Category: Economy

The total collection for the Tithe Money Group that has been received by the Brunei Islamic Religious Council, MUIB including the business tithe money collection from January 2020 until yesterday is $25,339,904.50, while the total distribution from the tithe money group for asnafs who are entitled to receive the tithe money assistance in the country throughout the year 2020 and 2021 is $43,743,378.29. The tithe money will be distributed to the tithe recipients in Brunei Darussalam namely the poor and destitute, new converts, Al-Gharimin, Amil and Ibnu Sabil.

 

Yesterday morning, MUIB received the business tithe money of Al-Bukhari Sendirian Berhad amounting to Fifteen Thousand dollars, which was received by Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin Bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Othman, Minister of Religious Affairs as Yang Di-Pertua of Brunei Islamic Religious Council from Fakhri Alam, Manager of Al-Bukhari Textile Centre Sendirian Berhad. Any enterprise in the form of trade or business, whether small or in a large-scale, in the form of a company or individual called a business, is obliged to pay tithe starting from it is called a business after fulfilling the conditions stipulated.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

The SEOM – Dialogue Partners’ Consultations, SEOM – DP Consultations were officially held on 14th to 15th of June via video conferencing. The SEOM – DP Consultations were chaired by Dr. Hajah May Fa’ezah binti Haji Ahmad Ariffin, Permanent Secretary for Economy at the Ministry of Finance and Economy. Attending the series of Meetings virtually were Senior Economic Officials from the ten ASEAN Member States and its dialogue partners including Canada, People’s Republic of China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States as well as senior officials from the ASEAN Secretariat.

 

The 33rd SEOM – ASEAN U.S. TRADE Consultations among others discussed on the latest developments surrounding the ASEAN-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement and Expanded Economic Engagement Initiatives Work Plan to further enhance the economic engagements between ASEAN and United States towards economic recovery and sustainability. The 34th SEOM – Republic of Korea Consultations discussed on the possible way forward for the further liberalisation of sensitive products including other areas to improve ASEAN Korea Trade in Goods Agreement. The First SEOM – METI Consultations of the Twenty-Sixth ASEAN Economic Ministers Consultations discussed the progress of various activities that are being undertaken in order to facilitate regional economic integration between ASEAN and Japan. The 37th SEOM – Plus Three Consultations deliberated on the draft ASEAN Plus Three Economic Cooperation Work Programme 2021-2022.

 

The 13th SEOM – Canada Consultations noted on the progress of the Reference Paper for a possible ASEAN-Canada FTA, as it is one of Brunei Darussalam’s Priority Economic Deliverables under the strategic thrust recovery in 2021. The 33rd SEOM – India Consultations discussed on the progress of the implementation of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and other matters of interest to  ASEAN. The Thirty-Ninth SEOM – MOFCOM Consultations exchanged views on the impact of COVID-19 on regional & global economy as well as trade and economic cooperation.

 

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

 

​The Sinaut Agricultural Training Centre will begin its operation as UNISSA Campus in January 2022 by offering a number of Undergraduate and Graduate Programmes under the Agriculture Faculty and the Halalan Thayyiban Research Centre. According to Associate Professor Doctor Hajah Rose binti Abdullah, Dean of Agriculture Faculty, the development of UNISSA’s new faculties and programmes have led to the need for a more spacious and comfortable place to accommodate the growing number of students.

 

Several programmes will be offered in the coming five years. The first programme in August 2021 will be in Bachelor’s Degree, Masters and PhD in Agriculture, Agribusiness. The faculty also plan to organised a number of programmes namely courses and workshops for the public especially for entrepreneurs and farmers in agriculture and livestock sectors including Aquaculture. It is hoped that the programme will produce a knowledgeable and skilled graduates that can help improve the development of the agricultural industry in Brunei Darussalam.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

 

The Sinaut Agriculture Training Centre has now become Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University, UNISSA’s learning campus and research laboratory. Exploring new horizons, UNISSA also introduced the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture as the agriculture sector is the main sector in the country’s economic development and its relation to human life. The Handover of the Use of the Sinaur Agriculture Training Centre, department of Agriculture and Agrifood to UNISSA was held yesterday afternoon at the training centre in Tutong District.

