Government
Government services
Ministry skips meeting on rice-pledging crackdown
The initial meeting of state agencies intended to expedite cases related to the previous government’s rice-pledging scheme failed to proceed on October 10 after Finance Ministry staff did not show up. Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya, who was to chair the meeting, said he did not know why ...
Flooding remains severe in HCMC despite huge investment
HCMC is struggling with worsening flood issues despite huge spending on anti-flood projects over the years, said a recent conclusion signed by chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong on illegal land reclamation on the city’s drainage systems. A lot of streets in the city are submerged after heavy ...
Lack of budget hampering MCDC: mayor
Mandalay City’s municipal authority is staring at a long development to-do list, and a lack of funds to do it with, the mayor told regional lawmakers last week. Improving Myanmar’s second-biggest city will depend on finances, U Ye Lwin, mayor and head of Mandalay City Development ...
Transparent sources, electronic collection keys to revenue collection
The government has stressed the need to clearly define revenue sources and to expand electronic collection methods to assist the budget. The moves aim to ensure all revenue from available sources can be collected for the national budget, minimising problems related to financial leaks. Prime Minister Thongloun ...
Authorities join private sector to rebuild tourism
The Tourism Authority of Thailand predicted that the country may lose 100,000 to 200,000 foreign tourists following the blasts, which would mean a loss of some Bt5 to Bt10 billion in tourism income this year. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, said on August 16 that tourism authorities ...
World Bank loan will not be used for govt salary increases, says president’s office spokesperson
Government employees’ salaries will not increase despite plans to take out a loan worth US$100 million from the World Bank, aimed at covering a state deficit by separating salaries from the budget, according to government officials. Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw sent a message on August 5 ...
What lessons can Southeast Asia learn from ‘Brexit’?
Keith Richburg is the director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. He spent more than two decades as a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post covering Africa, Europe, China and Southeast Asia, making his first visit to Cambodia ...
Low-cost homes capped at B250m
Thailand’s Treasury Department estimates that investment in each low-rise condominium project with 500 units under the government’s cheap housing scheme will not exceed 250 million baht, its chief says. Each condo unit with a 23-24-square-metre space will cost 500,000 baht, said Chakkrit Parapuntakul, director-general of the Treasury ...
Critics sceptical of NGO's optimistic findings
Cambodians were optimistic about the economic and political future of the Kingdom, according to a national survey on citizens’ perceptions released on 24 February by the Asia Foundation, although observers on 25 February questioned whether that optimism remains in light of the government’s recent crackdown on the ...
Vientiane records over 6.9 trillion kip in public debt
Vientiane recorded public debt of more than 6.946 trillion kip, including 6.931 trillion kip of state investment debt remaining on contracts and 15 billion kip owed to utilities and other expenses. The figure was revealed at Vientiane’s monthly meeting for January attended by Vientiane Mayor Dr ...
