Manufacturing
Food processing
New meat processing factory to boost food safety
The Lao Fresh Meats factory at Sivilay village in Naxaithong district, Vientiane, a Hungarian government assistance project, aims to boost food safety standards for domestic supply and export. Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry received the first phase support of a Tied Aid Loan ...
Vietnamese salt farmers suffer losses as stock piles up

Salt farmers in HCM City’s Can Gio District are facing low prices, resulting in a stockpile of salt that cannot be sold. Trieu Do Hong Phuoc, deputy chairman of the Can Gio District People’s Committee, said to support salt farmers the district would petition banks to ...
Shrimp exports to S Korea to rise

Exports of Việtnamese seafood products to South Korea are expected to increase strongly this year thanks to the free trade agreement between the two countries that took effect last December, according to the Korea Fishery Trade Association. Under the FTA, Korea has committed to clear taxes ...
HK Council to bring Chinese investors interested in Thai food processing
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council plans, for the first time, to bring investors from China to meet with food processing companies in Thailand to boost investment as part of the Belt and Road initiative. Raymond Yip, deputy executive director of HKTDC said it would bring ...
Vietnam tells Taiwan firm to dig up waste pipe amid "red tide" disaster
Vietnam has told owners of a Taiwanese-built steel plant to dig up a controversial waste pipe, even after it found no evidence tying its discharge to mass fish deaths that have triggered health fears and public anger. Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha declared illegal the waste ...
NIN recommends milk, milk product rations

Vietnam’s National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) on 2 March released a recommendation on the use of milk and milk products in Vietnam. “This recommendation aims to improve the community’s awareness of the nutrient value of milk, the current reality of calcium deficiency and ways to better use milk ...
Food shipments expected to rebound after 2015 slip
Despite a contraction of 1.9% last year, Thailand’s National Food Institute (NFI) expects food exports this year will grow by 5.8%. The optimism is based largely on rising demand for some food segments in neighbouring emerging markets and government efforts to boost exports. NFI president Yongvut Saovapruk attributed ...
Vietnamese PM issues decree on nutrients newly required in food

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a decree to introduce iodine, iron, zinc and vitamin A as compulsory elements that need to be contained in Vietnamese food. Decree 09/2016/ND-CP on food fortification released last week and to take effect from 15 March this year ...
Tea brews female empowerment in Lai Chau

Lo Thi Thom is happily looking forward to moving with her family into their new spacious house before the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday. She is a 30-year old Thai woman from Kun Ha Commune in Tam Duong District. Her new two-storey house, which is near ...
Downward spiral persists in exports of Lao coffee amid world price slump
The volume of coffee exports from Laos has decreased continually over the past couple of years due to a slump in coffee prices on the world market. Total coffee exports in 2014 reached 26,000 tonnes at an estimated value of US$60 million (Bt16.6 billion), which fell ...