Economy and commerce
Pig farmers form taskforce to curb illicit smuggling
Cambodia’s pig farmers created a new taskforce on April 27 to combat pig smuggling along Cambodia’s borders that is leading to falling prices for domestic producers. Mong Rethhy, co-chair of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce’s working group on the agricultural industry, gathered the Kingdom’s major pig ...
Indigenous communities resisting dams in Indonesia claim they face repression, rights abuses
In October 2014, when developers entered Seko and Central Seko to begin preliminary work on a 480-megawatt hydroelectric dam, the communities living there say no one asked their permission. The area, in the Seko Subdistrict of North Luwu, in the southern part of Indonesia’s Sulawesi ...
The meat hook: satiating Asia’s demand for beef
Beef has never been a favored meat in most of Asia. Cows are harder to raise than chickens and pigs, which take up less space and can be fed scraps. A large majority of India practices Hinduism, a religion that reveres cows. Islamic societies, too, ...
Rubber prices soar by 132pct
Cambodian rubber exports increased 32 percent during the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year, while prices grew 132 percent during the first quarter, an agriculture official said on April 26. The Kingdom exported 32,000 tonnes of rubber in ...
Laos registers trade surplus in first quarter
Laos has registered a US$95 million trade surplus in the first quarter of 2017 following an historic trade surplus over the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the government told the National Assembly this week. Officially-recorded export over 2017’s first three months was valued at US$1,212 million, while ...
Major deals signed as Vietnam PM visits
Laos and Vietnam have inked deals worth multi-millions of US dollars during a two-day official visit by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from April 26-27 that concludes today. The bilateral agreements were signed by respective high ranking officials of both sides in Vientiane yesterday, ...
Padaeng agrees dividend, focuses on new areas
Padaeng Industry’s annual general shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday passed a resolution to pay dividends of Bt1 per share, for a total of Bt226 million, managing director Francis Vanbellen said. PDI will pay those whose names appear on the shareholders list by May 3 in accordance ...
Innovative products in focus as SCG mulls new investments in EEC
Siam Cement Group is studying expanding in the Eastern Economic Corridor through three core businesses – petrochemicals, packaging, and building materials – with the focus on innovative products. “We are looking at the incentives and the infrastructure around the project before making a decision on ...
How can the ‘pavement economy’ contribute to the national economy?
The expansion of the ‘clearing pavement campaign’ in Hanoi and HCMC means fewer vending stalls in the cities. But the informal economy in Vietnam has existed for decades. Van, a girl from Mekong Delta, has been selling grilled corn for the last 10 years in HCMC. Her ...
Gold orders drop due to purchase tax
Since the government started to collect tax on gold purchases on April 1, orders at workshops and goldsmiths have dropped. Goldsmith Ko Naung Naung from Chan Mya Tharsi township, Mandalay Region, said the downward trend was worrying because in the past, jewellers would make orders ...
