Southeast Asia Business News Roundup
Myanmar
The British Virgin Islands-registered MPRL E&P company announced a discovery of gas in Shwe Yee Htun towards the end of last year.
“I am very pleased and proud that MPRL E&P, as a company with limited resources, under a difficult business environment, succeeded first to unravel a new petroleum play in a frontier basin, then to interest international oil companies in our effort and finally to contribute to bring the project to what could be a world-class play,’ stated CEO U Moe Myint.
Indonesia
Indonesia’s largest privately-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kalbe
Farma Tbk (KLBF) and state-controlled PT Kimia Farma Tbk (KAEF) publicly stated they have decided to construct a bio-pharmacy raw material manufacturing plant in
Cikarang, West Java, scheduled to commercially commence operations in
late 2017 or 2018. The construction is aimed at reducing dependence on imported raw materials.
Currently, most pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia import their raw materials.
Kimia Farma, Indonesia’s third-biggest listed pharmaceutical company, has allocated one trillion rupiah (approx. US$72 million) for capital expenditure in 2016.
Kimia Farma has also agreed to establish a joint venture with South Korea’s Sungwun Pharmacopia to build a drug ingredients plant in the same region.
The company had earlier tied up with South Korean company Genexine Biologics
to develop a plant in Bekasi, West Java. The joint venture will produce generic drugs and is expected to go online in 2018.
In a bid to encourage the industry, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) plans to allow foreign investors to hold more shares in pharmacy companies, from a current
maximum of 85 percent, to 100 percent.
Vietnam
The Vietnamese government could sell stakes in some large state-owned enterprises in 2016, including network provider Mobifone and brewer Sabeco, according to a source in the Finance Ministry.
Vietnam’s merger and acquisition (M&A) deals hit a record US$4 billion in 2015, an encouraging turnaround for the $186 billion economy.
Mobifone, Vietnam Rubber Group, shipping firm Vinalines and Power General Corporation 3 could have initial public offerings (IPOs) this year according to the finance ministry.
The government may also divest further from beer firms Habeco and Sabeco, leading textiles and garment maker Vinatex, Vietnam Airlines and Petrolimex, the top oil
product importer and distributor.
There has also been talk about the sale of the government’s $3.1 billion worth of shares in profitable dairy products maker Vinamilk, held by the government investment arm State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC).
Myanmar/Singapore
Anthem Asia, an independent investment and advisory group made an undisclosed, six-digit investment in Revo Tech, a Yangon-based creative digital agency known for an educational app named‚ Phew.
The investment will be made into Phew Tech Pte Ltd‚ Revo Tech’s Singapore registered parent company- and Anthem Asia will become the largest minority shareholder in Phew Tech. The investment will help Revo Tech add new modules to their educational app.
