Economy and commerce

According to official figures from the Ministry of Commerce, trade volume reached US$23 billion until the end of January in this fiscal year. The ministry has set the target trade volume to be $31 billion, therefore the ministry will continue trying to achieve its target ...

The severe weather conditions in the first months of 2016 with drought and saline intrusion dealt a strong blow on Vietnam’s agriculture, leading to minus growth rate of the sector in the first half of the year. Agricultural production, which has just recovered from the damage ...

Thailand is ending its sugar subsidy programme after complaints that it dragged down global sugar prices. But both rural farmers and the ruling junta could suffer from the decision. The Thai government has announced that it will end its programme subsidising its sugar industry nearly a ...

Hitachi Ltd and Hitachi Building Systems Company on February 22 announced the official launch of the Asia Training Centre in Chon Buri province for engineers involved in the elevator and escalator business. The training centre, which is Hitachi’s first outside Japan, started soft operations last month, ...

Leading energy conglomerate PTT plans to restructure its petrochemical operations in moves that would also see the sale of its propane and bioplastic business chains to subsidiary PTT Global Chemical, chief executive Tevin Vongvanich said. The proposal would be put to shareholder meetings in April, ...

An agricultural service centre, which began construction in Huaphan province on February 18, aimed to enhance the quantity and the quality of crops and animals produced in the province for export to Vietnam. The agricultural service centre is the largest agricultural cooperation project between Vietnam ...

The imposition of Criminal Act 144 in Minbu district, Minbu township Mann oil refinery and oil refineries from Tauksharpin-Kanniyay, Magwe Region will not be suspended pending the enactment of other laws to safeguard the areas, said Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Major General Aung Soe. ...

Two breweries in the Mandalay industrial zone were temporarily shut down after they were found to have exceeded the specified wastewater disposal rate, said U Thant Zin Tun, assistant director of the Mandalay regional environmental conservation department. There are four breweries in the industrial zone, ...

A two-year income tax exemption is being offered to small and medium-sized enterprises that register with the Ministry of Economy and Finance before the end of 2018. According to a sub-decree published on February 22, the decision to offer a tax exemption for SMEs that are ...

Thailand’s two major petrochemical companies have reported a surge in combined net profit for last year of 54.2 per cent from the prior year to Bt41.79 billion. Indorama Ventures posted net profit of Bt16.19 billion, a jump of 145 per cent year on year, while ...