Economy and commerce

A nation disadvantaged by geography, Laos has turned to intense infrastructural development and foreign direct investments to accelerate economic growth. As the landlocked nation opens its doors to foreign money, who is it inviting, and what troubles lay ahead? Once an ancient kingdom and a hub ...

Laos is facing one of its worst economic crises in many years. Last month, inflation hit a 22-year high of 23.6 percent, according to official reports. Consequently, the price of fuel, gas, and gold has increased by 107.1 percent, 69.4 percent, and 68.7 percent, respectively, compared to June 2021’s price. Long ...

Myanmar has set a goal of doubling rice exports in three years’ time by focusing on higher-quality varieties, according to the president of the nation’s rice federation. The country plans to ship as much as 4 million tonnes annually by 2025 from around 2 million tonnes ...

The Vietnamese government has launched a national campaign to promote its maritime policies as the ruling party pledges to explore “all available legal tools” to defend its interests amid China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. A government order stipulates that by 2025, all domestic media outlets ...

Laos is facing significant economic challenges but has the potential to develop sustainably and more equitably, according to a new World Bank report. The latest Lao PDR Country Economic Memorandum, “Linking Laos, Unlocking Policies”, analyses economic performance over the last 20 years and draws lessons from ...

China has collectively consulted, contributed to and shared in the development of the Lancang-Mekong region with the five Mekong countries — Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam — over the past five years, helping to promote economic sustainability and connectivity. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) framework is ...

Long An Province is focusing on sustainable economic development while staying safe from COVID, maintaining its position as an economic leader in the Mekong Delta. At the start of the year, the province issued a socio-economic development programme for 2022 to assist struggling workers and businesses, ...

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Nguyễn Phú Trọng has called for joint efforts to drive the growth of Mekong Delta and augment the prosperity and development of the ‘land of the nine dragons’ river.’ He made the remark while chairing the Politburo’s ...

Effective management of the Covid-19 crisis in Cambodia has led to an increase in the number of government-approved investment projects outside the Kingdom’s special economic zones (SEZ) in the first two months of 2022, with a total capital investment of “more than $2 billion” – ...

Laos’ economy is projected to grow 3.4 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2023, due to the country’s investments to boost exports, according to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022 released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday. “Growth in 2022 and 2023 will ...