conference over the years indicates the willingness of civil society members to take ownership of the ASEAN project and help shape the future of the region. ASEAN should capitalise on these knowledge and sentiments developed from the ground. Doing so can help ASEAN enhance its input legitimacy and help establish ASEAN as a truly people-centred community.

Secondly, ASEAN’s profile and awareness should be raised among ASEAN citizens. It is not that nothing has been done in that regard, it is just that it has not been given strong weight in the lists of priorities currently undertaken by ASEAN. Both the style and substance of how ASEAN is promulgated should change.

For instance, most people discover about ASEAN through official government and news outlets. But such dissemination of information about ASEAN – mostly through official accounts – only serve to re-inforce the motif that ASEAN is an abstract entity reserved only for governments and political leaders and not for ‘people like us’ to understand.

Governments could initiate an ASEAN-wide team of volunteers or activists to solicit views on what the ASEAN peoples would like to see in a post-2015 vision. Through this process of solicitation, people can come to better understand what ASEAN is about and raise issues that an elite-driven process might not see.


*Not just for eminent people, experts and leaders*
Thirdly, it is critical to engage the views of youths in ASEAN because it is the youths that will be affected most from the post-2015 ASEAN initiatives. A ‘whole-of-ASEAN’ approach to educate and communicate ‘ASEAN’ to the young people of ASEAN is needed. It is a tall order, no doubt, but not an impossible feat.

One way to start this is through ASEAN classrooms. Instead of studying the glorious Chinese and Indian empires, why not calibrate and explain the history of ASEAN and its importance in the region?

There are signs that key stakeholders recognise that need for greater inclusion in ASEAN activities. Malaysia, as the ASEAN Chair in 2015, has indicated that one of its main priorities would be to engage ASEAN citizens and to promote greater understanding of ASEAN initiatives and projects. Indeed, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak noted that: “We also hope to steer ASEAN closer to the people of Southeast Asia: to make this institution part of people’s daily lives, by creating a truly people-centred ASEAN”.

If ASEAN is to genuinely aspire to be a ‘people-centred’ community, it would be prudent to ensure that the construction of a post-2015 ASEAN vision is an inclusive, open process that engages ASEAN citizens – not a closed process solely in the domain of eminent people, experts and political leaders.
-----
_** Dylan Loh Ming Hui* is a Research Analyst and *Don Rodney Ong Junio* is Associate Research Fellow of the Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University._

_-----_

_ASEAN's Post-2015 Vision: Inclusive And Non-Elitist? - Analysis - Eurasia Review_


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## BoQ77

ASEAN is walking steady to a unique community at the end of 2015.


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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN Today - February 2015






.

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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN TODAY - March 2015






.

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## Cossack25A1

NiceGuy said:


> Native ASEAN people learned a profound lesson from letting those Chinese-Camb like Pol Pot, Chinse-VNese like Ieng sary in power. When war break out wt Chinese, those ungrateful Chinese will immediately forget who grew them up and help China to kill their savior



Malaysia shows us what happens when the local Chinese are restricted due to the Bumiputera system, now want to see what happens when the local Chinese minority gains too much power and privilege? Look at our (Philippine) society, the Tsinoy oligarchy, particularly the later generation gained too much privilege that they hate the idea of removing the economic restriction due to their competition in the business field is always with their own kin and a foreign player that directly owns their investments could spell doom to the local Tsinoy business.

In fact, one member of that Tsinoy group who is also a member here revealed that he is *against *the idea of lifting the economic restriction, using the adage "foreign enslavement" as the reason.


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## Cossack25A1

*AEC Dream’s Failure ‘Still A Success’*
*ASEAN looks unlikely to achieve its deadline, but the region will still benefit from integration.*

*By Anthony Fensom
March 28, 2015*
-----

ASEAN’s goal of achieving economic integration by the end of 2015 has been largely written off by critics. But despite the delay, analysts still see sizeable gains from the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), particularly for the region’s bigger economies.

In a March 4 presentation, BMI Research’s head of Asia research, Cedric Chehab said ASEAN’s collective gross domestic product (GDP) would grow from $2.4 trillion in 2013 to more than $6.2 trillion by 2023, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of more than 10 percent. ASEAN’s share of global GDP is expected to increase from 3.2 percent to 4.7 percent by 2023, with its share of world trade rising from 5 to 6 percent.

“Asia’s GDP will double while ASEAN’s will more than double, and it’s faster growth than the Middle East and as large and larger than Africa…it’s quite difficult to find other regions with as strong growth prospects as ASEAN,” he said.

The economic growth will occur despite ASEAN’s expected failure to meet its self-imposed deadline, Chehab said.

“We don’t believe the AEC will actually meet the end-2015 deadline and in fact we see the AEC as more of an evolution rather than a revolution. The move toward the AEC will be a gradual process given the numerous trade and non-tariff barriers that currently exist,” he said.

The AEC is seen as the “realization of the end goal of regional economic integration” by ASEAN’s 10 member economies, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, encompassing more than 620 million people.

The AEC aims to transform ASEAN into a region with “free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor and freer flow of capital,” based on four key pillars of a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, equitable economic development and full integration into the global economy.

Yet after first being proposed in 2007 as part of the ASEAN Vision 2020, the deadline for the AEC was moved from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015, with observers now reportedly eyeing a “post-2015 agenda,” despite official reassurances.

In November 2014, ASEAN reported that “good progress” had been made across approximately 88 percent of three pillars of the AEC. However, business has shown skepticism, with respondents to a survey of U.S. businesses in the region expressing doubts whether the AEC’s goals would be achieved even by 2020.

According to the “ASEAN Business Outlook Survey 2015,” just 4 percent of respondents considered it likely that the organization would achieve the AEC goals by the end-2015 deadline, down from 23 percent in the corresponding survey the previous year.

Nevertheless, 66 percent of respondents said ASEAN markets would become more important to their companies’ global revenues over the next two years, with 89 percent forecasting increased trade and investment over the coming five years.

According to the Asian Development Bank’s Jayant Menon, ASEAN has made the greatest progress in tariff reduction, with more than 70 percent of intra-ASEAN trade now incurring zero tariffs under the ASEAN Free Trade Area. According to ASEAN, average tariff rates on intra-ASEAN imports have declined from nearly 3 percent in 2003 to 0.5 percent in 2014.

However, gaps remain between the region’s larger and smaller economies in areas such as trade facilitation and investment liberalization, while services trade has proved harder to liberalize. Menon also cited problems in protecting intellectual property rights as well as reducing development disparities between the region’s rich and poor, although progress with the fourth pillar has seen the rise of “Factory ASEAN.”

“Accommodating AEC accords will not be easy when they require changes to domestic laws or even the national constitution. The flexibility that characterizes ASEAN cooperation, the celebrated ‘ASEAN way’, may hand member states a convenient pretext for non-compliance,” he warned in _East Asia Forum_.

“If the AEC is to be more than a display of political solidarity, ASEAN must find a way to give the commitments more teeth. The 2015 deadline should be viewed not as the final destination but as a milestone on the slow and long journey towards the AEC.”

Highlighting the region’s economic divide, both Brunei and Singapore had GDP per capita exceeding $35,000 in 2013, while Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand ranged from $2,700 to $10,400.

However, BMI’s Chehab said there were benefits to the slow implementation of the AEC, which he said could be delayed to 2018 or even 2020 due to its legal, compliance and institutional requirements.

“One positive dynamic from this slow and incremental process of integration is that it will limit the risks of larger versus strong stemming from rapid liberalization,” he said.

“Sometimes there are shocks associated with the rapid liberalization of a particular economy, including the forced restructuring of uncompetitive industries which are subject to foreign competition, but also sometimes you have uncontrolled capital inflows which can be the result of rapid economic liberalization. A piecemeal approach will help reduce the risk of such unintended consequences.”


*Industry Winners And Losers*

While ASEAN has nominated 11 “priority integration sectors” comprising agribusiness, air travel, automotive, e-ASEAN, electronics, fisheries, healthcare, rubber, textiles, tourism and wood, there are expected to be some winners and losers in the process.

In the auto sector, Chehab said Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia would further strengthen their position as manufacturing hubs, resulting in other countries such as the Philippines missing out on jobs and investment. Indonesia and the Philippines are expected to drive vehicle demand growth, given their large populations and low car ownership. Already, Japan’s Toyota Motor has flagged a new $1 billion investment in Indonesia, with Indonesian President Joko Widodo seeking further Japanese investment during his recent visit to Tokyo.

However, while smaller economies such as Cambodia and Laos are also expected to attract investment due to their lower wages, Chehab said non-tariff barriers such as excise duties could weigh on further integration, preventing the predicted industry growth from being fully realized.

The pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry is seen as another winner from the AEC, with Chehab predicting that ASEAN pharmaceutical sales will more than double by 2023, rising from $21 billion in 2013 to $50 billion, despite disparities in intellectual property rights and resources preventing full integration.

Chehab said increased government investment in healthcare and aging populations would spur demand, along with rising incomes. Private healthcare providers are expected to expand their regional footprint, while medical tourism should benefit Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

However, he warned of a potential “brain drain” of medical professionals from the less developed economies to their richer rivals, compounding a shortfall of medical staff and infrastructure in countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

“This is an existing trend, as for example many Filipino healthcare workers are already moving to Japan, but the AEC may accelerate this process, putting more pressure on some of the poorer countries which are unable to retain their staff,” he said.

In agribusiness, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam are expected to benefit the most, although given the sector’s political sensitivities, protectionist countries such as Indonesia may see limited gains. According to Chehab, Thailand could gain market share in sugar exports from the Philippines and Vietnam, while Vietnam should emerge as a winner in rice exports at the expense of Thailand. Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand should also benefit the most from growing demand for dairy products, he said.

Another key winner from the AEC should be the region’s consumer electronics, IT and telecommunications sector. This is despite slow progress on removing barriers to foreign investment, particularly in telecoms, where countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia have high levels of state involvement.

Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos should attract increased investment in consumer electronics due to their lower wages, with both Indonesia and Vietnam becoming sizeable growth markets. Meanwhile, Chebab said the e-ASEAN initiative and increased smartphone usage would boost e-commerce, with some 60 million new consumers gaining internet access over the next five years, particularly in Indonesia.

“As a whole, the ASEAN region will benefit tremendously from the growth opportunity, the increased specialization, the reduction in prices for consumer goods as well as the increased integration of these economies,” Chehab said.

However, despite the AEC’s potential, headwinds include protectionist pressures limiting reforms, along with a potential slowdown in major trading partners, given that intra-ASEAN trade accounts for only a quarter of the total. China’s position as the region’s largest trading partner has left ASEAN exposed to a slowing Chinese economy, while top foreign investor, the European Union is struggling to emerge from recession.

Concerns have also been raised about the ability of the ASEAN Secretariat to drive change given its limited resources compared to bodies such as the European Union.

Nevertheless, ASEAN’s growth potential should keep the region in the spotlight for some time to come, regardless of its expected stumbles toward full integration.

-----
AEC Dream’s Failure ‘Still A Success’ | The Diplomat
-----

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## pr1v4t33r

The birth of ASEAN

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## Nike

*Asean: The Future in Wealth Management*
By Kevin Martin on 08:23 pm May 17, 2015
Category Analysis, Business, Commentary, Opinion
Tags: HSBC, Wealth Management




Asean nations, Indonesia included, are projected to have a combined GDP of $4.7 trillion by the year 2020. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

Southeast Asia’s economic boom is resulting in the emergence of a new middle class, heralding vast opportunities for global wealth management.

Since the 1970’s, growth in this region was primarily driven by exports and manufacturing.

Today, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is on its way to become one of the world’s leading consumption hubs, fuelling demand for a variety of goods and services, including financial services.

Asean is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

We believe Asean’s middle class will play an increasingly important role in the shift in the balance of global demand over the next few decades, opening up new and unprecedented opportunities for the region and the world.

With about 600 million people, Asean countries represent only half of India’s population but collectively generate a larger gross domestic product. By 2020, Asean GDP is expected to grow at an annual average of 6 percent and reach $4.7 trillion.

By 2020, Asia is likely to contribute to more than half of the total global middle class population, with Asean accounting for more than $ 2 trillion of new consumption, according to the International Monetary Fund. Half of Asean’s projected population will be aged under 30.

With growing purchasing power comes greater aspirations among Asean consumers, driving stronger demand for property, cars, quality education and health care as well as financial services and wealth management.

Consumption patterns in Asean, however, are not even across this expansive and diverse region. We expect consumers in developing economies to continue directing a large portion of their disposable income towards improving general living standards whilst those in mature markets will forge ahead in consumption and investments.

For example, discretionary spending by more affluent middle class populations in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand is far more pronounced in the region; while spending in Indonesia and the Philippines is focused on vehicles, appliances and education services to enhance quality of life.

Whilst Vietnam has the highest rate of credit card ownership, its emerging middle class is only starting to develop an appetite for luxury goods.

As populations across Asean become more affluent and the region’s emerging middle class continues to expand, there is a pressing need for services that will help individuals and families preserve, protect and perpetuate their new found prosperity.

As Southeast Asian populations age, they will need new channels to save for retirement, fund rising costs of health care and ensure adequate insurance protection in the absence of well-established social security systems.

We expect financial wealth in Asean to grow even faster than in China over the next five years, creating opportunities in international wealth and asset management. Asean has one of the highest saving rates in the world at around 30 percent and international reserves amounting to $800 billion.

While financial assets remain heavily concentrated in cash and in some markets, concentrated on single assets such as stocks, we expect investment behavior among Asean savers to eventually build a diversified portfolio of assets and move away from home biases.

Regional financial integration and market liberalization such as what is unfolding in China will allow for more efficient risk diversification of assets.

The development of its financial systems will also provide easier access to financing.

We see a future where wealth growth, protection and financing retirement, education and lifestyle needs will become priority goals for Asean consumers. It is critical that financial solutions are designed to meet these long term saving needs, offer transparency and fair value.

It is important that consumers have access to timely and relevant market information to help them make informed investment decisions either through self-directed channels or through qualified advisors.

There is also a need to ensure banking and wealth management cater to new consumer behavior.

As the new Asean working class gains greater financial independence, they seek new experiences through travel, education and employment opportunities overseas. They are also among the most active online users, accessing news and information, doing their shopping and conversations virtually — given social media’s deep penetration in the region, particularly in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The rise of the middle class will continue to be the big story for Southeast Asia’s economies over the coming years. The promise of growth will transform one of the most overlooked regions in the world to one of the most important.

