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It’s Not Just The Trees That Grow at APC !
Tuesday, 25 June 2013 Asia Plantation Capital, one of the regions fastest growing plantation companies, recently passed a new milestone in its history and development; planting their 6 millionth tree since 2009. APC is expanding its operations in Thailand creating at least 250 new jobs on new plantations being established near their main agarwood distillery, bringing important economic benefits to local communities. This adds important rural jobs to the numbers already created by APC in the North East region of Sakon Nakhon where they have now established over 60 plantations. The distillery and associated businesses include state of the art finishing and processing production lines for agarwood oil & infused chips, agarwood resin, agarwood rice, incense sticks and a range of raw materials for food supplements as part of its joint venture with AgarTechAsia. Barry Rawlinson, group CEO “When APC started we focused on establishing plantations and farming businesses, not looking beyond the plantation gate for sales. Today we have a fully integrated business model investing heavily in the manufacture and marketing of end products. Planting and growing trees is only part of our story, alongside we consider social impact and invest in local communities where we operate for long term sustainable growth”. Strategically the group has established a diverse range of standalone businesses; using Oud oil from agarwood trees to produce fine fragrances for the International Fragrance Industry, manufacturing products for the pharmaceutical sector, construction of Sustainable Homes, plantation and agricultural consultancy, tree nurseries for local communities to access, and Asset and Wealth Management businesses. Recently a joint venture with AgarTechAsia focuses on cutting edge technologies and new consumer end products from the agarwood. These businesses are driven by one common factor, sustainable plantations and farms which create sustainable products for the rapidly expanding numbers of environmentally conscious consumers worldwide. Recent plantation projects the company has undertaken include feasibility studies and expansion into new hot spots for the global investment community and wider financial sector. Projects range from sustainable Palm Oil plantations in West Africa, to teak and agricultural food crops in Myanmar. In Ecuador the APC Group are considering investments for the plantation sector as part of the Ecuadorean Governments forward thinking agricultural and plantation sector investment programmes. The 6 million planted trees mark and 250 new jobs in rural Thailand are just two milestones in the successful growth of Asia Plantation Capital. APC is fast becoming a leading player in the sustainable plantation sector. With local people at the heart of their operations, and sustainable practices adopted throughout their agro-forestry; they are a shining example of the people, planet, profit concept which inspires modern sound business practice today. — About Asia Plantation Capital (www.asiaplantationcapital.com) Asia Plantation Capital is an owner and operator of a diverse range of commercial plantation and farming businesses across the Asia-Pacific region and now increasingly globally, part of the Asia Plantation Capital Group of associated companies. Their focus is on multicultural and diverse plantation projects geared to the domestic and commercial demands of the countries in which they operate. Working closely with and supporting fragile local communities is an underlying core principle of the APC business, providing social and cultural support as well as investment to move these communities away from traditional deforestation and illegal logging activities as a main income source. Established officially in 2008, although operating privately since 2002, the group now has plantation and agricultural projects on four continents with operational projects at various stages in Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, The Gambia, North America and Europe. — For further information, please contact:- Asia Plantation Capital, 3 Pickering Street, #01-68 Nankin Row, China Square Central, Singapore 048660 Tel: +6562223386 Fax: +6562212197 Email: pr@asiaplantationcapital.com Continue reading
UK’s Offshore Finance Centres Commit To Tackling Tax Evasion
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f1d3e2a-d5e6-11e2-9dbd-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2X2GjjljT By Vanessa Houlder All of Britain’s offshore finance centres have committed to sign a treaty tackling evasion, in a boost to David Cameron’s efforts to secure agreements on transparency from other world leaders next week. Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury said the decision by all Britain’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to sign the multilateral convention on mutual tax assistance would “strengthen enormously” the arguments for greater transparency at next week’s summit of the G8 group of leading countries. The announcement was made at a meeting of political leaders, business representatives and civil society in London on the agenda of trade, tax and transparency. Mr Cameron also promised to consult on whether to make public a planned central register of the ‘beneficial ownership’ of companies, which will reveal who are their ultimate owners. Campaigners have called for public registers to maximise scrutiny of potential illicit deals. He said more transparency was needed because “some people use complicated and fake structures to hide their profits and avoid taxes and also because bribes are often held in opaquely-owned companies with bank accounts in secretive havens.” Mr Cameron said “The most important thing is that it is available to tax authorities. It will be their first point of call to try and uncover corrupt payments or tax evasion. “We will consult on whether it will be public but personally I would hope the whole world will move towards public registers of beneficial ownership.” He added: “I want to maximise the leverage the UK has over others in terms of taking each step in turn and want to make sure that business and enterprise comes with us on this debate. “ Will Morris, chair of the tax committee of the CBI said it was “very supportive of the idea of a register of beneficial ownership. “We think it is a ‘no brainer’”, he said. He said the CBI did not yet have a view of whether it should be public or private but he personally would support making it public. Mr Cameron told the meeting: “Each and everyone of our Overseas Territorities and Crown Dependencies has agreed to sign up to the multilateral convention on information exchange. “They have also agreed to exchange information automatically