Economy and commerce

Despite a contraction of 1.9% last year, Thailand’s National Food Institute (NFI) expects food exports this year will grow by 5.8%. The optimism is based largely on rising demand for some food segments in neighbouring emerging markets and government efforts to boost exports. NFI president Yongvut Saovapruk attributed ...

Vietnam’s biggest dairy company Vinamilk has closed a US$12.5 million deal to export baby formula to Middle Eastern countries, with shipments expected to increase by around 10 percent a year.    The deal, signed at the week-long international food fair Gulfood wrapped up in Dubai on 25 ...

Cambodians were optimistic about the economic and political future of the Kingdom, according to a national survey on citizens’ perceptions released on 24 February by the Asia Foundation, although observers on 25 February questioned whether that optimism remains in light of the government’s recent crackdown on the ...

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Vietnam grew by 9.7 percent last year to US$5.2 billion, mostly with small and medium-sized enterprises involved, according to a new market report.   The number of deals was up 23.1 percent to 341, local market research company StoxPlus said in the ...

Five foreigners accused of multiple offences of fraud involving the use of fake bank cards or electronic equipment to withdraw cash can be tried together, Yangon Region’s High Court has decided. The decision means that the cases of a British man and four Indian citizens will ...

Vietnam needs to create policies to promote investment in agriculture to build a farming sector to compete internationally, as the country integrates into the global economy. Investments in agriculture remain modest, although the sector involved nearly 70 per cent of the country’s population, while contributing some ...

Human resource development and awareness of self-ownership and self-reliance on the part of local authorities is inadequate and is hindering the progress of grassroots development projects. This finding was reported at a meeting in Vientiane on 19 February to review development progress in areas along the shared ...

Somsavath Khemsuliyajack is one of the first Lao nationals to set up a business in Myanmar, which is currently one of the hottest investment destinations in the world.  Somsavath develops, distributes, and markets cosmetics under the brand name ‘SK Herbal’. SK Herbal’s line of products has ...

Tak and Songkhla will be the next provinces with government-developed special economic zones (SEZs) after the one in Sa Kaeo is finished. The SEZ in Songkhla’s Sadao district has been designated for rubber processing, while the one in Tak’s Mae Sot district will be for agricultural processing, ...

Vietnam’s agricultural exports to the United States (US) are expected to surge with stable demand from a key market, an official of the government said on 18 February. Le Van Banh, head of the Department of Processing and Trading Agricultural, Forestry, Aquatic Products and Salt under ...