19 MARCH 20 12 I SSUE 68

CARICAPTURES

BETA

Thailand

01The AEC and reforms in Myanmar

are expected to put pressure on

Thailand’s labour markets. Academics are concerned that Thai

workers will not be able to compete with

their Singaporean, Malaysian and Philippine

counterparts after the mutual recognition

agreements (MRAs) come into force

In unskilled labour, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan

(Secretary-General, ASEAN Secretariat)

Thailand faces challenges in

The labour markeT

warned that economic reforms in Myanmar

could result in the departure of the migrant

force from Thailand

Migrant workers make up 5% of the

Thailand’s workforce, with 3 million coming

from Myanmar

AsiaOne, Democratic Voice of Burma

(12 March 2012)

1

4

8

2

5

93

7610

Thailand received reassurance

from Chinese and US investors on

continued investments but was urged

to accelerate infrastructure spending

and relax business regulations. China Investment Corp, China’s sovereign

wealth fund expressed interest to invest in

Thailand’s infrastructure and agriculture

The US-ASEAN Business Council urged

the Thai government to accelerate

infrastructure spending to prevent a repeat

of the 2011 floods

US businesses in the US-ASEAN Business

Council include Caterpillar, Visa, Master-

Card, Philip Morris, AT&T, Ford Motor,

Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Google, Procter &

Gamble, and HP

US businesses are calling for a relaxation

of ownership rules, such as the limitation of

49% foreign ownership and a restructuring

of excise taxes to encourage investment

The Nation, Thailand

(13 March 2012)

Thailand

02 us, chinese

delegaTions

vow To hike

invesTmenT in

Thailand

muTual recogniTion agreemenT (mra)

What: MRAs are sector-specific agreements that aim to eliminate technical trade

barriers in a given sector. MRAs in ASEAN have typically occurred in service industries.

Currently, there are MRAs in engineering, nursing, architectural, surveying qualifications,

accountancy, dental practitioners, and tourism professionals.

Why: ASEAN members agreed on using MRAs as a platform to advance the

harmonization of standards and regulation. The underlying objective of the MRAs is to

facilitate the free movement of skilled labour across ASEAN.

When: The Bali Concord II (2003) called for the completion of MRAs in professional

services by 2008.

ASEAN

19 23 0303 ‘12 ‘12

DISCLAIMER: The news articles contained in this report are extracted and republished from various credible news sources. As such, CIMB ASEAN Research Institute (CARI) does not make any guarantee, representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness, reliability or fairness of any such information and opinion contained in this report. Should any information be doubtful, readers are advised to make their own independent evaluation of such information.

Malaysia

03For the first time in history,

Malaysia’s cabinet will approve a

national minimum wage of between

800 to 900 Malaysian ringgit per

month. The new law is in line with Najib Razak’s

(Prime Minister, Malaysia) new economic

plan to advance Malaysia’s status to a

developed country by 2020

malaysia To seT

firsT minimum wage

The new wage policy faced strong

opposition from employers, and critics say

that it would make Malaysian industries

uncompetitive and deter foreign investors

Analysts suggest that the prime minister

is gearing up for elections and trying to

garner votes from the urban poor

AsiaOne (12 March 2012)

asean minimum wage laws

Indonesia has effected a decree on

29 February 2012 which bans foreign

chief executives from running wholly

owned local companies. The new law elicited outcry from business

associations and foreign investors in

Indonesia

Indonesia justified the law by emphasising

the executive role of a chief executive over

human resources

Indonesia’s labour office emphasised that

the law has a limited scope and is working

with companies to ensure it is properly

understood

Sofyan Wanandi (Chairman, Indonesian

Employers Association) believes the move

has protectionist and nationalist motives

and will drive skilled workers away from

Indonesia

The Star, Malaysia

(12 March 2012)

Indonesia

05 indonesia

bans foreign

ceos from fully

local firms

ASEAN, Thailand

04Growth in regional consumer demand

and higher oil prices are creating

inflationary pressures in ASEAN. Trade and public deficits in oil - importing

countries such as Thailand make it difficult

for the government to absorb increasing

energy costs; subsidising consumer fuel will

also deplete government spending in other

welfare areas

When speaking at the International

Institute of Finance CEO Summit, Dr.

Prasarn Trairatvorakul (Central Bank

Governor, Bank of Thailand) said that

inflation remained at manageable levels,

and indicated that monetary policy would

continue to aid flood recovery and would

not tighten

Washington Post, The Nation

(15 March 2012)

boT:

inflaTion

raTe manageable

19 23 0303 ‘12 ‘12

DISCLAIMER: The news articles contained in this report are extracted and republished from various credible news sources. As such, CIMB ASEAN Research Institute (CARI) does not make any guarantee, representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness, reliability or fairness of any such information and opinion contained in this report. Should any information be doubtful, readers are advised to make their own independent evaluation of such information.

myanmar

moniTor06Domestic Issues

A government audit reported evidence of

corruption in six key ministries, which led

to a discussion in parliament regarding the

formation of an anti-corruption commission

The Irrawaddy (13 March 2012)

A new labour law has come into effect in

Myanmar, allowing the formation of labour

unions and strikes

The Washington Post (10 March 2012)

Aung San Suu Kyi’s campaign speech

was broadcasted on state media for the

first time. The government censored the

speech by removing criticism of the former

junta, but allowed her to call for respect of

the rule of law and to criticise the present

constitution. The new electoral law allots

each political party time to broadcast their

manifesto in the state media

The Washington Post (13 March 2012)

