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Tag: import

  • Finnair Targets Seafood, Pharma Growth in Asia

    Finnair Targets Seafood, Pharma Growth in Asia

    Finnair is gearing up for expansion, and preparing for a difficult market, with Asia playing a significant part in its plans.

    Currently, cargo makes up only 17% of Finnair’s revenues, and it’s a part of the airline’s strategic plan to increase that number, although maybe not to the same levels as some Asian carriers enjoy.

    “Our goal is really to maximize revenues in a structured manner in order to contribute as positively to Finnair as we can,” Janne Tarvainen, vice president and head of cargo for Finnair, told us in an interview. “The structured manner means ambitious targets for the strategic focus markets and emphasis on providing value-added, high-quality solutions to our customers

    One of the prompts for this was the 19 Airbus A350-800s joining the Helsinki-headquartered carrier’s fleet. A lot of cargo capacity is being added because of passenger growth, and it won’t be allowed to go to waste, especially after the board of directors strategized to be a modern cargo carrier and sold off the airline’s designated freighter fleet.

    How Finnair plans to achieve these goals is led by its COOL Nordic Cargo Hub programme, a new state-of-the-art cargo hub, which it calls the most modern air cargo terminal in Europe. Opening in May 2017, the terminal will be 31,000 square metres overall, with some 3,000 square metres each for pharmaceutical products and perishables – areas where Finnair hopes to make its mark.

    “Another reason why it’s cool is that it is highly automated,” added Tarvainen. “We have integrated acceptance, delivery and automated racking system and a completely automated ULD-handling.”

    Not only is the hardware Finnair has at its disposal being strongly improved, but the software that manages it is being upgraded, too. The other big initiative that Finnair is undertaking as part of its upgrade is SkyChain Cargo Management, which is to be expanded and put in use in October 2016.

    “It’s almost an off-the-shelf product, requiring a little bit of tailoring to fulfil special requirements set by the local authorities. It’s a production system with a full integration to the terminal automation supporting all the activities we do,” said Tarvainen.

    Finnair is doing all this to link the market it already serves, where seafood makes up a significant part of cargo, and the markets it is eyeing, where it hopes to make pharmaceuticals just as successful.

    There is no doubting the importance of seafood to Japan and to Finnair’s four routes there. Salmon is cultivated and prepared in northern Norway and then trucked to Helsinki, where it is loaded onto flights to Japan. The tagline for this industry is “34 hours from sea to sushi-plate” – giving it a freshness that Japan’s demanding consumers like – and pay for.

    Norway’s salmon farmers generate as much seafood business as Finland in its entirety does – each make up a bit more than 10% of Finnair cargo. Fukuoka, a new Finnair destination in Japan, where first-month figures have been “relatively successful,” proves the point.

    More striking has been the other destination Finnair opened last month – Guangzhou, although the freight carried is very different. The seafood market hasn’t started yet, nor has the pharma side, but inbound from the southern Chinese business centre Finnair is doing “very good loads” of all kinds of industrial goods, Tarvainen says.

    This fits into a pattern of a very good year so far, at least in terms of volume. In so strained a market, revenues are the sort of issue that is getting glossed over in the hope of better days to come.

    “So far this year, load-wise the development has been very, very good,” said Tarvainen.

    Last year, Finnair moved 130 million kilograms of freight, and this year has exceeded that. In the past two months there has been growth of 20%, something which also applies to RTK, he said. “That’s been pretty good. It’s excellent,” he added.

    “We have really focused on certain markets and focused on getting the loads in,” he said of the overall approach.

    Not only has Finnair opened two new routes, one of them already busy, but it has also worked its established markets, the Nordic countries and their Baltic neighbours, well.

    It also is working what its calls its extended home markets of Brussels and London. These two locations are chosen because they are the buckles in different pharmaceutical belts, and the quality of its service, especially on reliability and punctuality, helps win it.

    Tarvainen was cautious about detailing the Brussels market and its impact on the bottom line, saying only it was growing and yields were “a little bit better.”

    Where he is more forthcoming is on the immediate prospects for the sector, and he is not optimistic. Chief among his reasons is China. “The times of double-digit growth are gone. We can see the difference.”

    Longer term, there is not much bounce either. Passenger demand is growing, which means more and more cargo capacity also enters the market. Worsening this is the slump in oil prices. “No aircraft is in storage” he said, adding that cheap oil allows planes to keep flying.

