News
Kayin landmine scare sparks tourism fears
A tripwire triggered landmine set off on January 4 and believed to be a remnant of recent skirmishes that subsided in November, has injured two and sent shockwaves through the Kayin State tourism industry, as well as buttressed displaced residents fears that it is still ...
Vietnam's human trafficking victims rise 13 pct in 2016
Police received reports of 1,128 victims last year, but only rescued around half of them. The Vietnamese government has reported nearly a 13 percent increase in the number of human trafficking victims in 2016. The Ministry of Public Security said its forces detected 383 cases ...
Digital hub in private sector call
The Digital Economy and Society minister has called on the private sector to work more closely with the ministry to help Thailand become a digital infrastructure gateway in ASEAN by 2020. The evolution of the country’s digital ecosystem, especially in many crucial development areas, needs ...
SME export aid measures en route
The Industry Ministry has planned further measures to raise the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in the export market, says Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana. He said the ministry is working with related government agencies to draft stimulus packages that will help cut costs and ...
Luang Namtha targeting rubber for poverty reduction
Luang Namtha provincial authorities are allowing some poor families to grow rubber trees on their small allotments to discourage illegal plantings in forest conservation areas. An official from the provincial Planning and Investment Department, Mrs Phommy Somboun, told Vientiane Times on January 5 the policy was ...
Laos, Cambodia open new international border checkpoint
Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen will attend the official opening ceremony of the new Nong Nokkhiane-Trapeang Kriel international border checkpoint on January 10, according to Laos’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 5. The new international border checkpoint will ...
Kingdom preps for China trade center
Cambodia plans to open a trade center in China this year and the Commerce Ministry is hoping the initiative broadens economic relations and cultural exchange. Soeng Sophary, spokeswoman for the Commerce Ministry, told Khmer Times that a group of delegates from the ministry are currently in ...
Cambodia’s rice exports fall sharply
Cambodia’s milled rice exports only grew by a dismal 0.7 percent last year compared with 2015 and this was the lowest since 2014, according to government figures released on January 5. “Last year Cambodia only exported 542,144 tons of milled rice and the lowest exports ...
Even as more new species are found, Southeast Asia is in the grip of a biodiversity crisis
Rich in wildlife, Southeast Asia includes at least six of the world’s 25 “biodiversity hotspots”—the areas of the world that contain an exceptional concentration of species in habitats that are also exceptionally endangered. The region contains 20 percent of the planet’s vertebrate and plant species and the ...
Government holds off on paddy purchases
The Ministry of Commerce is suspending plans for a paddy purchase program due to a recovery in market prices, according to ministry spokesperson U Khin Maung Lwin. U Khin Maung Lwin told The Myanmar Times in the first week of December that the ministry had approval ...