Economy and commerce
Mekong Delta creating favorable conditions to attract investment
Statistics from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) show that out of 47 million tonnes of straw per year, only 20 percent is used as straw mushroom beds, cattle feed, cushion for fruit transportation. The rest is either burnt (20 million tonnes such each year ...
SGGP
Thai investment in Laos hydropower reveals dire disconnect in the Mekong
Over the past year, the pace of hydropower development along the mainstream of the Mekong River in Laos has picked up, fuelled by long-term funding agreements. Chinese and Thai hydropower project investors have been signing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which usually cover a 30-year period, ...
Ming Li Yong
Laos PM vows stronger action to improve business environment
VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN): Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has pledged to amend legislation to improve the business environment amid fierce international competition by governments to improve their ease of doing business. he government will “amend the Investment Promotion Law and relevant legislation to smooth business operations ...
Vientiane Times/ANN
Swiss-Viet Officials Meet, Discuss Progress on FTA
The Swiss ambassador, Thomas Gass, met with National Assembly Chairman, Vuong Dinh Hue earlier this week ahead of the 52nd anniversary of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Vietnam later this year. The two officials discussed bilateral trade and investment with progress on negotiations of a free ...
Dezan Shira and Associates
Mekong politicians should separate economy from politics
Concerns have been raised by migrant workers that the Thai government will expel Cambodian and Laotian migrant workers. Although there is no explicit policy as such, the concerns are not groundless, because Thailand did in face expel some 200,000 Cambodian workers in June 2014 after the May ...
SIM VIREAK
RCEP creates new impetus for regional economic development
Since it entered into force in early 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has helped strongly promote integration of value and supply chains, strengthen confidence in regional economic recovery and create new impetus for trade and investment growth in the region and the world, ...
Lost in Laos: Systemic problems are far greater than one new leader can solve
On 30 December, Lao Prime Minster Phankham Viphavanh (72) resigned ostensibly on health grounds, but amidst an economy in sharp decline and saddled in foreign debt. He is succeeded by the scion of one of the country’s two political dynasties, Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (56). Politics in ...
A commentary by Zachary Abuza
Traders defy the law to import more teak into the USA from Myanmar than before the coup
Despite sanctions put in place against the brutal military junta in Myanmar, US traders continue to source precious teak from the country for luxury yachts and flooring. The allegations are made in the new EIA report Acts of Defiance – How US traders are ignoring sanctions to import ...
China, Vietnam, Laos are hotspots for the criminal wildlife trade: does Asia really care about biodiversity?
Pangolin scales at US$160 a kilogram, monkeys and wild cats for sale – the online trade in protected and rare species is thriving in Laos, a key Southeast Asian gateway to the insatiable Chinese and Vietnamese markets for animal products. As world leaders gather in Egypt ...
Aidan Jones
Price fluctuations in goods in Mekong Delta
Specifically, the farm-gate price of hogs bred for slaughtering in many localities in the Mekong Delta has decreased by about VND2,000-VND3,000 per kg, to the lowest level in many months. In Can Tho City and many provinces such as Soc Trang, Vinh Long, An Giang, ...
Anh Duong - Translated by Anh Quan