Economy and commerce
Investment
Foreigners pull record US$5b as Southeast Asian stocks sink
Foreign investors are selling Southeast Asian stocks at the fastest pace on record as the region’s economic outlook worsens and the US gets closer to raising interest rates. Overseas funds unloaded a net US$5.1 billion (S$7.28 billion) of Indonesian, Thai and Philippine shares in the third ...
Vietnam third-quarter economic growth accelerates to 6.81 pct
Vietnam’s economic growth quickened in the third quarter, buoyed by foreign investments and exports growth that contrasts with the performance of many of its neighbours. Gross domestic product rose 6.81 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to figures released by the Hanoi-based ...
Lotteria to open in Laos
Fast-food restaurant Lotteria signed a franchising pact with Lao company, Soxay Chaleun Group, to make inroads in ASEAN countries. Keep reading ...
Who is the biggest investor into ASEAN?
The competition to invest into ASEAN countries has been heating up of late. As a region which has been growing, ASEAN still has a large pool of relatively cheap labour in the developing countries. ASEAN is also home to some 600 million consumers with a fast growing middle ...
Express road to airport in works
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport on 22 September announced the start of feasibility studies aimed at building an express elevated toll road that would extend from Phnom Penh’s city centre to the airport by 2021. Public Works Minister Tram Iv Tek said that China’s Henan ...
Myanmar launches Thilawa industrial zone
Dignitaries from Myanmar and Japan on 23 September launched the first phase of a huge industrial zone on the outskirts of Yangon, as the long-isolated nation pushes to rapidly accelerate its industrialisation. Housing everything from children’s toy manufacturing to a car assembly plant and a deep-sea port, ...
KBZ and Microsoft sign tech deal
Microsoft has signed an agreement with Kanbawza (KBZ) Group of Companies, which the US company calls its largest IT tie-up in Myanmar to date. The multi-year corporate agreement represents a significant commitment to the Myanmar market, even as some investors employ wait-and-see attitudes around the question ...
Myanmar grants more firms to invest this month
Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has granted 17 local and foreign firms to make investment in the country this month, sources with commission said on 22 September. Keep reading ...
ADB cuts growth forecast
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) cut its two-year growth forecast for the region on 22 September, amid a slow recovery in major industrial economies and weaker prospects for China and India. The Manila-based bank said developing Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to slow ...
Myanmar's economy risks overheating: IMF
Myanmar’s economy is showing strong signs of overheating and has become increasingly vulnerable over the past 12 months amid rising macroeconomic imbalances, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). An expansionary budget and limited monetary policy tools will see inflation at 13 percent by year-end, the ...