Economy and commerce
Trade
PM applauds Bình Thuận development plans
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc lauded plans to develop the southern coastal province of Bình Thuận into a green, clean and sustainable economy during a local investment promotion conference on April 19. In his speech to more than 240 local and foreign businesses and investors, he said the ...
Mekong River survey begins despite opposition
Survey work on the Mekong River channel project officially started on April 19 in Chiang Rai, and field survey by a Chinese company is expected to begin tomorrow amid strong opposition by environmentalists. The Marine Department revealed on April 19 that China’s CCCC Second Habor Consultant Co ...
Business operations face high logistics costs, study says
High logistics costs in Laos are still a major obstruction for business operations throughout the domestic private sector and can also deter investors, a recent study suggests. Logistics costs in the country are as high as double compared to other neighbouring or ASEAN countries according to ...
Panel hears bribery rife in fish industry
The Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing has set up a panel to look into complaints accusing some officials of demanding bribes from trawler operators. Centre deputy head Vice Admiral Wannapol Glormgeao said Tuesday the centre recently received a number of complaints from anchovy trawler ...
Caffeine high as Laos tops South-East Asia's coffee producer rankings
Laos is riding high as largest coffee exporter in ASEAN followed by Vietnam in second place and Thailand third according to figures compiled by the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment. Coffee is among Laos top export income earners in terms of agricultural commodities, earning ...
Southeast Asian capitals bristle at Trump's trade probe
The Trump administration’s order to probe U.S. trading partners for unfair practices has provoked outrage in the Southeast Asian nations under scrutiny, and threatens to deepen a divide that leaves the region more exposed to Chinese influence. Indonesia, for one, has challenged the notion that ...
Vietnam's FPT looks to put self-driving cars on Asian roads
IT company to challenge global giants with low-cost tech. Vietnam’s FPT aims to jostle into competition among industry titans like Apple and Google over autonomous vehicles by commercializing a low-cost system within the next two years. The country’s leading information technology company is targeting about $200 million in annual sales from ...
Vietnamese cosmetics less favored as foreign products dominate market
Vietnam is a large cosmetics market with turnover of $1.1 billion last year, but there is now little room for Vietnamese manufacturers. The founder of La House, a cosmetics brand, has complained about the difficulties of opening shops at large shopping malls. The owners of malls ...
PM: economy is resilient
The Cambodian economy continues to be resilient in the midst of global uncertainty, with a healthy GDP growth of seven percent, and with further prospects for improvement, said Prime Minister Hun Sen in his Khmer New Year address to the nation on April 12. “Despite all ...
ASEAN summit to discuss South China Sea rows
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will attend the ASEAN summit in Manila on April 29 to discuss community building as well as regional and global issues, the Foreign Ministry said on April 12. Various regional security matters, including the contentious South China Sea disputes, and the ...