Trade

Despite sanctions put in place against the brutal military junta in Myanmar, US traders continue to source precious teak from the country for luxury yachts and flooring. The allegations are made in the new EIA report Acts of Defiance – How US traders are ignoring sanctions to import ...

Pangolin scales at US$160 a kilogram, monkeys and wild cats for sale – the online trade in protected and rare species is thriving in Laos, a key Southeast Asian gateway to the insatiable Chinese and Vietnamese markets for animal products. As world leaders gather in Egypt ...

Talking to the press on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the nations’ diplomatic relations (September 5, 1962 – 2022), he said with their time-tested relationship, Việt Nam and Laos have many advantages and great potential to increase the scale of cooperation. It requires both ...

A senior official noted that the country lags behind in technical expertise when it comes to turning raw fish and other aquatic species into higher-value items. In the first seven months of 2022, total freshwater and marine fishery production amounted to 24,500 tonnes and 6,860 tonnes, ...

Myanmar has set a goal of doubling rice exports in three years’ time by focusing on higher-quality varieties, according to the president of the nation’s rice federation. The country plans to ship as much as 4 million tonnes annually by 2025 from around 2 million tonnes ...

Despite the economic downturn during the Covid-19 pandemic, China-sponsored infrastructure, trade and cooperation initiatives with Southeast Asian nations have been moving forward consistently — amplifying the presence of Beijing in one of the world’s fastest growing regions. One recent landmark event was the inauguration of the ...

The Lower Mekong Region is home to around 100 CITES-listed tree species. These include CITES Appendix-II timber-producing species of rosewoods (genus Dalbergia), yew trees (genus Taxus spp.), and agarwood (genus Aquilaria), some of which are highly valuable for international trade. This has made some of these species a target ...

Laos has authorised the mining and trading of cryptocurrencies, in a policy shift by the debt-laden south-east Asian nation that positions it to profit from the crackdown on digital currency mining in China. Analysts said the move was a logical step for the landlocked, communist-ruled country ...

Thailand has launched a pilot program to test, vaccinate and isolate factory workers to limit Covid-related disruptions to its export-driven manufacturing industry, one of the few bright spots in an economy crushed by the virus.  The “Factory Sandbox” initiative aims to protect 3 million jobs and ...

More than 100 environmental groups have called on the government to prohibit the import of plastic waste and instead encourage the use of domestic plastic waste for recycling as a way to safeguard the environment and promote the circular economy. The network of 107 civil society ...