 

The handover was witnessed by Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Apong, Minister of Primary resources and Tourism. The Letter of Handover of the Sinaut Agriculture Training was presented by Dayang Hajah Masliana Yuliah binti Abdullah, Acting Director of Agriculture and Agrifood to Doctor Haji Norarfan bin Haji Zainal, Rector of UNISSA.

 

The Rector of UNISSA in his welcoming speech said the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture is an aspiration of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam as agriculture itself is related to human life and its existence.

 

Apart from the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture, the Sinaut Agriculture Training Centre also introduced the Halalan Thayyiban research Centre, aimed to disseminate the efforts and further smoothen the campus upgrading process under UNISSA’s implementation with the cooperation of relevant parties.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

The second day of the Brunei Darussalam Conference On Forest: “Forests And Biodiversity: Unveiling Its Economic Potential” continued yesterday morning at the International Convention Centre in Berakas. The Conference is in conjunction with the Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition 2021 or MYCE.

 

Present was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Apong, Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism. A representative from Brunei Darussalam presented 3 topics with the theme “Research Opportunities: Economic Diversification and Protection”. Meanwhile, a representative from Malaysia tabled “Human-Crocodile Conflict: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities.

 

Earlier, Awang Joffre bin Haji Ali Ahmad, Acting Senior Special Duty Officer, Forestry Department in his presentation titled ‘Brunei Darussalam’s Forest Biodiversity is Special’ highlighted 4 main topics which cover, ‘Brunei, a Special Enclave: Geology and Ecology, and Continuing the biodiversity exploration programme.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

The Ministry of Development has drafted several strategies for the development of Temburong District to meet the needs of the residents which are expected to increase with the opening of the Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Bridge. This includes infrastructure upgrades on Bangar Town and a more organised environmental management. The Minister of Development said several projects to upgrade the water supply have been carried out for both short and long-terms apart from land use management through the exploration of new sites in Temburong District in line with the ‘Pembangunan Berdaya Tahan dengan Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Hijau’ or Sustainable Development with Green Economic Growth concept stressed by the Temburong District Development Authority, AKDT. In an interview during the Special Programme, Temburong: Permata Hijau Negara Brunei Darussalam, Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Ingenieur Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar, as the Deputy Co-Chairman of AKDT also explained several measures that have been and will be implemented to ensure the Temburong District environment is protected, among them, by identifying any development activities that will impact the environment.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

Several projects have been planned to be implemented to further develop the agriculture and tourism sectors, specifically in the Temburong District. The implementation of these projects is hoped to further enhance the district’s economy and eco-tourism. The Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism said that for the agriculture sector, the ministry has offered a 144-hectare site at the Temburong District Agriculture Development Area to 8 operators including 3 youth operators while 2 companies have been appointed to handle two projects for the tourism sector through the Public Private Partnership, PPP method namely ‘Pusat Peranginan Eko-Pelancongan Mewah’ at Kampung Perdayan and the River Centre Development Project. Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Apong, as the Deputy Co-Chairman of the Temburong District Development Authority, AKDT, shared the plan in an interview during the Special Programme ‘Temburong: Permata Hijau Negara Brunei Darussalam’ or Temburong: Green Jewel of Brunei Darussalam.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

Finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Spain said on June 4 that the world’s leading industrialized countries (G7) could reach an agreement on a minimum corporate tax before the event. out the summit of this group.

According to The Guardian, ministers Bruno Le Maire of France, Olaf Scholz of Germany, Daniele Franco of Italy and Nadia Calvino of Spain think that the G7 can impose an adequate tax on multinational corporations.

For more than four years, the four countries have worked together to build a global tax system suitable for the 21st century and now is the time to reach an agreement, the four ministers said.

British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak attended a two-day meeting on June 4-5 with his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, ahead of the G7 summit. next week, starring US President Joe Biden .

What is attracting attention are the ambitious plans for a minimum corporate tax, as major economies want multinational corporations to fulfill their responsibilities.

Mr. Biden is calling for a uniform minimum corporate tax rate of 15% in negotiations with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) and the world’s leading group of developed and emerging economies. .

The four ministers mentioned above said that the new US proposal is an important step towards the original proposal of the four countries recognized by the OECD, where the commitment to impose tariffs of at least 15% is a promising start. /.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI, central bank) has scaled up its quantitative easing (QE) program and lowered its economic growth forecast as the world’s most severe wave of COVID-19 infections unfolds. out in this country.

