Trade

Jade traders in Mandalay say this could be the worst year ever for business. The main cause they cite is the absence of Chinese buyers, possibly nervous about the outcome of next month’s election.  In interviews on 25 October at the Maha Aung Myay Gem Trading ...

Exports of fresh fish and fish products fell significantly during the first nine months of the year, raising concerns about businesses and families operating in the Cambodia’s fisheries sector. Fresh and frozen fish export shipments fell 21 per cent during the first nine months of the year ...

Post-coup Thailand barely retained its position among the World Bank’s top 50 economies worldwide and has ranked third among ASEAN countries on the ease of doing business during the past year. In its annual Doing Business 2016: Measuring Quality and Efficiency survey, Thailand fell three places from the ...

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance is considering changing a tax regulation following concerns that the rule has been abused by Chinese exporters to ship a large amount of steel to Vietnam without paying duties.   Currently imported steel with at least 0.3 percent of chrome content will be exempt ...

With nearly half of their exports going to the 11 other countries that are set to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Vietnam, seafood businesses have become the latest supporters of the controversial and secretive free trade agreement. Keep reading ...

Northern Laos is emerging as an important source of fresh bananas for the Chinese market, with several different investors from China itself understood to be establishing plantations covering thousands of hectares across several different regions. The investors have been drawn to the region by good availability ...

Eight out of 10 member states of ASEAN have made investments in Vietnam with a total pledge of $56.32 billion for 2,681 projects, the Foreign Investment Agency recently reported.   The cumulative investment figure was recorded at the end of September and was up 8.6 percent from ...

China’s apple exporters will have to come up with new, non-controversial packaging if they want to resume sending the fruit to Vietnam, authorities said on 22 October. Keep reading ...

Thai Union Group, the world’s largest tuna canner, has stopped receiving supplies from about 1,200 fishing boats in Thailand over the past one to two years as part of its strictly-enforced code for responsible sourcing and conduct. As part of its global rebranding launched on 18 September, the ...

While political and policy risks have been among the biggest concerns for foreign investors in recent years, other issues such as bureaucracy, legal enforcement and business restrictions perhaps weigh even more heavily on Thailand’s competitiveness. Darren Buckley, country head of Citi Thailand and president of the American Chamber of ...