Economy and commerce
Investment
Chinese investment upheavals anger Laos' indigenous tribes
Rackety trucks rush across China’s border with its backwater neighbor, stirring up clouds of dust and drowning the tweets of tropical birds. Chinese projects to construct roads in one of Asia’s poorest countries date back to 1962 when Laos was subject to a proxy war between the global Cold ...
Robert Bociaga
Sihanoukville eyes a bright future to become ‘Shenzhen of Cambodia’
After allowing the MS Westerdam and its 2,000 passengers and crew to dock at its port on February, Sihanoukville, a quiet and small port city in Cambodia has commanded the global spotlight. Aside from offering a safe departure for those on board, Sihanoukville is in the ...
Lan Hui Source
Myanmar approves 12 local and foreign investment enterprises
Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) recently approved 12 investment enterprises from home and abroad, said a release from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Saturday (Feb 15). The enterprises, which will create over 6,600 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens, were permitted at the commission’s ...
What Xi wants in Myanmar may not be what he gets
If there were any doubts around China’s thinking about where to direct its money and influence in Southeast Asia, they were dispelled by the recent announcement that Xi Jinping would visit Myanmar on 17 and 18 January, the first state visit by a Chinese leader ...
Michael Sainsbury
Expo held to boost Lancang-Mekong sub-regional trade and investment
The 2019 Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Exposition opened Thursday in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, aiming at boosting sub-regional trade and investment. More than 2,000 merchants from home and abroad are expected to attend the five-day event, which has set up 1,800 booths in five ...
Are Thailand’s investments abroad sustainable?
Although Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced Thailand’s commitment to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in 2017, outbound investment remains a largely unregulated sector. Thai firms are significant investors in ASEAN countries, and Thailand’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region ...
Jason Thomas
Government will pour more investment to the Mekong Delta
Nguyễn Chí Dũng, Minister of Planning and Investment, talks to the Government portal on what the country has done to help the Mekong Delta region develop sustainability. What mechanisms do we need to attract different resources to invest in the Mekong Delta region? In the context of ...
Hun Sen Slowly Selling Cambodia Down the Mekong River to China
Cambodia has seen a huge influx of Chinese investment, workers and tourists in recent years. Many in Cambodia are increasingly worried about the negative impact it is having. Sihanoukville, a once-sleepy beach town, symbolizes the transformation brought about by Chinese investment in Cambodia. The town of ...
Vietnam should forget about high speed railway until 2030
An expensive high-speed railway is a nice dream, but let’s get real and build better roads between provinces first. On a visit to California, I discovered that the western U.S. state had kept pending a high speed rail proposal since 1996 due to funding cuts made ...
Huynh The Du
Open Letter: Spare Cambodia from Great Power politics in 21st century
The unfortunate speculation that China is building a military base in Cambodian territory is guided by only by ill-intended and misinformed plethora without any evidence. It is utterly a smear campaign against the national interests of Cambodians and the hard-earned peace and development the national government ...