_Kevin Martin is head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management Asia-Pacific at HSBC_
Asean: The Future in Wealth Management - The Jakarta Globe


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## Brutas

Good to see ASEAN moving ahead. If they can bring China-Korea & Japan in the bloc, that would be a formidable economic force to reckon with. Pax Americana will be in it's twilight era then. Otherwise Washington will continue to dominate world economy in the foreseeable future. EU's economic model has worked but still a long way to go to counter uncle Sam.


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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN Today - June 2015


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## chathrapathi

Brutas said:


> Good to see ASEAN moving ahead. If they can bring China-Korea & Japan in the bloc, that would be a formidable economic force to reckon with. Pax Americana will be in it's twilight era then. Otherwise Washington will continue to dominate world economy in the foreseeable future. EU's economic model has worked but still a long way to go to counter uncle Sam.


China will never go into a bloc thats competing with America. Without America, China will fall immediately.


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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN+3 = ASEAN + China, Japan, and Korea. They are already become important ASEAN dialogue partner.

_link : ASEAN +3_

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## pr1v4t33r

Indonesia Earning Respect through Leadership within ASEAN

Indonesia’s experience within ASEAN has been that leadership in a world of sovereign states must be earned and nurtured, not imposed at will.







Geographically, demographically and economically speaking, Indonesia constitutes a significant part of ASEAN. However, these elements do not automatically translate on their own into influence and leadership. The geopolitics and geo-economics of the Southeast Asia region depend on skills of statecraft and diplomacy: these are the qualities, which translate the potential for leadership into reality. Indonesia’s approach has been to apply smart power — namely, a combination of soft power and hard power, together with a readiness to provide intellectual and policy leadership.

Drawing lessons from the past, and driven not least by a keen interest not to repeat the shortcomings of larger countries, recent Indonesian foreign policy has crafted a more nuanced, calibrated and deft approach to leadership within ASEAN. This is an approach, which places primacy on the promotion of trust and confidence in Indonesia within ASEAN. Rather than being a country that throws its weight around, Indonesia’s diplomacy follows the maxim that ‘less is more’ and so is often more effective in influencing outcomes. Indonesia’s approach is that of a country entrusted to promote the common interests of the region. In ASEAN parlance, it seeks to be a country that works at the ‘comfort level’ of its regional peers.

At the risk of oversimplification, three themes at the national, regional, and global levels illustrate Indonesia’s leadership in ASEAN over the recent years.

The first is the introduction of the subjects of democracy and human rights in ASEAN discourse through the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), one of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community (the others being the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-cultural Communities). The discourse was adopted in 2003 during Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN as part of the Bali Concord II platform.

While there is clearly, a fair way to go to attain the kind of democratic community envisaged in the APSC, it is not possible to exaggerate the fundamental significance of the APSC vision. No longer can there be a blanket disregard of developments within each individual member state given that ASEAN now constitutes a ‘community’ or even a ‘family’. For Indonesia, the ‘democratisation’ of ASEAN, while naturally occurring at different speeds, has been essential to ensure that there is no ‘disconnect’ between regional level developments and Indonesia’s national level democratisation since 1998.

Indonesia’s leadership in strengthening ASEAN’s democratic architecture has not been limited to the building of norms and principles, through documents such as the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, as well as institutions such as the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. Indonesia has also made significant strides in promoting certain practices, such as transparency around internal sovereign developments at ASEAN meetings, in the hope that they will generate a ‘demonstrative spill-over effect’ elsewhere. It is noteworthy, for instance, that the acceleration of reform in Myanmar in 2011 took place during Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN. This was the result of, among other things, a judicious combination of policies, formal and informal, regional and bilateral, which in total helped create conditions conducive for further reform.

A second illustration of Indonesia’s leadership in ASEAN has been on the issue of regional architecture. In recent years, Indonesia has been at the forefront in ensuring that the group’s much-cited principle of being in the ‘driving seat’ of regional integration is tangibly realised in the association’s engagement with its external partners. In this way, Indonesia has, in a judicious and consensus-building manner, sought to provide leadership in ASEAN. Hence, its vision of an East Asia Summit that included India, Australia and New Zealand, rather than one that was limited to the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), came to fruition in 2005. In the subsequent evolution of the EAS, Indonesia was able to achieve the concurrent admission of Russia and the United States in 2011, representing the realisation of its ‘dynamic equilibrium’ policy. Indonesia has also been successful in having the EAS adopt the so-called Bali Principles in 2011 that inter alia provide for peaceful settlement of disputes and the non-use of force among EAS members.

Indonesia’s leadership on regional security has clearly extended beyond regional architecture building. A case in point was its role in managing the real potential for conflict between Cambodia and Thailand in 2011 over the disputed Preah Vihear temple in the border region. Another was its unprecedented ‘shuttle diplomacy’ in 2012 that helped restore ASEAN unity on the issue of the South China Sea through the adoption of the so-called ‘Six Point Principles’.

In addition, Indonesia’s leadership took ASEAN cooperation to a higher level through the Bali Concord III of 2011. The ‘ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations’ envisions a common ASEAN approach to addressing global issues. Much like the Bali Concord II, the Bali Concord III aims to ensure synergy between Indonesia’s increasing global reach and the region’s own global-level ambitions and aspirations. This is a true reflection of Indonesia as a regional power with global interests.

For Indonesia, leadership in ASEAN has had to be earned through sound policies. To successfully navigate, and indeed lead, the dynamic ASEAN framework has more often-required quiet rather than megaphone diplomacy; an ability to master informal rather than formal channels of communication; and an emphasis on common rather than narrow interests. Last but not least, embracing a leadership role in ASEAN demands the capacity to be forward-looking — to shape and mould — rather than just react to developments.

_Leadership in ASEAN is a process, not an event. It is one quite distinct from ASEAN chair alone. It must be nurtured, and above all, it must be earned._

_Indonesia Earning Respect through Leadership within ASEAN | Economy Watch_


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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN Today - July 2015


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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN Today - July 2015


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## dy1022

OMG, Vietnam is the poorest one, Even Little Phili is doing better than Vietnam!


I think I get the reason why Vietnam is so high in the SCS these days!


Looking for Cash Aid ,huh?


Vietnam's leader always went to China for begging some Financial Aid between year of 2008-2015.

Traitor will always be Traitor.


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## pr1v4t33r




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## pr1v4t33r

ASEAN police urged to strengthen ties

_The government has urged Southeast Asian police forces to forge closer links in the fight against transnational crime with the advent of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of this year. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Tuesday that police forces should work together to share their skills and experience in order to create a safe environment for the people of Southeast Asia._






“The ASEAN Economic Community will soon be implemented. Although [the AEC] will affect [the region], [police forces] must continue to protect and serve the public in terms of problems that we would all like to solve,” Kalla said in an opening speech at the 35th ASEANAPOL conference in Central Jakarta.

“A country’s stability can only be ensured if there is security in the region and a country’s security can only be guaranteed if there is stability in the region.”

The AEC, which will be officially launched on Dec. 31, 2015, will provide freer movement of goods, services and skilled labor among ASEAN member countries.

Kalla noted that Indonesia was experienced in the field of terrorism, but said that the country could not work alone, as experience had taught the National Police that militant groups received much of their equipment from abroad.

“Terrorists in Indonesia have also trained others in the region, which may have contributed to similar conflicts abroad,” he said.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti explained that ASEANAPOL had already decided on several crimes that they would like to focus their cooperation on, including illegal fishing, drug trafficking, human trafficking, economic crimes and wildlife crimes. The cooperation for the past 35 years, Badrodin said, had proved fruitful for investigations and increasing the skills of officers.

However, he acknowledged that different laws in each ASEAN member country sometimes presented an obstacle to tackling transnational crime.

“There are always certain technical difficulties when cooperating in the field to solve a transnational crime. The different laws in each country can get in the way,” Badrodin said.

He added that he hoped that  through the conference — with all 10 ASEAN member states in attendance, along with dialogue partners from six countries, two international organizations and four observer countries — regional police forces could find ways to overcome legal differences.

“Although we have different legal systems, we also have good relations and we can cooperate to overcome the differences,” he said.

The most recent high-profile transnational crime was a case of slavery in Benjina, Maluku, with more than a thousand foreigners and Indonesians allegedly forced and tricked into working long hours for little pay for fishing firm PT Pusaka Benjina Resources (PBR).

Police officials claim that many of the slaves had been trafficked from Thailand. Seven men have been named suspects in Indonesia.

Badrodin said, though, that the Benjina case was not scheduled for discussion during the conference.

“However, we may speak about similar cases in bilateral meetings,” he said.

_ASEAN police urged to strengthen ties | The Jakarta Post_


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## Zero_wing

dy1022 said:


> OMG, Vietnam is the poorest one, Even Little Phili is doing better than Vietnam!
> 
> 
> I think I get the reason why Vietnam is so high in the SCS these days!
> 
> 
> Looking for Cash Aid ,huh?
> 
> 
> Vietnam's leader always went to China for begging some Financial Aid between year of 2008-2015.
> 
> Traitor will always be Traitor.



Typical chinese troll your not doing so well yourselves typical cant even respect a country enough to spell the name right arrogant jerk


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## LowPost

*Laos is a Key Country in Russia's Pivot to Asian Integration*


The Vietnamese and Laotians love Russia for coming to their defense and literally saving them during the Vietnam war
Between 1964 and 1973, US bombing raids made Laos the “most heavily bombed country on earth,” where American B-52s dropped an average of one bomb-load every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, totaling more ordinance than was dropped during the whole of WWII. (Wikipedia)

_This article originally appeared at *The Vineyard of the Saker*_

Southeast Asia is one of the economic powerhouses of the world, and its prized position in the global economy is only expected to grow in the coming future. This is why all the Great Powers are racing to (re)develop and reinforce their ties with the region, Russia being foremost among them.

Ever since the onset of the New Cold War, Russia has been compelled to rapidly reorient its strategic focus eastward after witnessing firsthand how flimsy its friendship with the West really was. While most commentators rightfully draw attention to Russia’s growing full-spectrum relations with China , many of them neglect the fact that the country isn’t its sole partner or interest in the Asia-Pacific.

Vietnam also forms a key lynchpin of Russia’s strategy there, and it’s through adroitly managing its social assets in the country that Russia can make its presence felt in the heartland of mainland ASEAN, Laos.

*Land-Linking Laos*

The author wrote an in-depth expose back in April about the strategic importance of Laos in forming the principal conduit of China’s ASEAN Silk Road , and the analysis holds just as firm today as it did then.

The centrally positioned country connects to all the other mainland members of ASEAN and accordingly provides Beijing with an opening to extend its influence throughout the rest of the region. Not only is the country becoming land-linked through its pivotal transit relationship with China, however, but it’s also capitalizing on its historical ties with Vietnam to draw in trade and investment from the east. In fact, Vientiane and Hanoi just signed a border trade agreement at the end of last month stipulating that “import tax rates for goods made in Vietnam and Laos, as well as various products made by Vietnamese investors in Laos, will be reduced to zero.”

What this basically means is that tariffs will be eliminated between both countries and a de-facto free trade zone will take its place. This is extremely beneficial for both parties, but interestingly also opens up some exciting opportunities that Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union could utilize in the coming future.

*Russia’s ASEAN Pivot*

In order to fully understand how Vietnam and Laos’ de-facto forthcoming free trade agreement can directly benefit Russia and appreciate the way in which this serendipitously came to be, a concise review of the country’s ASEAN pivot needs to be commenced first:

*Vietnam:*

Moscow has had privileged ties with Hanoi ever since the US War on Vietnam, and despite undergoing a rough patch of relative neglect during the 1990s, they still remained among Russia’s strongest post-Cold War relationships (alongside the one with Syria ). The reason that bilateral ties managed to survive that troubling decade is because of the tourism and arms trade sectors that continued to thrive during the period, and correspondingly formed the basis for exploring the expansion of trade links even further in the past years. The result of this has been the signing of the Vietnam-Eurasian Union free trade agreementthat symbolically (and substantially) shows that Russia’s Asian Pivot is about more than just China, and that Moscow has intentions to establish a more robust presence in ASEAN.

*Thailand:*

After Vietnam, ties with Thailand have also been on the upswing, especially since the change of government last year that swept Yingluck Shinawatra out of power. Prayut Chan-o-cha, the new leader of Thailand, has been much more pragmatic than his predecessor and exceptionally more eager to diversify his country’s partnerships. During Prime Minister Medvedev’s visit to the country in April, the two spoke about the possibility of a free trade agreement between the Southeast Asian state and the Eurasian Union, which set the stage for Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov’s recent announcement that Thailand’s formal application for such is expected to be submitted by year’s end. Taken together with the agreement already concluded with Vietnam, Russia would then be in a free trade area with the two largest mainland ASEAN economies and become anchored to Indochina’s most economically productive coastland areas.

*Myanmar:*

Somewhat unexpectedly to some, Russia signaled at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in June that it plans to become a major actor in Myanmar, signing a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with the country and even giving its Vice President the honor of presenting a keynote plenary speech alongside President Putin. More than likely, the country’s role has been elevated in the view of Russian diplomacy due to its enormous economic potential (despite the astounding political risks ), and it’s probable that Moscow envisions adding Naypyidaw to its list of free trade partners sometime in the future. If this comes to pass, alongside the clinching of a free trade agreement with Thailand, then it’s very probable that Russia could attempt to seal a free trade deal with all of ASEAN, or at the very least, the last two remaining mainland states, Cambodia and Laos.

* * *

Doing so with Cambodia wouldn’t be that difficult, since China’s entrenched interests in the new SCO dialogue partner and its implicit global cooperation with Moscow via the Russian-Chinese Strategic Partnership would see to it that Phnom Penh takes the natural and swift decision in this direction when the appropriate time arrives. As regards Laos, it will be described in the next section how the country is about to be in a quasi-free trade zone with Russia, whether or not this is even recognized at the moment by either side. To sum it all up beforehand, though, the reader should understand that Russia’s ultimate goal in ASEAN is to enter into a bloc-to-bloc free trade area between it and the Eurasian Union, which would then see the employment of China’s land and maritime Silk Road networks to facilitate the transit of goods between both sides. Under this vision, all sides stand to achieve major benefits, and as for Russia, one of the principal ones would be the extension of its Eurasian reach to the furthest extremity points of the supercontinent.

