Infrastructure
Transport and shipping
PM Modi proposes joint task force on extension of India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 proposed a joint task force on connectivity to work on extension of India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, while also proposing to enhance the ASEAN-India Fund with an additional grant of US $ 50 million. Speaking at ...
Thailand drops quotas on flights to Cambodia
Thailand has dropped its seat quota on commercial flights to Cambodia after its government approved the removal of the restrictions in accordance with an aviation agreement between the two countries signed in May. The approval comes months after Cambodia did the same, liberalising air travel ...
PM attends 8th Mekong-Japan summit
Vietnam pledges continued efforts to foster the Mekong-Japan cooperation for the sustainable development, peace, stability and prosperity in the region, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has affirmed. The Vietnamese Government leader made the statement in Vientiane, Laos on September 7 while attending the 8th Mekong-Japan Summit ...
Vietnam is struggling to unite its Mekong neighbours against China
Vietnam moved rocket launchers into disputed territory in the South China Sea, reports recently suggested, meaning it could potentially attack land that China has controversially reclaimed. This all comes at a time of heightened tension over territorial wrangling in the region. A Pentagon report released in ...
Laos, Japan agree on joint development plan
Laos and Japan have agreed on a joint development direction for Laos with the two countries joining forces to remove the landlocked nation from Least Developed Country status. The agreement came at a high-level bilateral meeting held in Vientiane on September 6 led by the heads of ...
Myanmar: Loi Hein to invest $23.5m; Airport project award by 2017
Myanmar’s beverage manufacturer, Loi Hein – in a joint venture with Japan’s Toyo Seikan Co Ltd – has set up steel cans production unit in the country. Meanwhile, the concession agreement for the Hanthawaddy International Airport project is expected to be signed in December 2016. Loi Hein ...
Cabinet approves Gold Line monorail
THE Bt3.8-billion Gold Line monorail project for western Bangkok along the Chao Phraya River was given the green light by the Cabinet on September 6, with the line expected to be in service in 2018. The elevated monorail line is 2.7 kilometres long, stretching from ...
Light railway raised yet again at JICA meet
Plans for a light railway system in Phnom Penh were discussed at a meeting between Public Works and Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol and Japanese International Cooperation Agency regional director-general Yasushi Tanaka on September 2. Chanthol confirmed the meeting on September 4 but declined to comment further ...
The pivot toward closer India-Myanmar ties
India and Myanmar have gone to great lengths to paint President U Htin Kyaw’s recent four-day visit as a historic cementing of bilateral ties. The neighbouring countries’ relations, long overshadowed by China’s more aggressive overtures, have forged ahead under the National League for Democracy-led administration. U ...
India to complete Myanmar, Thailand highway by 2020
An ambitious three-nation highway that will connect India with Thailand through Myanmar is a central plank of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Act East policy, which seeks to boost trade and connectivity with Southeast Asia. The 3,200km project conceived in 2002 came up for discussion when Modi ...