泰国商会 (TCC) 认为，最近达成的泰国-欧洲自由贸易联盟自由贸易协定 (FTA) 将成为泰国经济的重要助推器。

泰国商务部上周宣布，经过两年的谈判，欧洲自由贸易联盟 (EFTA) 秘书处已正式宣布该协议完成，FTA 预计将于明年 1 月签署。

该部表示，瑞士、挪威、冰岛和列支敦士登等成员国代表团团长就 15 个关键问题达成了一致，包括货物贸易、原产地规则、贸易便利化、卫生法规、知识产权和可持续发展实践等。

“泰国商会和泰国贸易委员会坚信，与 Efta 达成的 FTA 将是增强泰国经济并增强该国全球竞争力和能力的又一重要步骤，”TCC 主席 Sanan Angubolkul 周一表示。

他表示，与 Efta 的贸易协议将以可持续的方式促进国际贸易和投资，为泰国企业家创造新的机会。

Sanan 还认为，这项历史性协议将有助于推动泰国-欧盟自由贸易协定在 2025 年或 2026 年达成。

TCC 报告称，今年前 10 个月泰国与 Efta 成员国之间的贸易额同比增长 23.22%，出口额为 37.8 亿美元，进口额为 65 亿美元，占泰国国际贸易总额的 2.03%。

对 Efta 成员国的主要出口产品包括珠宝、海鲜、大米和机械，而主要进口产品包括宝石、活体水生动物和加工食品。

2023 年泰国与欧盟之间的贸易额同比增长 1.75%，达到 417.1 亿美元，出口额为 219.6 亿美元，进口额为 197.5 亿美元。欧盟是泰国第五大贸易伙伴，仅次于东盟、中国、美国和日本。

On August 20, the reporter learned from the Singapore police that the Singapore police recently received 10 cases of burglary, with the total value of the items involved being about 3.85 million Singapore dollars.

The police determined that these cases were related to a Chinese criminal gang. Currently, three Chinese have been arrested, and another 14 Chinese are on the run and have left Singapore.

After investigation, the police believe that the three accused and the 14 fugitives are from the same Chinese criminal gang. They came to Singapore to commit crimes in a planned manner with a clear division of labor.

The police determined that these cases were related to 17 Chinese. Currently, the police have arrested three suspects, who have been prosecuted, and the remaining 14 Chinese are not currently in Singapore. The police are looking for the remaining 14 Chinese.

On August 14, 2023, China Eastern Airlines opened a regular route from Hefei to Singapore. Over the past year, a total of 30,000 passengers have entered and exited Singapore.

This summer, the Hefei-Singapore route has been widely welcomed. Since July, the average occupancy rate of round-trip flights from Hefei to Singapore has reached more than 80%, and the occupancy rate of Hefei outbound flights has been close to 90%.

“The effect of the visa-free policy is still being released. As the friendly exchanges between the two countries continue to deepen, it is expected that the number of foreigners entering and leaving the Hefei port will continue to grow in the second half of the year.” Relevant staff of the Hefei Entry-Exit Border Inspection Station introduced that as of now, the Hefei port has successively opened passenger routes to 6 countries and regions including Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Macau, China.

Starting from October 31, 2023, the original flight schedule from Hefei to Singapore will be gradually advanced from the evening to the daytime. With the entry into force of the visa exemption agreement between China and Singapore on February 9, 2024, China Eastern Airlines Anhui Branch will increase the frequency of flights from Hefei to Singapore during the 2024 Spring Festival travel season from the original two flights per week to five flights per week, providing more abundant flight options for passengers during the Spring Festival.

In the 2024 summer season, China Eastern Airlines’ scheduled flights from Hefei to Singapore will increase from two flights per week to three flights per week, continuously promoting aviation connections and tourism exchanges between the two places, and creating more convenience and possibilities for passengers’ cross-border travel.

On the afternoon of August 8, the Macau Judiciary Police held a special press conference and announced that a Hong Kong man was found dead in a hotel room after winning HK$2.5 million in a casino, and was suspected to have been robbed and killed. The police arrested two suspects three hours after the incident and have recovered HK$1.7 million in stolen money.

At 4:57 pm on August 7, a middle-aged Hong Kong man was found dead in the guest room by hotel staff. The Macau Judicial Police arrived at the scene to investigate and collect evidence. They found that the male deceased had obvious scars on his neck and head, and was bleeding heavily in the toilet. Two blades with a total length of 6 cm suspected to be the murder weapon were found on a coffee table in the room.

After on-site inspection and in-depth investigation, the Macau Judicial Police first arrested the Hong Kong woman involved in the case in the casino at 6:47 pm on the 7th, and arrested the mainland man suspected of murder in a street near the casino one hour later.

The arrested mainland man was surnamed Yang, 40 years old; the Hong Kong woman was surnamed Deng, 48 years old, and both reported that they were unemployed. After questioning, it was suspected that the male deceased won 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars in the casino, which was coveted by others. Yang was suspected of robbery and murder, and Deng was suspected of assisting in the transfer of stolen money.

The Macau Judicial Police said that the three people, including the male deceased, were engaged in illegal currency exchange business in Macau, and Yang followed the male deceased to “make a living”. So far, HK$1.7 million in stolen money has been recovered. The Judiciary Police filed a case against Yang for aggravated homicide and aggravated robbery, and against Deng for money laundering. The case was transferred to the Procuratorate for investigation on the afternoon of the 8th.