Quantitative easing is a monetary policy in which the central bank buys bonds or securities in the market to increase the money supply and encourage lending and investment.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on June 4 that the bank would buy an additional 1.2 trillion rupees ($16.4 billion) of bonds in the next quarter under its “Government Bond Purchase Program 2.0.”

This program is implemented to keep interest rates low at a time when the Indian Government plans to borrow at a near-record scale to support the recovery of the economy.

The RBI has lowered its economic growth forecast for fiscal 2021 (ending March 2022) from the previous 10.5% to 9.5%.

The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept the repo rate (main lending rate) at 4% and left the reverse repo rate unchanged at 3.35%.

All six MPC members voted in favor of maintaining policy support if needed until growth recovers and stabilizes.

According to Mr. Das, policy support from all sides is necessary to create a growth engine for the economy.

India’s economy continued to grow in the first quarter of 2021, but economists are increasingly concerned about the second quarter of 2021, after a second wave of COVID-19 infections broke out in the country in October. before./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

According to Mr. Pham Hong Son, the situation of blocking orders on HOSE has occurred since the end of 2020 and is still an important issue that is of special concern to the whole industry.

With many urgent solutions implemented such as increasing the lot from 10 to 100, voluntary trading, stopping trading of newly listed shares on HOSE and especially technical improvement… has helped the system operate quite stably. in the past time. However, in the sessions at the end of May and the beginning of June, when the liquidity and the volume of orders on the market increased dramatically, the phenomenon of order blocking occurred again, even posing a great risk to the HOSE trading system , forcing HOSE to actively stop trading on the afternoon of June 1 to ensure the safety of the whole system.

Up to now, the system has returned to normal operation, with good progress as HOSE and members of the securities company make efforts to come up with new solutions.

In parallel with the current system, HOSE and related units have also actively deployed a transaction system in collaboration with FPT Corporation (FPT) and an information technology system for the entire KRX market. . All work is still carried out expeditiously, ensuring the schedule and schedule. The FPT coordination system has entered the phase of large-scale testing to handle the problem of command congestion.

According to Mr. Pham Hong Son, from now until the system in cooperation with FPT goes into operation, ensuring that HOSE’s current system of uninterrupted transactions remains the top priority. This is a matter of special concern to the Ministry of Finance and Minister Ho Duc Phuc has also given drastic instructions.

Under the direct direction of the Working Group to completely deal with the blocking of orders, the relevant units met to both conduct a review and propose urgent solutions that will be applied when necessary, in order to ensure the best possible for HOSE’s current trading system.

To ensure the stable operation of the market in the coming time, on the part of the management agency, the State Securities Commission organizes propaganda and training for market members on the new Securities Law 2019 and other legal documents. guide, and at the same time complete the legal framework for the stock market, develop a strategy for the development of the stock market in the 2021-2030 period, continue to restructure the stock market according to Decision No. 252/QD-TTg dated March 1, 2012 of the Prime Minister.

The State Securities Commission also strengthens supervision, inspection and inspection of market activities, requiring market members to comply with legal regulations. The State Securities Commission will strictly handle violations so that the securities market develops in a transparent and sustainable manner.

In addition, the State Securities Commission continues to drastically implement solutions to ensure a smooth trading system, and at the same time, must put the system built by FPT into use at the end of June or early in the year. This July, in order to completely solve the congestion problem at HOSE.

As for investors, a representative of the State Securities Commission suggested that the investor community should increase the level of caution, especially risk management when choosing investment portfolios.

Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son said that the growth of the stock market is a signal that shows the role of medium and long-term capital mobilization and is a “test chart” of the Vietnamese economy. general and the attractiveness and potential of the stock market in particular.

However, the fact that the stock market has maintained a strong and long uptrend as in the past time has been posing more challenges and pressures for both regulators and market members. The most important regulatory agency in the current context is not only the growth rate of the market, but more importantly, maintaining the stability and sustainability of the market.

Therefore, besides the positive points, the stock market is also facing many difficulties and challenges, requiring identification to come up with appropriate solutions.

Accordingly, Vietnam’s stock market in the coming time will still face great risks. In particular, the prolonged global COVID-19 pandemic will remain the greatest risk.

Therefore, the movement of the stock market in the medium and long term depends on the ability to control the epidemic in the world and in Vietnam as well as the level of recovery of the domestic and international economy. In addition, the high stock price level also creates risks when the market corrects.

