News
Thailand drops one spot in GTCI rankings
Thailand slipped one position to 67th in the 2020 Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI) of 132 countries, weighed down by poor vocational and technical skills. The GTCI report was developed by INSEAD, one of the world’s biggest graduate business schools, in partnership with HR solutions provider ...
Suchit Leesa-Nguansuk
Thailand firm to build new urban centre with construction ministry
The construction ministry inked a deal with a Thai firm to build a US$1 billion “smart city” in northeastern Yangon. The JV agreement – signed last Friday – would pave way to more than 30,000 new jobs and US$60 million in direct tax, the two sides ...
How China is choking the Mekong
The former chief of Pak Chim, a tiny village on a tributary of the Mekong River, remembers clearly the moment he knew his hamlet would be no more. It was a decade ago. A few hundred residents of Pak Chim and nearby villages along the snaking ...
Shibani Mahtani
Hazy shade of winter
Waking up to a misty skyline resembling the mysterious town of Silent Hill, a survival horror video game, with the haze foreshadowing obscured dangers lurking in thick smog, is jarring for all Bangkok residents. The level of particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 ...
Dusida Worrachaddejchai, Suchit Leesa-Nguansuk & Piyachart Maikaew
World Bank Classifies Laos as Lower-Middle-Income Economy for 2020
The World Bank has classified Laos as a lower-middle-income economy in its latest classification for the 2020 fiscal year. The bank classifies the world’s economies into four income groups, namely high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low, based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in U.S. dollars. Lower middle-income economies are those ...
Taejun Kang
Farmers need new skills, technology and research to become international
For Cambodia to reach its full potential in agriculture, it needs more investment, diversification in crops, access to new technology, more research and development on related products, the full mechanisation of rice cultivation and plain, old-fashioned cash. That was the view of stakeholders at an agriculture ...
Sok Chan
New $212m financing for climate-friendly projects in Vietnam
A new financing package of $212.5 million (£162m) has been announced to support climate-friendly projects in Vietnam. The funding from IFC, a member of the World Bank, will enable VPBank to expand its lending to small and medium businesses and boost financing for projects that help reduce carbon ...
Priyanka Shrestha
Suvarnabhumi virus screening limited
Officials at Suvarnabhumi Airport say they are awaiting more information from Chinese authorities before deciding whether to expand screening of passengers arriving from China to try to detect the new coronavirus that is causing worldwide concern. China, meanwhile, announced late Saturday that all group tours from ...
PM urges ministries, localities to prevent nCoV outbreak
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued an urgent dispatch on preventing the acute respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (nCoV) strain, which is developing complicatedly in China without specific treatment and preventive vaccine yet. The dispatch was sent to the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Foreign ...
Losing dolphins for more hydropower
The construction of the Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos has affected the habitats of Mekong River dolphins, causing their numbers to dwindle in Stung Treng province. The dwindling numbers are causing a decline in tourists who wish to see them, resulting in loss of ...
Pech Sotheary