Economy and commerce
Investment
Luang Namtha targeting rubber for poverty reduction
Luang Namtha provincial authorities are allowing some poor families to grow rubber trees on their small allotments to discourage illegal plantings in forest conservation areas. An official from the provincial Planning and Investment Department, Mrs Phommy Somboun, told Vientiane Times on January 5 the policy was ...
Laos, Cambodia open new international border checkpoint
Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen will attend the official opening ceremony of the new Nong Nokkhiane-Trapeang Kriel international border checkpoint on January 10, according to Laos’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 5. The new international border checkpoint will ...
Kingdom preps for China trade center
Cambodia plans to open a trade center in China this year and the Commerce Ministry is hoping the initiative broadens economic relations and cultural exchange. Soeng Sophary, spokeswoman for the Commerce Ministry, told Khmer Times that a group of delegates from the ministry are currently in ...
Cambodia’s rice exports fall sharply
Cambodia’s milled rice exports only grew by a dismal 0.7 percent last year compared with 2015 and this was the lowest since 2014, according to government figures released on January 5. “Last year Cambodia only exported 542,144 tons of milled rice and the lowest exports ...
Agriculture sector expects further investments with slashed policies
Local and foreign investors are welcoming the government’s landmark move to eliminate agricultural policy-related obstacles in a bid to attract more investment in the agricultural sector. Hong Sun, secretary general of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam, told VIR that the Korean business community in ...
Economists, private sector optimistic about strong Lao economy in 2017
Economists and the private sector are confident that the Lao economy has a good chance of achieving the expectations set for 2017 despite global uncertainties, but urge more effective management of the macroeconomy, the price of goods, and improvement of the investment and business climate. ...
Rubber price rebound prompts some farmers to restart production
Myanmar rubber farmers and producers battered by months of low prices are enjoying some respite following a recovery in global markets last year. With weak local demand Myanmar’s rubber industry is at the mercy of world markets, and low prices throughout 2015 and much of ...
200,000 university graduates are jobless; who is to blame?
Educators argue that it is unreasonable to blame the education sector for the high number of unemployed university graduates.“This is a misconception. Vietnam now runs a market economy and you must not expect the number of university graduates to be exactly equal to the number ...
Vientiane targets economic growth of 11 percent
Vientiane authorities are aiming to grow the capital’s economy by 11 percent this year and expect that GDP will increase by 41.6 trillion kip. It is also anticipated that the capital’s residents will have an annual average per capita income of US$5,000. The agriculture and ...
China poaches airport contract
The government has commissioned a Chinese consortium to build a new international airport for Siem Reap and formed a committee to determine how to compensate the French company that operates the city’s existing airport for prematurely ending its concession licence, according to documents obtained on ...