Economy and commerce

Jade traders in Mandalay say this could be the worst year ever for business. The main cause they cite is the absence of Chinese buyers, possibly nervous about the outcome of next month’s election.  In interviews on 25 October at the Maha Aung Myay Gem Trading ...

Phnom Penh authorities on 27 October offered an economic argument for ministries, motorists and citizens to respect traffic laws, claiming that congestion-related costs in the capital were setting the country back about $6 million per month. Speaking at a national seminar, Effects of Traffic Congestion on Environment ...

Exports of fresh fish and fish products fell significantly during the first nine months of the year, raising concerns about businesses and families operating in the Cambodia’s fisheries sector. Fresh and frozen fish export shipments fell 21 per cent during the first nine months of the year ...

Post-coup Thailand barely retained its position among the World Bank’s top 50 economies worldwide and has ranked third among ASEAN countries on the ease of doing business during the past year. In its annual Doing Business 2016: Measuring Quality and Efficiency survey, Thailand fell three places from the ...

The Thai Cabinet has approved more measures worth Bt5 billion to support small and medium-sized enterprises in a bid to increase their competitiveness, Industry Minister Atchaka Sibunruang said. Keep reading ...

Real estate conglomerate Vingroup has acquired Vietnam’s oldest supermarket chain Maximark in an effort to strengthen its foothold in the retail market.   The value of the deal has not been revealed. Maximark, whose first supermarket was open in January 1996, has nine supermarkets, mostly in Ho ...

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance is considering changing a tax regulation following concerns that the rule has been abused by Chinese exporters to ship a large amount of steel to Vietnam without paying duties.   Currently imported steel with at least 0.3 percent of chrome content will be exempt ...

The government has announced a new decree which for the first time will allow private and foreign investors to provide certain services at Vietnamese airports.    According to the decree, which will take effect on 12 December, private investors will be allowed to purchase rights to manage ...

An investor from the British Virgin Islands has filed a complaint against ho Chi Minh City officials for mishandling its investment license and soliciting bribes, local media reported.    K.S.T International Holdings Ltd., which is seeking a license to open a business to import electric equipment, said ...

Since the early 1990s, five rounds of the Lao Expenditure and Consumption Surveys have shown that measured inequality has increased at the national level — within both rural and urban areas, within almost all provinces of Laos and within each of the four major ethnic ...