with the United Kingdom and to produce action plans on beneficial ownership. Mr Cameron said he would call on other international partners to work with their territories reach similar agreements. Although most of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories had already committed to sign the treaty, some had expressed reservations. In a statement, Bermuda said the concerns it had expressed about signing the multilateral convention were because Bermuda’s fiscal system was not appropriate for automatic exchange of tax information. But it added, the ‘wisdom of the drafters’ of the multilateral convention meant that automatic exchange was based on mutual need and mutual agreement of both parties. The decision of all the offshore centres to commit to the treaty will help neutralise some of the criticism frequently levelled at the UK by other countries asked to make concessions on transparency although reservations are likely to remain regarding the transparency of trusts. All the overseas territories and crown dependencies said they supported the government’s drive on transparency but Richard Hay, counsel to the IFC Forum, which represents professional firms in British offshore centres, said the UK was taking a risk of an own goal by moving ahead of other countries, particularly the US. Continue reading
UK To Set Up Central Tax Register
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4cc97bdc-d50f-11e2-9302-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2X2GDwrSe By George Parker, Jim Pickard and Vanessa Houlder Britain is to lead by example in its push for greater tax transparency by setting up a new central register to try to ensure that the true owners of shell companies – often located in tax havens – pay their taxes. David Cameron hopes to persuade other big economies to set up similar registers when he chairs the G8 summit in Northern Ireland next week, a move designed to recover the billions of pounds in lost revenue suffered by exchequers around the world. On Saturday he promises that Britain will set up a register – to be maintained at Companies House – which would initially be available only to relevant authorities including Revenue & Customs. Campaigners for greater tax transparency want the registers of “secretive companies in secretive locations” to be made public, but Mr Cameron told The Guardian that Britain would not go down that route for now unless other countries did the same thing. “I am sure that is where I would like to end up, but I do not want to disadvantage Britain by doing something others won’t do,” he said. “I don’t also want to give up our leverage on others by trying to make them move at the same time.” Under the changes, companies registered in Britain would come under a legal obligation to obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on the ultimate owner who benefits from the company. Meanwhile Mr Cameron has been told by the head of one of the UK’s Caribbean dependencies to sort out tax avoidance in the City of London before he lectures Britain’s overseas territories on the issue. The comments from Hubert Hughes, the 79-year-old first minister of Anguilla, will raise doubts over whether the prime minister will be able to achieve unanimous support for a new deal on tax evasion. Mr Cameron wants to nail the agreement ahead of next week’s G8 summit and has organised a pre-summit meeting at Lancaster House, London, on Saturday with leaders of the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies Mr Hughes, speaking to the Financial Times at a Whitehall hotel, said that, although he backed the spirit of a new deal on tax evasion, the overseas territories had not been given enough time to sign up to a new multilateral deal on tax. “I’m worried about the fact that we are being accused,” said Mr Hughes. “This is very hypocritical as we are being compliant … I think the City of London needs to put itself in order. I always consider the City as the biggest money-laundering centre in the world.” Mr Hughes has written to Mr Cameron saying Anguilla was prepared “in principle” to support the multilateral convention on tax. But the letter says: “Before we are able to support this convention we have serious questions about its implementation and in particular the resourcing of such an agreement in Aguilla.” The island would only support the deal if it received assurances from the government that these concerns were resolved, he wrote. Anguilla, in the Lesser Antilles, which is just 13 miles long and has a population of 13,000, is renowned for its white sandy beaches and minimal tax rates. Mr Hughes said that his island had already signed 17 bilateral “exchange of information” agreements with other countries. His comments come after the premier of Bermuda, Craig Cannonier, warned earlier this week that he needed clarification from London before he would sign up to the convention on mutual tax assistance. This treaty would allow future talks on helping authorities, particularly in developing countries, to track down tax cheats. Within hours, however, Mr Cannonier publicly shifted his position. “Bermuda is in active discussions with the UK government over Bermuda’s concerns with some of the provisions in the proposed Multilateral Convention Agreement,” he said. “It is wrong to rule out the possibility of agreement before the G8 as implied by the headlines.” It is understood that a Foreign Office minister, Mark Simmonds, had personally telephoned Mr Cannonier within hours of his arriving at Southampton and persuaded him to reverse his earlier position. But the Bermudan prime minister said he still had concerns about “costs, security of data and treaty duplication” that needed to be addressed before he signed up. Campaigners have been putting pressure on Mr Cameron to secure agreement from the Overseas Territories, saying he risks personal embarrassment if they do not sign the treaty having raised the stakes by his public call to “get our own houses in order” before the G8 summit. The Cayman Islands told Mr Cameron last week that they were prepared to commit to joining the convention, but “looked forward to further discussions on the particulars of the convention’s extension to the Cayman Islands, as balanced with the UK’s recognition of our fiscal autonomy.” This week, the British Virgin Islands told Mr Cameron that it would commit “in principle” to joining the multilateral convention. The three Crown Dependencies – Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man – have also committed. But some jurisdictions resent what they see as arrogance and neo-colonialism from Downing Street. The stakes are high with Mr Cameron wanting to come away from the G8 with an agreement over either tax or free trade, where France is blocking a comprehensive EU-US trade deal. Continue reading