Singapore private-hailing car operator Ryde has a secondary listing on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart Stock Exchanges in Germany.

Ryde, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in March this year, became the first Singaporean company to go public in the United States this year. It was secondary listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart Stock Exchanges last Friday (June 7).

Ryde founder and CEO Zou Junming said in a statement: “By listing on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart Stock Exchanges, we are strategically expanding our investor base and making Ryde’s unique value proposition more accessible in the European market.”

Ryde did not raise any new funds in its secondary listing in Germany. The company raised $12 million in its New York listing in March.

According to the company’s prospectus, although Ryde’s revenue in 2022 increased by 42% year-on-year to 8.82 million yuan, the company still suffered a loss of 4.92 million yuan, an increase from 1.23 million yuan in the previous year.

Even though it is still losing money, it still successfully listed in New York. Market insiders believe that it is not uncommon for loss-making growth companies to successfully go public, because investors believe that the company can turn losses into profits and are optimistic about the company’s revenue growth prospects.

Hello, May!

The first day of this month is celebrated as World Labor Day which is celebrated in various places, including in Indonesia.

Workers voiced two demands

Hundreds of thousands of workers in various places in Indonesia, 50 thousand of them in Jakarta, will demonstrate in the streets to commemorate Labor Day or May Day today.

“More than 200,000 people will take part in May Day throughout Indonesia, including in Jakarta, Bandung, Serang, Surabaya, Semarang, Batam, Makassar, Banjarmasin, Ternate, Mimika, and so on,” said the President of the Labor Party who is also the President of the Union Conference Indonesian Worker (KSPI), Said Iqbal, in a statement received by journalists.

On May Day 2024, there are two main demands being made by workers throughout Indonesia, namely repealing the omnibus law on the Job Creation Law and eliminating outsourcing and rejecting low wages. According to him, labor wage policies in Indonesia so far have not been balanced with rising inflation in various regions.

In Jakarta, the workers’ demonstration will be centered in the Horse Statue area, before the mass march towards Senayan Madya Stadium.

Tanah Abang Metro Police arrested a man with the initials A (31), a customer of a warteg in Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta, who went viral and often paid arbitrarily. Man A is said to often pay less than the food he eats.

“Sunday 05 May 2024 at 15.30 WIB, the Tanah Abang Metro Police Criminal Investigation Opsnal team arrested the suspected viral perpetrator,” said Tanah Abang Police Chief AKBP Aditya Simanggara in his statement, Sunday (5/5/2024).

Aditya said A was detained at his residence in the Kebon Melati area, Tanah Abang. Then, A was taken to the Tanah Abang Metro Police Headquarters for questioning.

Furthermore, Aditya said that A did not come alone when the incident happened. However, he came with his partner with the initials R (35). However, when he was about to be taken into custody by the police, R ran away.

“When he wanted to arrest the alleged perpetrator R in the Karet Tengsin area, the perpetrator allegedly fled on a motorbike,” said Aditya.

Aditya said the incident in the viral video occurred last Friday (3/5). The two perpetrators did not pay for the full meal they had eaten at the food stall.

“It is suspected that the perpetrator came to the warteg along with his friend named R. After eating, the perpetrator allegedly immediately gave him IDR 10,000 and said ‘I’ll come back later’ and secondly, it is suspected that the perpetrator immediately left the TKP (the scene of the crime),” he said.

Previously, a CCTV video was circulated from a warteg in Central Jakarta. In the video, a man with frizzy hair is shown paying an inappropriate price.

In the video shared by the warteg manager on his social media account, two men can be seen getting up after finishing the food they ordered. The man with frizzy hair then gave money with a nominal amount of IDR 5,000.

“I’ve got a debt, I’ve got a debt,” said the frizzy-haired man.

The warteg manager named Gugun did not accept this and then responded to the frivolous man’s words.

“Frequently,” he said.

Gugun said that the behavior of customers who pay as they wish is not just one person. He said there are some people who like to pay less, which makes them lose money.

The Indian conglomerate Tata Group is to start manufacturing the US Apple iPhone in India. The Tata Group will acquire the Indian arm of Wistron, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that manufactures iphones in the country. Tata will emphasize “domestic” and expand sales of Apple products in India.

Wistron announced on October 27 that it would sell its Indian operations to Tata Electronics, a unit of the Tata Group. Wistron said it now estimated the sale at $125 million. According to Indian media reports, Tata will take over Wistron’s factory near Bangalore in southern India, which makes the iPhone.

The Indian government has proposed “Make in India,” a strategy to revive the manufacturing industry, and hopes to nurture the domestic industry through subsidies. In the context of the current confrontation between China and the United States, India is also attracting attention as a production base to replace China.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on October 27 that “Tata will start manufacturing iPhone in India for domestic and foreign customers.”

According to Counterpoint, a Hong Kong-based research firm, China’s Xiaomi will take the top spot with 20 percent of India’s smartphone shipments in 2022. Apple’s share is no more than 4%, but as a huge market of 1.4 billion people, India is highly anticipated.

Apple opened India’s first directly operated stores in Mumbai and New Delhi in April. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India at the opening and held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others.

According to Indian media reports, Cook also held an interview with Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, the group’s main investment holding company, during his visit to India.

The Tata Group is a representative consortium in India. IT not only owns large IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Motors, but also runs businesses such as home appliance stores.