*Getting Lucky In Laos*

Having acquired a brief understanding of Russia’s grand strategy towards ASEAN, it’s now possible for the reader to adequately follow how Russia’s forthcoming quasi-free trade zone with Laos came to be. Vietnam, as it was initially mentioned, signed a border trade agreement with its neighbor that will essentially create a free trade zone between the two, and specifically give certain privileges to Vietnamese investors in Laos. At the same time, however, it was also noted how Vietnam just recently entered into a formal free trade agreement with the Eurasian Union. Connecting the threads, and considering the presence of certain strategic Russian business interests in Vietnam (most notably in this case, the tourism sector, which will be expanded upon soon), it’s conceivable to suggest that Vietnamese-based Russian businesses will be granted the same privileges in Laos as their ethnic Vietnamese counterparts in the country, the effect of which would be to open up a semi-official (albeit limited) free trade zone between Laos and Russia (or theoretically any of the other Eurasian Union member states) that transits through Vietnam.

The implications pertaining to this realization are huge, since it means that Russia can gain a strategic foothold in Laos via the overlapping free trade agreements. On the surface, mainland Southeast Asia’s least populous and most undeveloped country doesn’t seem like much of an economic opportunity for anyone, but upon closer examination (as was discussed in an earlier-cited piece ), there’s a wealth of untapped mineral and other natural resources there, to say nothing of the logistics edge that the country will have in being the pivotal connector between the Chinese and Thai components of the ASEAN Silk Road. The country also plans to amend its Constitution shortly in order to make it more business-friendly, meaning that if Vietnamese-based Russian companies can be ‘grandfathered’ into the legislation, then they’d be in a prime advantage vis-à-vis their competitors. The thing, is however, that Russia’s lost a lot of its soft power and overall influence in the country since the heyday of the Soviet era , meaning that it’s currently not in the best position to flex its economic muscle there, no matter the legal loopholes that presently work to its advantage or the constitutional urgency in doing so as soon as possible.

An innovative solution does present itself, however, and that’s the utilization of Russia’s established tourism industry network in Vietnam to serve as the vanguard for penetrating the Laotian market. Individuals employed in this field obviously have some degree of knowledge of the Vietnamese language (which is a given if they’re locals), and therein lies the first step in facilitating the return of Russian influence into Laos. According to official statistics released from February of this year, around 25% of the more than 4 million tourists that visited Laos last year were from Vietnam, and seeing as how the two languages are dissimilar, it’s reasonable to conclude that a sizeable segment of the Laotian population speaks Vietnamese to a working capacity. This means that the Vietnamese-speaking employees of Vietnam-based Russian companies can engage in market assessment operations to ascertain the social, material, and investment needs of the country, which would give their bosses valuable economic knowledge that they could either profit from themselves in diversifying their business portfolios or sell to other Russian companies interested in making inroads there. Even if Russian companies aren’t aware of or totally interested in Laos just yet, the discussion to start direct or charter flights between the two countries could make this investment (and tourist) destination much more attractive and convenient in the near future, so it’s therefore in the best interest of any Russian-owned entrepreneurial company in Vietnam to take the lead in this before others catch on.

*Concluding Thoughts*

All in all, Russia needs to be aware of the manner in which it can apply its already existing Vietnamese-based tourist industry in advancing strategic objectives in Laos. The promotion of robust business interests in the land-linked country (be they tourist, mineral, or other) via the exploitation of the overlapping free trade legislations centered on Vietnam can further Moscow’s ultimate goal of formalizing a free trade agreement with Laos and using such a development as a launching pad for promoting a pan-regional free trade area sometime in the future. As a result of such a lucky legal arrangement, Russia has a sizeable opportunity to deepen, as well as accelerate, its Pivot to ASEAN, but it must use its presently available human capital in Vietnam to bring this about. Russian-owned tourist companies in the country have the valuable language skills needed to communicate with Laotians (a significant portion of whom speak Vietnamese for historical and practical reasons), so they can form the vanguard in spearheading renewed Russian investment in the country, either through their own market discoveries or by selling such information to interested compatriots. Looked at from this perspective, Russia does in fact have a realistic possibility of expanding its economic interests into Laos, provided of course that it can harness the motivational will to take the initiative in the first place.

Laos is a Key Country in Russia's Pivot to Asian Integration

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## pr1v4t33r

ACSS - ASEAN Community Statistical System


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## neolithic

The Dual Origin of the Malagasy in Island Southeast Asia and East Africa: 
Evidence from Maternal and Paternal Lineages


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## pr1v4t33r




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## Nike

*SEMICON Southeast Asia 2016 comes back to Penang*
Kamis, 11 Februari 2016 16:15 WIB | 1.679 Views

_Largest Regional Semiconductor Industry Conference Set To Draw More Than 7000 Visitors_

PENANG, Malaysia, Feb 11, 2016 - (Antara) - SEMI, the global industry association serving the nano- and micro-electronic manufacturing supply chains, will once again be hosting SEMICON Southeast Asia (SEMICON SEA), the region's premier showcase for microelectronics innovation. With the objective to champion regional collaboration, the showcase will open new business opportunities for customers and foster stronger cross-regional engagement.

Set to take place from 26-28 April 2016 at the Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre (SPICE) in Penang, Malaysia, SEMICON SEA 2016 will offer a complete platform for engaging customers, suppliers, engineers and decision-makers from across the industry.

According to Ng Kai Fai, President of SEMI Southeast Asia, "SEMICON SEA 2016 is the ideal place to discover the technologies and trends that are driving advances in microelectronics manufacturing. From an in-depth market trends briefing, to technology and business forums, visitors will be able to learn what is driving development and growth in the global and Southeast Asia microelectronics markets"

"With stronger and more expanded content, we expect the showcase this year to reach to a larger audience, not only from Malaysia and Singapore, but also from leading semiconductor nations such as Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia," he added.

SEMICON SEA 2016 will focus on the key trends and solutions in semiconductor design and manufacturing, including emphasis on serving the needs of expanding applications markets many of which require development of specialised materials, packaging, and test technologies, as well as new architectures and processes.

"Our inaugural SEMICON SEA 2015 was a resounding success with a total of 6,940 industry players from around the world attending the three-day conference. Furthermore, visitors last were those who are primarily involved in purchasing decisions, influencing the selection and final purchase of microelectronics manufacturing equipment, materials, components, and services."

"The positive response for SEMICON SEA last year clearly shows that industry participants recognises the need to network, collaborate and innovate in order to grow and compete. Furthermore, SEMICON SEA gives exhibitors the opportunity to engage with their customers and showcase their technology leadership. In fact, this year, we are already off to a good start with many of our booths already been taken up. As such, we are confident that SEMICON SEA 2016 will be another sterling success."

To register for SEMICON SEA 2016 or to explore exhibiting opportunities, visitSEMICON Southeast Asia or contact Ms. Shannen Koh at skoh@semi.org.

Sponsors for SEMICON SEA 2015 included Applied Materials, AMEC, GlobalFoundries, EV Group, KLA-Tencor, Kulicke & Soffa, Lam Research, SCREEN and Xcerra Corporation. Partners include Invest Penang, VLSI Consultancy, Malaysia Investment & Development Authority (MIDA), Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Penang Tourism and Singapore Manufacturing Federation.

Contact:

This release issued on behalf of SEMI 
by Acendus Communications Sdn Bhd.

Michael Poh at +60 12 395 5202 or
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SEMICON Southeast Asia 2016 comes back to Penang - ANTARA News


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## BoQ77

*ASEAN officers join training course on protection of EEZ*
Update: May, 13/2016 - 18:22






Military officers from the Navies, Air Forces, Coastguards, Border Guards and Defence Ministries of Southeast Asian countries participate in an international training course on Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Protection provided by the UK’s Ministry of Defence in Đà Nẵng. — Photo the training course’s organising committee
Viet Nam News 
ĐÀ NẴNG — Military officers from the navies, air forces, coastguards, border guards and defence ministries of Southeast Asian countries completed an international training course in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Protection yesterday.

The course was conducted by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence.

The course, which was organised in central Đà Nẵng City on May 9-13, drew the participation of 25 military officers from *Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand, as well as the Philippines and Việt Nam.*

International maritime organisations and legislation, physical maritime threats and how to counter them, fishery protection and the global maritime distress and safety system, as well as search and rescue operations and the agencies that conduct them, environmental issues and disaster management were discussed during the programme.

Lieutenant Commander Ted Bath from the Royal Navy’s Maritime Warfare School, who was delivering the week-long course, said: “It is a tremendous privilege to welcome so many high calibre officers from five regional nations’ military forces to such a great venue in Việt Nam to enhance their understanding of the issues involved in EEZ management and protection operations.”

*This is the first time that the UK military personnel have delivered training in Việt Nam, marking a significant step forward in the two nations’ training co-operation.

The UK aims to run similar, more practical and focussed training with the Vietnamese People’s Navy in the near future and share experiences with Việt Nam’s Ministry of National Defence by facilitating bilateral workshops. *

The UK’s defence attaché to Việt Nam, Group Captain Tim Below, said: “I look forward to continuing to deepen the defence relationship between our two countries through further opportunities to share experience in other areas of operations in the months ahead.”

"*We need assistance to build a peacekeeping training centre in Việt Nam as part of preparation for deploying troops, personnel training*, anti-mining and medical services." — *VNS*

*@Carlosa*


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## katarabhumi

*Timor Leste to join ASEAN in 2017*
_Rabu, 25 Mei 2016 09:22 WIB_

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The Democratic Republic of Timor Leste will become a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2017, the Indonesian Ambassador to ASEAN, Rahmat Pramono, said here on Tuesday.

"In 2011, when Indonesia was the head of the ASEAN, Timor Leste submitted an application to join ASEAN. The ASEAN member countries agreed to conduct a feasibility study of the new country," the ambassador said.

The feasibility study highlighted three pillars to evaluate the qualifications of Timor Leste to become a member of ASEAN. The three pillars are politics and security, economy and socio-culture.

"The politics, security and economy studies have been assessed, while the socio-cultural assessment is expected to be completed by the end of this year," Ambassador Rahmat noted.

In addition, Timor Leste must undertake development of its human resources, in order to boost the economy of the country, he added.

"However, Timor Leste does not need to wait to complete development of its human resources to become a member of ASEAN. This can be done after Timor Leste has joined the big family of the ASEAN," Ambassador Rahmat said.

He added that in the near future, all representatives of ASEAN countries will meet to discuss Timor Leste's joining the regional organization.

Rahmat added that if approved, Timor Leste will become the eleventh member country of ASEAN.

Currently, ASEAN has ten members countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.(*)


http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/104864/timor-leste-to-join-asean-in-2017


+++

*Timor Leste looks to benefit from ASEAN membership*
_Dilli | Thu, May 26 2016 | 08:42 am_

Just 14 years into independence, Timor Leste has secured membership of a number of international forums, declaring its intent to catch up with the rest of the developing world.

Now, through its shared history with Indonesia, the world’s second-youngest nation is eyeing full ASEAN membership, as it seeks to identify with a region poised to become “the powerhouse of the 21st century”, Timor Leste’s deputy foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Roberto Sarmento de Oliveira Soares, told The Jakarta Post.

“Timor Leste [...] has manifested its desire to be part of ASEAN since the very beginning of our inception in 2002. And that desire, the commitment of Timor Leste, has always been raised in numerous meetings, forums in the region and beyond, and at the bilateral level,” he said.

Timor Leste officially submitted its application letter to be considered an ASEAN member in 2011, during Indonesia’s chairmanship.

“Our application was overwhelmingly welcomed and supported by Indonesia, and of course, through the Indonesian chairmanship, then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono successfully secured all the endorsements and acceptances from all ASEAN member countries to officially endorse Timor Leste’s membership, by establishing two important mechanisms to assess [our] readiness.”

Soares said the mechanisms were the ASEAN Coordinating Council and the technical or working level, which were mandated to assess Timor Leste’s readiness covering all three important pillars: the political and security, the economic and the sociocultural pillars.

“All three pillars [have undergone] assessment, [...] so now we are basically waiting for the ASEAN side [...] to make a final decision about our accession,” he said.

With regard to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s commitment, Soares said Timor Leste was very much grateful.

“Indeed, during his visit to Timor Leste, [the President] continued to reiterate the strong commitment of Indonesia and he will do whatever he can in his capacity [...] to push for our accession to ASEAN.”

“ASEAN very much lies on Timor Leste’s foreign policy priority; our desire to be part of ASEAN is indeed to further [...] safeguard our own regional identity, because we are one of the only countries in Southeast Asia that does not yet belong to any regional organization.”

Soares credited ASEAN as a unique and dynamic regional organization.

“At the time when ASEAN established itself, it was mainly focused on political peace and stability. But a few decades later, ASEAN expanded on its concentration by looking beyond political stability, into what is the most important [aspect] in our globalized world today: economic integration and competitiveness,” he said.

“Being part of ASEAN will further safeguard Timor Leste’s own independence and sovereignty, and of course, peace and stability in our region.”

On the other hand, Soares said Timor Leste could also be a bridge between ASEAN and the Pacific.

“At the same time, Timor Leste can also contribute beyond Asia Pacific through [its] own linkages and partners,” he emphasized.

Soares pointed to the fact that Timor Leste could connect ASEAN with the community of Portuguese speaking countries, the CPLP, which are located in Africa, Europe and Latin America.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...e-looks-to-benefit-from-asean-membership.html

.

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## Nike

*Indonesia's economy remains stable*
Rabu, 25 Mei 2016 23:09 WIB | 1.016 Views




Documentation of Great General Soedirman's statue ahead of property project done by investor in Jalan Jenderal Sudirman, Central Jakarta, recently. The World Bank has released its newest annual report that Indonesia's economic growth was predicted at the rate of 5,1 percent in 2016. (ANTARA FOTO/Widodo S Jusuf)

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesia's economy remains stable following the Fitch Ratings' decision to assign the investment grade status to the country, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution said here in Jakarta.

"This means that under the worsening global economic condition, we are still considered stable," he said here Wednesday.

The government has made every effort to improve the investment climate and expedite business licensing by issuing a series of economic policy packages since September 2015, among others, he said.

Although the policy packages have not shown significant results, in the long run, they will give certainty about the growth of the investment sector, he said. 

The government has improved national economic fundamentals for quite a long time, he said. Moreover, rating agencies like Moody's and Fitch Ratings have reinstated Indonesia's investment grade rating since 2011.

"We have striven for it for a quite long time. When I worked for Bank Indonesia Moody's and Fitch have assigned the investment grade rating to us only S&P has not," he said.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Indonesia's investment grade rating with BBB-sovereign credit rating of stable outlook as of May 2016. 

Indonesia deserves the investment grade owing to the government's low debt ratio, reaching 26.8 percent of the national gross domestic product, the country's economic growth forecast of 5.1 percent and the banking sector's limited risk, the rating agency said. 