    What is going right is consumer confidence, something Tarvainen hopes will lift the industry, even though he doesn’t believe miracles will happen in the big markets. Probably wise then, as Finnair plans to concentrate on the industry niches and routes where things, if not miracles, can be made to happen.

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  • Indonesia asks New Zealand to lower import duty

    Indonesia asks New Zealand to lower import duty

    Indonesia has asked New Zealand and Australia to lower import duties on two export products from Indonesia-herbicides and insecticides-from 5 percent to zero percent under the ASEAN-Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANSFTA).

    “To increase trade with Indonesia, import duties for herbicide and insecticide, which are high at 5 percent need to be made zero percent,” said Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto here on Thursday.

    Airlangga said this after holding a meeting with the Ambassador of New Zealand to Indonesia, Trevor Matheson at the Industry Ministry Building, Jakarta.

    Meanwhile, the Director General of Security and Development Access International Industry, Ministry of Industry, Harjanto explained, there are two ASEAN member countries that export herbicide and insecticide to New Zealand, namely Indonesia and Malaysia.

    Unfortunately, since the cooperation agreement has been in force, the import duty for Indonesian products is higher than for Malaysia, which is zero percent.

    This makes the products from Malaysia more competitive than the products from Indonesia.

    “Herbicide and insecticide is used by New Zealand for work on the farm. We hope products from Indonesia can be as competitive as from Malaysia through the liberalization of this market,” said Harjanto.

    Harjanto speculated that outside the AANZ FTA agreement, Malaysia and New Zealand have other agreements, which allow import duties for Malaysian products to be zero percent.

    According to data from the Industry Ministry, trade value between Indonesia and New Zealand reached US$1.07 billion, of which Indonesia is experiencing a deficit of US$200.8 million.

    Harjanto hoped that with zero percent import duty, the trade balance between Indonesia and New Zealand would become more balanced, so that cooperation between the two countries can be strengthened further.

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  • Indonesia, France to Boost Economic Cooperation

    Indonesia, France to Boost Economic Cooperation

    Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Nasution said Indonesia is ready to explore economic cooperation with France.

    He mentioned that France is a strategic trading partner for Indonesia.

    Nasution made the statement during a meeting with French Ambassador to Indonesia H.E. Mrs. Corrine Breuzé, on Friday, (July 29).

    “I believe that the economy of Indonesia and France are complementary. Therefore, it is important to increase economic cooperation in several sectors,” he said on Saturday (30/7).

    Based on data released by the Ministry of Trade in 2015, the total trade volume between Indonesia and France amounted to US $ 2.3 billion. This figure decreased by 9.4 percent compared to that of the previous period, which reached US $ 2.35 billion, while French investment realization in Indonesia was US $ 131.6 million for 197 projects.

    The business that is in great demand among French investors in Indonesia are among others, transportation, communications, electricity, gas, water, food industry, chemical and pharmaceutical goods sectors.

    Nasution further said the investment realization bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and France in the future could be further increased and spread particularly in ​​eastern Indonesia.

    Therefore, in order to boost the value of the investment, the Indonesian Government has made a breakthrough through a series of Economic Policy Package issued since September 2015.

    “This package contains a variety of policies ranging from streamlining the investment license, the revised negative list of investment, the acceleration of infrastructure development and more,” the minister said.

  • Alliance Group market-ready lamb packs to hit Chinese shelves

    Alliance Group market-ready lamb packs to hit Chinese shelves

     Alliance Group’s lamb packs for the Chinese retail market.
    Alliance Group’s new lamb range of market-ready retail packs will be launching in China next month.

    The co-branded lamb range will land in China’s retail and food service sectors as the co-operative and its in-market partner Grand Farm strengthen their close ties.

    The initial focus  will be on the upper end of the Chinese market in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Harbin The lamb will be available from eight retail chains boasting 200 selected outlets before being rolled out to other parts of the country.

    Alliance chief executive David Surveyor said the New Zealand-packed lamb was designed for the Chinese market and co-branded Pure South and Grand Farm.

    “It marks a major milestone in our vision to create new product forms and ranges that will be either produced from source or further processed in the market to meet the growing demands of China’s food service sector.”

    The regions were selected based on the higher buying power of their consumers, concentration of foreigners and higher economic activity, he said.

    “This initiative will help us build a deeper understanding of the supply and value chains and eventually secure the added value we are seeking in this market with a ‘packed-at-origin’ offering.”

