Economy and commerce
Trade
Foreigners pull record US$5b as Southeast Asian stocks sink
Foreign investors are selling Southeast Asian stocks at the fastest pace on record as the region’s economic outlook worsens and the US gets closer to raising interest rates. Overseas funds unloaded a net US$5.1 billion (S$7.28 billion) of Indonesian, Thai and Philippine shares in the third ...
Asian currencies set for worst quarter in 17 years
Asian currencies are headed for their biggest quarterly loss since the Asian financial crisis, having been battered by China’s surprise devaluation of the yuan and the prospect of a US interest-rate increase. The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region’s 10 most-active currencies outside of ...
Kuwait proposes Laos visa exemption
The Lao and Kuwaiti governments should offer visa exemptions for their citizens as part of efforts to boost the exchange of tourism and trade between the two nations, according to the Kuwaiti ambassador to Laos, Mr Nabeel Aldaheel. The ambassador announced his government’s proposal to the ...
State support for 70,000 SMEs
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has set a target of supporting 70,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) next year. The goal includes helping to create 10,000 start-ups. Among the 70,000, 50,000 are healthy but need some help from the government to expand, while 10,000 are in ...
Vietnam scraps ceiling rate on corporate dollar deposits
Vietnam’s central bank said late on 27 September it was abolishing the interest rate ceiling on dollar deposits offered by banks to organisations and companies, in an attempt to avoid dollar hoarding. Keep reading ...
Thai exports slide again in August, but still trade surplus
Exports continued to slide in August, down by 6.69% year-on-year, resulting in a contraction of 4.92% over the eight-month period. Keep reading ...
Vietnam launches $1-million fund for startup incubators
The Ministry of Science and Technology on Friday announced a 1-million-euro (US$1.12 million) fund for Vietnamese incubators of tech startups, local media reported. Keep reading ...
China imports threaten traditional Vietnam festival masks
Vu Thi Thoan’s family has been making papier mache masks, part of traditional Vietnamese celebrations for the mid-autumn festival, for over four decades. But cheap Chinese toys are threatening her business. The mid-autumn festival, which falls on 27 September with the full moon, is Vietnam’s equivalent of ...
Hanoi to open Vietnamese Goods Week 2015 programme on 27 September
Vietnamese Goods Week 2015 will be held on 27 September in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang to raise public awareness of Vietnamese goods as well as their competitiveness. Accordingly, Vietnamese Goods Week 2015 will organise an exhibition at the Giang Vo Exhibition center ...
Thailand prioritises border trade
The Thai government is revving up efforts to tackle hurdles to border trade as it aims to achieve 1.5 trillion baht worth of cross-border business this year. Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn, who chaired a panel handling border trade and investment promotion, said the priority is to facilitate ...
