Trade
Exports
Cabinet mulls ways to boost investment in special economic zones
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The government cabinet has been exploring ways to better facilitate and promote investment in Special Economic Zones, after many zones have been set up in the provinces and in Vientiane. The cabinet on September 26 convened an extraordinary meeting and discussed a draft of the Law on ...
MGMA backs garment industry to boom when US sanctions are lifted
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Myanmar’s leading garment industry body has been buoyed by the lifting of sanctions it hopes will see a return to the glory days for the sector, when in the early 2000s a majority of country’s garments were shipped to the US. Speaking at a manufacturing trade ...
Funds allocated for railway compensation awards
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The government has allocated almost 5 billion kip for authorities to finance work in the payment of compensation to those who will lose land when the Laos-China railway is built. However, the actual payments will be carried out by the joint venture company that is ...
Bank trims rate to coax millers
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The state-owned bank entrusted with extending $27 million in emergency loans to millers to purchase rice paddy has marginally lowered the interest rate on these conditional loans in an effort to shorten some of the strings attached. The Rural Development Bank announced late on September 25 that ...
Dredging figures do not add up
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Transparency and environmental groups are calling on the Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate potential smuggling in the sand-dredging industry after a gaping $750 million discrepancy was discovered between Cambodia’s documented sand exports and Singapore’s imports. On the UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database, Cambodia reported exporting $5.5 million ...
More firms to export catfish to US
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Food Safety and Inspection Service, the public health agency under the US Department of Agriculture, has allowed two more Vietnamese firms to export Siluriformes fish to the United States. According to the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department, this brought the number of Vietnamese firms allowed to ...
Vietnam, Philippines strengthen strategic partnership
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The official visit to Vietnam by Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte from September 28-29 is expected to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in politics, security, defence, and economics. This is President Duterte’s first visit to Vietnam and his fourth foreign trip since ...
Sustainable Development Goals spur progress in Laos
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The government has further pursued the national development policy and mainstreamed the Sustainable Development Goals into its 8th five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (2016-2020), the Development Strategy 2025, and Vision 2030. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith outlined the government’s stance on the SDGs at the 71st Session ...
Air link could give Indonesian trade more lift
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A three-day trade and tourism conference aimed at promoting Indonesian-made products in Phnom Penh ended on September 25 and although the conference is hoped to boost bilateral trade, an Indonesian diplomat said direct flights would be needed to facilitate the flow of business between the two ...
Top H&M suppliers called out over alleged labour rights violations
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Four premium suppliers for Swedish clothing giant H&M have been called out by a local labour rights group for their continued use of short-term contracts, hampering employees’ ability to unionise and, in one case, allegedly paying workers less than the $140 monthly minimum wage. In a ...