Principal Cities: The largest city in the PST timezone is Los Angeles from USA with population about 3.793 million people. It runs through the western part of Canada, the United States and the Northwestern part of Mexico.Ĭountries: It is used in following countries: Canada, Mexico, United States. Territories observing the Pacific Time Zone are primarily in North America. PT is not static but switches between PDT and PST. However, South-east Asian countries are quite evenly split between two time zones now.Pacific Time (PT) is a general term used to describe the areas that observe either the Pacific Standard Time (PST) or Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) in the United States and Canada. It has been pointed out that a common time zone would also enable government agencies, especially enforcement agencies, to streamline actions and procedures. There would be better co-ordination between stock markets and banks if their opening and closing hours were the same in all the capitals. But it failed to gain any traction and was dropped.Ī common time zone would make it easier for Asean countries to co-ordinate trade, business dealings and transport links. Then in 2001, the idea to bring its stock exchange into the same zone as its neighbours' was mooted again when former premier Thaksin Shinawatra came to power. The time zone proposed then was GMT+8.īack in 1993, Thailand's then commerce minister said Thailand should shift its time zone by one hour to GMT+8, to boost the kingdom's competitiveness.Ĭhina and Hong Kong are also in the GMT+8 time zone. In 2012, a plan for a single time zone for the country was hatched, but it was put on hold, and has yet to be implemented. Major cities are concentrated on the island of Java, which adheres to GMT+7. From GMT+7 in Aceh to GMT+8 inBali, and GMT+9 in West Papua. Indonesia's thousands of islands are scattered over three time zones. Going by geographic division of time zones around the world, Singapore falls within the GMT+7 region. The Japanese occupiers wanted all of Malaya to follow Tokyo time. During the Second World War, the island adjusted its clocks from GMT+7:30 to GMT+9. This was not the first time Singapore had switched time zones. When West Malaysia decided to change its time zone so that the entire country would be on the same time, Singapore followed suit to facilitate business and travel between the two countries. On Jan 1, 1982, Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia "gained" half an hour when the territories jumped from GMT+7:30 to GMT+8, in line with East Malaysia. Three different time zones in 10 citiesĬlick on graphic above for a closer look at the time zones. It was brought up again in 2004 by then Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.Ģ. In 1995, then prime minister Goh Chok Tong mooted the idea of a common time zone at the 5th Asean Summit, according to past reports. The suggestion originated some 20 years ago. Here are some other interesting facts about Asean countries' time zones: Our position is '+8'," he said, referring to Singapore's current time zone of GMT+8. "Well, you know different countries have got different ideas. He also pointed out that the details need to be worked out, such as which time zone to choose. He added that the discussions were at a "very preliminary level", but all the parties there supported it. When asked by the media what he thought of it, Mr Shanmugam said: "Asean today is the seventh largest economy in the world with 600 million people, (with a) GDP of more than two trillion dollars and anything that helps businesses integrate, move goods, services, work with each other seamlessly, will help the man in the street." It would be in line with the formation of an integrated Asean Community, and airline operations and stock market activities could be better co-ordinated, he said. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said a common time zone for Asean capitals "is an idea worth considering". The issue was brought up again at the Asean Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 28. Singapore strongly supports the idea, which it mooted some time ago, Foreign Minister K Shanmugam has said. SINGAPORE - Is it time for a common time zone in Asean?
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