Extractive industries
Oil giants launch Myanmar exploration
International oil companies are kicking off exploration activities in Myanmar offshore, after completing environmental and social impact assessment surveys. Global oil giants are beginning to launch 2D and 3D seismic surveys in their newly awarded offshore blocks, said an official from Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. Keep ...
Ratanakkiri official defends disputed land
A Ministry of Interior immigration official at the centre of a long-running land dispute in a gem mining district of Ratanakkiri spoke out for the first time on 29 October, just days after 200 villagers protested what they termed their illegal eviction. The villagers from Bakeo ...
Mandalay jade traders say worst year ‘ever’ for sales
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 ...
Vietnam mulls new import tariff on alloy steel after fraud warning
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 ...
Gem miners protest in Ratanakkiri
About 200 villagers gathered in Ratanakkiri’s provincial capital of Banlung town on 26 October, calling for a resolution to a longstanding land dispute in the province’s gem-rich Bakeo district. In 2013, a man named Heng Socheat sued five village representatives from the district’s Keh Chung commune, ...
Laos boosts hydropower, explores coal deposits for shale gas
Laos aims to sharply boost its hydropower generation to 10,000 megawatts by 2020 and is exploring for shale gas as part of plans to export electricity to its neighbours, its vice minister of energy and mines said on 26 October. Laos is among Asia’s poorest countries ...
Vietnam steel association wants fewer plants as supply surplus hurts industry
The Vietnam Steel Association has urged authorities not to go ahead with 27 planned steel plants since local output is already more than twice the demand. Some of the planned plants have not been started while others have proved impractical or are using outdated technology. Keep reading ...
Cambodian government and industry reps hear EITI experience
A visiting Mongolian delegation comprised of government, industry and civil society active in the petroleum and mining sectors shared their experience in implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) with their Cambodian counterparts at a workshop in Phnom Penh on 28 September. The EITI is an ...
Myanmar Government urged to halt alabaster mining near religious sites
Monks and local residents have joined forces to fight an alabaster mine they say is disturbing monks’ meditation and undermining their monasteries. The campaigners are demanding that Khine Mar Toe company cease its operations beneath the Yat Kan Zin mountain range in Pat Le Inn village ...
Government puts mining licences on hold
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on 22 September told villagers protesting against a planned expansion of gold-mining areas that no new mining permits will be issued during ongoing legal disputes and an assessment period. He was responding to a rally by protesters from 12 provinces who oppose the planned ...
