Economy and commerce

In Southeast Asia, as everywhere else, Covid-19 has fundamentally disrupted business as usual. A damaging side-effect of the pandemic on companies in the region, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is the emergence of new corruption risks – the urgent demands of emergency procurement have ...

The prices of animal feed climbed sharply Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Director of Chau Thanh Fisheries Production and Service Cooperative in Dong Thap Province, said that from the end of 2020 to now, the price of fish feed has escalated sharply. On the contrary, the price ...

Local communities along the Mekong River are asking the government to establish a fund, made up of collected tax revenues from development projects on the waterway, to compensate villagers affected by them. “This fund [should] not be a corporate social responsibility scheme,” said Ormbun Thipsuna, president ...

For Bernard Kervyn, the pandemic has made poverty alleviation an even more challenging task in countries along the Mekong River. Kervyn, regional director in Vietnam and Cambodia for the nonprofit organization Mekong Plus, said the outbreak has led to a 30 percent rise in the number ...

While Vietnam has largely succeeded in combatting the coronavirus, COVID-19 is not the only crisis facing the country, as the threat posed by climate change is reported to be, in some ways, just as serious. According to the latest Global Climate Risk Index report, published in January, Vietnam’s ...

Following Monday’s military coup, life in Myanmar appears to be rapidly returning to normal. However, big questions remain over what happens next and especially the prospects for existing and future foreign investment in the country. We examine the possibilities.  What happened and why?  The military moved in ...

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Green Future Index listed Vietnam as a climate laggard economy for making low and uneven commitments toward a green future. The index released by MIT Technology Review Insights this week measures 76 global economies on their progress and commitment toward building ...

The Thai economy will grow next year after contracting by almost 10% this year. Next year, the Thai economy is expected to expand 3 to 4% from this year. It will not be until the end of 2022 before the Thai economy returns to its ...

Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit has pledged to cooperate with the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) to promote clean industry, as a means of reducing pollution problems including PM2.5 and making Thai industry more sustainable. “The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce offers to help Thailand make its industrial ...

Existing free trade agreements and longstanding non-trade barriers could limit the RCEP’s impact on Myanmar, but the country may benefit from increased investment due to improved access to global value chains. The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on November 15 made headlines across the ...