Yet, the country is still facing the high influence of market sentiment towards external factors and needs to improve its investment climate, Fitch noted.

Responding to the investment grade rating assigned by Fitch, Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo said it suggested that Indonesia has a high degree of adaptation capability in facing domestic and global economic challenges.

"It shows that Indonesia has the right policies to maintain stability and achieve sustainable economic growth with healthier structure," Martowardojo said. 

http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/104879/indonesias-economy-remains-stable

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## BoQ77

*Joint Media Statement The Eighth CLMV Economic Ministers’ Meeting*

1. The Eighth Cambodia – Lao PDR – Myanmar – Viet Nam (CLMV) Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EMM) was held on 6 August 2016 in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Mrs. Khemmani Pholsena, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Lao PDR.

2. The Ministers noted the favourable growth of combined CLMV’s merchandise trade in the past ten years, not only in terms of trade value but also as percentage of ASEAN’s total trade. In 2015, combined merchandise trade amounted to US$ 385.5 billion and contributed 16.9% to ASEAN’s total trade, compared with 14.1% in 2014. In the same period, foreign direct investment into the four countries totalled US$17.4 billion, which constituted 14.6% of total inward direct investment to ASEAN.

Download The Full Statement Here.

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## skyhigh88

*Indonesia stresses ASEAN unity*
Tama Salim | The Jakarta Post | Vientiane
Wed, September 7 2016 | 08:10 am
*The Jakarta Post*






*President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on all ASEAN leaders to unite against power projections in the region by emphasizing ASEAN centrality and unity in keeping the region free from conflict.*

One of ASEAN’s main sources of pride is its ability to maintain lasting regional peace and stability, something Jokowi is well aware of.

But with recent turbulence over outstanding disputes and the dynamic landscape of Asian geopolitics, Jokowi has grown increasingly *concerned about regional stability, especially in regard to attempts by external parties to project their interests onto the region.*

He said *ASEAN member states should try to resolve tensions arising from regional dynamics* and he urged *ASEAN leaders to maintain a spirit of camaraderie in “protecting our home”.*

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the instability that is emerging in our region. *We cannot let powerful countries dictate to us and determine the fate of regional security and stability*,” Jokowi said during the 28th ASEAN Summit plenary meeting in Vientiane on Tuesday.

Approaching its 50th anniversary in 2017, the wider world hopes ASEAN will successfully serve its 600-million strong population, Jokowi said. With total GDP growth of 4.7 percent over two years — surpassing the US and the EU — Jokowi said he was convinced the bloc could meet expectations.

*“Without ASEAN unity and centrality, I am certain that ASEAN’s ability to maintain regional peace and stability will erode,”* he said.

The year of 2016 has proved to be a challenging year for ASEAN, and as the current chairman of the organization, *Laos is expected to take on the unenviable task of weathering a gathering storm.*

Besides border disputes that have been left unresolved for decades, *tensions have escalated as a result of reclamation efforts on the part of the Chinese in the South China Sea (SCS) and missile launches initiated by North Korea in waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula.*

Furthermore, an international arbitration ruling almost drove a wedge between the 10 ASEAN member states, with countries dependent on Chinese finance blocking any attempt to issue a joint communiqué criticizing China’s behavior in the region.

Conversely, the US has jumped at the opportunity to knock back Beijing’s influence in the region by evoking freedom of navigation and overflight in the SCS.

In addition to addressing the political-security pillar of ASEAN, Jokowi’s message also called for *improvements to the organization’s economic pillar to ensure that the benefits of economic cooperation between ASEAN nations could be enjoyed equally by all member states, including the “CLMV” bloc comprising Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.*

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi told reporters after the plenary meeting that the President had also emphasized the importance of empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through technological and digital innovation, as well as through market and financial facilitation.

And although discussion on the Chinese-approved and *ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is still in its early phase, Retno revealed there were plans for ASEAN to issue separate declarations on the partnership agreement on Wednesday.*

*“We will continue to push for the RCEP,”* she said, adding that negotiations could be pushed back until next year if deliberations were not concluded this year.

Retno said the President had also suggested to ASEAN leaders that they develop together an instrument to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers in the region, a necessary development for a people-centered ASEAN.

Also on Tuesday, Jokowi and nine other heads of governments signed the ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One Bloc in the Region and Outside the Region.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2016/09/07/ri-stresses-asean-unity.html

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## ahojunk

*China-ASEAN dialogue relationship sets good example among developing countries*
2016-09-07 13:43Xinhua | _Editor: Mo Hong'e_

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) marks here Wednesday their 25th anniversary of the establishment of the dialogue relationship, which has been featured with good-neighborliness, equal treatment and common development, thus setting a good example for forging relations between developing countries.

China and 10 ASEAN member states, different in size and economic development levels, are linked by mountains and rivers. As a regional bloc, ASEAN, grouping Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, is the focal point for China's diplomacy as China's development depends to an extent on a stable and economically vibrant Southeast Asia. At the same time, China's strategic importance for ASEAN is obvious given its economic influence and proximity to ASEAN countries.

The year of 1991 served the tuning point in the relations between China and ASEAN which started the dialogue process between the two sides.

China was accorded the full Dialogue Partner status in 1996.

The year 1997 was seen as a watershed in the history of China-ASEAN ties during which China, in spite of its own financial difficulties, made the decision not to devalue its currency in a bid to help Southeast Asian countries to achieve economic recovery.

China and ASEAN established good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust.

In 2003, with the deepening of the all-round cooperation, China and ASEAN elevated their relations to the strategic partnership for peace and prosperity.

China and ASEAN, all through these years, have remained committed to the spirits of mutual respect, understanding, trust and support amid the changes in international situation.

The relations between the two sides have withstood various tests with two-way cooperation harvesting plentiful fruits, bringing tangible benefits to the peoples of both sides. Thanks to the concerted efforts from both sides, the China-ASEAN relations has become the most dynamic one among ASEAN's ties with its dialogue partners.

On the political-security front, China and ASEAN have maintained frequent high-level dialogues and exchange of visits at all levels, with five parallel frameworks for dialogue established so far.

China and ASEAN have enhanced cooperation in regional and international affairs, with both enjoying good cooperation in regional and international organizations such as the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Euro-Asia meeting and the United Nations, among others, contributing significantly to upholding the rights and interests of the developing countries.

The two sides have also collaborated to address transnational and non-traditional security threats such as drug and human trafficking, piracy and terrorism.

To better manage the South China Sea issue, China and ASEAN have continued to work toward the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

To further implement the DOC, China and ASEAN reaffirmed at a meeting of senior officials in China last month to solve disputes via negotiations, manage differences with a regional framework of regulations, deepen maritime cooperation and move forward negotiations on COC.

They also agreed on the importance of the China-ASEAN senior diplomats' hotline in addressing maritime emergencies and a joint statement on the application of rules about accidental encounters between the two sides in the South China Sea.

Economic and trade ties between China and ASEAN have been featured with mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. China is currently ASEAN's largest trade partner, while ASEAN is China's third largest.

Bilateral trade reached 472 billion U.S. dollars last year, up from 7.96 billion dollars in 1991, with an annual growth rate of 18.5 percent. By the end of May this year, the two-way investment exceeded 160 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The two sides are targeting bilateral trade at 1 trillion dollars by 2020.

The China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement signed by the two sides in 2010 has a very large growth potential. It comprises a market of almost 2 billion people. They agreed last year to upgrade the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement which will further deepen and broadened the economic and trade ties between the two.

It is noteworthy that trade relations between China and ASEAN are now reciprocal. China is now an important consumer market of ASEAN, which in turn is growing in importance to China's manufacturing sector.

Cooperation in social-cultural sectors between China and ASEAN have also made substantial and pragmatic progresses, covering education, culture, public health, science and technology, labor, local government and people to people exchanges, media, youth and social development.

On Education, the two sides have made efforts to the "Double 100,000 Goal of students Mobility" that envisaged the number of exchange students from ASEAN countries to China to reach 100,000 by 2020 and vice versa.

ASEAN-China designated 2014 as ASEAN-China Cultural Exchange Year, and an ASEAN-China Center has been set up in Beijing to promote ASEAN-China cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, education and culture.

China and ASEAN have attached importance to and strengthened youth exchange and cooperation. The Beijing Declaration on China-ASEAN Cooperation on Youth in 2004 has served as a blueprint for fostering the partnership between the two sides for peace and prosperity.

On science and technology, China and ASEAN had established the China-ASEAN Joint Science and Technology Center as a body to plan, approve, coordinate, monitor and evaluate joint cooperative programs and activities.

China has continued to support ASEAN's efforts to narrow the development gap in the region through the implementation of projects and programs under the initiative such as the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation and the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area, among others.

The introduction of new initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have further boosted China-ASEAN economic integration through intra-regional infrastructure connectivity, trade and investment facilitation, tourism promotion and educational and cultural exchanges.

As China and ASEAN commemorate the 25th anniversary of their dialogue relationship this year, they are also mulling over new approaches on further developing their ties. With the consolidated unity and concerted efforts from both sides, the development of China-ASEAN relations will have new impetus and reach a new high in the future.


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## 艹艹艹

VIENTIANE, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, whose countryholds the rotating ASEANchair, said Wednesday that ASEAN and China had establishedeffective dialogue mechanisms and cooperative relations between the two sides weregrowing stronger.

The 10-member bloc and China held the 19th ASEAN-China Summit in the Lao capital andcommemorated the 25th anniversary of dialogue relations between the two sides.

Speaking at the summit, Thongloun said that in the past 25 years cooperation andexchanges between ASEAN and China have been increasing with mutual understandingcontinuously deepened.

On this basis, the two sides will further enhance people-to-people exchanges, he added.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiangand leaders from ASEAN members attended the summit. Lidelivered a speech at the commemorative meeting.

China, as ASEAN's most active cooperation partner, is ASEAN's largest trading partner,while the regional bloc is China's third largest trading partner. Cooperation between Chinaand ASEAN in the past 25 years has yielded significant achievements in various fields.

The ASEAN opened its 28th and 29th summits here on Tuesday. The summits and relatedleaders' meetings that run from Tuesday through Thursday also include ASEAN+1Summits, ASEAN+3 (China, Japanand South Korea) Summit, and the East Asia Summit.

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## ahojunk

ASEAN, China, S. Korea, Japan promise to promote sustainable development cooperation
(Xinhua) 14:40, September 08, 2016

The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) and China, South Korea, Japan (ASEAN Plus Three) have promised to work together to promote their cooperation on sustainable development.

The promise was made at their summit on Wednesday.

In a statement released on Thursday, the leaders of the countries reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted last year at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York and the Paris Agreement adopted at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference,

The leaders vowed to work together to fulfill the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) over the next decades in the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation framework.

The leaders called on all the countries to take comprehensive, expeditious and concrete actions to advance the implementation of SDGs in the spirit of equality, cooperation and inclusiveness, as well as to strengthen regional and international partnership in the implementation process.

To achieve the goal of sustainable development, the leaders decided to embark on a course of equitable, inclusive, open, all-round and innovation-driven development for the interests of all ASEAN and Plus Three Countries.

In this regard, they agreed to take concrete actions such as reducing poverty and narrowing the development gap within and between the countries, promoting sustainable development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), boosting sustainable tourism cooperation and enhancing cultural exchange and cooperation.

The ASEAN plus China, Japan, South Korea cooperation mechanism incorporates the ASEAN Plus Three as well as the ASEAN Plus One framework. The latter stands for ASEAN's respective cooperation mechanism with China, Japan and South Korea.

The two frameworks were established in the late 1990s when ASEAN countries decided to enhance cooperation with other major economies of Asia against the backdrop of economic globalization.

The two frameworks, initially focused on economic cooperation, have expanded in recent years to the fields of politics, security and culture. Nowadays, they have developed into mechanisms in strengthening and deepening East Asia cooperation, particularly in economic, social and political areas.

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## Nike



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## ahojunk

madokafc said:


> :



Indonesia is doing well. Its nominal GDP is more than double the size of the next biggest country, i.e. Thailand.

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## Nike

ahojunk said:


> Indonesia is doing well. Its nominal GDP is more than double the size of the next biggest country, i.e. Thailand.



need two Thailand and one Vietnam to match us

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## Jlaw

ahojunk said:


> Indonesia is doing well. Its nominal GDP is more than double the size of the next biggest country, i.e. Thailand.





madokafc said:


> need two Thailand and one Vietnam to match us



Indoensia not doing that good. No real growth.

Indonesia





Vietnam:





Look at employment Vietnam vs Indonesia. Indonesia inflation rate higher than GDP growth.

Indonesia trending downward for GDP growth rate.







@AViet @Viet @Viva_Viet the Vietnam economy in recent years have been quite good. I think Miss Madofc is exaggerating indonesia quite a bit.

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## skyhigh88

Jlaw said:


> Indoensia not doing that good. No real growth.
> 
> Indonesia
> View attachment 332560
> 
> 
> Vietnam:
> View attachment 332561
> 
> 
> Look at employment Vietnam vs Indonesia. Indonesia inflation rate higher than GDP growth.
> 
> Indonesia trending downward for GDP growth rate.
> View attachment 332563
> 
> 
> @AViet @Viet @Viva_Viet the Vietnam economy in recent years have been quite good. I think Miss Madofc is exaggerating indonesia quite a bit.



I dont know why this guy is trying to put Indonesia and Vietnam in a conflict?

Seems like you are worried with the rise of ASEAN economy.

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## Nike

@skyhigh88 
let him be, quite a moron he is

even Vietnam can manage to grow miraculously 9 percent a year, their economy can't match us in decades

*Indonesia calls for ASEAN, South Korea to increase economic cooperation*
Kamis, 8 September 2016 11:24 WIB | 686 Views

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo has called on ASEAN and the Republic of Korea to increase people-based economic cooperation to make the benefit able to be directly enjoyed by the people. 

He made the call at the 18th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit at National Convention Center in Vietiane, Laos, on Wednesday.

He said based on evidence micro-, small and medium businesses in ASEAN and the Republic of Korea have been able to absorb almost 90 percent of workforce and contributed around 50 percent of their gross domestic products.

"I invite ASEAN and the Republic of Korea to increase the productivity and capability of micro-, small and medium businesses by strengthening innovation and technological implementation," he said, according to a press release from the presidential palace.

He said micro, small and medium businesses also needed strong competitive power so that they could compete with other businesses.

In view of that ASEAN and the Republic of Korea had to cooperate and exchange information that could bring a positive impact on the businesses.

