Disasters

Auto sales fell 25 percent year-on-year in the first eight months to 151,903 units due to the continuing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Passenger cars accounted for 109,694 units, followed by commercial vehicles and special-purpose vehicles, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA). Sales in August, ...

The government will this week consider measures to increase the purchasing power of low-income groups and support small businesses. Lavaron Sansnit, the director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said on Sunday that the Finance Ministry would urge the government’s centre for economic situation administration to approve ...

Authorities in Ben Tre Province have approved a plan to build the Mekong Delta’s largest freshwater reservoir to help tackle drought and salinity during the dry season. Construction of the Lac Dia Lake, which will have a capacity of 1.3 million cubic meters, is expected to ...

Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor on Thursday announced a new minimum wage of U.S. $192 per month for 2021, an increase of only U.S. $2 from this year, drawing criticism from workers struggling with inflation amid an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. “Beginning on Jan. 1, 2021, garment ...

Meddling by the US in Mekong River water resource issues is an attempt to contain China in the region by hyping China’s “dam threat,” while citing only weak evidence and sources given by the US-backed institutions that blame China for downstream disasters, Chinese observers found. Chinese ...

The Finance Ministry is finalising details of the 3,000-baht cash handout scheme, with initial daily spending disbursed through an e-wallet application and a cap of 100 baht. Details are expected to be finalised by the Fiscal Policy Office before submission to the Center for Economic Situation ...

China has been accused of limiting the water to one of the world’s biggest rivers to feed its hydroelectric dams. David Stilwell, the US assistant secretary of state for east Asia and the Pacific, said that Beijing was manipulating the water flows of the Mekong with ...

Water levels in the Mekong river and its tributaries in this northeastern border province are very low compared to past years, jeopardising the livelihoods of farmers who raise fish in baskets, according to local media reports. In Muang district, water in the Mekong river is now ...

More than 10 percent of those currently infected with COVID-19 in Myanmar are health workers, according to a top government medic. “More than 10 percent of those infected with COVID-19 after Aug. 16 are health staff,” said the director of contagious disease prevention and eradication at ...

The Mekong is one of Asia’s most important rivers, supporting 60 million people in Southeast Asia. But for the second consecutive year, the lower Mekong basin has hit a record low water flow, affecting irrigation, rice production and fisheries, all vital to the region’s food security. The drought ...