President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, sent a Presidential Delegation to attend the cremation ceremony. President Trump extended his condolences and said “the late King was a champion of the Thai people… and his innovative work, diplomacy, and 70 years of selfless service will ensure that his legacy will live on for many generations to come.” In Memoriam The special envoy of China’s President Xi H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej Jinping, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli attended December 5, 1927 – October 13, 2016 the royal cremation ceremony and expressed China's deep condolences and reverence to The cremation and ceremonies for our the late king and conveyed President Xi's best beloved departed King have now concluded. wishes to King Vajiralongkorn. Zhang said “the We sincerely thank everyone for all the kind late King had made a great contribution to the words of support and thoughtful sharing development of Thailand and the with us during our difficult times. Over 50 improvement of the Thai people's livelihoods countries sent dignitaries and official and was also a great friend of the Chinese delegations to attend the cremation and people.” funeral ceremonies including HM Queen Silvia of Sweden, HM Queen Maxima of the Federal Minister for Energy Awais Ahmad Netherlands, HM Queen Mathilde of Khan Leghari of Pakistan attended the Royal Belgium, HM Queen Sofia of Spain, HRH cremation ceremony and said “the late King Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, HRH played a fundamental role in the development Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway, of Thailand and the wellbeing of the Thai Their Majesties King Letsie III and Queen people. He will also be remembered for his Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho, Their vision and leadership in promoting Thailand's Majesties King Jigme Khesar Namgyel relations with the international community.” Wangchuck and Queen Ashi Jetsun Pema Wangchuck of Bhutan, Myanmar’s President The Special Envoy of Sri Lanka’s President U Htin Kyaw, Laos’ President Bounnhang Sirisena, Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, Vorachith, Singapore’s President Madam attended the Royal cremation ceremony and Halimah Yacob, and Cambodia’s Prime was later received by with King Vajiralongkorn Minister Hun Sen. We also received as well as the Royal Family. Minister condolences from Heads and Former Heads Marapana reiterated the condolences of of State and Heads of Parliaments, of which President Sirisena and that of the government some are included here. and people of Sri Lanka. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Nepal’s Defense Minister Bhimsen Das Japan paid their respects and laid a wreath to Pradhan and Khaga Nath Adhikari, the the late King at the Grand Palace. Later, King Nepalese ambassador to Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn received the imperial participated in the royal cremation of couple at the Dusit Palace and presented Thailand’s late monarch. During a brief them with gifts. audience with the new Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Minister Pradhan expressed His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke condolences from the government and the of York, the official representative of Britain’s people of Nepal to the Thai king, the royal Queen Elizabeth II attended the Royal family, and the people of Thailand for their Cremation Ceremony of His Majesty the late loss. King. The Thai and British Royal Families have had long and close ties for several centuries. News for clients and friends of Dej-Udom & Associates and members of the ASEAN Attorneys Alliance www. dejudomlaw.com www.aseanattorneysalliance. com LINE Follow Us Vietnam Watch SME Challenges ASEAN Economic Community News A leading regional business advocacy group says that the start of the fourth industrial revolution will present challenges to Mini-Interpol Vietnam’s small and medium-sized ASEAN has identified the rise of radicalism enterprises (SMEs). The challenges include and terrorism as the biggest security threats better access to domestic and international in the region. At a recent meeting of the markets to be part of the global supply chain, ASEAN Defense Ministers, the creation of a access to technology and information mini-Interpol for ASEAN counterterrorism was communication tools, and access to finance. proposed. Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, 97% of Vietnamese companies are SMEs and Brunei, Singapore, and the Philippines would are the backbone of Vietnam’s economy. share intelligence under the ‘Our Eyes’ initiative. Each country would create a new intelligence unit that will be expected to Malaysia News collect and disseminate intelligence. This type Middle Income Trap of multilateral intelligence sharing is not A global financial services company believes common in the region as bilateral sharing that Malaysia will have difficulty escaping the between countries is preferred. middle income trap due to the country’s high credit risk, modest income levels, and ASEAN Legal Aid vulnerability to global economic conditions. The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on However, Malaysia’s open, diversified, and Human Rights (AICHR) met in Bangkok to competitive economy with its flexible labor promote legal aid in the ASEAN region with market, developed infrastructure, and high over 80 national and regional researchers savings rate help mitigate its weaknesses. participating. The AICHR believes that the study of legal aid is an important part of the Laos Bulletin implementation process of the ASEAN First Energy Exchange Economic Community Blueprint. Of particular In ASEAN’s first multilateral energy exchange interest to the researchers are legal aid or trading, an Indonesian company will buy services for specific groups such as women, 100 megawatts of electricity from Laos via children, victims of trafficking and migrant Thailand’s existing transmission grid. This is workers and the implementation of legal aid the first step towards the ASEAN Power Grid for thematic areas. and Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline to exchange electricity and natural gas in the region. Singapore News Car Population Growth Philippines Update In February 2018, Singapore will end any Fishery Policies future car population growth in the city-state The Philippine government plans to shift to due to the shortage of available land and science-based fishery policies to make fishing planned public transportation projects. Roads sustainable in the country. 70% of the take up 12% of Singapore’s total area at Philippine fish population is overfished. Due present. Singapore plans to invest US$20 to limited available data on its fisheries, the billion in its rail and bus networks over the Philippines plans to use science-based next five years. The current vehicle growth management tools that work around the rate is 0.25 percent a year for cars and absence of good fishery data. motorcycles. News for clients and friends of Dej-Udom & Associates and members of the ASEAN Attorneys Alliance www. dejudomlaw.com www.aseanattorneysalliance. com THAILAND UPDATE State Railway Land Management Electric Vehicles The government ordered the State Railway of Import Duty Thailand (SRT) to accelerate its formation of a The China-Thailand Free Trade Agreement wholly owned subsidiary to manage its land comes into effect in 2018 and allows for a resources. With an effective management zero import duty for Chinese electric vehicles. system, the government believes the SRT However, the Thai government plans to reset could generate THB300 billion over the next the duty to 20% as the zero duty will 30 years. This will help the SRT with its negatively affect electric vehicle investment outstanding THB100 billion debt. into Thailand. The reason for the zero import duty on Chinese electric vehicles is that the Customs free trade agreement negotiations began in Transparency 2003 when electric vehicles were not an To help boost transparency, the Customs investment priority for Thailand. Department now requires senior officials in charge of tax collection to declare their assets Commerce to the Finance Ministry when their positions Hybrid Retailers change. To block loopholes for tax avoidance, The Commerce Ministry is rolling out a ‘hybrid the Customs Department has changed the retailer’ program to help small shops inspection model for discharging goods and modernize and reach a wider customer base. tax evaluation from an individual to team- Hybrid retailers will use new technology and based one. an omni-channel strategy that will let consumers shop both online and offline. Free Trade Agreement Omni-channel is a cross-channel business RCEP model for sales that seeks to provide ASEAN and its six free trade agreement customers with a seamless shopping partners, Australia, China, India, Japan, South experience whether online, by telephone, or Korea, and New Zealand finalized the at the physical location. negotiating framework for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Travel This will be submitted to the ASEAN Summit in Community-Based Tourism Manila in November for approval. Thailand’s Designed Area for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) plans to help Startups Laos, Cambodia, and Bhutan to develop One Stop Licenses community-based tourism (CBT). DASTA will Thailand’s National Broadcasting and provide its know-how and expertise along Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) with business models to operators and received approval from the Cabinet to tourism specialists in the three countries. CBT develop a THB4 billion ‘doing business’ portal. tourism generally operates in rural and As a one stop solution for startups, the