Infrastructure
World water week to focus on achieving sustainable development goals
The 2016 World Water Week kicked off on August 29, focusing on water to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Opening the event, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Angel Gurria said that water, from having been a subject that was rarely discussed ...
Yunnan: China's bridge to South and Southeast Asia
China is revisiting its periphery with a new, localized approach to regional multilateralism. China is revisiting the importance of its peripheries for engaging with its neighbors according to its ambitious economic plans. Beijing’s new approach is a top-down regulatory regionalism in exploring economic engagement with the neighborhood, particularly Southeast ...
Vietnam considers buying electricity from Laos to ease reliance on China
Vietnam may import electricity from Laos to minimize the risks from relying on Chinese imports and to offset supply shortages caused by cutting off power sources which pollute the environment. Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has urged the Ministry of Industry and Trade to submit ...
Japan readies 100bn yen in lending for Myanmar
Japan plans to extend about $994 million in low-interest lending to Myanmar for such projects as railways and water treatment plants, the latest step in Tokyo’s push to bolster ties with the Southeast Asian country. This would mark Japan’s first development financing initiative for Myanmar since ...
Egat insists on going ahead with Thepa plant
Construction of the Thepa coal-fired power plant is set to begin in the second quarter of next year, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand said, even though many locals have refused to sell their land despite facing threats. Egat has so far insisted that it will ...
New bridge slated for Mandalay-Muse highway
A new concrete bridge will be built on the Mandalay-Muse Highway, the main route for border trade through Shan State to China, according to a statement by the Ministry of Information on August 5. The bridge will incorporate a two-lane highway as well as hard shoulders ...
Mekong Delta needs $4bn for transport infrastructure
The Transport Development and Strategy Institute under the Ministry of Transport has recently proposed mobilizing over $4 billion to develop infrastructure and logistics systems in the Mekong Delta during the 2016-2020 period. The Delta needs $3.2 billion for 39 road transport projects, $806 million for 23 ...
Existing airports left idle, new airports built
While many airports in the Mekong Delta are still idle, the Ministry of Transport is considering building new ones. MOT is planning to build an airport in the southern province of An Giang with estimated investment capital of VND 3.4 trillion. The domestic airport, designed ...
Myanmar transportation, infrastructure weakest in Southeast Asia: World Bank
Myanmar has the weakest transportation and infrastructure in Southeast Asia, according to a report by the World Bank Group. Myanmar ranked 137 among 160 countries in the transportation index in 2014, giving it the lowest position among Southeast Asian countries. Moreover, only 33 per cent of households ...
China, ASEAN ‘need fast RCEP deal’
ASEAN’s trade relationship with China has reached a crucial turning point with the latest 2015 figures showing a 3-per-cent contraction, making it necessary to quickly conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, according to a top Chinese think-tank. Zhang Yuyan, director of the Institute of World ...
