Government

Agriculture officials and struggling smallholder tobacco farmers are cautiously hopeful that tariff exemptions granted under a new trade agreement with Vietnam will lift sagging demand for their crops. Khann Samban, director of industrial crops at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the market for tobacco ...

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith told the National Assembly that the government will employ a number of measures to spur economic growth amid the current economic and financial constraints. The prime minister on October 31 responded to questions raised by Assembly members about stimulus measures and policies the ...

Laos and China have reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen cooperation in the maintenance of security along their shared border with the signing of a new agreement. The agreement was signed by the Head of the National Boundary Committee Office of the Ministry of Foreign ...

Three Mandalay Region development projects approved under the previous government are being reconsidered under the National League for Democracy administration. The projects are temporarily stalled while experts study potential negative impacts on the local environment and the public, officials have noted. Organising committees have been formed ...

South Korean investors have begun complaining of irregularities they face in running their operations in Indonesia, amid the government’s efforts to improve the business climate. Despite applauding Indonesia’s attempts to ease the business atmosphere by issuing economic policy packages, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and ...

National Assembly members have proposed that the government impose tougher measures in managing the distribution and use of dangerous chemicals so they can be brought under control. NA members expressed their wish on October 31 when debating the NA’s Standing Committee oversight of social and environmental ...

China has scaled down its presence at a disputed South China Sea shoal but has not interfered with Filipino fishermen, the Philippine president’s security adviser said on October 30, after the administration had said China had withdrawn completely. Hermogenes Esperon said Chinese ships were still present ...

The Excise Department may ask the government to allow the legal import of electronic cigarettes and baraku, which would be taxed like cigarettes, says director-general Somchai Poolsavasdi. He said the department has noticed a loophole in the current tobacco law, which does not define these products ...

The Government must create a law on bad debts settlement to tackle difficulties during the process, experts said at a recent conference held by the State Bank of Việt Nam. Nguyễn Quốc Hùng, chairman of the Việt Nam Asset Management Company, said on October 26 the ...

Việt Nam and Singapore have agreed to work together to seek new directions for co-operation in order to optimise opportunities and benefits brought about by free trade agreements and the ASEAN Economic Community. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh and Singaporean Foreign Minister ...