News
Anti-smuggling teams abolished: Commerce ministry
The government’s mobile task force teams, which aimed to clamp down on the country’s thriving illegal border trade, have been abolished, the Ministry of Commerce announced on 30 December. “All teams will stop, starting from today,” Than Win, the director of the Ministry of Commerce, told ...
Vietnam stalls policy that requires workers, employers to pay more for social security
Vietnam has delayed a new social insurance policy that aims to increase contributions to the country’s pension fund, following complaints from both businesses and workers. The policy, originally slated to take effect this January, is now waiting for further instructions from the labor ministry and relevant ...
Vietnam, partners look to sign Pacific-rim trade pact in February
The Vietnamese government expects to sign an agreement with 11 other nations in early February to finalize their negotiated terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, taking another step to turn one of the most ambitious trade pacts into reality. According to local media, Minister of Industry and Trade ...
Vietnam adds flesh to regulatory bones to court more investment
Vietnam has issued detailed regulations for foreign investors in 17 business sectors in a drive to improve the investment climate of a fast-growing country blighted by bureaucracy, but now seeing record inflows of foreign capital. The new list of sectors specifies foreign investment ratios, the scope ...
ASEAN bloc readies for integration
Significant changes are not expected with the formal launch of the ASEAN Community on 31 December as 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations still need more time to work out and adjust key issues for integration under the community’s three pillars: the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ...
3,000 officers, metal detectors to secure New Year's Countdown
About 3,000 soldiers and police have been deployed to Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong area where walk-through metal detectors also were installed to secure the New Year’s Countdown site on 31 December. Keep reading ...
ASEAN's first rail-freight X-ray terminal opens in Chon Buri
The Customs Department has opened an X-ray scanning terminal for rail freight, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, at the Laem Chabang port in Si Racha district of Thailand’s Chon Buri province. The opening ceremony was witnessed by chiefs of the department, the State Railway ...
Minister defends draft union law
Cambodia’s Labour Minister Ith Samheng made a lengthy defence of the draft trade union law on 30 December, claiming it would stabilise the Kingdom’s troubled labour relations, even as he pledged to find the “mastermind” behind recent protests in the Svay Rieng town of Bavet. Speaking ...
Cambodia's contraception demand ‘unmet’
There is a significant unmet demand for modern contraception among Cambodian women, according to an annual report on family planning in 69 of the world’s poorest countries. Released this month by Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) – a global partnership between governments, NGOs and the private sector ...
Convoy of Lao trucks transports logs to Vietnam, despite ban on timber exports
Laos has continued to transport logs from its forests to Vietnam, despite a government ban on timber exports that took effect in August and a leaked report by an international environmental group two months ago, revealing huge increases in illegal logging with the implication of ...
