Healthcare sector performance

SINGAPORE: More than 150,000 teachers and other workers in the education sector will be offered COVID-19 vaccinations from Wednesday (Mar 10). The exercise is in line with the Ministry of Health's (MOH) efforts to extend vaccination to workers who offer essential services, said the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). "It complements existing efforts to keep our educational institutions safe, as children and the majority of our students are not yet medically eligible for vaccination," they said in a joint news release. Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is approved for use only in individuals aged 16 and above. Meanwhile, the Moderna vaccine is only approved for use in individuals aged 18 years and older. READ: Singapore to vaccinate migrant workers against COVID-19, starting with 10,000 dormitory residents The vaccination exercise for the education sector will ... » Learn More about More than 150,000 workers in education sector to be offered COVID-19 vaccine from Mar 10

JAKARTA (The Straits Times/ANN): Singapore businesses hope Indonesia's new 'Omnibus Law' will bring essential reforms in a wide range of areas from business permits to labour, enabling businesses to operate more efficiently in South-east Asia's largest economy. The law aims to simplify processes to get business licences and also introduces flexibility in the country's labour market by easing recruitment and outsourcing. "The Positive Investment List, a regulation issued as part of the Omnibus Law, opens up sectors such as energy, telecommunication, transportation and construction services to 100 per cent FDI," a spokesman for Enterprise Singapore (ESG) told The Straits Times by email. The spokesman noted that the recently-established Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) could also help catalyse investments into infrastructure projects. The head of the Singapore permanent committee at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Dr Michael Goutama, described the law ... » Learn More about Singapore investors welcome Indonesia’s new Omnibus Law

KUALA LUMPUR: A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) should be set up by the government and the banking sector to disburse funds to distressed companies, says a business group. The Business Survival Group (BSG), which claims to represent the views of 262 business associations and chambers of commerce, said the SPV could be a public-private partnership modelled on Danaharta. Danaharta was set up by the government as a national asset management company which took over non-performing loans from the financial sector during the Asian Financial Crisis. Group protem vice president Datuk Dr A. T. Kumararajah said while the government had set in place various initiatives to support SMEs, most of the funds are not being released to enough companies. He cited the 42nd report by Laksana, an inter-agency economic stimulus implementation and coordination unit under the Finance Ministry, which showed that RM1.2bil had been disbursed to 6,731 SMEs. "These 6,000 companies only make up about 3.2% of ... » Learn More about Business group asks for SPV to disburse funds to Covid-19 distressed firms

There’s shockingly little push back to the Thai Armed Forces’ self-serving actions. Coup d’etats in 2006 and 2014 were met with resignation. The electorate showed up to vote in referendums to approve army-drafted constitutions, accepting that it was the best they were going to get. Elections were rigged. Parties that won elections did not get to rule, other parties were dissolved. Military-backed governments have mishandled the economy, hampering growth. The military continues to see its budgets rise, even as the economy under performs, despite the absence of threats. The armed forces’ budget increased from 115 billion baht (U.S. $3.55 billion) in 2006 to 233 billion baht ($719 billion) in 2020, a 103-percent hike. While the Thai Armed Forces lashes out at corrupt politicians, it doesn’t even begin to try to address the unexplained wealth of senior officers. The RTA is among the most top-heavy militaries in the world, with over 1,100 general officers, far exceeding billets. There ... » Learn More about In Thailand, the Men in the Thai Armed Forces Have the Blues

Thailand’s economy in 2020 performed at its lowest levels in over two decades, just-released, full-year data shows. The year’s 6.1% contraction falls short of the devastating 7.6% decline that occurred in 1997 during the Asian Financial Crisis. Officials blamed the demise on Thailand’s economy from the gutted tourism industry ; due to travel and border restrictions, and ongoing political upheaval within the Kingdom. They also made it clear that they now expect the economic rebound of 2021 to be much slower than initially predicted. This news is another blow to the millions of struggling business owners and workers who are suffering since travel stopped and the tourism industry collapsed. Secretary general of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), Danucha Pichayanan, explained the government’s stimulus package is the reason the shocking economic decline slowed in the last quarter of the year. A long term effect of stimulus loans is ... » Learn More about Stimulus, Local Demand Helping Thailand’s Economy Slowly Recover