    Alliance’s focus in China was to obtain more market value for its 5000 farmer-shareholders by understanding consumer tastes and improving its matching of products and markets, as well as investing more in new products and packaging, he said.

    In April, the co-operative signed an agreement with Grand Farm at a ceremony in China. The agreement, which signals further strategic co-operation between the pair, sets out a  plan to improve the returns and add value to both businesses.

    Grand Farm is the best known distributor and marketer of top quality red meat in northern China. The company owns 96 meat shops, operates 260 branded meat counters in selected hypermarkets and supplies over 1000 hypermarkets in China.

    Alliance has been working in China since the mid-1990s and is now the country’s largest exporter of New Zealand lamb to the country.

     

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  • India may import pulses from Myanmar, African nations

    India may import pulses from Myanmar, African nations

    Faced with the highest-ever surge in food prices in the past two years, the NDA government did some brainstorming on Wednesday to devise steps to check prices, especially of pulses.

    At a review meeting convened by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here, it was decided to boost supply by increasing buffer stocks and imports.

    The Centre may look to Myanmar and Africa to import lentils and pulses, it is learnt. India has already submitted a draft agreement for import of tur from Myanmar via the government route.

    Many African nations have also evinced interest in supplying lentils to India.

    “The Finance Minister said imports via public and private agencies should be strengthened to meet the deficit,” Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told newspersons after the meeting. He added that the demand-supply gap of about 7.6 million tonnes of pulses was being met by imports and local procurement to create a buffer stock of 1.5 lakh tonnes this year.

    It is not only the runaway increase in prices of pulses, which have soared to as much as ₹170/kg, that has hurt the aam aadmi; even vegetable prices have shot up in recent weeks.

    Tomato prices in most retail markets have doubled to ₹80-100/kg in the last fortnight due to sluggish supply owing to crop damage. Potato prices have also been on the rise.

    Besides Paswan, the high-level meeting was attended by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu.

    Discussions involved releasing more pulses from the buffer stock whenever there is a demand from the States. However, Paswan passed some of the blame for high prices to the States.

    “If prices rise despite this move, the Centre is not responsible. In a federal structure, States have equal responsibility in controlling prices,” he said, adding that the Centre had created a buffer stock, but “not many States had shown interest.”

    Against this year’s procurement target of 1.5 lakh tonnes of pulses for buffer stocks, 1.15 lakh tonnes has been purchased, he added.

     

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  • China changes the tax rules on purchases from overseas e-retailers

    China changes the tax rules on purchases from overseas e-retailers

    In some cases consumers will owe more tax, and in other cases less.

    Foreign online retailers and brands have benefited in recent years from China’s relaxed rules on purchases by Chinese consumers on overseas websites. China’s new rules on import duties and taxes will hurt some of those overseas online sellers, while helping others.

    The new rules, to take effect in April, provide an exemption from import duties for purchases from foreign websites of up to 2,000 yuan ($306) but add a sales tax of 11.9% that consumers don’t pay today. That sales tax is still less than the 17% value-added tax consumers pay when shopping in stores in China.

    The existing rules, which mirror the regulations for consumers bringing in purchases from abroad or receiving them by mail from friends overseas, allows a consumer to import up to 1,000 yuan ($153) worth of products at a time for personal use, up to 20,000 yuan in a year. Those purchases are subject to import duty—which generally vary from 10% to 50% of the purchase price, depending on the type of product—but the tax is waived if it’s under 50 yuan ($7.65.) That 50-yuan exemption will be eliminated in the new rules.

    The new policy will benefit sellers of products for which the duty is high, such as cosmetics, which are hit with a 50% duty tax, says Li Pengbo, CEO of China Cross-border E-commerce Research Center, a consulting company. But other items for which the duty is low, such as children’s products, the new rules will make it more expensive for Chinese consumers to buy from overseas websites, Li says.

    Here are some major product categories, with the duty tax percentage:

    • Food, 10%
    • Alcohol, 50%
    • Apparel, 20%
    • Cosmetics, 50%
    • Electronics, 20%

    Thus, under existing rules a Chinese consumer who buys a shirt for $50 on a foreign e-commerce site pays a fee of $10 (20% duty on a $50 purchase), whereas under the new rules he would pay only $5.95 (no duty, but a sales tax of 11.9%.) However, a consumer buying $30 of powdered milk today would pay no duty or sales tax (the duty would be $3, 10% of $30, but that is waived because no fee is charged if the duty is below 50 yuan ($7.65)), whereas under the new rules she would pay $3.57 (no duty, but a sales tax of 11.9%.)

