Economy and commerce
IMF reminds Indonesia to balance financial deepening and stability
Financial development in Indonesia has evolved at a relatively slow speed in comparison to peer countries. Although this provides opportunities for financial deepening, the International Monetary Fund has been quick to remind Indonesia that deepening should be balanced with stability to avoid a crisis. “There is ...
Vietnam's rice exports to decline sharply this year
Viet Nam hopes to export 1.6 million tonnes rice in the four remaining months of the year, raising exports for the year to 4.9 million tonnes, said the Viet Nam Food Association. According to a report the VFA tabled at a meeting held in southern An ...
Japanese construction giant to spend USD1bn on 50 projects in Vietnam
Tokyo-based contractor Kajima will team up with Indochina Land. Vietnam’s property market continues to ensnare Japanese firms. The latest: a partnership between Kajima and Hanoi-based developer Indochina Capital, which was unveiled on September 16, will officially begin in October. The resulting venture, ICC-Kajima, is expected to plough USD1 ...
Foreign sector scooping up Vietnam FMCG market
The foreign sector continues to scoop up more of the market for consumer goods like ice cream, food, drinks, clothing, footwear, toiletries and household supplies, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. At a recent business forum in Hanoi, Phan Chi Dung of the MOIT ...
China media: opposition to hydropower dams in Myanmar is “extreme”
Opposition to Chinese-invested hydropower schemes in Myanmar is being orchestrated by “extreme” groups in the country and has been extremely damaging to joint investment projects, an influential Chinese newspaper wrote on September 19. The suspension in 2011 of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone mega dam project by former ...
Vietnamese firm to sell rubber plantation in Laos
A Vietnamese multi-sector conglomerate has announced it may sell nearly half of its massive rubber plantation stake in Laos to Chinese partners to deal with increasing debts and shrinking profits. The Vietnamese firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai is a major investor in Laos and operates a ...
Banking with a positive spin
A banking sector initiative launched on September 19 aims to advise Cambodia’s financial sector on best practices for sustainable lending while capitalising on the growing pool of international funds that could flow into green and socially responsible projects. The Sustainable Finance Initiative will conduct two years of ...
Terms announced on rice lending package
The government-owned bank charged with issuing $27 million in emergency loans to rice millers as part of an initiative aimed at propping up the struggling rice industry announced the terms of the credit lines on September 19, and said it would ensure that the funds ...
Thailand to overhaul sugar policy
Thailand, the world’s second largest sugar exporter after Brazil, is to overhaul its sugar production and distribution systems for the first time in more than three decades in order to avoid being challenged by Brazil at the World Trade Organization. The move is unlikely to make ...
Exporters warned over strict standards
Amid poor export prospects, Thai exporters are being warned of looming strict trade standards on food safety, sanitation and the environment, notably from the US, the EU and Japan. Pimchanok Vonkhorporn, deputy director–general of Trade Policy and Strategy Office under the Commerce Ministry, said stricter ...
