Government
International relations
PM Lee hails new partnership with old friend Australia in address to parliament
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement finalised in May this year will take the relationship between Singapore and Australia one step forward and will “cement our partnership for many years to come”, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the Australian parliament on October 12. Mr Lee ...
China downplays reports of sharing river waters with India
Playing down official media reports mooting a mechanism to share Brahmaputra river waters with India, China on October 10 said Beijing and New Delhi have “effective” cooperation to share data of the river flow and it is willing to continue it. “China and India have appropriate ...
Laos, Cambodia to benefit from new border checkpoint
A new international border checkpoint linking between the Nong Nok Khiene area in Khong district of Champasak province and the Trapeang Kriel area in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province is scheduled to officially open next month. In fact the border checkpoint has been open to the public ...
PM welcomes new WB Country Director in Vietnam
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc congratulated Ousmane Dione on his appointment as new Country Director for the World Bank in Vietnam at a reception at the Government’s headquarters in Hanoi on October 4. He said the WB is important to Vietnam and bilateral relations are being ...
Asian countries defend Cambodia after UN envoy critique
The U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia on September 28 hit the country with a growing list of criticisms over alleged human rights abuses, which Cambodia parried with the apparent support of neighboring states, including Burma, Laos, Thailand and China. Rhona Smith, in a presentation ...
NA Chairwoman meets Cambodian leaders
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân and President of the Senate of Cambodia Say Chhum vowed to do their best to strengthen ties between the two legislatures through high-level visits during their meeting in Phnom Penh on September 28. Ngân suggested the two countries further ...
China MoU to help ‘reform’ judiciary
China has signed an agreement to assist the Kingdom with judicial reforms and to share expertise in overhauling such systems, though one international expert on September 27 cautioned that China shouldn’t be considered “a model for justice reform in Cambodia”. Under the five-year agreement, signed on September ...
MGMA backs garment industry to boom when US sanctions are lifted
Myanmar’s leading garment industry body has been buoyed by the lifting of sanctions it hopes will see a return to the glory days for the sector, when in the early 2000s a majority of country’s garments were shipped to the US. Speaking at a manufacturing trade ...
Vietnam, Philippines strengthen strategic partnership
The official visit to Vietnam by Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte from September 28-29 is expected to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in politics, security, defence, and economics. This is President Duterte’s first visit to Vietnam and his fourth foreign trip since ...
Việt Nam, South Korea want to boost cooperation
Việt Nam and South Korea began the 15th session of the Joint Economic Committee on September 22, with talks focusing on ways to boost cooperation and address pending issues. Deputy minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Thế Phương said the two countries had made significant achievements ...