    Both the new rules and the old ones also apply to foreign companies that sell on Chinese marketplaces under the relaxed cross-border e-commerce rules that China has adopted in recent years. Such major Chinese e-commerce operators as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., JD.com Inc. and the Amazon China subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc. have created special sections of their online shopping sites featuring imported goods sold under the special cross-border rules. Those rules allow foreign companies to store items in 10 free-trade zones without clearing customs, and then send them through an expedited customs process when a Chinese shopper places an order.

    They also allow the sale, up to the limit for personal use—1,000 yuan today and 2,000 yuan when the new rules take effect in April—of goods that have not been authorized for sale in China, as long as they have been found safe in their home country. That’s a big deal for sellers of products like cosmetics and food that can take years to gain approval from the Chinese government for domestic sale.

    Chinese consumers have taken advantage of the cross-border e-commerce rules to buy significant quantities from foreign web merchants. China’s customs authority reported this month that the first seven of the free-trade zones established in China since late 2013 handled 100 million inbound parcels purchased from foreign e-retailers with a total value of $2 billion.

    The relaxed rules on purchases from foreign websites have drawn protests from domestic retailers who say they have to pay import duties on all goods they bring into the country and charge consumers the national 17% value-added tax.

    Gong Dingyu, founder and chief operating officer of Chinese children’s product retail chain Leyou, tells Internet Retailer, that the new rules represent of a different way to tax goods purchased from overseas e-retailers.

    “The old policy is unfair because traditional trading companies and physical stores don’t have the same favorable policy as cross-border e-commerce,” Gong says. “Also, without products being monitored and inspected by the Chinese government, online consumers could buy imported products with quality issues.”

    JD.com is No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2015 China 500 and Amazon China No. 5. While Alibaba’s big online marketplaces Taobao and Tmall account for about three-quarters of online purchases in China, Alibaba is not ranked because it is a marketplace operator and not the merchant of record for any sales on its sites.

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  • African exports to China descend by 40 percent

    African exports to China descend by 40 percent

    African exports to China fell by 40 percent in 2015, China’s customs office reports. China is Africa’s greatest single trading partner and its interest for African products has fuelled the continent’s recent financial development. The decrease in exports mirrors the recent slowdown in China’s economy. This has, thus, put African economies under weight and to some extent represents the falling estimation of numerous African currencies.

    Exhibiting China’s previous year trading figures, customs representative Huang Songping advised that African exports to China aggregated $67bn (£46.3bn), which was 38% down on the figure for 2014. BBC Africa Business Report editor Matthew Davies says that as China’s economy sets out toward what numerous experts say will be a hard finding, its requirement for African oil, metals and minerals has fallen quickly, taking commodity prices lower.

    There is likewise less funds coming from China to Africa, with direct investment from China into the mainland falling by 40% in the initial six months of 2015, he says. In the mean time, Africa’s interest for Chinese products is rising. In 2015 China sent $102bn worth of products to the mainland, an expansion of 3.6%. A year ago, South Africa facilitated a China-Africa summit amid which President Xi Jinping declared $60bn of aid and loans, symbolizing the nation’s growing part on the Continent.

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  • Indonesia to Import 1m Tons of Pakistan Rice in New Deal

    Indonesia to Import 1m Tons of Pakistan Rice in New Deal

    Indonesia to Import 1m Tons of Pakistan Rice in New Deal. Pakistan is the world 11th largest rice producer with annual production of 6.9 million tons milled rice.

    Indonesia will import 1 million metric tons of milled rice over the next four years from Pakistan, in a move to shield the country’s food security against volatile weather patterns.

    The two governments, represented by Indonesia’s Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Indonesia Mohammad Aqil Nadeem, signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday.

    The deal, with an estimated worth of $400 million in imports between 2016 and 2019, will be executed by Indonesia’s procurement agency, Bulog, and Pakistan’s Trading Corporation of Pakistan.

    Indonesia currently has similar MoU with Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, though only some of the deals have been realized.

    Pakistan is the world 11th largest rice producer with annual production of 6.9 million tons of milled rice.

