Infrastructure
Myanmar launches Thilawa industrial zone
Dignitaries from Myanmar and Japan on 23 September launched the first phase of a huge industrial zone on the outskirts of Yangon, as the long-isolated nation pushes to rapidly accelerate its industrialisation. Housing everything from children’s toy manufacturing to a car assembly plant and a deep-sea port, ...
Top cop says no capacity to convict
A high-ranking police official yesterday bemoaned Cambodia’s lack of capacity to fight cybercrime, just a week after the government’s announcement of a new Anti-Cybercrime Department prompted fears of an online clampdown on dissent. Keep reading ...
Don Sahong project to begin construction in November
The 260-MW Don Sahong hydroelectric project is anticipated to begin construction before the end of this year after a number of agreements related to the project have been signed to guide the project’s go ahead. The Lao Ministry of Energy and Mine’s Policy and Planning Department ...
Ride-sharing apps vie to replace private car ownership in Vietnam
A young, tech-savvy population short on cars but big on smartphones is driving double-digit growth for ride-hailing apps Uber and GrabTaxi in Vietnam, and inspiring some executives to dream of replacing private car ownership altogether. Uber launched its service in Vietnam last year and says Ho ...
Developers flock to city hotspot as land prices soar
The Ratchathewi-Phetchaburi zone in Bangkok has become a hotspot attracting significant interest from property developers thanks to its potential to become a major urban transit interchange in 2020. Land prices in the area have risen at a pace comparable with the Siam Square area, according to ...
Laos to receive technical training from Chinese on proposed high-speed railway
Chinese railway experts are providing technical training this month for Lao officials in charge of a U.S. $7 billion high-speed railway project that will link the two neighboring countries and extend to Thailand, although the Chinese government has yet to sign a contract to begin ...
India, Laos agree to allow direct flights
Vice-President Hamid Ansari on 18 September signed two memorandums of understanding with his counterpart in Laos, Bounyang Vorachith in the Presidential Palace Ho Kham. The MoUs cover an air services agreement — allowing airlines to start a direct flight between the two countries — and another agreement ...
World Bank approves $400m electrification loan
The World Bank approved a US$400 million interest-free loan to provide financing and technical assistance to help bring electricity to more than 6.2 million people in Myanmar, the bank announced on 17 September. The loan will support Myanmar’s National Electrification Plan and was granted by the ...
State Railway of Thailand to clarify Airport Link train purchase
The Transport Ministry on 17 September ordered the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to provide a full report on its 4.4-billion-baht purchase of seven trains for the Airport Rail Link project after the agency was accused of procurement fraud. Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Cheewapreuk asked SRT governor Wuthichart ...
Vietnam builds a $1.7 billion port, and now it lies waiting for ships
More than six years since its opening, a VND40-trillion (US$1.75 billion) deep-river port complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is still struggling to reach its designed capacity. Statistics from the province’s transport department showed that a total of 1.16 million TEUs were handled ...