"Access to research and development of the micro-, small and medium businesses must be increased and cooperation with the government as well as businesses to improve their entrepreneurship," he said.

Social and cultural cooperation through people-to-people contacts will also affect economic cooperation in the region and could develop mutual understanding and contribute to ASEAN and the Republic of Korea.

"People-to-people contacts are key to strengthening social and cultural cooperation between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea," he said.

President Joko Widodo said there had been positive development in the creative economic industries in ASEAN and the Republic of Korea with regard to their high economic potential and contribution to increasing the number of tourists to the two regions.

"The potential reaches around US$26 billion in the Republic of Korea and US$50 billion in ASEAN and seven million people exchange visits in 2015," he said.

President Joko Widodo appealed to ASEAN and the Republic of Korea to support the establishment of ASEAN Culture House in Busan in 2017 to boost cooperation between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea.

"We need to continue to boost cooperation between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea by increasing exchange of peoples and youths in the field of transfer of knowledge of creative economy and the establishment of ASEAN Culture House in Busan in 2017," he said.(*)

http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/1...-south-korea-to-increase-economic-cooperation

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## skyhigh88

*Canada optimistic about investing in Indonesia, ASEAN: Survey*
Liza Yosephine
*The Jakarta Post*
Jakarta | Fri, September 9 2016 | 03:07 pm






Upbeat — Canadian Ambassador to ASEAN Marie-Louise Hannan (second left), Canada-ASEAN Business Council (CABC) president Wayne Farmer (center), Indonesian Ambassador to Canada Teuku Faizasyah (second right) and former Quebec prime minister Jean Charest (right) pose for a photo after a two-day forum held by the CABC in Jakarta, which ended on Thursday.(JP/Liza Yosephine)

*Canadian business players are highly optimistic about the ASEAN market, with 95 percent of respondents to a recent survey expecting to see positive investment opportunities in the future.*

*The survey, a collaborative initiative undertaken by the Canada-ASEAN Business Council (CABC) and its affiliates, saw an increase in optimism levels, which stood at 81 percent when the previous survey was undertaken in 2013.*

*“Indonesia is the anchor country of the relationship between Canada and ASEAN,”* CABC honorary chairman Jean Charest said during a press conference after a two-day forum hosted by the council in Jakarta on Thursday.

*He pointed out that Indonesia's large population and economic strength within the region were important factors for development in ASEAN.*

*CABC president Wayne Farmer said significant interest in investing in Indonesia had been expressed by Canadian businesses during the forum.* Among the top industrial sectors deemed *attractive for investors were infrastructure, energy, agriculture and environmental management and services*, he added.

Farmer highlighted that the forum was a high-level networking and dialogue opportunity; therefore, he could not convey potential investment values.

When asked about challenges faced by Canadian business players when investing in Indonesia, *Farmer stressed there was a need for the government and private sector to raise awareness and inform businesses in Canada about the opportunities available in the country. *

*"More work needs to be done in Canada to identify investment opportunities available for Canadian businesses in Indonesia,"* Farmer told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the forum.

The survey revealed that other *challenges frequently cited by respondents in terms of conducting business in ASEAN included inconsistent enforcement of laws and regulations, difficulty in obtaining reliable and cost-efficient skilled labor, corruption and preferential treatment of local firms. *

Indonesian Ambassador to Canada Teuku Faizasyah said the *government was committed to tackling the issues, especially those related to corruption*. *The establishment of the Corruption Eradication Commission was evidence of Indonesia’s efforts to combat corruption*, he said.

Sharing feedback he received during the forum, Faizasyah said fears of corruption sometimes turned out to be unfounded as many business players claimed they had never experienced it first-hand, although widespread rumors of deep-rooted corruption in Indonesia had made them wary. (ebf)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...bout-investing-in-indonesia-asean-survey.html

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## skyhigh88

*Indonesia urges ASEAN countries and US to combat illegal fishing*
Saturday, September 10, 2016, 02:00 (GMT + 9)




Illegal fishing vessel. (Photo: Indonesian Navy)

*ASEAN member countries and the US have been called to step up measures to fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.*

The call was made by Indonesian *President Joko Widodo, who raised the issue during the ASEAN-US Summit *at the National Convention Center, Vientiane, Laos,* attended by US President Barack Obama and ASEAN heads of state* and government, The Jakarta Post reported.

*In the summit, President Widodo stressed the urgency for all countries to combat IUU fishing, which had not only threatened security and environmental sustainability, but also damaged people’s prosperity.*

Official data revealed that* Indonesia experienced USD 20 billion in financial losses per year because of this crime.*

Nevertheless, under *President Widodo Indonesia has taken tough measures against illegal fishing, including sinking 200 fishing boats for illegal operation in its waters*, Antara News informed.

Throughout his speech, *President Widodo attached important on ASEAN-US cooperation to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs), *which has given positive result in the recent Sunnylands meeting in California.

"Indonesia pushed for the plan to form *ASEAN-US Connect, to strengthen ASEAN economic integration* and boost development of SMEs through the use of information technology," the Indonesian president pointed out.

Related articles:
- Govt prepares massive illegal foreign boats sinking
- Investments sought to develop Natuna fisheries industry

editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

*http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/index.asp?l=e*


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## skyhigh88

*Duterte new ASEAN chair*
By David Santos and VJ Bacungan
*CNN Philippines*
Updated 20:20 PM PHT Thu, September 8, 2016





Vientiane, Laos (CNN Philippines) – P*resident Rodrigo Duterte accepted Thursday night the country's chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2017.*

In a speech during the closing ceremony of the ASEAN Summit, Duterte said *he will “highlight ASEAN as a model of regionalism and a global player with the interest of the people at its core.”*

“We will pursue initiative and enhance cooperation with global partners *to ensure ASEAN citizens live in peace, stability, security and growth*,” he said.

“The Philippines is ready and willing to steer and guide the Association. But crucial to the realization of our goals is the cooperation and support of all ASEAN member-states and our dialogue partners.”

Duterte also unveiled the theme for the 2017 ASEAN Summit in Manila.

“Our theme ‘*Partnering for Change, Engaging the World’* captures our resolve to consolidate our community for our peoples with the sense of togetherness and common identity, ready and able to take our rightful place in the global community of nations,” he said.

“The Philippines-ASEAN chairmanship coincides with a historic milestone event. *We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of our Association.* It will be an occasion for us to set the tone for the next 50 years."

According to his communication team, Duterte will still have last-minute bilateral meetings with the leaders of New Zealand and Russia before leaving Thursday night for a working visit to Indonesia.

*http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/09/08/Duterte-new-ASEAN-chair.html*

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## MarveL

*The War That Gave Birth to ASEAN
50 years ago, two of ASEAN’s founding members fought an undeclared war in theKonfrontasi.*





_An Australian soldier on active duty in Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Konfrontasi._

By Adam Leong Kok Wey
September 09, 2016

The recent successful conduct of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits at Vientiane, Laos from September 6-8, 2016 bears testament to the legacy of the peaceful settlement and reconciliation of a little known war between two of ASEAN’s founding members. Fifty years ago, the _Konfrontasi_ officially ended when both Indonesia and Malaysia signed a peace agreement on August 11, 1966.

The _Konfrontasi_ was an “undeclared war” fought between Malaysia and Indonesia. The conflict started when Malaysia, consisting of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore, was formed on September 16, 1963. Indonesia under President Sukarno was vehemently against the formation of Malaysia, which Sukarno saw as a British strategy to contain Indonesia’s geopolitical ambitions in the region (the Philippines was also against the formation of Malaysia but apart from braking off diplomatic relations did not resort to the use of military means). Sukarno launched a “_Ganyang Malaysia”_ or “crush Malaysia” campaign, initially using political, economic, and propaganda means. When these actions failed, he decided to launch military attacks against Malaysia.

Indonesian military forces then conducted cross border raids in Sarawak and Sabah from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) through the porous mountainous and jungle borders. This was slowly but effectively countered by Malaysian security forces, aided by a strong contingent of British Commonwealth military forces – mostly from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The slow results gained from the Indonesian cross border raids in Sabah and Sarawak frustrated Sukarno and prompted him in the middle of 1964 to open a second front in Peninsular Malaysia to divert the attention of the British Commonwealth and Malaysian security forces, and to boost the morale of Indonesian military forces embroiled in the fringes of Sabah and Sarawak. Indonesian commandos launched amphibious raids on the coastal areas of Johor and Singapore, and later para-commandos were also parachuted into Peninsular Malaysia to conduct subversion and sabotage attacks. All of these Indonesian commando operations were foiled and the Indonesians were mostly killed or captured by Malaysian and British Commonwealth security forces. Meanwhile, the Indonesian military forces continued to attempt cross-border attacks in Sabah and Sarawak but were continuously disrupted by track-and-ambush operations conducted by Malaysian and British Commonwealth security forces.

*Enjoying this article?* Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.
Indonesia had also used international propaganda to degrade Malaysia. Jakarta initially gained the trust of the Afro-Asian states, at that point an important group of mostly ex-colonial newly independent states which form a large group of members in the United Nations and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Malaysia countered Indonesia’s claims by conducting a whirlwind of diplomatic visits between 1964 and 1965, led by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Abdul Razak and Singapore’s Chief Minister Lee Kwan Yew. The visits explained Malaysia’s formation and eventually managed to turn the tables on Indonesia and obtain recognition for the new country from almost all of these Afro-Asian states.

The _Konfrontasi_ lasted until 1966, when Indonesia under its new leader Suharto (who had replaced Sukarno at the end of 1965 in the midst of a failed coup), and suffering serious military setbacks and without much international support for its cause, decided to explore diplomatic options in ending the conflict. Both Indonesia and Malaysia held peace talks leading to the final conclusion of the undeclared war with the signing of a peace treaty. During the _Konfrontasi_, Malaysian and British Commonwealth security forces lost 114 men and the Indonesian military forces lost close to 600 men.

The end of the _Konfrontasi _led to the formation of ASEAN in 1967. It was initially formed as a regional organization to reconcile relations among three of its five pioneer members namely Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and serve as an important confidence building measure. ASEAN has since expanded and included all of the Southeast Asian states. ASEAN has served remarkably well to quell regional competition and suspicions among its members, even though most of its members are still entangled in border and territorial disputes with each other. ASEAN has also done well in managing to integrate its regional economy and cooperate in natural disaster response and management. Contemporary security risks from Chinese assertive actions in the South China Sea and overlapping claims among some of the ASEAN members, however, will continue to test ASEAN’s strategic coherence and response in the future.

As for Indonesia and Malaysia, both of these states have rebuilt their relationship and today are close partners in continuing ASEAN’s collaborative spirit, ensuring that the _Konfrontasi_ was not fought in vain 50 years ago.

_Dr Adam Leong Kok Wey is a senior lecturer in strategic studies at the National Defence University of Malaysia, and a post-doctoral visiting research fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/09/the-war-that-gave-birth-to-asean/_

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## ahojunk

_My Aussie PM invites ASEAN leaders to Oz._

--------
*Turnbull invites ASEAN leaders to Australia*
Updated: 5:37 am, Thursday, 8 September 2016

The Prime Minister has invited South East Asian leaders to Australia to attend a special summit to tackle regional security concerns - including the South China Sea.

Malcolm Turnbull made the offer at the ASEAN forum in Laos.

It comes as the leaders have urged 'stoical' Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to follow international laws in resolving disputes in the South China Sea.

But leaders of the 10-country Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit in Vientiane did not press Beijing to comply with an international arbitration court ruling that rejected Beijing's claims to almost the entire sea.

'What was underlined by countries like Singapore and the Philippines was the importance of the rule of law and adhering to international bodies that govern this,' Philippine Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

Li 'was stoically listening' as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte discussed his views on the disputes in the South China Sea, a key shipping lane believed to be rich in marine and mineral resources, Andanar said.

'His face did not have any reaction,' he added.

Li told the ASEAN leaders that the South China Sea issue 'should not represent the main relations' between the regional bloc and Beijing and that ties were moving in a 'positive direction.'

The meeting occurred amid concern that China is preparing for fresh construction work in the South China Sea after 10 ships were spotted near the Scarborough Shoal, including four vessels that look like barges.

As the leaders met, the Philippine Defence Department released new surveillance photos of 10 ships 'to announce that we are aware of any and all movements in the area,' Philippine presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

In a bid to ease tensions over the territorial disputes, ASEAN and China adopted a protocol and a communication hotline among foreign ministers to avoid clashes resulting from unplanned encounters.

AAP

- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-...eaders-to-australia.html#sthash.pNY4C3OP.dpuf

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## ahojunk

13th China-ASEAN Expo opens in Nanning





The opening ceremony of the 13th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)





The opening ceremony of the 13th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)





The opening ceremony of the 13th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit is held in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)





The opening ceremony of the 13th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit is held in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)





Display fruits during the 13th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 11, 2016. The 13th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit opened in Nanning on Sunday. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

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## ahojunk

*China to Spearhead Innovations in Technology in Southeast Asia*
Ana Ablaza | Sep 14, 2016 06:17 AM EDT

According to Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli China will help Southeast Asian nations to implement an upgrade through direct investment, projects, technological cooperation, and imports and exports of equipment. Zhang made this announcement during the 13th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning.

ASEAN is China's third largest trading partner. Bilateral trade between China and ASEAN has jumped in the past 25 years.

The amount of trade has grown to 18.5 percent year-on-year from $7.96 billion to $472.16 billion last year.

"China, with its advantages of capital, technology, engineering and management for infrastructure construction, will help ASEAN countries to elevate their industrialization based on demand in different countries," Zhang said.

Jack Ma, the chief executive of internet giant Alibaba, said that the company intends to expand its operations in the region.

He said, "The development of online business not only promotes more consumption but has helped to create nearly 30 million jobs in China."

Ma added, "I believe that Southeast Asian countries will gain great development opportunities from e-commerce."

Other opportunities such as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, also provides opportunities for energy cooperation.

Chen Jian, a general manager of Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Co Ltd, CGN's subsidiary, said the company has already established its regional headquarters in Malaysia.

"Currently we have many projects in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries in the field of clean energy," he said.

The manager explained, "It's of mutual benefit, as it not only helps meet the energy demand but it drives up the whole value chain for ASEAN countries in terms of technology and equipment manufacturing through our cooperation."

ASEAN did not single out China in the issue of the South China Sea dispute. The communication from the meeting only said that the ASEAN is "seriously concerned over recent and ongoing developments and took note of the concerns expressed by some ministers on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area."


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## eldamar

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/japan-pm-promotes-shinkansen-bullet-train-singapore-142159643.html

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe used a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart on Wednesday to promote Japan's Shinkansen "bullet" train technology for use in a planned high-speed railway linking Singapore and Malaysia.

