News
Trump’s GSP seafood cut gives Thailand 2020 GDP an early whack
The struggling Thailand economy received an unexpected whack for the year ahead yesterday (Oct 26) when US President Donald Trump suspended $1.3 billion worth of duty-free trade for Thai items, including seafood, under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme. President Trump is reported to have ...
John Le Fevre
Boten SEZ eyeing investment of over US$11 billion
Boten Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Luang Namtha province is anticipating investment of at least US$10 billion to fully develop the site, according to a zone representative. The zone borders on Bohan in Yunnan province, China, and is part of the rapidly-growing economic cooperation between Laos ...
Souksamai Boulom
What Thais want to see in 2020 Budget
In a few months’ time, the current Thai government’s position could be hanging in the balance. This is thanks to the country’s 3.2-trillion-baht (US$105.6 billion) fiscal 2020 budget which will have its third reading on 9 January next year. The 2020 fiscal year began on 1 ...
Sheith Khidhir
Cleaning up a dirty industry: ASEAN is becoming more dependent on coal but it has an obligation to mitigate its environmental impact
Universal electricity access is a key pillar of ASEAN’s development goals. The regional bloc has committed to providing every citizen with an electricity supply by the early 2030s. To achieve this end, the region will need to increase its power capabilities by some 60% by ...
Oliver Ward
NUOL project building capacity in environmental impact assessment
The Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the National University of Laos (NUOL) is reporting substantial progress in its project to build capacity in technical knowledge for environmental impact assessments (EIA). The project, running from 2018-2020, has been developing EIA training courses and textbooks for government staff, ...
Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
East Asia Summit draft statement skips over Rohingya crisis
A draft of the statement to be issued after the East Asia Summit in Bangkok early next month makes no mention of the exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to a copy of the communique seen by Kyodo News on Sunday. According to ...
Many Thai products to lose GSP privileges in the US
Thailand’s Department of Foreign Trade will announce on Monday the details of its suspension of duty-free treatment for some Thai products under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). This follows US suspension on Friday of such preferred treatment for Thai products worth around US$1.3 billion, citing ...
The Nation Reporter
Vietnam attracts investors in the face of economic uncertainty
Despite the slowdown in global deal-making due to ongoing worldwide economic uncertainty, Vietnam remains active in M&A in 2020, according to a new report by Baker McKenzie. The firm’s fifth annual Global Transactions Forecast, jointly released with Oxford Economics, projects that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will ...
Lancang-Mekong countries share expertise on citizen management
Officials in citizen management from Laos, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia met in Pakxe City, Champassak province this week to discuss civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS). Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Siphouk Vongphakdy; Champassak province Deputy Governor, Somsanith Bouttivong; and Counsellor at the ...
Eating less meat can fight climate change
Food has an environmental impact. A 2018 study by J. Poore and T. Nemecek titled ‘Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,’ published by the University of Oxford revealed that food production is responsible for 26 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing ...
Liyana Hasnan