CNN (14 March 2012)

ASEAN

Myanmar ratified the ASEAN Terror

Pact, joining Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam,

Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei

Bernama (8 March 2012)

Myanmar will open its fifth border trade

point with Thailand in southern Tanintharyi

region. Myanmar currently has a total of 12

border trade points, of which four link with

China, four with Thailand, two with India

and two with Bangladesh

People’s Daily (13 March 2012)

Pham Binh Minh (Foreign Minister,

Vietnam) paid an official visit to Myanmar

last week

Bernama (14 March 2012)

China

State-run China Power Investment

Corp is pushing Myanmar to resume

the development of the US$ 3.6 billion

hydroelectric dam that was suspended last

year

The Wall Street journal (10 March 2012)

The China-ASEAN Trade Expo in Nanning

in September 2012 will focus on Myanmar

The Irrawaddy (9 March 2012)

Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)

signed the first onshore exploration

contract involving a foreign oil company

since the new government came to power

The Washington Post (11 March 2012)

asean - india Trade

0 7The relationship between ASEAN

and India deepened through

cooperation in various arrangements

including the Bengal Initiative

for Multi-Sectoral Technical and

Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC),

the Malaysia-India Comprehensive

Economic Cooperation Agreement

(MICECA), and FTAs. Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir (Deputy Minister,

International Trade and Industry, Malaysia)

launched the Indian Chemical Exhibition

2012

Mukhriz remarked that MICECA is

expected to increase trade between India

india-asean relaTions

inTensify

ASEAN, Thailand, Malaysia, India

and Malaysia from US$12.5 billion in 2010 to

US$15 billion in 2012

Speaking at a business seminar in

Chennai, Chanchai Charanvatnakit (Royal

Thai Consulate Consul General) said the

India-ASEAN FTA will increase trade to

US$14 billion in 2012, from US$8.2 billion in

2011, and that tourism will play a big role

Negotiators at the second ASEAN-India

Working Group on Agriculture and Forestry

listed 14 areas of agriculture cooperation

including farmer exchange and animal

husbandry

The Star, IBN Live, The Jakarta Post

(15 March 2012)

19 23 0303 ‘12 ‘12

DISCLAIMER: The news articles contained in this report are extracted and republished from various credible news sources. As such, CIMB ASEAN Research Institute (CARI) does not make any guarantee, representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness, reliability or fairness of any such information and opinion contained in this report. Should any information be doubtful, readers are advised to make their own independent evaluation of such information.

ASEAN, EU

08ASEAN and the EU designated 2012

as the ‘ASEAN-EU Year of Science,

Technology and Innovation’. The EU is replacing its current science

cooperation framework with the ambitious

Horizon 2020

The 7th Framework Programme for

Research and Technological Development

(FP7) will attract US$13 billion in grants in

147 ASEAN projects

EU-ASEAN research programmes focus

on renewable energy, marine resource

protection, and IT development

Thailand’s National Science and

Technology Development Agency is

currently participating in seven projects

under the FP7, making Thailand the most

active ASEAN country in the programme

The European Commission budgeted

US$104.5 billion for its Horizon 2020

programme, due to replace the FP7 in 2014

The Nation, Thailand (13 March 2012)

asean and eu Join hands in science Technology

and innovaTion

ASEAN

09Organisations throughout ASEAN

are contributing towards community

building efforts through seminars,

cultural exchanges, and youth

programmes. The ASEAN Secretariat and Cambodian

government organised a national seminar

on ASEAN awareness on 15 March 2012

which attracted 3,500 university students

Universitas Pelita Harapan held a

youth seminar entitled “Beyond Natural

Resources and Cultural Cliché” as part of its

week-long Communication Avenue 2012, a

means for youth to voice popular issues to

the government

Bagas Hapsoro (Deputy Secretary-

General, ASEAN) encouraged the young

grassrooTs conTribuTe To

asean communiTy building

generation to share their inspirations, hopes

and feedback towards building a forward-

looking ASEAN Community

The Thai government is implementing

multilingual programmes in schools and

universities to encourage students to study

ASEAN languages

Thailand and Cambodia are also

organising teacher exchanges to alleviate

the shortage of teachers of Thai and Khmer

languages in their countries

Prasatvittaya School in Thailand is

promoting the study of regional languages

in light of the coming ASEAN Economic

Community

Bangkok Post, Philippines Information Agency

Zamboanga Times, Philippines

(15 March 2012)

Cambodia

10

The introduction of Islamic finance

in Cambodia may attract investment

from Muslim investors from the

Middle East and Asia who are

searching for opportunities. The International Shari’ah Research

Academy for Islamic Finance noted

that investors from the Middle East are

interested in businesses that comply with

Islamic law

Introducing Islamic finance in a

predominately Buddhist country could

attract investors to the country and

provide credit to the 2% Muslim minority in

Cambodia

According to the Cambodian Intelligent

Investor Organisation, Islamic finance in

Cambodia would serve Cambodian Muslims

through microfinance institutions

Phnom Penh (12 March 2012)

cambodia

needs

islamic finance

Editorial Team: Manissa van Geyzel, Han Fang Rong, Soley Ómarsdóttir, Chayut Setboonsarng, Ahmad Syahid

Consultant Editor: Tunku ‘Abidin Muhriz Designer: Iqbal Hakim