Abe, serving as top salesman for Shinkansen trains, held talks with Lee Hsien Loong at the state guest house — a venue for top-level hospitality — instead of the usual Prime Minister's Office. Japan is bidding for a planned railway linking Singapore and the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Abe told Lee that he has high expectations that Singapore will pick the Japanese Shinkansen "as a symbol of cooperation between the two countries."

Lee spoke highly of the Shinkansen's safety record.

"The Shinkansen's long record of safety, reliability and excellence would stand it in good stead in the bid," he said. Singapore wants to choose the best train system through an objective and transparent selection process, he said.

The two leaders also agreed to cooperate in promptly putting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal into effect. The two countries are part of the 12-nation effort. Japan's government is seeking to have the agreement endorsed by parliament by the end of November.

Lee is in Japan for a four-day visit marking the 50th anniversary of diplomacy between the two countries. To commemorate the occasion, Lee received one of Japan's highest awards on behalf of his father, late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who founded Singapore.

Abe called Lee Kuan Yew "a giant in modern Asia," and handed his son the "Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers," issued posthumously for his contribution to the peace and prosperity in Singapore and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

___

Associated Press video journalist Emily Wang contributed to this report.

*I am f**king ashamed of this photo*


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## bluesky

*Top diplomats to visit troubled Rakhine state in Myanmar*

Published at 07:31 PM November 01, 2016



The ruins of a market which was set on fire are seen at a Rohingya village outside Maugndaw in Rakhine state, Myanmar October 27, 2016 REUTERS

*Allegations that Myanmar soldiers are killing, raping and torturing villagers in Rakhine*
Senior diplomats in Myanmar are set to depart on Wednesday for troubled northern Rakhine State, which has been closed to aid workers and observers for more than three weeks since deadly attacks on police border posts, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The government of Aung San Suu Kyi has invited representatives of the United States, China, Britain and the European Union, and the top United Nations representative in the country, to visit the area over two days.

View image on Twitter





*Pressure over abuses*
Allegations that Myanmar soldiers are killing, raping and torturing villagers in Rakhine, a restive region that is home to the persecuted Muslim Rohingya, must be independently investigated, rights groups said.

Northern Rakhine has been under a military lockdown since an attack on border guards three weeks ago left nine policeman dead.

The government has blamed the raids on Rohingya militants and a search for the culprits has seen more than 30 people killed and dozens arrested, according to official reports.

On Friday Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch joined calls for an impartial investigation into the allegations, which the UN has called “alarming and unacceptable”.

View image on Twitter






Rakhine has sizzled with tension ever since waves of communal violence in 2012 killed more than 100 and pushed tens of thousands of people, mostly Rohingya, into destitute displacement camps.

Many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar insist the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and viscerally oppose any moves to grant them citizenship.

The recent upsurge in violence deepens and complicates a conflict that already posed a top challenge to a new civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has disappointed rights groups by not coming out in stronger support of the Rohingya.

View image on Twitter


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## bluesky

04 Nov 2016, 16:42:46

*Myanmar not trying to hide anything in Rakhine: Suu Kyi*




Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Friday investigations were underway into the situation in Rakhine State, where many members of a Muslim minority live and where human rights workers say conflict has led to abuse of civilians by the military, reports Reuters.

Suu Kyi, speaking on a visit to Tokyo, told a news conference the government was trying to get to the root of the matter, and would not accuse anyone until all the evidence was in, at which point any action would be taken in accordance with due legal process.

"We have been very careful not to blame anybody in particular unless we have complete evidence as to who has been responsible for what," she said, noting that Muslims had been killed as well as police officers and the government had not "tried to hide any of this".

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi is in Japan on a five-day visit to court investment and aid, as an upsurge in violence against the persecuted Muslim minority Rohingya at home poses the worst crisis of her six months in power.

She has faced mounting criticism abroad for her government's handling of the crisis in Rakhine State, where soldiers are accused of raping and killing civilians and where aid workers were refused access until the government on Thursday agreed to allow such work to resume.

The latest bout of violence began with attacks on Oct. 9 on three police posts by insurgents allegedly inspired by Islamist militants in which nine policemen were killed.

It is the most serious unrest to hit the state on Myanmar's western border with Bangladesh since hundreds of people were killed in communal clashes in 2012.

"We are trying to get to the root of the matter," Suu Kyi told the news conference, adding everybody had to be considered innocent until proven guilty.

"We will be going through the due process and all the incidents that have taken place ... will be examined and it will be done in accordance with our laws and regulations," she said.

"We will find out what really happened and then action will be taken accordingly."

Tension between Myanmar's ethnic minorities and the majority Burman-dominated central government has prompted many groups to take up arms to fight for greater autonomy since shortly after the country's independence in 1948.

Earlier, Suu Kyi told Japanese business executives that Myanmar needed peace to carry out sustainable development.

The Rakhine military operation has sharpened the tension between Suu Kyi's six-month-old civilian administration and the army, which ruled the country for decades and retains key powers, including control of ministries responsible for security.

Myanmar's army-drafted constitution puts the military firmly in control of security matters but nevertheless diplomats and aid workers say privately they are dismayed at Suu Kyi's lack of deeper involvement in the handling of the crisis.


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## katarabhumi

Sunday, 04 December, 2016 | 17:52 WIB
*SE Asian Youngsters Lead Largest Day of Youth Service in ASEAN*

*TEMPO.CO*, *Jakarta *- Members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) have marked the 3rd anniversary of YSEALI on December 3 by organizing the largest day of youth-led community projects across ASEAN since the program’s launch. In honor of this anniversary, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta held events across Indonesia to highlight the impact YSEALI has on local communities.

Throughout the 10 ASEAN countries, hundreds of YSEALI members have implemented community-oriented activities for the past three years. This YSEALI YOUnified celebration encouraged young people to be civically engaged and demonstrated the power of youth to develop solutions to pressing local, national and regional issues. At the U.S. Embassy’s premiere cultural center, @america, in Jakarta, the Embassy held a YSEALI talk show and fair to draw attention to more than 18 projects taking place around Indonesia that range from environmental protection, to youth mentoring, to promoting literacy.

During his opening remarks at the @america event, incoming U.S. Ambassador Joseph R. Donovan Jr. highlighted the broad participation in the YSEALI program noting the “nearly 18,000 members in Indonesia, and now 891 exchange alumni and 15,000 alumni from regional workshops.” He also praised the “innovation and dedication” of YSEALI members saying “the commit to your projects will truly make you the next leaders in Indonesia and ASEAN.”

*About YSEALI*

Launched in 2013, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) is the U.S. government’s signature program to strengthen partnerships with emerging leaders in Southeast Asia; to expand their skills as effective civic, economic and non-governmental leaders in the region; and to encourage them to work together across borders to solve regional challenges.

YSEALI includes all ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and is open to young people ages 18-35. Responding to priorities from youth in the ASEAN region, YSEALI programs focus on four themes:

-Economic development and entrepreneurship

-Environmental protection

-Education

-Civic engagement

YSEALI opportunities include professional and academic exchanges to the United States, regional workshops for networking and skills development, social media engagement, and a grant competition to support emerging leaders’ efforts to address regional issues.

http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/1...rs-Lead-Largest-Day-of-Youth-Service-in-ASEAN

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## nufix

UMNOPutra said:


> _Woow ...the Indonesia Embassy still do nothing to their people in Malaysia .._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nati...ke-up-nearly-20-of-outstanding-medical-bills/*



Lol, the question is, what are you going to do about it? Nothing? Yeah, everyone walks on you and nothing you can do while those people got treated one way or another lol


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## TaiShang

*China-ASEAN trade to hit $1t by 2020*
By Zheng Yiran | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-05-16 


The total trade volume of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with China is projected to* increase to $1 trillion by 2020, said AKP Mochtan, deputy secretary-general of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs, at a seminar Monday.*

The seminar on *ASEAN Community Building and China-ASEAN Relations*, aimed at boosting Sino-ASEAN relations, took place *during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.*

This year marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN. The forum, hosted by the Mission of the People's Republic of China to ASEAN, Beijing Review and the Pangoal Institution, is to strengthen collaboration and cooperation between China and ASEAN through the media, promote the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, and deepen China-ASEAN relations.

*"The cooperation agreements and mechanisms formed between China and ASEAN in various areas in recent years have brought new opportunities for Sino-ASEAN relations. The visions of ASEAN correspond to China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, leading to common prosperity,"* said Mochtan.

As the sixth-largest economy in the world, ASEAN is now finalizing regional comprehensive economy partnerships with six free trade area counterparts, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. This would add up to over half of the world's population, and in turn bring huge opportunities, he added.

Zhao Xiyuan, secretary-general of China Public Diplomacy Association, said that under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, there are boundless opportunities for China and ASEAN to tap into. "One of the flagship projects is the high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung, which is set to be built by Indonesian and Chinese companies."

"ASEAN's advantageous location and long trade ties with China have made it important for the Belt and Road Initiative. China will share opportunities and tackle challenges together with ASEAN to achieve common development and prosperity and become a community with a common destiny, sharing benefits and troubles alike," said Li Yafang, president of Beijing Review.

***

_Let's do more trade and live better lives. It has been far too long that global wealth has concentrated in a cultural region that represents a fraction of the global population._


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## slempanda

I am green hand


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## RISING SUN

*Nations agree to boost fight against IS in Southeast Asia*
A six-nation summit co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia agreed Saturday to set up a forum to strengthen cooperation between intelligence services to counter extremist threats in Southeast Asia.

Security ministers and officials from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and New Zealand held a one-day meeting in Manado, the capital of Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, focusing on the Islamic State group attack on the southern Philippine city of Marawi.

Indonesia’s top security minister, Wiranto, told a news conference that the six countries agreed to establish the Foreign Terrorist Fighters Forum to strengthen information sharing and cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence services.

The Marawi occupation has raised fears that the Islamic State group’s violent ideology has taken root in the Philippines’ restive south and could destabilize neighboring countries. More than 600 people have been killed in the conflict, including foreign fighters, and the city has been devastated by government air strikes against the militants. Indonesia and Malaysia also face the threat of citizens who went to Syria and Iraq to fight with IS returning home and carrying out attacks.
“We cannot keep silent because terrorism has become a real threat to humanity,” said Wiranto, who uses one name. “Not a single country is free from the threat of terrorism and therefore this threat must be faced together.”

He said immigration procedures should also be strengthened to prevent militants from traveling in the region.

Australian Attorney General George Brandis said in his opening speech that the conflict in Marawi “reminds us in the most immediate possible way of the urgency and the proximity of the threat that is faced by all of us.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...33c52b2f014_story.html?utm_term=.853bf9638ae2


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## devillianangel

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=339670289790293

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## devillianangel



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## katarabhumi

*Indonesia proposes 'mini-Interpol' plan to boost Asean counter-terrorism efforts*
_24 October 2017_

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - With the rise of radicalism and terrorism in the region now seen as Asean's biggest security threat, Indonesia has proposed the creation of a "mini-Interpol" that would involve six countries in the region sharing intelligence through the "Our Eyes" initiative.

Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu mooted the plan during the 11th Asean Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in the northern Philippine city of Clark on Monday (Oct 23).

He said that while he appreciated the success the Philippine government had in flushing the largely foreign fighters out of the city of Marawi, he saw a potential threat in the Islamic State in Iraq in Syria (ISIS) or Daesh loyalists being able to retreat to neighbouring countries to rebuild bases. Multi-lateral connections between the six countries, he said, would keep the terrorists at bay.

"This preventive measures will provide us with extensive information about the existence of terrorist groups in Asean countries. Thus, we can destroy them before they get larger," Ryamizard told the forum. The six countries proposed are Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and the Philippines.

After months of clashes between Daesh fighters and the Philippine military that destroyed large parts of Marawi, the Philippines Defence Secretary on Monday announced the southern Philippines has been liberated from terrorism.

Under Our Eyes, each participating country would create a new unit for sharing intelligence between them, while the person in charge from each country would be expected to maintain communications on a regular basis about the collection of information.

Multilateral intelligence sharing is not common in South-east Asia as most countries prefer to exchange such information bilaterally. Our Eyes was modelled on the post-World War Two "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance involving the United States, Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Canada that was established to monitor the then Soviet Union.

"However, Our Eyes would have nothing to do with politics. It is purely an initiative to fight the existence of terrorist groups and maintain peace in our region," Ryamizard said.

Several countries have expressed support for the initiative, saying it could play a significant role in maintaining the security of Asean countries.

Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he could see the importance of Our Eyes and would support it "all the way." "Mr Ryamizard, we are fully behind this initiative and we can see the sense of the arguments that you put forward in this forum. You have our total support," he said.

The Philippines, chair of Asean this year, is hosting the 11th ADMM, as well as the fourth Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting - Plus, which is to include eight Asean dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US. On Tuesday, the forum is expected to discuss broader issues, including the Korean Peninsula crisis and the South China Sea dispute.

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se...plan-to-boost-asean-counter-terrorism-efforts

.

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## Logam42

ASEAN TURNS 50, WAKE ME UP WHEN IT'S OVER (SCMP)

_Even a loose cannon like Donald Trump cannot breathe life into a Asean meeting, which can be turgid, pompous and comatose at best_

BY KARIM RASLAN

10 NOV 2017

Asean, meet Donald Trump.

Donald Trump, meet Asean.

Who will prevail in an encounter between the Great Disruptor and the world’s most boring and protocol-conscious regional grouping?

I’m not betting on Trump.

Attending an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting is like trying to walk backwards through molten palm sugar.

After a while, you just give up and go with the flow … even Rodrigo “Dirty Harry” Duterte has had to behave in the face of Asean’s endless, sleep-inducing meetings.

Just over a year ago, I came up with the idea of relaunching my column – the one you’re reading now – as “Ceritalah Asean” (or “Tell Me a Story, Asean”).

The concept – meeting and interviewing ordinary people from across this region of 650 million – seemed really exciting.

However, as I got to work hitting the ground, listening to farmers, migrant workers, tourist guides, day-labourers and schoolteachers from Bassein, to Nam Dinh, Manado and Bacolod, I began to realise that I’d made a little mistake.

Southeast Asia is vibrant, sexy and alive.

Asean – as a supranational organisation – is turgid, pompous and comatose at best.

Essentially, Asean is the antithesis to everything that makes Southeast Asia interesting.

Its streets are raucous. It’s unpredictable.

By comparison, Asean is elitist. It’s most comfortable in luxury hotels, resorts and convention centres. Its meetings are well-choreographed talkfests.