According to Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son, the liquidity of the Vietnamese stock market has continuously set a record in recent years. Up to this point, it will not be too surprising with billion USD liquidity sessions.

Money flows into the stock market through many different channels and mainly comes from domestic investors.

Expectations of macroeconomic growth, effective epidemic prevention and control, low interest rates, and many less attractive investment channels… are the main reasons for cash flow to the stock market over the past time. . Margin cash flow (margin trading) into the stock market also increased.

As of May 31, 2021, the margin balance of the whole market has reached VND 112.1 trillion, an increase of VND 31.2 trillion compared to the end of 2020 and an increase of VND 10.7 trillion compared to the end of the quarter. I/2021. Some securities companies have shown signs of margin lending reaching the ceiling.

Regarding this, a representative of the State Securities Commission said that the market grew strongly, so the increase in margin balance was also understandable. Many securities companies have also been proactive and are implementing plans to increase charter capital, issue capital to increase capital to have sources to serve lending needs in the future.

According to Mr. Pham Hong Son, although the margin loan balance is still under control, however, the continuous increase in this number and is expected to increase further needs to be enhanced inspection and supervision to ensure the lending margin is legal, safe for securities companies and sustainable safe for cash flow in the stock market.

On May 28, 2021, the State Securities Commission also sent a document to securities companies to review and consolidate operations in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic. Accordingly, the regulator requires securities companies to comply with regulations on epidemic prevention and control, strengthen information technology, work online, take the initiative in business plans to ensure the provision of information services. transparent in all situations.

In particular, in this document, the State Securities Commission has required securities companies to absolutely “obey the law”, fully comply with the provisions of the securities law and relevant laws. mandarin.

In the coming time, the State Securities Commission will strengthen remote supervision, inspection and direct inspection; which will include capital mobilization, margin lending, as well as ensuring the safety of financial indicators of securities companies. In case of detecting violations, the management agency will strictly handle, ensuring discipline and market discipline.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

According to a Bloomberg News survey with the participation of many economists, the European Central Bank ( ECB ) will promote faster bond purchases throughout this summer to ensure the economic recovery. regional economy after the blockade orders to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic became more sustainable.

Most experts expect the ECB to continue buying about 20 billion euros ($24.4 billion) worth of bonds each week until September before slowing down. Based on the current plan, most experts predict the 1.850 billion euro pandemic economic support program will end in March 2022.

The ECB accelerated bond purchases in March to maintain favorable financial conditions for companies, households and governments in the euro area .

Inflation in the euro area has increased by 2% in the past month, which is technically well above the ECB’s target, although most economists and officials consider it a temporary phenomenon. Castle.

The Bloomberg economist expects policymakers to choose to buy significantly more bonds over the next three months under the pandemic emergency program (PEPP).

Europe’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has surged after slow initial steps, allowing governments to gradually ease restrictions on restaurants, travel and more. Recent economic indicators signal that the region’s economy is starting to recover from the pandemic.

About three-quarters of economists surveyed expect new forecasts released at the next meeting to show higher economic growth this year.

Most experts also forecast that this year’s and next year’s inflation will be adjusted in an upward direction, but will move towards the 2% inflation target, as opposed to the current lower 2% target.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son has just had an exchange with the press around the issue of order blocking on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) of the regulatory agency and made the following recommendations: comment on future stock market movements.

According to Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son, the situation of blocking orders on HOSE has occurred since the end of 2020 and is still an important issue of special concern to the whole industry.

With many urgent solutions implemented such as increasing the lot from 10 to 100, voluntary trading, stopping trading of newly listed shares on HOSE and especially technical improvement… has helped the system operate quite well. stable in recent times.

However, in the sessions at the end of May and the beginning of June, when the liquidity and the volume of orders on the market increased dramatically, the phenomenon of order blocking recurred, even posing a great risk to the HOSE trading system. , forcing HOSE to actively stop trading on the afternoon of June 1 to ensure the safety of the whole system.

Up to now, the system has returned to normal operation, with good progress as HOSE and members of the securities company make efforts to come up with new solutions.

In parallel with the current system, HOSE and related units have also actively deployed a transaction system in collaboration with FPT Corporation (FPT) and an information technology system for the entire KRX market. . All work is still carried out expeditiously, ensuring the schedule and schedule. The FPT coordination system has entered the phase of large-scale testing to handle the problem of command congestion.

