Economy and commerce
Trade
Thai franchises in line for tax perks
The government is considering privilege packages for Thai franchises in a bid to promote them in the world market. Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee, who presided over the opening of the “Excellent Thai Franchise” event on 21 October, said the franchise business still had a lot of ...
China aims to develop border area with Laos
China has announced that it will invest US$31.4 billion in the Mengla economic zone in Yunnan province of the country, which shares a border with Lunag Namtha and Phongsaly provinces in northern Laos. The investment will cover more than 240 projects in such fields as transportation, ...
ASEAN’s winners and losers under TPP
Earlier this month, 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which ranks as the biggest trade agreement in history – signatory countries account for 40% of total global output. While the treaty still must be ratified by each and every party to it, ...
China eyes $31bn of investments in Laos border economic zone
China is eyeing total investment of more than 200 billion yuan ($31.45 billion) in 240 projects in a pilot economic zone on the border with Laos, the government of the southwestern province of Yunnan said late on 19 October. Poor and remote, Laos has traditionally been ...
Ready or not, ASEAN economic integration coming, warns banker
“The Philippines is an attractive market without a means to compete,” according to BDO Unibank Inc. president Nestor Tan, expressing worry that Philippine banks are not ready to compete with the bigger banks of neighboring countries with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community. Keep reading ...
Devastating Myanmar floods send paddy prices skyward
Surging demand following the widespread destruction of paddy fields during the recent flooding has forced a record spike in prices, say the Myanmar Rice Federation and local paddy and rice traders in Naypyidaw. Since September, the price per 100 baskets of Manaw Thukha old crop in ...
Permitted investments, local and foreign, on the increase
Investment in Myanmar will continue to grow after the elections, business sources predict. They were commenting on the announcement by the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration that Myanmar Investment Commission had permitted 204 local and overseas investments in the first six months of the current ...
EU investments in Vietnam start to recover
Foreign direct investment from the European Union to Vietnam is recovering this year after a downtrend since 2011, according to a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency. A report released this week pointed out that the EU’s total investment in Vietnam ...
How ASEAN countries fare in IP protection
Strong legal protection of intellectual property is one of the factors that attract foreign investment, especially in knowledge-intensive sectors. In the recently published 2015 International Intellectual Property or IP Index, 31 countries were assessed and given scores out of 30. The 31 included six of the ...
Vietnamese among the most socially conscious consumers: global survey
Vietnamese consumers are the most socially-conscious among Southeast Asians, with 86 percent expressing their willingness to pay extra for products and services from firms which are committed to positive social and environmental impact, a new Nielsen survey found. The survey also showed that consumers in Southeast ...
