Economy and commerce
Trade
A ripe market for avocados
Avocados have never been a big part of the Khmer diet, making infrequent appearances in dessert dishes or drenched in condensed milk as a smoothie. But a small local market for the green pear-shaped fruit is forming, and experts say it could be a profitable ...
Laos buys fewer Thai goods after VAT at Friendship Bridge
Laotians have spent less money on goods in Thailand after Vientiane imposed a 10% value-added tax late last year, a Lao customs official said on January 26. Soutchai Inthavong, deputy chief of the customs international checkpoint at the Friendship Bridge, said the number of Laotians ...
Bridge crossing nets 98 million kip from Value Added Tax
Customs checks at Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Vientiane have netted the country over 98 million kip via the 10 Percent Value Added Tax since implementation of stricter controls in late 2016. Deputy Head of the Customs International Checkpoint under Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, Mr Soutchai Inthavong ...
Thai fintech sector calls for state support
The Thai FinTech Association has called on the government to increase its support for local tech startups and financial institutions to enhance their competitiveness and prevent foreign giants from monopolising the fintech market. “It’s time for the government to create a level playing field between ...
Cambodia to protect European patents
Cambodia is set to become the first country in Southeast Asia to recognise and protect European patents after the Minister of Industry and Handicrafts signed an agreement with the European Patent Office on January 24. The agreement, expected to come into effect in July, places ...
Renewed interest in Bangladeshi trade ties
Cambodia and Bangladesh made a fresh push on January 24 to revive dormant bilateral trade initiatives, with Phnom Penh hosting the first-ever conference and exhibition for a delegation of leading Bangladeshi companies. Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia Saida Muna Tasneem admitted trade between the two ...
Xieng Khuang promoting native cattle exports
Xieng Khuang province plans to expand the breeding of native cattle for domestic and overseas sales with the province already exporting almost 10,000 head per year. The province has promoted health programmes with vaccinations to protect local breeds from diseases and ensured that sufficient pasture ...
Fish yields rise, exports fall
The total export of fish products decreased in 2016 even though fish yields rose, causing income from the fisheries sector to drop by nearly a half compared with a year earlier. An Agriculture Ministry report showed that income from the fisheries sector in 2016 was ...
No violations of timber ban, forestry sector reports
There have been no violations of the ban on timber exports to foreign countries from the provinces after the Prime Minister issued the order almost nine months ago, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Thongphath Vongmany ...
Trade officers prepare for Trump era
Amid concern over the impact on Thailand’s export growth of so-called “Trumponomics” under the new US president and the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote, Thai trade officers from 63 posts in 47 countries will attend a meeting in Bangkok on February 22 that has been called ...