Bangkok: The Commerce Ministry of Thailand plans to continue operating mobile grocery stores in Bangkok and surrounding provinces to help reduce the cost of living.

Goranij Nonejuie, deputy director-general of the ministry’s Internal Trade Department, said the mobile grocery store initiative will be deployed at more than 100 locations across densely populated communities in Greater Bangkok. Set to operate for its fifth consecutive year, it aims to help residents in the region save an estimated 120 million THB (3.36 million USD) annually.

The initiative, under which affordable products are sold through mobile stores across Bangkok and its suburbs, aims to ease the cost of living for people during the New Year festival when many regular stores close for several days.

The mobile grocery stores sell 94 essential items for daily use with a maximum price reduction of 55%.

To ensure comprehensive benefits for consumers during the year-end, Goranij said the department will work with the National Housing Authority
to adjust the distribution points every three days, coordinating with various communities that request the mobile grocery stores.

For people in provincial areas, he said the ministry will also continue offering the Thong Fah (Blue Flag) outlets, which sell food at affordable prices.

The Commerce Ministry has a network of 140,000 Thong Fah stores, which sell affordable consumer goods nationwide. It plans to expand the Thong Fah food outlets to meet the demand of 14 million customers under the state welfare card scheme.

There are more than 5,000 Thong Fah food outlets across Thailand, offering budget-friendly menus at 25-30 THB per dish./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ba Ria – Vung Tau: Nguyen Van Tho, Chairman of the People’s Committee of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, chaired a meeting on December 11 with representatives of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and related departments and sectors to discuss solutions to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

According to Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Huynh Son Thai, the enforcement of laws related to the problem in the locality still lacks comprehension, the responsibility of organisations and individuals in performing the work remains limited, and there are still delays in investigating, verifying and handling of cases in the field.

The provincial People’s Committee requested relevant authorities to keep close control of the fleet of fishing boats, including the total number of vessels, their registration, operational licences, installation of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), and information updates on the National Fisheries
Database (VNFishbase).

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was demanded to collaborate with relevant agencies to implement strictly the confirmation and certification of the origin of aquatic products.

The deadline for completing all the tasks is no later than April 2024.

Over the recent times, border guards in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang have taken a series of measure to combat IUU fishing as part of the efforts to have the European Commission (EC)’s ‘yellow card’ warning against Vietnam’s seafood exports lifted.

The provincial Border Guard Command considers the work as a regular and important task, focusing on patrolling, inspecting, and controlling fishing vessels entering and leaving ports with the engagement of thousands of officers and soldiers.

It has also coordinated with Coast Guard Region 4 and Naval Region 5, the provincial fisheries surveillance force, other relevant forces, and local authorities in supervising and sharing information on the situation to improve th
e effectiveness of the fight against IUU fishing.

Attention has been paid to strictly managing, inspecting, and controlling fishing vessels with a “high risk” of violating foreign waters./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta: Indonesia’s Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia on December 11 affirmed that the policy for the refinery industry – a process known locally as ‘downstreaming’ including sectors that apply the sustainable principle, is key to achieving Indonesia’s investment target of 1.65 quadrillion rupiahs (around 105.67 billion USD) in 2024.

He said that is the country’s policy direction in encouraging economic growth above 5%. The Indonesian government’s policy direction, in the context of investment, will mainly focus on downstreaming.

He stated that although the current conditions of global uncertainty are influencing investors’ decisions to invest, Indonesia has strategic factors to be able to compete globally to attract investment.

Those factors are political, legal, and economic stability; adaptive and progressive policies towards the improvement of the investment climate; the potential of human resources, both in terms of labour availability and markets; and the potential of downstreaming abundant natur
al resources.

He noted that the existing geopolitical dynamics have caused recessions and crises in various parts of the world. Hence, sustainable investment that can encourage more inclusive, fair, and equitable development is deemed necessary.

To achieve the goal, the Indonesian government is focusing on the development of industries that are environmentally friendly and utilise new and renewable energy, Bahlil said.

It is also necessary for Indonesia’s abundant natural resources to be managed wisely and sustainably through downstreaming and industrialisation to provide maximum added value for the nation’s interests, for instance, by increasing exports, generating foreign exchange, increasing state income, and boosting economic growth.

Downstreaming can also support the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially regarding the creation of decent jobs, climate change mitigation, and the alleviation of poverty and inequality.

Bahlil explained that Indonesia has the world’s biggest CO2
storage potential, so investors can build the downstream process using new and renewable energy while still contributing to efforts to reduce emissions through carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technology.

He ensured that Indonesia will oversee investment from upstream to downstream, especially in the priority sectors, starting from the promotion of investment, the issuance of business licenses and various incentives, financial closing, construction, to commercial production.

Indonesia’s Investment Ministry has created a roadmap with a potential of 545.3 billion USD throughout the 2023-2035 period for 21 commodities from eight priority sectors, namely minerals, coal, oil, natural gas, plantations, fisheries, maritime, and forestry.

From January to September 2023, the ministry recorded that investment in the downstream industrial sector reached 266 trillion rupiahs, or 25.3% of the total investment in the country./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta: Bank Indonesia (BI) has reported that the volume of transactions using Quick Response Indonesian Standard (QRIS) codes has exceeded its year-long target.

Fitria Irmi Triswati, director of BI’s payment system policy department, said recently that the January – October 2023 QRIS transaction volume reached 1.6 billion, surpassing the target of 1 billion transactions for 2023.

Meanwhile, the number of QRIS users hit 43.44 million, or 99% of this year’s target of 45 million. About 92% of the 29.63 million merchants in the country that accepted QRIS were micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), statistics show.

She added that the QRIS ecosystem has continued to expand and been supported by the increasing connection among organisers, which comprise 110 QRIS payment service providers and four payment infrastructure providers.

Arya Rangga Yogasati, deputy director of BI’s payment system policy department, noted QRIS, launched in 2019, plays a significant role in aiding in financial inclusion, with mic
ro businesses accounting for 55% of the MSME users of QRIS.

Earlier, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said the central bank will continue expanding QRIS to MSMEs along with cash withdrawals, transfers, and deposits (QRIS TUNTAS).

To step up regional payment connectivity, BI will also boost the use of QRIS as a digital payment method in other countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, and India.

So far, Indonesia has set up cooperation in the QRIS use with Malaysia and Thailand./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prague: More than 300 Vietnamese students in the Czech Republic participated in a career orientation conference held in Prague on December 10.

The event was jointly organised by the Vietnam Youth and Students Association and the networks of Vietnamese intellectuals and experts (NVIEC) in the host country.

Following the success of the first held in 2019, this year’s event focused on career orientation for teenagers, especially high school students.

Successful young Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic and the US at the event shared their experiences with participants. Participants discussed topics about professions and fields that interest them while parents listened to their children’s thoughts and aspirations in order to accompany their children in next journeys.

Currently, there are nearly 100,000 Vietnamese people living in the Czech Republic. On July 3, 2013, the Czech Government decided to add Vietnamese-Czech people to its Council of Ethnic Minorities, thereby recognising Vietnamese-Czech
people as an ethnic minority group in the country./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

CEBU CITY: The committee tasked to oversee the preparation for the Sinulog Festival next year inspected on Monday the South Road Properties (SRP) and the Cebu City Sports Center following proposals to hold the grand parade in honor of Sr. Sto. Niño in the old venue.

Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia led the Sinulog Executive Committee in checking the construction of bleachers at the SRP where the celebration was first held since the inception of the festival in 1980.

Garcia also accompanied the committee in inspecting the sports center, the usual venue of the yearly festival’s grand parade.

The inspection was conducted following the proposal of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia in a meeting with Sinulog Foundation Inc. executive director Jojo Labella on Dec. 6 to hold the grand parade at the sports center in exchange for the provincial government’s PHP20 million donation.

Some mayors from Cebu’s municipal and component cities also supported the governor’s proposal to go back to the old venue, saying the sports center
has been ‘home to Sinulog Festival’ ever since.

The acting mayor said he also wanted to finalize the decision for the venue following the suggestion of some members of the Cebu City Council to bring back the Sinulog parade to the old venue to prevent a repeat of monstrous traffic build-up in the city due to numerous roadblocks to give way for the celebration at the SRP area.

‘Cebu City Sports Center is the more logical and more practical venue for Sinulog 2024,’ he said.

However, Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera expressed reservations about the proposal, pointing out the construction of Bus Rapid Transit terminals on Osmeña Blvd. as well as the continued demolition of two skywalks.

Councilor Philip Zafra, chair of the Sinulog Executive Committee, said both venues are considered, suggesting that the grand parade could begin in one place and end in the other.

‘We need to have a walkthrough because we need to iron out things for the Sinulog grand parade route,’ he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency