Economy and commerce
Customs impounds 100 NGV buses amid duty doubts
The Customs Department has impounded 100 natural gas vehicle air-conditioned buses which were supposed to hit Bangkok streets late this month amid doubts over whether the import order is legitimate or was falsely declared to avoid more than 100 million baht in tax. The first ...
Vietnam’s cocoa receives “fine flavour” designation from Int’l Cocoa organisation
Viet Nam has become the second Asian country to achieve a fine flavour cocoa designation from the International Cocoa Organisation. Forty per cent of the country’s cocoa exports have received this designation. Indonesia was the first Asian country to receive the recognition in 2011, but it ...
Will coal shares bounce back?
The strong increase in coal prices has rekindled hopes for Vietnam’s miners and securities investors after a period of disappointment. After eight years of decline, the coal price began recovering in early 2016. Analysts commented that the coal price has been witnessing the strongest recovery compared ...
CPF acquires China's Cofco Meat Suqian
In its latest big buy, Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, the SET-listed flagship of agribusiness giant Charoen Pokphand Group, has acquired Cofco Meat Suqian for 976 million baht. Through Chia Tai China Investment Co, an indirect subsidiary of CPF in China, CPF will also take over ...
Central bank orders lenders to step up lending in riel
Cambodian microfinance institutions have said they would comply with a new regulation issued by the central bank that requires them to hold at least 10 percent of their loan portfolio in the Kingdom’s national currency. A prakas published by the National Bank of Cambodia on ...
Industrial rail project gathers steam with government push
Transport Minister Sun Chanthol has vowed to reinvigorate a long-dormant project to connect the Kingdom’s sole operating railway line to the capital’s biggest industrial park – a move that would boost rail traffic ahead of the completion of a rail link to northwestern Cambodia and ...
What does the possible end of the TPP mean for the Mekong Delta projects?
China and Japan remain committed to the region; matter of time before private investment picks up. The future of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement looks increasingly unlikely to progress in the wake Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory. And Vietnam, once touted as one of the ...
Government to air concerns on Lao VAT
The government is set to raise the issue of Laos’s value-added tax in a joint discussion with Lao counterparts, fearing the new tax measure may cripple growing border trade. Adul Chotinisakorn, deputy director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said that while the issue is an ...
Thai banks bullish on Vietnam even if Trump scraps TPP
Thai banks in Vietnam believe a large labour force and low wages will still be magnets for trade and foreign direct investment in that country even if the Trans-Pacific Partnership is scrapped in line with US President-elect Donald Trump’s policy. Vietnam is among the 12 Pacific ...
Bank Negara Malaysia dealing with short-term volatility of the ringgit
A slew of measures undertaken by Bank Negara Malaysia are expected to help enhance a continuous supply of foreign currency. To discourage the trading of non-deliverable forwards offshore, the central bank has announced several initiatives to liberalise and deregulate the onshore ringgit-hedging market. They include providing ...
