News
Asia's smallest economies are among its fastest growing
Asia’s smallest economies are growing faster than giants like China, according to the World Bank. Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will post the most rapid expansions in Asia after India from 2017 to 2019, sustaining growth rates of close to 7 percent, according to forecasts released this week. ...
Central bank of Vietnam: restructuring of banks needs legal framework
Vietnam will step up the restructuring of the banking sector this year but this process will require certain regulations to be revised to create a favorable legal framework, the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam said. Le Minh Hung said at a VietinBank 2017 ...
2018 budget deficit hiked
The government has agreed to set a larger budget deficit of 450 billion baht for fiscal 2018, marking a fresh attempt to rev up the economy. The next fiscal year’s budget expenditure is set at 2.9 trillion baht, with revenue collection of 2.45 trillion baht, ...
The Salween Peace Park: a radical, grassroots alternative to development in Karen State
A path has opened for environmental conservationists and rights advocates to strengthen their fight against gold mining and other socially and environmentally destructive projects in the rich forests of Karen State in eastern Myanmar: the Salween Peace Park. The 5,200-square-kilometer Peace Park is a radical ...
The Dammed Don: Lao hydropower project pushes ahead despite alarm from scientists
Snaking down the length of the Mekong River the beautifully detailed map looks strikingly like those marking the distribution of unexploded ordnance in Laos. The red dots that pockmark the course of the river, from its origins in the highlands of China to its outlet ...
Mines rules to be submitted for govt review this month
The new Myanmar Mining Law could soon have regulatory teeth that support the implementation of the law and establish a state and Union power division in the licensing process, The Myanmar Times has learned. The Mines Rules, which will essentially provide the fine print details ...
Myanmar awards fourth telecoms license as mobile market heats up
Myanmar on January 12 awarded its fourth – and final – telecoms license to a joint venture between Vietnam’s telecom company Viettel and two local firms, heating up competition in a rapidly growing market by adding a second majority-Myanmar operator. Military-run Viettel will have a ...
Vietnam fears protectionism will affect farm produce exports
Vietnam in 2016 saw a high farm produce trade surplus of $7.6 billion, but big difficulties are still ahead, including returning protectionism with Brexit and US President-elect Donald Trump. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said at a press conference on January ...
Farewell to Vo Quy, Vietnam's hero of the environment
Vietnam’s Professor Vo Quy has passed away in Hanoi at age 87. The well-known and well-loved zoologist had a storied career that spanned decades and, even in his 80s, he was still working and busy, as passionate as ever. I met Professor Vo Quy in Hanoi ...
Draft consumer law completed
The Ministry of Commerce has finished the draft consumer protection law and will soon submit it to the Council of Ministers, according to a senior government official. Mao Thora, the ministry’s secretary of state, said yesterday that all chapters of the draft had been completed ...