So while I’m still deeply fascinated, indeed in love with our region, its people and their stories, I find it extremely difficult to muster much enthusiasm for rooms full of bureaucrats.

I still think Southeast Asia’s huge, growing economy (which in 2013 had a combined GDP of US$2.4 trillion) – destined to be the fourth-largest in the world by 2050 according to the consultancy McKinsey – has boundless potential.

But I gotta be honest: Asean has no poetry.

Zero. Zilch.

There’s no shared emotional connection – unless you can count durian-eating as a form of bonding.

Even our so-called disagreements – mostly over the South China Sea – have become predictable as China’s geopolitical and economic influence in our region grows.

Indeed, I would recommend any book (and a great many columns) on Asean as a sure-fire cure for insomnia.

More seriously: Asean has not really helped to provide the infrastructure as well as jobs that many of its 650 million people desperately need. That task is still very much on the shoulders of individual nation states.

And it has done even less to protect the most vulnerable of that 650 million (several of whom I encountered via this column) from abuse, exploitation and impunity – particularly the region’s migrant workers.

Again, zero.

This is why I can’t conjure up any excitement for the upcoming gathering in Manila – even though it’s the 50th anniversary and Trump is apparently staying for the whole event.

Yawn.

Given what snore-fests these Asean meetings are – one has a feeling he will regret his last-minute decision to attend the East Asia Summit, where he along with Asian leaders will meet their Asean counterparts.

Quite frankly – it really doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things, whether he’s there or not.

Foreign policy pundits will argue that his attendance is to reassure the region that America isn’t “retreating from the Asia-Pacific/the World” – but is this really the case?

The barometer of American (and for that matter, Chinese) power and influence in the region – is hardly dependent on whether its leaders attend a boring round of speeches as well as an awkward “family photo” in the host nation’s traditional garb.

People cry “but it’s the optics.”

Trust me: this is one case where optics really, really does not matter – at least in the long run.

Perhaps it’s time we stop believing that our region’s peace, prosperity and reputation is at stake at every Summit.

But maybe I am being too hard on Asean.

It did, after all, achieve its purpose of keeping Southeast Asia relatively peaceful and neutral in the decades since its formation via the 1967 Bangkok Declaration.

And maybe boring is good – at least with regards to Asean’s diplomatic agenda?

When the grouping was first conceived in the height of the cold war, Southeast Asia was a cauldron with distrust, suspicion and outright violence at every corner – from Vietnam to Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Asean provided a neutral platform to bring states together, to build trust and familiarity.

It’s been a long, arduous process with, arguably, the normalisation of Indonesia and the Indochinese states at the core of its agenda.


The sheer, grinding tedium and rigidity of the Asean process – the communiqués and set-piece speeches – exhausts all our leaders to such an extent that they often don’t have the energy or interest to scheme and plot against one another.

Instead, all they want to do is escape.

And maybe, just maybe, that should be enough for us in the region.

We can, and certainly should, focus on building business-to-business, media-to-media and people-to-people ties regardless of what happens in Asean.

Regional integration – especially in Southeast Asia – must be driven from the ground up.

So Donald, don’t even try to be too clever.

Asean is structured and crafted to defeat and subsume grand-standing and point-scoring.

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## pr1v4t33r



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## UMNOPutra

*Salute to Thailand ... *


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## UMNOPutra

*Southeast Asia faces 'long list' of risks in 2019, banks say*

*Bank of America Merrill Lynch has forecast the slowdown will continue for the five countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- with growth falling to 4.8% in 2019, down from 5.0% in 2018 and 5.1% in 2017.*

"The list of risk factors is just too long to mention," Mohamed Faiz Nagutha, the bank's Southeast Asia economist, told reporters Thursday. Among the obstacles he cited, U.S.-China trade tensions, China's economic slowdown and the possibility of more interest rate increases by the U.S. Federal Reserve than the market anticipates.

Political risk, meanwhile, remains a major threat in some countries, such as Thailand, due to uncertainty over upcoming elections, Credit Suisse said. Southeast Asia's third-largest economy is expected to return to civilian rule early next year, but such details as the party composition of a future government are unknown. 

Indonesia will hold a presidential election in April. Both Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch believe incumbent President Joko Widodo will remain in office. But OCBC's Ling pointed out that the campaign has just started, and cautions that there may be market or business uncertainty as the vote draws near.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Sout...2019-banks-say

Political Risk : Election
Thailand - 24 Feb - General Election
Indonesia - 17 Apr - General Election
The Philippines - May - Midterm Election


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## pr1v4t33r



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## GraveDigger388

Logam42 said:


> ASEAN TURNS 50, WAKE ME UP WHEN IT'S OVER (SCMP)
> 
> _Even a loose cannon like Donald Trump cannot breathe life into a Asean meeting, which can be turgid, pompous and comatose at best_
> 
> BY KARIM RASLAN
> 
> 10 NOV 2017
> 
> Asean, meet Donald Trump.
> 
> Donald Trump, meet Asean.
> 
> Who will prevail in an encounter between the Great Disruptor and the world’s most boring and protocol-conscious regional grouping?
> 
> I’m not betting on Trump.
> 
> Attending an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting is like trying to walk backwards through molten palm sugar.
> 
> After a while, you just give up and go with the flow … even Rodrigo “Dirty Harry” Duterte has had to behave in the face of Asean’s endless, sleep-inducing meetings.
> 
> Just over a year ago, I came up with the idea of relaunching my column – the one you’re reading now – as “Ceritalah Asean” (or “Tell Me a Story, Asean”).
> 
> The concept – meeting and interviewing ordinary people from across this region of 650 million – seemed really exciting.
> 
> However, as I got to work hitting the ground, listening to farmers, migrant workers, tourist guides, day-labourers and schoolteachers from Bassein, to Nam Dinh, Manado and Bacolod, I began to realise that I’d made a little mistake.
> 
> Southeast Asia is vibrant, sexy and alive.
> 
> Asean – as a supranational organisation – is turgid, pompous and comatose at best.
> 
> Essentially, Asean is the antithesis to everything that makes Southeast Asia interesting.
> 
> Its streets are raucous. It’s unpredictable.
> 
> By comparison, Asean is elitist. It’s most comfortable in luxury hotels, resorts and convention centres. Its meetings are well-choreographed talkfests.
> 
> So while I’m still deeply fascinated, indeed in love with our region, its people and their stories, I find it extremely difficult to muster much enthusiasm for rooms full of bureaucrats.
> 
> I still think Southeast Asia’s huge, growing economy (which in 2013 had a combined GDP of US$2.4 trillion) – destined to be the fourth-largest in the world by 2050 according to the consultancy McKinsey – has boundless potential.
> 
> But I gotta be honest: Asean has no poetry.
> 
> Zero. Zilch.
> 
> There’s no shared emotional connection – unless you can count durian-eating as a form of bonding.
> 
> Even our so-called disagreements – mostly over the South China Sea – have become predictable as China’s geopolitical and economic influence in our region grows.
> 
> Indeed, I would recommend any book (and a great many columns) on Asean as a sure-fire cure for insomnia.
> 
> More seriously: Asean has not really helped to provide the infrastructure as well as jobs that many of its 650 million people desperately need. That task is still very much on the shoulders of individual nation states.
> 
> And it has done even less to protect the most vulnerable of that 650 million (several of whom I encountered via this column) from abuse, exploitation and impunity – particularly the region’s migrant workers.
> 
> Again, zero.
> 
> This is why I can’t conjure up any excitement for the upcoming gathering in Manila – even though it’s the 50th anniversary and Trump is apparently staying for the whole event.
> 
> Yawn.
> 
> Given what snore-fests these Asean meetings are – one has a feeling he will regret his last-minute decision to attend the East Asia Summit, where he along with Asian leaders will meet their Asean counterparts.
> 
> Quite frankly – it really doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things, whether he’s there or not.
> 
> Foreign policy pundits will argue that his attendance is to reassure the region that America isn’t “retreating from the Asia-Pacific/the World” – but is this really the case?
> 
> The barometer of American (and for that matter, Chinese) power and influence in the region – is hardly dependent on whether its leaders attend a boring round of speeches as well as an awkward “family photo” in the host nation’s traditional garb.
> 
> People cry “but it’s the optics.”
> 
> Trust me: this is one case where optics really, really does not matter – at least in the long run.
> 
> Perhaps it’s time we stop believing that our region’s peace, prosperity and reputation is at stake at every Summit.
> 
> But maybe I am being too hard on Asean.
> 
> It did, after all, achieve its purpose of keeping Southeast Asia relatively peaceful and neutral in the decades since its formation via the 1967 Bangkok Declaration.
> 
> And maybe boring is good – at least with regards to Asean’s diplomatic agenda?
> 
> When the grouping was first conceived in the height of the cold war, Southeast Asia was a cauldron with distrust, suspicion and outright violence at every corner – from Vietnam to Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
> 
> Asean provided a neutral platform to bring states together, to build trust and familiarity.
> 
> It’s been a long, arduous process with, arguably, the normalisation of Indonesia and the Indochinese states at the core of its agenda.
> 
> 
> The sheer, grinding tedium and rigidity of the Asean process – the communiqués and set-piece speeches – exhausts all our leaders to such an extent that they often don’t have the energy or interest to scheme and plot against one another.
> 
> Instead, all they want to do is escape.
> 
> And maybe, just maybe, that should be enough for us in the region.
> 
> We can, and certainly should, focus on building business-to-business, media-to-media and people-to-people ties regardless of what happens in Asean.
> 
> Regional integration – especially in Southeast Asia – must be driven from the ground up.
> 
> So Donald, don’t even try to be too clever.
> 
> Asean is structured and crafted to defeat and subsume grand-standing and point-scoring.


Well what do you know...turns out the most emotionally (un)connected bunch of elites, striving for the (not so)same goal(s), have the most (un)interesting 'gathering' of some sorts...


Let's be honest. ASEAN meeting (or even ASEAN, in general) isn't a family meeting where warmth and kumbaya can be SEEN through the air. It's not also as interesting and heated as a meeting of hoping and soughting after truce between opposing nations.

It's just a meeting between entities that PRETEND to know each others. It's just...awkward. For better or worse.


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## NEKONEKO

GraveDigger388 said:


> Well what do you know...turns out the most emotionally (un)connected bunch of elites, striving for the (not so)same goal(s), have the most (un)interesting 'gathering' of some sorts...
> 
> Let's be honest. ASEAN meeting (or even ASEAN, in general) isn't a family meeting where warmth and kumbaya can be SEEN through the air. It's not also as interesting and heated as a meeting of hoping and soughting after truce between opposing nations.
> 
> It's just a meeting between entities that PRETEND to know each others. It's just...awkward. For better or worse.


Ay nah bro, ASEAN is interesting and as the second biggest grouping its voice have impact on regional and global issues. No comment about the kumbaya thing, and yes the member are very different from each other.


*Asean helps manage tensions in region, say panellists*
Asean is a useful tool in managing tensions in the region and must remain central to Singapore's foreign policy.

Panellists at the conference, Singapore Perspectives, organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) yesterday underlined the importance of the 10-member regional bloc. "Asean is a vital and irreplaceable means of managing the tensions... and there is no substitute," retired Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan said.

He acknowledged, however, that it is "one tool of many" and has limitations and hence, "not the panacea for all the ills in the world" as well as those in Singapore and the region.

Former foreign minister George Yeo said large communities from various Asean countries reside in Singapore, making the Republic the "most Aseanised country" among its members.

"A strong Asean gives us more room to manoeuvre" even as bigger nations engage in rivalry, he said.

He highlighted the importance of Indonesia taking the lead.

"Without Indonesia, it's very hard for Asean to coalesce a common position. In my years as a trade and foreign minister, I always made it a point of principle to align Singapore's interests with those of Indonesia's," he said.

"I hope in the coming years, we will spend much more time developing our relationship with Indonesia."

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Asean, as well as the European Union, are two of the most successful regional organisations in the world but had "different starting bases".

The EU's 28 member states have a lot in common in terms of civilisations, cultures and approach to law as well as trade, a commonality achieved after centuries of wars and conflicts.

Asean members, on the other hand, "recognise they are very different" with various ruling systems from absolute monarchies to military arrangements to varieties of democracies, yet the five founding member states have had "strong leaders who realised it was better to hang together than to hang separately", he said.

"Because of diversity, founders of Asean created this principle that everything will have to be decided by consensus," which has contributed to peace, prosperity and development, among other things, for more than 50 years.

"If you look at the numbers, we are poised for growth. We in the next 20 years we'll be number four in the world after China, US, EU," Dr Balakrishnan said.

Former Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa urged Asean countries not to be passive in policy response and display a "can-do spirit" and develop instruments to deal not only with the US and China, but other bilateral episodes including those between the US and Russia and China and Japan, and India and China.

Dr Natalegawa praised Singapore's "tremendous leadership" as chairman of the bloc last year.

He said: "All in all, it is a challenging environment, but Asean has in the past, whenever doubt had been suggested of its continued relevance, managed to reinvent itself and prove its relevance."

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/asean-helps-manage-tensions-in-region-say-panellists


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## UMNOPutra

*Indonesian suicide bombers behind Jolo blasts: Año*
ABS-CBN News
Posted at Feb 01 2019 05:10 PM

Manila- Indonesian suicide bombers were behind the twin blasts that rocked a church in Jolo, Sulu last Sunday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Friday. 

Año made the statement after the military confirmed that suicide bombers were behind the bomb attack that left 22 dead and at least 100 hurt.

He said the bombers were a couple.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/01/...jolo-blasts-ao


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## katarabhumi

*12 Filipinos, one Malaysian terror suspects nabbed in Sabah crackdown*
_By Teoh Pei Ying - March 18, 2019 @ 12:37pm_

KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Police nabbed 12 Filipinos believed to be members of the outlawed Abu Sayaf Group (ASG), Maute Terrorist Group and Royal Sulu Force (RSF), and a Malaysian.

All 13 were nabbed in a series of crackdowns conducted by Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division together with the Special Branch, Sabah Police and 69 Commando in a two-day period between March 11 and 12 in Semporna and Tambunan in Sabah.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Muhammad Fuzi Harun in a statement today said some of those nabbed were suspected to providing protection to terrorist elements believed to be in hiding in Sabah.

He said in the first crackdown on March 11 saw authorities nab five Filipinos and one Malaysian suspect aged between 40 and 50 in Semporna.

"Four of the suspects are members of the Maute group who were believed to have been involved in the Marawi conflict in Southern Philippines, in 2017.

