Economy and commerce

After allowing the MS Westerdam and its 2,000 passengers and crew to dock at its port on February, Sihanoukville, a quiet and small port city in Cambodia has commanded the global spotlight.  Aside from offering a safe departure for those on board, Sihanoukville is in the ...

THE IMPACT on Myanmar of the coronavirus outbreak that began in neighbouring China late last year has hit border trade and tourism hard, and there were reports last week that the garment sector was also being affected by supply-chain disruptions. As of February 17, Myanmar was monitoring ...

Cambodia and China say they are now planning to sign a free-trade deal some time later this year. The move came after the duo wrapped up their first-round negotiations, which were held last month in Beijing, China. The Ministry of Economy and Finance late last week ...

Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) recently approved 12 investment enterprises from home and abroad, said a release from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Saturday (Feb 15). The enterprises, which will create over 6,600 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens, were permitted at the commission’s ...

Vietnam took over the rotational chair of Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in January 2020, so it’ worth noting that Hanoi’s second foremost foreign policy priority after the South China Sea is reportedly the Mekong River region. While the South China Sea, ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has announced it is preparing to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC). NBC’s director-general, Chea Serey, said the central bank was developing “the national payment gateway for Cambodia.” It would serve as a blockchain-based, peer-to-peer platform with its own specially designed cryptocurrency. According ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...