Economy and commerce

Lao authorities and Chinese developers are speeding works in an attempt to begin boring tunnels of the Laos-China railway project before the coming rainy season, a senior government official involved of the project has said. Tunneling is an important component of the 417 km railway ...

Laos’ garment exports reached US$165 million in 2016, a reduction of 5 percent compared to 2015, the Association of Lao Garment Industry has reported. The shortage of workers is still a chronic problem in the sector resulting in a reduction of garment exports, President of ...

Fifteen bidders have proposed to a combined 2.07 million tonnes of inedible state rice stocks, which comprise 56% of the total 3.66 million tonnes of the grain unfit for human consumption put up for auction by the government. According to Keerati Rushano, deputy director-general of the ...

Bangladesh has called for the resumption of Joint Commission meetings with Thailand to forge cooperation and consult on issues left unresolved years after the previous meeting, as Dhaka expresses interest in closer ties and more action on issues of mutual interest with the Kingdom. The ...

The apex body for the nation’s microfinance industry announced yesterday that the central bank had tentatively agreed to a number of measures it had requested to ease the burden on microfinance lenders following last week’s unilateral decision to cap annual interest rates at 18 percent ...

Nearly a decade in the making, a project to pump oil 770 km across Myanmar to southwest China is set for imminent start-up, with a supertanker nearing the port of Kyauk Phyu, marking the opening of a new oil trading route. Dogged by sensitive relations ...

As the U.S. pulls back and China expands, Southeast Asia tries to adjust. People become aware of the divine power of a mantra only when they no longer hear it. People have been hearing world leaders inveigh against protectionism after official meetings for so long ...

A British company has created a joint-venture with a Myanmar firm to enter the marine industry as well as oil and natural gas sector. Representatives from the UK firm, James Fisher and Sons, and the Myanmar firm Royal Marine Technology Co Ltd, signed a memorandum of ...

Cambodia’s capital market regulator announced on March 22 that it would suspend the issuance of new central counterparty licences to derivatives trading firms, claiming that capping the market at four was sufficient to serve current demand. The Securities Exchange Commission of Cambodia said in an ...

Exports in February decreased in value year on year for the first time in four months, a decline attributed to the high value of gold and aerospace exports in February 2016, according to the Commerce Ministry. The ministry reported that export value last month declined by ...