Economy and commerce
Trade
Customs impounds 100 NGV buses amid duty doubts
The Customs Department has impounded 100 natural gas vehicle air-conditioned buses which were supposed to hit Bangkok streets late this month amid doubts over whether the import order is legitimate or was falsely declared to avoid more than 100 million baht in tax. The first ...
Vietnam’s cocoa receives “fine flavour” designation from Int’l Cocoa organisation
Viet Nam has become the second Asian country to achieve a fine flavour cocoa designation from the International Cocoa Organisation. Forty per cent of the country’s cocoa exports have received this designation. Indonesia was the first Asian country to receive the recognition in 2011, but it ...
Will coal shares bounce back?
The strong increase in coal prices has rekindled hopes for Vietnam’s miners and securities investors after a period of disappointment. After eight years of decline, the coal price began recovering in early 2016. Analysts commented that the coal price has been witnessing the strongest recovery compared ...
Industrial rail project gathers steam with government push
Transport Minister Sun Chanthol has vowed to reinvigorate a long-dormant project to connect the Kingdom’s sole operating railway line to the capital’s biggest industrial park – a move that would boost rail traffic ahead of the completion of a rail link to northwestern Cambodia and ...
What does the possible end of the TPP mean for the Mekong Delta projects?
China and Japan remain committed to the region; matter of time before private investment picks up. The future of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement looks increasingly unlikely to progress in the wake Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory. And Vietnam, once touted as one of the ...
Government to air concerns on Lao VAT
The government is set to raise the issue of Laos’s value-added tax in a joint discussion with Lao counterparts, fearing the new tax measure may cripple growing border trade. Adul Chotinisakorn, deputy director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said that while the issue is an ...
The Philippines to buy rice from Myanmar
Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce revealed that the Philippines has offered to ink a government-to-government treaty to buy rice from its fellow ASEAN country. “The Philippines has offered to buy rice. More detailed discussions are needed [for the treaty]. Currently, it imports rice mainly from Vietnam. ...
Laos-China railway to spur border zone development
The Laos-China railway will provide significant momentum for the development of the Boten-Mohan border economic cooperation zone, experts have noted. The railroad, a key project under China’s Belt and Road initiative, will link the Mohan-Boten border crossing in northern Laos to Vientiane, over a distance ...
Farmers petition to improve conditions
The government has three months to act on issues raised in a petition submitted on December 5 to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or risk a mass protest being staged. A group of 300 people, representing 2,260 families from Svay Rieng, ...
Customs urged to move online
Customs authorities should work quickly to adopt an envisioned online registration system for cross-border cargo shipments that would expedite delivery and cut out pesky middlemen who tack on unofficial fees, Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said on December 5. “Online registration is important because right now ...
