Economy and commerce
Human trafficking needs urgent action: Mekong nations
Human trafficking continues to flourish within the region, requiring a joint effort by the Mekong countries to actively stamp out the trade and penalise those responsible. Human trafficking is harmful to socio-economic development and social order in the region and could worsen when the ASEAN Economic ...
Japan to end preferential tariffs for China, four others
Japan has proposed stricter tariff rules that would knock five trading partners including China and Mexico off the list of countries receiving preferential treatment for emerging economies. A finance ministry customs committee said on November 24 that the list of nations qualifying for zero or minimal ...
Thailand evokes Temasek as Junta tries to revive state firms
Thailand is seeking to set up an investment holding company next year for government shareholdings, part of a wider effort to improve the performance of state-controlled enterprises. A law to boost the governance of such firms and enable the creation of the holding company may ...
Cargill invests $50m in Thai facility
US-based Cargill is investing US$50 million to expand its poultry-processing operations at its facility in Nakhon Ratchasima province. The expansion will create 1,400 new jobs and add to the more than 13,500 people the company currently employs across 14 locations in the country. Cargill will engage ...
SRT plans high-speed rail talks with Malaysia
Thailand is preparing to sit for talks with Malaysia to discuss an ambitious initiative to build a new high-speed train system linking Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. The planned meeting follows interest expressed earlier by the Malaysian transport minister, which drew an enthusiastic response from Thai ...
Stanchart: PH economy on track to beating ASEAN counterparts
Despite external headwinds, the Philippines is expected to grow the fastest among ASEAN economies until next year on the back of robust domestic demand and strong services exports, Standard Chartered Bank said on November 24. “The Philippines’ domestic growth engine is firing on all cylinders, ...
VN fruit sent to tough markets
Việt Nam exported nearly 10,000 tonnes of fresh fruit to difficult markets such as the United States, Canada, South Korea and Japan in the first 10 months of this year. This export volume doubled figures from the whole of last year. According to director of the ...
CA$11.9M initiative to boost ASEAN SMEs
Canada is working with ASEAN to deliver an ambitious five-year, CA$11.9 million initiative through a partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region.Keep reading ...
Thailand braces for Trump dumping TPP
Country needs to focus other bilateral and regional deals next year, officials say. Thailand should get ready to renegotiate the framework of the US-ASEAN free-trade agreement after US President-elect Donald Trump announced on November 22 that he would scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal in his first ...
Banned rosewood trade up
Despite the presence of a blanket ban by the Cambodian government on all trade in Siamese rosewood since 2013, exports of the precious timber to Vietnam increased in the third quarter of this year, according to Vietnamese customs data compiled by US-based NGO Forest Trends. ...