    The country saw trade with Indonesia rise 27 percent to $2.2 billion last year following a Preferential Trade Agreement in 2013.

    Indonesia enjoyed $1.8 billion surplus in the trade, thanks to its palm oil exports.

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  • Indonesia needs 1 million tonnes of rice from Vietnam

    Indonesia needs 1 million tonnes of rice from Vietnam

    Indonesia plans to import one million tonnes of rice from Vietnam to meet the country’s high demand, according to Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Mayerfas.

    He made the statement at a press conference in Hanoi on December 4 to introduce an Indonesia trade fair and an Indonesia-Vietnam business forum slated for the middle of this month at the Hanoi International Centre for Exhibition.

    Indonesia also has great demand for Vietnamese coffee, the ambassador said, adding that the country imported 40-50 million USD worth of the commodity in 2014 and the figure is expected to increase from 2016.

    He affirmed that the trade fair and business forum, as part of the activities to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Indonesia, will be a valuable opportunity for both nations’ enterprises to bolster cooperation and set up business links.

    Some 100 Indonesian enterprises will showcase their high-quality products at the fair, including automobiles and spare parts, pharmaceutical and medical equipment, food and beverages, among others.

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  • Rice prices ease in Vietnam; Thai grain stable

    Rice prices ease in Vietnam; Thai grain stable

    Rice export prices weakened in Vietnam this week from a nine-month high on thin buying demand, while Thai rice prices were stable ahead of sales from Thai government’s huge stocks next month, traders said on Wednesday. Vietnam’s 5-percent broken rice eased to $375-$380 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) Saigon Port, from $370-$390 a week ago, and the indicative price for the 25-percent broken grade also weakened to $360 a tonne from $365 last week.

    “The price hike has stopped as nobody wants to buy at high prices,” a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said, noting that Thai rice was cheaper. Rice prices in Vietnam, the world’s third-largest exporter after India and Thailand, surged earlier this month on limited supply and news of demand from Indonesia and the Philippines.

    While loading of a combined 67,900 tonnes on five vessels for Indonesia is underway at Saigon Port, Indonesia has not confirmed the purchase. On Tuesday Indonesia’s state food procurement agency Bulog said the country would decide within two weeks whether to ship in rice from Vietnam and other Asian countries. Vietnam’s rice exports in the first 10 months of this year would fall 4.6 percent from a year earlier to an estimated 5.32 million tonnes, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday. China, the top buyer of Vietnamese rice, has bought 1.39 million tonnes of the grain between January and September, up 37.5 percent from a year earlier, based on China’s customs data. Overall, China’s rice imports jumped 26.7 percent in the same period to 2.31 million tonnes.

    In Thailand, the 5-percent broken grain has been held stable at $360-$365 a tonne, FOB basis, while the Thai government plans to sell 2 million tonnes of rotten rice from huge stockpiles for industrial use in November. Thai traders said the market, which has been quiet due to the absence of Chinese and African buyers, could see prices rising if Thailand secures a deal with Indonesia as part of the latter country’s demand for 1.5 million tonnes.

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  • Mall Group chairwoman wants lower import tariffs

    Mall Group chairwoman wants lower import tariffs

    “Thailand will be part of the Asean Economic Community [AEC], which comes into effect at the end of this year, with a combined 600-million population forming one big single market, representing 10 per cent of the world’s population.

    “AEC transformation will allow Thailand to become a tourist-destination hub of the world, benefiting from the country’s advantages, such as its strong logistics network and geographic location, plus dynamic growth from emerging markets in the region,” she said.

    However, the Kingdom’s current import duty charged for fashion and cosmetics brands is too high at between 30 per cent and 40 per cent, resulting in a loss of competitiveness compared with rival shopping destinations in the region, she stressed.

    “I would like the government to revise [the tax structure] and reduce the import tariff for fashion brands to about 10 per cent, so that we can compete with rival countries and make Bangkok truly an ultimate shopping destination of the world,” said The Mall Group chief.

    She added that Thailand was now facing a serious labour shortage, with an unemployment rate of just 0.03 per cent.

    The government could resolve the labour-shortage problem in the retail sector by allowing migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos to do jobs legally, especially in front-office work, such as sales representatives in stores, she suggested.

    “Between 30 and 40 per cent of shoppers visiting modern retail malls in downtown Bangkok, such as Siam Paragon, are foreign tourists, and 50 per cent of them are Asian.

    “In the retail sector, we [Thailand] play a leading role in the world in terms of innovation and creativity, as well as a sense of fashion. What we require by way of assistance from the government is in the area of political stability as well as tourism support, especially via a reduction in import duty,” she said. The country’s modern retail sector is, however, lagging behind other countries in regard to new technology development, such as e-commerce, she said.

    “For The Mall Group, the sales contribution from e-commerce activity is not significant, at less than 1 per cent of our annual turnover at the moment. And we don’t think the contribution will be higher than 1 per cent of sales over the next five years,” said the chairwoman.

    The group’s policy is to focus on developing mega-retail projects in Bangkok and other tourist destinations, including Hua Hin and Phuket.

    “We want to make the country good enough in terms of retail development, before expanding to somewhere else. Thailand has still a tremendous opportunity for new retail developments and world-class attractions for foreign tourists,” Supaluck said.

    By way of example, she cited Phuket’s potential to be promoted as a world-class resort island with the addition of key infrastructure, such as international convention, retail and entertainment complexes, and airline and cruise facilities.

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  • Japanese food traders target more exports to Thailand

    Japanese food traders target more exports to Thailand

    Last year, Japan’s exports of food and farm products reached 610.7 billion yen.

    Koichi Takano, director of the agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food division at the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), said Thailand was a high-potential market because many Thais liked Japanese foods, while the country is a centre of Asean, which means many visitors come here.

    Thailand is Japan’s six-largest food importer, with imports last year worth 248 billion yen, up by 1.1 per cent from 2013. In the first half of this year, Japanese food imports by Thailand increased considerably, by 4.9 per cent year on year.

    Most Japanese food companies are small and medium-sized enterprises.

    Last week, Jetro Bangkok held a business-matching event between 40 Japanese food enterprises and more than 200 Thai businesses, including modern trade, retail and wholesale, hotels and restaurants. The event aimed to increase trade opportunities for Japanese producers of food and agricultural products in Thailand.

    Sachio Takiyama, director of Jetro Bangkok’s trade promotion department, said the organisation expected that each Japanese firm participating in this event would secure at least one trading contract or one business transaction with a Thai company.

    He said that with the rising popularity of Japanese restaurants here, Thailand would import more raw materials and food products from Japan.

    According to a Jetro survey in August, the number of Japanese restaurants in Thailand had grown by 11.5 per cent year-on-year to 2,364.

    Takiyama said Jetro Bangkok expected the number of Japanese restaurants in Thailand to increase by 10 per cent a year. Thus there is a strong opportunity for more exports of Japanese foods, rice and raw materials, as well as alcoholic beverages, to Thailand in the near future.

    Japanese products with high potential for export to Thai markets are premium-grade meat, alcoholic beverages, fish, and fruits and vegetables.

    Kouda Mayumi, a member of the technical staff of the beef promotion section of the Oita prefectural government, said the prefecture had started to export premium-grade beef to Thailand via Japanese importers last year, with a total volume of about 2 tonnes. She foresees strong demand in the Thai market.

    Shingo Yamashita, senior adviser to Azuma-Cho Fisheries, said demand for fresh fish in Thailand was expected to increase considerably as spending power rose along with the popularity of Japanese restaurants here.

    The company exports about 50 tonnes of buri fish, also known as yellowtail, to Thailand each year.

    Masanobu Miyazaki of JTF Trading, an importer of beef and fish from Japan to Thailand, said demand for Japanese food here had increased strongly over the past few years.

    Vegetables

    Takashi Kato, assistant manager of Bangkok Food System, an exporter of Thai vegetables to Japan and importer of Japanese food to the Thai market, said the company had exported Thai vegetables to Japan for more than 30 years.

    It foresees imports of Japanese foods to Thailand increasing, due not only to demand from Thais themselves but to the rising number of Japanese residents in this country.

    “Now, with higher demand for Japanese foods, we will import Japanese rice, vegetables and fruits to Thai markets to serve restaurants and supermarkets,” he said.

    Haruhiko Sunakawa of Okayama Fruits Company wants to export Muscat grapes to Thailand, along with other fruits such as peaches and strawberries.

    He is now looking for distributors or modern trade outlets to buy such products.

    Kyoko Yoshida, director of Shiyoshida-Syuzou, a producer and trader of shochu, a distilled beverage, said the company has started to introduce the product to the Thai market two years ago. So far, the company has exported it to some Japanese restaurants in Bangkok, and wants to seek |modern-trade partners as distributors.

