Government
National government
Cambodian Gov’t taps Wing for tax collection
The Cambodian government on 4 March signed an agreement with Wing (Cambodia) aimed at leveraging the company’s mobile money platform and extensive nationwide network of agents to facilitate the collection of tax payments. Chou Kimleng, secretary of state with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said that ...
Lao official thanks Vietnamese aid
Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said the support Laos received from the Vietnamese Supreme People’s Procuracy will help the nation successfully host the upcoming 10th ASEAN-China Procurators General Conference. Keep reading ...
Laos, Cambodia enhance cooperation
The opening of general consulates in each other’s main cities, cooperation in border security and education, and the progress of border surveys and marker installation are the results of the longstanding cooperation between Laos and Cambodia. These achievements were reviewed at a meeting between high-ranking officials ...
Activists demand big hike in booze taxes
The Thai government should increase taxes on alcohol just as it has done with cigarettes in order to discourage new drinkers, the Centre for Alcohol Studies says. Sawitree Assanangkornchai, the centre’s director said alcoholic beverages were considered dangerous and created health and social problems ranging ...
Thailand kept near bottom of political risk index
Despite a return of political stability after the May 2014 coup, Thailand is kept near the bottom of an Asian political risk index due to its “fundamental divisions” and concerns over the king’s health, a research unit of Fitch Group said. BMI Research gave Thailand the ...
Myanmar brings forward presidential vote
The vote to appoint a new president in Myanmar has been brought forward by a week, to 10 March. The move likely means an end to negotiations on whether the constitution could be amended so Aung San Suu Kyi could take the top job. Ms Suu Kyi’s ...
Spotlight shines on Laos as it takes a turn in the ASEAN chair
As Laos kicks off its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, activists fear that the human rights agenda in the country and the region will get swamped by economic concerns and regional discord over issues like the partition of the South China Sea. “When ...
Laos starts off as ASEAN chair with ministers' retreat
Laos kicks off its Asean chairmanship on 26 February with an agenda-setting foreign ministers’ retreat in Vientiane, its capital on the east bank of the Mekong River. Analysts say this year could be a coming of age for the “lower-middle income economy”, where poverty continues to be ...
China’s expanding influence in Laos
The recently signed Joint General Scheme of Mohan–Boten Economic Cooperation Zone is the first cross-border economic cooperation zone that China has established in Laos and, for that matter, in the whole of Southeast Asia. The deal hints at the Asian giant’s goal to expand its ...
PM gives ministers an 'F', lashes out at illegal logging task force
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen unleashed a tirade against underperforming government officials in a pair of speeches on 25 February – musing aloud about reshuffling his Council of Ministers and wondering why rockets had not yet been deployed in the Kingdom’s recent “crackdown” on illegal logging. Speaking ...
