Trade union bill changes passed

The Council of Ministers approved draft amendments to 10 articles of the Law on Trade Unions without modification on Friday, leaving some unions disappointed and claiming that the majority of their suggestions had not been included. Articles 3, 17, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 54, 55 ...

Long Kimmarita

Politics of regional trade liberalisation

As multilateral trade negotiations have become unworkable, regional and bilateral alternatives are on the rise. In Thailand’s neighbourhood, the most consequential of these trade vehicles is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). As it missed the boat on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), ...

Thitinan Pongsudhirak

Cambodia’s rice farmers in serious danger

Half a million Cambodian farmers could possibly be looking at empty rice bowls if the European Union (EU) pushes through with the withdrawal of its Everything But Arms (EBA) trade preference. While the garment and footwear sectors stand to lose the most if the EBA trade scheme – ...

Jason Thomas

Kingdom rejects VN request

Cambodia rebuffed Vietnam’s request to provide nationality to its citizens living in Kratie, Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri and Stung Treng provinces, with officials saying law enforcement is the Kingdom’s responsibility. Chheang Vun, the head of the National Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Propaganda and Information, told ...

Laos plans regulatory reforms to boost trade at border crossings

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will continue efforts to improve or remove unnecessary measures and regulations relating to exports and imports to bolster cross-border trade. Officials in charge of trade facilitation met in Vientiane last week for the 2nd Trade Facilitation Committee Secretariat meeting to ...

Bounfaeng Phaymanivong

Upgrading the ASEAN–China Free Trade Agreement

In 2015, ASEAN and China signed an upgraded protocol to improve the original Framework Agreement for the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area (ACFTA). The upgraded protocol entered into force in July 2016 and implementation will start from August 2019. Since ACFTA was launched, China’s share of ASEAN ...

Jayant Menon and Anna Cassandra Melendez

Thailand’s pangolin pipeline

In the early hours of a Sunday morning this past March, officers manning a roadside checkpoint in Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province were hardly fooled when an approaching pick-up attempted to bypass their blockade by hastily detouring down a side road 300m away. The officers gave ...

Chuleeporn Butrkote

EU-Vietnam trade deal prompts concern in Thailand

On June 30 in Hanoi, Vietnamese and EU officials signed a new free trade deal that could shift the balance of manufacturing in the region. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement will reduce tariffs and facilitate trade between the two parties. Vietnam will ...

Skylar Lindsay

PM: Ending trade pacts hurts development

Prime Minister Hun Sen called on World Trade Organisation (WTO) member states and development partners “to give close consideration” before removing preferential trade status from Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Speaking at the opening of the WTO’s 2019 Global Review of Aid for Trade in Geneva, Switzerland ...

Hin Pisei

Leaders grapple with ASEAN’s thorniest issues at the 34th ASEAN Summit

The 34th ASEAN Summit, which ended on June 23, brought ASEAN leaders together to discuss regional economic, environmental and diplomatic challenges.   This time around, the biannual summit centred on sustainability. The bloc is home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world, and sustainable development is a ...

Zachary Frye

Contact us

Contact us

Do you have questions on the content published by Open Development Mekong? We will gladly help you.

Have you found a technical problem or issue on the Open Development Mekong website?

Tell us how we're doing.

Do you have resources that could help expand the Open Development Mekong website? We will review any map data, laws, articles, and documents that we do not yet have and see if we can implement them into our site. Please make sure the resources are in the public domain or fall under a Creative Commons license.

File was deleted
ERROR!

Disclaimer: Open Development Mekong will thoroughly review all submitted resources for integrity and relevancy before the resources are hosted. All hosted resources will be in the public domain, or licensed under Creative Commons. We thank you for your support.

wM4hT
* The idea box couldn't be blank! Something's gone wrong, Please Resubmit the form! Please add the code correctly​ first.

Thank you for taking the time to get in contact!