"They are also involved in providing shelter to terrorist elements of the Maute group as well as terror elements from the Middle East," Fuzi said.

The nation's top cop said another two suspects were suspected to be members of the RSF which was involved in the attacks in Lahad Datu and Semporna in 2013.

"They were also involved in recruiting new RSF members by selling membership cards for the group among Filipinos who had settled down in Sabah.

"The duo fled to Southern Philippines after the RSF lost. In 2018, the two slipped back into Sabah to reactivate the RSF’s activities, he said.

In the second crackdown which also took place on March 11, Fuzi said five Filipinos and one Filipina aged between 23 and 63-years-old were arrested in a raid in Tambunan.

Suspected to be ASG members, the six were involved in the Marawi conflict and slipped into Sabah in 2018 to avoid crackdown by Philippines security forces.

“The five were arrested for providing shelter to terror elements from the ASG and Maute group who are still at large,” he said.

The final arrest in the two-day crackdown saw a Filipino, aged 39, arrested on March 12 in Tambunan for providing shelter to terror elements of the ASG and Maute group who are still at large.

"With the arrest, the Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division is confident of tracking and capturing remaining elements of the ASG and Maute who are suspected of hiding in Sabah, specifically in Sabah," said Fuzi.

He said the suspects were arrested for allegedly committing offences relating to terrorism as provided under Chapter VIA of the Penal Code.

They would be investigated under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, he added.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-c...aysian-terror-suspects-nabbed-sabah-crackdown



+++

*Malaysian terrorist in Jakarta bomb attack says no regrets*

ALAYSIAN Taufik Abdul Halim set off a bomb at an Indonesian shopping mall 18 years ago, losing his leg and his freedom as a result, but he is unrepentant of his actions, Benarnews reports.

The bomb, hidden in a Dunkin’ Donuts box, was intended to be detonated at a nearby church but exploded prematurely in Jakarta’s Atrium Plaza mall. It blew off part of Taufik’s right leg, and flying shrapnel injured six other people.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/malaysian/Malaysia-militants-02072019172722.html


.


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## katarabhumi

*Indonesia proposes use of local currencies for internal ASEAN transactions*
_The Jakarta Post - Wed, April 10, 2019 / 04:57 pm _

Bank Indonesia (BI) has proposed the use of local currencies for internal trade transactions within ASEAN countries to reduce dependency on the US dollar.

Currently, Indonesia is cooperating with three ASEAN countries -- Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia -- on the Local Currency Settlement (LCS) to use local currencies for bilateral trade transactions.

The expansion of local currencies use within ASEAN was outlined in a draft of the ASEAN Guiding Principles on the LCS framework that was prepared by BI, which will be discussed in the Working Committee on Capital Account Liberalization later this year.

“If we use local currencies, the transactions in the region will have no significant impact if there is capital outflow from ASEAN countries,” said BI’s international department director, Wahyu Pratomo, in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He added that BI had submitted the draft at the recent ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors meetings in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Wahyu said if the 10 ASEAN member countries agreed to the draft later this year, it could be approved during a meeting of governors of ASEAN central banks in Vietnam in April next year. “Indonesia could act as the LCS leader in the region.”

Currently, the use of local currencies in ASEAN countries is still insignificant. The use of the Thai baht for trade transactions between Indonesia and Thailand, for example, was recorded only at US$13 million in the first quarter of 2019 or only 0.01 percent of the total trade between the two countries, which was $2.46 billion in January and February.

Meanwhile, the use of the ringgit in bilateral trade between Indonesia and Malaysia was recorded at $70 million or 0.03 percent of the total trade between both countries, which was recorded at $2.12 billion in January and February. (bbn)

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news...rrencies-for-internal-asean-transactions.html

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## katarabhumi

*Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines to hold joint exercise next month*
*Kyodo News* - _Posted at Jun 12 2019 11:35 PM_

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have agreed on holding a planned joint land patrol exercise next month aimed at tackling security challenges in the waters between Borneo and the southern Philippines, an Indonesian Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said the one-month, trilateral exercise would be held in the Indonesian town of Tarakan in East Kalimantan Province, the Indonesian part of Borneo island, as the three Southeast Asian countries band together against Islamist militancy.

Asked whether the exercise will be followed by the formation of a joint patrol force comprised of three countries' militaries, Ryamizard replied, "We'll do the exercise first and let's see what happens."

Currently, the three countries have maritime command centers in various locations around the region that serve as centers of information and intelligence sharing.

Since early 2017, dozens of Indonesians and Malaysians have been abducted in the Sulu Sea, a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, by armed men linked to the notoriously violent Abu Sayyaf rebel group.

Abu Sayyaf advocates an independent Islamic state comprising part of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. In addition to kidnappings-for-ransom, it has engaged in bombings, assassinations and extortion, making it one of the most serious security threats faced by the Philippines.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/0...philippines-to-hold-joint-exercise-next-month

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## Reashot Xigwin

Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine Troops to Train for Possible Regional Ground Force

Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata
Jakarta
2019-06-12

View attachment 565060

Maj. Gen. Sisriadi, spokesman for the Indonesian military, answers during an event in Jakarta, June 12, 2019.
Courtesy of TNI media and information bureau

After starting coordinated air and sea patrols in recent years, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines will launch joint ground exercises in August, in a counter-terrorism initiative that could see a regional force deployed in the southern Philippines one day, Indonesian officials said Wednesday.

The Indomalphi 2019 exercise will take place on Tarakan island in Indonesia’s North Kalimantan province and include trainings on shooting techniques and close-range combat, Indonesian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Sisriadi told BenarNews.

“Each country is expected to deploy a company of troops and five observers,” Sisraidi said Wednesday, referring to a military unit that typically consists of 80 to 150 soldiers and is usually commanded by a major or a captain.

“The exercise is aimed at improving joint operation capabilities in the land border areas, as part of efforts to anticipate transboundary crime and to create a deterrent effect to terrorism activities in border areas,” he said.

Delegations from the three Southeast Asian nations were attending a two-day meeting in Bali, starting Wednesday, to discuss a formal agreement on the trilateral land exercise, he said.

Ryamizard Ryacudu, Indonesia’s defense minister, said the monthlong exercise could potentially lead to the deployment of joint forces in the southern Philippines, which is still grappling with Islamic State-linked militants in remote areas of the Mindanao region.

“We are going to deal with [a] third-generation of terrorists, those who fought in the Middle East but have returned,” Ryamizard said in a news conference Wednesday. “Most of them are in Indonesia and the Philippines, and they are just traversing through Malaysia.”

He said the exercise would familiarize soldiers with field terrain.

“We need to establish grounds first with the officials and lawmakers,” he said. “We can’t just do that.”

The deployment of foreign troops in the southern Philippines would first require support from Filipino lawmakers and officials.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution specifies that “foreign military bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate and, when the Congress so requires, ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the people in a national referendum held for that purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting State.”

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian officials declined to answer questions from BenarNews. Meanwhile, defense officials in Manila were not immediately available for comment because the Philippines was observing its Independence Day, a national holiday, on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Ryamizard met with his Malaysian and Filipino counterparts on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual regional security meeting in Singapore, during which “they agreed to form a land [force] to combat terrorism,” Brig. Gen. Totok Sugiharto, the Indonesian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, told BenarNews.

“This is an escalated cooperation from the previous coordinated patrols to combat terrorism in the Philippines’ Sulu Sea,” Totok said, adding that during the exercise, the three nations would also be exchanging intelligence information about militants.

A regional military force would require “political decisions” from leaders of the three nations, a high-ranking defense ministry official told BenarNews, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The process would not be simple,” he said. “That is why we call the maritime and air patrols coordinated patrols, instead of joint patrols, and we focus on securing the borders between the three countries.”

Looking to add joint ground patrols

The three nations began trilateral patrols in June 2017 after pro-IS militants launched a siege in the southern Philippine city of Marawi. Five months of fighting ended in October 2017 and killed at least 1,200 people, mostly militants, including the acknowledged Philippine IS leader, Isnilon Hapilon.

During his speech at this year's Shangri-La Dialogue on June 2, Ryamizard said Indonesia has proposed to conduct a coordinated patrol, which he conveyed in the same forum in 2015.

He indicated in the 2018 dialogue that the three neighboring countries were looking to add joint ground patrols to existing trilateral air and sea patrols targeting pro-IS militants in the region.

Indonesia also initiated the Our Eyes intelligence sharing platform, which ASEAN countries agreed in Singapore last year.

“The maritime, air and land military cooperation to anticipate ISIS fighters returnees from the Middle East are the implementation of the ‘Our Eyes’ initiative. Currently the trilateral cooperation is entering the phase for a joint [ground] exercise, which will be held in Tarakan, North Kalimantan after the troops held their own exercises in their respective countries,” Ryamizard said in his speech in Singapore, using another acronym for IS.

The Marawi fighting emboldened other Southeast Asian terror cells aligned with the Syria- and Iraq-based IS, according to analysts.

Among the 31,500 foreign fighters who had joined IS in Syria, about 800 came from Asia, including 400 from Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country, Ryamizard said on June 2, 2018, citing intelligence data from his government.

The three Southeast Asian nations were taking the security preparations just months after the United States and its allies announced the territorial defeat of the so-called Islamic State, which once controlled wide swaths of Iraq and Syria.

With the fall of the IS “caliphate” in Syria, officials of the Syrian Democratic Forces estimate that more than 12,000 foreign women and children are being held in camps in Syria alone, and about 1,000 foreign fighters are being held in the country’s prisons.

Many governments fear that welcoming back their battle-hardened citizens who fought for IS could pose a security threat.

During the battle of Marawi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire southern region of Mindanao under martial law, in a bid to solve the biggest security crisis to hit the country in recent memory. But analysts have warned that former IS fighters could still penetrate the porous borders of the southern Philippines through Malaysia and across the Sulu Sea.

Duterte had publicly admitted that security forces may have underestimated the militants’ firepower, but relented to his defense officials who had asked for crucial intelligence help from the United States, the country's oldest military ally that he had earlier lambasted as he moved for closer ties instead with China and Russia.

A trilateral agreement on a possible regional military force carries a “psychological dimension” that could block “any trans-boundary security disturbance,” Mufti Makarim, an Indonesian military and security observer, told BenarNews.

“This agreement doesn’t mean that each country’s force can enter another country,” he said, “but it is more like they can coordinate when they conduct border patrols in their respective territories, so each country is aware that their neighbors are taking the same measures and are doing what is necessary to secure the borders.”

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/indonesia-militants-06122019153406.html


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## pr1v4t33r

New DMU Train for Pilippines PNR made in Indonesia by PT.INKA

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## katarabhumi

*Philippines, Indonesia demarcate EEZ boundaries*
_By: Christia Marie Ramos - Reporter / @CMRamosINQ
INQUIRER.net / 07:46 AM August 02, 2019_

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Indonesia will start the official recognition of the boundaries that demarcate the two countries’ overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) after an agreement that was formally signed by the two archipelagic states in May 2014 in Manila entered into force.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the agreement entered into force after Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi signed the Protocols of Exchange of the instruments of ratification concerning the delimitation of the countries’ EEZs.

The special ceremony took place on the sidelines of the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting on Thursday (August 1) in Bangkok, Thailand.

According to the DFA, the treaty would economically and politically benefit both countries “by promoting more bilateral cooperation in the EEZ in order to advance the common interest of managing and preserving the resources in the EEZ.”

It would also “further strengthening maritime security cooperation between the two countries,” the DFA added.

The treaty determining the boundaries which delimit the overlapping EEZ of the Philippines and Indonesia was first discussed in June 1994.

“Wide overlaps in the EEZ of the Philippines and Indonesia, which run across the Mindanao Sea and Celebes Sea, and in the southern section of the Philippine Sea in the Pacific Ocean, required the two countries to negotiate and agree on a shared boundary,” the DFA explained.

President Rodrigo Duterte and the Indonesian Parliament signed the agreement in February 2017 and April 2017, respectively.

The Senate then concurred with the President’s ratification in June 2019.

With the Philippines and Indonesia both being parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the two nations are entitled to an EEZ of 200 nautical miles off its coast.

The DFA cited the UNCLOS which says that states “have sovereign rights to explore and exploit, and conserve and manage natural resources, among others, within their EEZ.” /muf

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/178552/philippines-indonesia-demarcate-eez-boundaries

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## katarabhumi

*Indonesia to host China-Asean conference*
_Published on: Saturday, November 09, 2019_

JAKARTA: Indonesia will host the China-Asean conference on the people-to-people friendship organization from November 10 to 12, 2019, in Bandung, West Java province.

“The Indonesia-China Organization (LIC) is organizing the 12th conference which Indonesia will host for the second time after the third event was also held here in 2008,” head of the LIC, Sudrajat, said at a press conference in Jakarta.

The biennial event aims to promote people-to-people friendship between the Asean members and China, focusing on the economy, social, and cultural sectors, while highlighting development and the involvement of millennials, Sudrajat noted.

“We hope the conference results in a joint communique on what we will be doing in two to 10 years,” he said.

Some 91 delegations of non-government organizations from 10 Asean members and China are expected to attend the conference, along with hundreds of investors and businessmen.

Scheduled to open the conference is the Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil.

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news/143075/indonesia-to-host-china-asean-conference/
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news/143075/indonesia-to-host-china-asean-conference/
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## katarabhumi

*ASEAN Defense Meeting, Prabowo Declares Indonesia's Commitment *
_Monday, 18 November 2019_

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In attending Sunday’s ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Retreat in Bangkok, Thailand, Indonesian defense minister Prabowo Subianto declared the country’s commitment to helping build Southeast Asia’s security and reputation among other world regions.

Minister Prabowo asserts that ASEAN holds large potential in natural wealth and is renowned as one of the world’s major global trade routes. He deemed ASEAN’s global emphasis is proven by how the region has attracted the interests of global forces.

“However, the potential in Southeast Asia’s seas would be hard to develop and make use of if it isn’t guaranteed by the needed protection from ASEAN members itself,” said Prabowo in the meeting on November 17.

The former Indonesian army special forces (Kopassus) general called for country members to stay committed and connected to reach collective welfare.

“ASEAN [members] must not be separated or polarized as it would only cause conflicts and discordance. Indonesia strongly defies any form of invasion from any country in Southeast Asian regions,” said Prabowo.

Among many others, the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting produced crucial multilateral partnerships in the form of; the Malacca Strait Patrol, the Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Trilateral Indomalphi, and ASEAN Direct Communication Infrastructure.

https://en.tempo.co/read/1273433/asean-defense-meeting-prabowo-declares-indonesias-commitment

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