According to Mr. Pham Hong Son, from now until the system in cooperation with FPT goes into operation, ensuring that HOSE’s current system of uninterrupted transactions remains the top priority. This is a matter of special concern to the Ministry of Finance and Minister Ho Duc Phuc has also given drastic instructions.

Under the direct direction of the Working Group to completely deal with the blocking of orders, the relevant units met to both conduct a review and propose urgent solutions that will be applied when necessary, in order to ensure the best possible for HOSE’s current trading system.

To ensure the stable operation of the market in the coming time, on the part of the management agency, the State Securities Commission organizes propaganda and training for market members on the new Securities Law 2019 and other legal documents. guiding and completing the legal framework for the stock market, developing a strategy for developing the stock market in the 2021-2030 period, continuing to restructure the stock market according to Decision No. 252/QD-TTg dated March 1, 2012 of the Prime Minister.

The State Securities Commission also strengthens supervision, inspection and inspection of market activities, requiring market members to comply with legal regulations. The State Securities Commission will strictly handle violations so that the securities market develops in a transparent and sustainable manner.

In addition, the State Securities Commission continues to drastically implement solutions to ensure a smooth trading system, and at the same time, must put the system built by FPT into use at the end of June or early in the year. This July, in order to completely solve the congestion problem at HOSE.

As for investors, a representative of the State Securities Commission suggested that the investor community should increase the level of caution, especially risk management when choosing investment portfolios.

Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son said that the growth of the stock market is a signal that shows the role of medium and long-term capital mobilization and is a “test chart” of the Vietnamese economy. general and the attractiveness and potential of the stock market in particular.

However, the fact that the stock market has maintained a strong and long uptrend as in the past time has been posing more challenges and pressures for both regulators and market members. The most important regulatory agency in the current context is not only the growth rate of the market, but more importantly, maintaining the stability and sustainability of the market.

Therefore, besides the positive points, the stock market is also facing many difficulties and challenges, requiring identification to come up with appropriate solutions.

Accordingly, Vietnam’s stock market in the coming time will still face great risks. In particular, the prolonged global COVID-19 pandemic will remain the greatest risk.

Therefore, the movement of the stock market in the medium and long term depends on the ability to control the epidemic in the world and in Vietnam as well as the level of recovery of the domestic and international economy. In addition, the high stock price level also creates risks when the market corrects.

According to Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son, the liquidity of the Vietnamese stock market has continuously set a record in recent years. Up to this point, it will not be too surprising with billion USD liquidity sessions.

Money flows into the stock market through many different channels and mainly comes from domestic investors.

Expectations of macroeconomic growth, effective epidemic prevention and control, low interest rates, many less attractive investment channels… are the main reasons for cash flow to the stock market at this time. past time. Margin cash flow (margin trading) into the stock market also increased.

As of May 31, 2021, the margin balance of the whole market has reached VND 112.1 trillion, an increase of VND 31.2 trillion compared to the end of 2020 and an increase of VND 10.7 trillion compared to the end of the quarter. January 2021. Some securities companies have shown signs of margin lending reaching the ceiling.

Regarding this, a representative of the State Securities Commission said that the market grew strongly, so the increase in margin balance was also understandable. Many securities companies have also been proactive and are implementing plans to increase charter capital, issue capital to increase capital to have sources to serve lending needs in the future.

According to Mr. Pham Hong Son, although the margin loan balance is still under control, however, the continuous increase in this number and is expected to increase further needs to be enhanced inspection and supervision to ensure the lending margin is legal, safe for securities companies and sustainable safe for cash flow in the stock market.

On May 28, 2021, the State Securities Commission also sent a document to securities companies to review and consolidate operations in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic. Accordingly, the regulator requires securities companies to comply with regulations on epidemic prevention and control, strengthen information technology, work online, take the initiative in business plans to ensure the provision of information services. transparent in all situations.

In particular, in this document, the State Securities Commission has required securities companies to absolutely “obey the law,” fully comply with the provisions of the securities law and relevant laws. mandarin.

In the coming time, the State Securities Commission will strengthen remote supervision, inspection and direct inspection; which will include capital mobilization, margin lending, as well as ensuring the safety of financial indicators of securities companies. In case of detecting violations, the management agency will handle strictly, ensuring discipline and market discipline.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency