#aec 2015

Excitement is building for this year’s Winter Youth Celebration, December 28-30! Each year, God uses this event to equip and revitalize the youth of our CB Northwest churches. With special guest speaker, Pastor Kyle Costello of “Missio Dei Community” in Salt Lake City, and special worship music from Taylor Reavely, this will be a great event to bring your high school youth group to. Click here for more information. 

Mahasiswa ASEAN Bakal Hadiri AEC 2015 ITS

ilustrasi foto: bisnis

Mahasiswa seluruh ASEAN dari berbagai latar belakang menyambut ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015. Young Engineers and Scientist Summit (YESS) hadir sebagai salah satu event keilmiahan yang diadakan oleh Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Surabaya.

Fakhri Rizqullah, Head of Public Relation Young Engineer and Scientist Summit 2015 Marine Engineering ITS Surabaya,…

Is ASEAN Useless, Useful, Meaningful?

By N Mark Castro

47 years ago today, 5 Southeast Asian countries banded together to form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or what is now called ASEAN. It has since expanded to include other member states such as Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Vietnam.

When it was formed everyone in the Western world either thought they would go left or they would go right … no one ever…

Over four decades since ASEAN was initiatived by five original members which had a vision to establish good cooperations between its members. There were many discussion and forum conducted to bring the vision closer. From those kind of discussions, we obtained many ideas and action plans. The nearest action plan is ASEAN Economic Community 2015, so-called AEC 2015. The objective of AEC 2015 is to create a single market and production base, turning the diversity that characterises the region into opportunities for business complementation making the ASEAN a more dynamic and stronger segment of the global supply chain.

ASEAN 2015

Hopes that the ASEAN Economic Community will be ready to launch on time look increasingly ambitious. By Luke Hunt  –  April 07, 2014  -  The Diplomat.

In a rare moment of honesty a Cambodian official has admitted his doubts about his country’s ability to meet regional expectations in time for the launch of the much vaunted ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015.

“If you talk…

Surabaya Pikat British Council

Walikota Surabaya bersama Chief Operating Officer British Council London di balai kota.

  Rombongan perwakilan British Council menemui Walikota Surabaya Tri Rismaharini di balai kota, Kamis (27/3/2014). Ke lima delegasi tersebut ditemui langsung oleh Wali Kota Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini di ruangannya. Dalam kunjungannya, sistem pendidikan, pemanfaatan teknologi, olahraga dibahas bersama perempuan…

SME Guidebook Towards the AEC 2015

The SME Guidebook Toward AEC 2015 has been produced with support of the project “Capacity Building for the ASEAN Secretariat”, jointly agreed and implemented by the ASEAN Secretariat and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and funded by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

"The government and private enterprises should not solely focus their attention on planning for the upcoming Asean Economic Community, and should also look beyond 2015 when developing the key areas of innovation, logistics/linkage and human resources, a seminar heard yesterday.

Such an approach would ensure that all sectors are competitive in both the regional single market and the wider global-liberalisation arena, panellists said.

At yesterday's "National Agenda: Modern Thai Economy in AEC" seminar, participants said businesses and consumers needed to learn more about market liberalisation, not only in relation to seamless trade among Asean member states, but also in light of the global trend towards the increased opening up of markets.

Jeera Hongradarom, secretary of the Foundation for International Human Resources Development, said the government should not only focus its plan on promoting development with a view to the AEC's implementation, but should look towards future growth beyond 2015, as Asean would not stop developing after full integration.

"Asean still has a huge future to grow in line with the world market. The government and private enterprises should be more futuristic by continuing their development plans so as to benefit from this future growth," he said.

The key development strategy is to develop human resources urgently, promote innovation and enhance connectivity with Asean and other markets to ensure that businesses and consumers are able to compete and benefit from market liberalisation both within Asean and with other countries, he added.

Phongsak Assakul, chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand, warned that many Thai businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, risked losing competitiveness in a seamless market as some 40 per cent of them still did not understand the implications of the AEC.

He said the government should not only focus its plan on promoting trade in Asean, but also help promote enterprises' competitiveness, especially among SMEs.

The development of logistics, education and innovation should be pursued more urgently to ensure that businesses can survive under both the AEC and wider global liberalisation.

Twatchai Yongkittikul, secretary-general of the Thai Bankers Association, said the private sector, and SMEs in particular, needed strong support from the government to help develop their competitiveness.

"Thailand should have a national agenda for developing our competitiveness in the medium and long terms. Asean integration will be achieved in the next two [and a half] years, but enterprises should look beyond only the seamless market to future development to stay competitive amid borderless trade in the global arena," he said.

Education reform should be undertaken to promote human-resources development so that Thai enterprises are stronger and can compete with Asean and other overseas investors, he added.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told the seminar that the government in cooperation with the private sector had drawn up a plan to develop the national logistics system for connecting Thailand not only with other Asean countries, but also with China and India.

hub plans

There is a clear plan to become an Asean logistics hub linking with the world market, and also a hub for many industries, she said, adding that the government would concentrate on developing each sector as well as eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers.

To develop enterprises' competitiveness in the Asean and global markets, Yingluck has instructed the Commerce Ministry to work closely with the Interior Ministry and provincial governors to increase the efficiency of local businesses.

Virabongsa Ramangkura, chairman of the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development, urged enterprises to invest in Asean and other countries, as investment would be key to promoting the country's growth in the next 10-15 years.

He said the AEC would be a vehicle for Thai enterprises to enhance their competitiveness, and would provide many of them with the opportunity to become stronger multinational enterprises.

Investment overseas will also prevent the baht from strengthening too far and increase bargaining power with non-Asean countries, he said.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyaphirom said Thailand had now achieved 56.4 per cent of the Asean scorecard development plan, with the target being to reach 70 per cent before integration in 2015.

He said the government would continue to promote the AEC as a key national agenda item to ensure the competitiveness of businesses and the readiness of consumers for the single market.

Meanwhile, experienced hospitality operators urged Thai entrepreneurs to invest in Asean, particularly in Indochina and Myanmar, as Thai service brands are widely accepted in the region's markets.

ML Hathaijanok Kritakara, executive director of Accor Group, said Thai brands in many service businesses, especially hotels, restaurants and beauty and healthcare, had great potential to spread their wings in neighbouring countries.

The government and Thai banks should support service enterprises to grow overseas, as the sector would provide a higher overall return to the Kingdom than the manufacturing sector, he said.

Nakorn Kornhirun, managing director and chief executive officer of Wuttisak Clinic, said Asean liberalisation presented an opportunity for Thai SMEs to expand overseas.

Asean people, especially those in neighbouring countries, are familiar with Thai culture. To ensure successful access in each market, enterprises should learn the local culture and strengthen their brands to maximise the chances of gaining target customer acceptance, Nakorn said."