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  • Indonesia tariff ‘own goal’

    Indonesia tariff ‘own goal’

    Indonesia’s hapless government has embarked on a sudden tariff program experts agree will damage its economy and fuel inflation.

    Having just a month ago reduced taxes on luxury goods to encourage its people to spend more at home and less in overseas destinations like Singapore, now the government has slapped a range of tariffs on some 1000 popular goods categories, including cars, condoms, candy, alcohol, coffee and carpets.

    It says the move will stimulate local manufacturing by making imported goods less expensive.

    But economists – basing their comments on a long history of economic governance by Asian countries – agree the move will simply reduce spending and fuel inflation. It’s an economic own goal punishing its citizens and effectively subsidising inefficient, poor quality local producers.

    “Imposing this is out of alignment with the economic integration agenda and a step backward from the global trend of most economies forging free trade agreements towards lower tariffs, if not zero,” said Victor Tay, COO of the Singapore Business Federation.

    “Indonesia has the largest population in Asean and is also a net importer of many products.”

    Tay said imposing such barriers may protect local industry in the short term, but in the longer term might lead to local manufacturers being unable to improve their competitiveness against other regional suppliers.

    “This will not serve the greater business community well, especially if other countries start erecting their own barriers on a reciprocal basis,” he said.

    Indonesian university economist A. Prasetyantoko, concurred: “Higher import taxes would reduce the supply of goods and increase domestic prices, which would in turn further weaken buying power, then economic growth.”

    The new tariffs include:

    • 20 per cent on imported tea and coffee, raised from five per cent.
    • 30 per cent on meat, up from five per cent.
    • 50 per cent on cars, up from between 10 per cent and 40 per cent.
    • 15-20 per cent on confectionery, up from 10 per cent.
    • 150 per cent on imported liquor, previously 125,000 rupiah ($9.30) per litre.

    As one commentator in Singapore observed, the new tariffs are likely to make some Indonesians shift to having a coffee at a local coffee shop instead of at Starbucks.

    Justifying the increases, Heru Pambudi, customs and excise tax director-general, said: “Domestic industry is being overwhelmed by the flows of imported goods. We need to curb these flows so domestic products would not be outnumbered.”

  • Brunei-Indonesia trade hit $812 million in 2014

    Brunei-Indonesia trade hit $812 million in 2014

    Trade value between Brunei and Indonesia increased by 4.10 per cent to to $812 million in 2014, a senior Indonesian diplomat said yesterday.

    Out of the $812 million, over 90 per cent of the business transaction was in oil and gas, according to Rudhito Widagdo, Minister Counsellor of Economy at the Indonesian Embassy.

    Indonesian exports to Brunei was valued at $135 million in 2014.

    “Some of the transactions also came from the SMEs(small and medium enterprises) but there is no doubt that oil and gas played a big part in the trade value,” he told The Brunei Times following a business briefing held for Bruneian businesses and stakeholders.

    This, Rudhito said, is an improvement from the trade value of $780 million recorded in 2013.

    Indonesia is also on a mission to reduce its trade deficit with Brunei. He said that trade value between the two countries had fluctuated in the past five years.

    In 2009, trade between Brunei and Indonesia reached $1.2 billion but decreased in 2010 to $948.2 million.

    In 2011, trade went up again to $1.15 billion before dropping to $675.6 million in 2012. Trade improved by 27.8 per cent in 2013 to $863.5 million.

    During these periods, Indonesia had always recorded deficit due to its huge import of crude oil, Rudhito said.

    He said Indonesia is inviting more Bruneians to invest in several “high-potential” provinces in the country. This will boost capital flow from the Sultanate.

    He hoped that yesterday’s briefing will inform Bruneian entrepreneurs about the business environment and investment opportunities in Indonesia.

    “We always strive to do our best to improve the economic relations of the two countries. In shaa Allah, in time, it will bear fruit. I’m very positive,” he said.

    Following a successful trade mission to Jakarta and Yogyakarta in October last year, the Indonesian Embassy will be organising another trade mission to Jakarta and Bandung from October 19 to 25.

    Bruneian businessmen who will join the trade mission will have an opportunity to do business matching with Indonesian companies, district officers and trade associations. They will also meet up with governors and district heads.

    The delegation will visit the Indonesian Trade Expo 2015.

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