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Cartel conduct criminalised in Vietnam from July 2016

December 24, 2015

HANOI - From July 1, 2016 onwards, Vietnam’s New Penal Code criminalises cartel conduct and holds both individuals and commercial legal entities liable. For cartel conduct, the main difference between violations of Competition Law and Criminal Law is that the New Penal Code requires additional elements to be proven – that is, gaining from illicit benefits of VND500 million or more (approx. US$22,841)1 or causing losses to other persons of VND 1 billion or more (approx. US$45,683).

China’s Finance Ministry to launch rewards system for PPP projects

December 21, 2015

BEIJING - To encourage the spread of public-private partnership (PPP) projects, China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) has announced that it will begin providing rewards instead of subsidies in a pilot programme that will begin next year. The three-year trial will see the Central Government phasing out previous subsidy measures in lieu of three-tier rewards based on the scale of investment.

People's Bank of China forecasts growth for 2016 at 6.8%

December 21, 2015

BEIJING - China’s central bank has officially set its baseline forecast for 2016 GDP growth at 6.8%, maintaining a positive outlook despite continued downward pressure on the nation’s economy. This forecast indicates a slight decrease from the 6.9% projection for 2015, but takes into account that pro-growth measures adopted by the Government will come into effect early in 2016 to help mitigate the slowdown.

Higher-value exports lift China’s share of global trade: Ministry

December 18, 2015

BEIJING - The Ministry of Commerce says China is expected to account for 13% of the world’s total exports this year because it shipped more high-value products to both developed and emerging markets between January and November. If confirmed, the figure would mark a 0.6% increase from China’s proportion of global 2014 exports.

Australia’s New Forests enters rubber plantation JV in Indonesia

December 18, 2015

JAKARTA – Sydney-headquartered forestry investment manager New Forests has entered a joint venture with Sampoerna Agro (JSX: SGRO) to invest in a large-scale rubber plantation in Indonesia. The New Forests Tropical Asia Forest Fund LP (TAFF) has purchased a 35% stake in PT Hutan Ketapang Industri (HKI), which manages a 100,150-hectare plantation forestry concession area in Ketapang regency of West Kalimantan.

Taiwan asks Australia to support its bid for inclusion in TPP

December 17, 2015

TAIPEI – The Premier of Taiwan, Mao Chi-kuo, has publicly appealed to Australia to support Taiwan’s bid for inclusion in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). “Taiwan is a key link in the Asia-Pacific supply chain, and its accession to the TPP would open up other markets and enable Australia to integrate more closely with the region,” Mao said.

Export volume up 2% in 2016 but export value to remain flat: HKTDC

December 17, 2015

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Trade Development Council is predicting that Hong Kong’s export volume will increase by 2% in 2016. However, as global economic growth is expected to remain weak and the US dollar will stay mostly strong next year, unit value is likely to be under pressure and may drop by 2%, leaving export value remaining flat in 2016.

ANZ Bank sees Asia trade recession persisting despite cyclical factors

December 18, 2015

SINGAPORE - ANZ Bank says the failure of Singapore to turn the corner in export trade in latest statistics available suggests that Asia’s economic (particularly trade) data will continue to disappoint well into the US Federal Reserve’s  normalisation cycle. “The possibly short-lived tech cycle (particular smartphones) has cast a pall over the regional export outlook.” ANZ says.

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