Economy and commerce

Once the government has earmarked a province for a special economic zone (SEZ), theoretically it means more jobs, higher incomes and a better quality of life. But while residents of Sa Kaeo province are looking forward to their SEZ, they also have questions. Villagers want the new ...

Thailand’s ONYX Hospitality Group has signed an agreement with Vietnam’s HB Group to manage a US$1.5-billion resort that is being built in Hoi An, local authorities announced on 18 October. Keep reading ...

“The Philippines is an attractive market without a means to compete,” according to BDO Unibank Inc. president Nestor Tan, expressing worry that Philippine banks are not ready to compete with the bigger banks of neighboring countries with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community. Keep reading ...

Cambodian tourism authorities are formulating strategies to carve a larger share out of the Chinese outbound tourism market and have set a target of drawing over 700,000 Chinese visitors this year, and up to 2 million a year by 2020. Rising incomes have transformed China into ...

Surging demand following the widespread destruction of paddy fields during the recent flooding has forced a record spike in prices, say the Myanmar Rice Federation and local paddy and rice traders in Naypyidaw. Since September, the price per 100 baskets of Manaw Thukha old crop in ...

Investment in Myanmar will continue to grow after the elections, business sources predict.  They were commenting on the announcement by the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration that Myanmar Investment Commission had permitted 204 local and overseas investments in the first six months of the current ...

Foreign direct investment from the European Union to Vietnam is recovering this year after a downtrend since 2011, according to a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency. A report released this week pointed out that the EU’s total investment in Vietnam ...

Offshore capital is rapidly flooding the Thai bond market, with half of the first nine months’ fund outflows from the market turning back during the first 12 days of October. The return had been buoyed by hopes of the US Federal Reserve rate hike delay.  Keep reading ...

Strong legal protection of intellectual property is one of the factors that attract foreign investment, especially in knowledge-intensive sectors. In the recently published 2015 International Intellectual Property or IP Index, 31 countries were assessed and given scores out of 30. The 31 included six of the ...

Vietnamese consumers are the most socially-conscious among Southeast Asians, with 86 percent expressing their willingness to pay extra for products and services from firms which are committed to positive social and environmental impact, a new Nielsen survey found.   The survey also showed that consumers in Southeast ...