Economy and commerce
Trade
Bank trims rate to coax millers
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
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
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
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 ...
New mining licences issued, others revoked
Over 40 new mining licences were issued during the first half of the year to satisfy the high demand for construction materials by Cambodian infrastructure and real estate projects, while more than 100 licences were revoked due to environmental concerns or inactivity, a government official ...
Labor ministry orders probe into Honda Vietnam’s alleged massive layoff
The company has been accused of firing thousands of workers every year to cut costs. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has asked that authorities in the northern province of Vinh Phuc look into reports of massive layoffs that allegedly happen regularly at ...
Sustainable Development Goals spur progress in Laos
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
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
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 ...
World Bank funds environmental protection projects
The Environment Protection Fund and the World Bank recently provided funding for the second phase of four environmental and social protection sub-projects in Laos at a cost of more than US$4 million. The first sub-project named Capacity Building for Pollution Control, Waste and Hazardous Chemicals Management ...