AEC News Today
Trump’s GSP seafood cut gives Thailand 2020 GDP an early whack
The struggling Thailand economy received an unexpected whack for the year ahead yesterday (Oct 26) when US President Donald Trump suspended $1.3 billion worth of duty-free trade for Thai items, including seafood, under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme. President Trump is reported to have ...
John Le Fevre
EU stumps up $11mln for Greater Mekong wildlife conservation
The European Union (EU) has teamed up with wildlife and conservation groups in the Greater Mekong region, Malaysia, and China to try and disrupt the flow of illegally trafficked wildlife through the region. The €10 million (about $11.14 million) project which will run through until December ...
Sreypov Men
BRI backlash: time for China to reassure Asean
China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to draw criticism and disapproval. Its sceptics brand it as China’s Marshall Plan, or as a ‘neo-imperial project’. To ensure the initiative’s success, China should heed some of these concerns and take steps to improve the implementation ...
The Mekong: troubled waters in autocratic lands
For the Mekong countries, including Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, 2018 was a big year both domestically and regionally. Key developments from last year will inevitably continue to shape the politics of the region in 2019. In terms of domestic affairs, the most worrying ...
Time for Vietnam’s next generation of clean leaders to step up
Last year marked the mid-point between Vietnam’s five yearly National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The eighth plenum of the CPV Central Committee met in October to initiate planning for the 13th Congress in 2021. Keep reading ...
Cambodia police shoot land protester in Sihanoukville
As Cambodia heads towards a head-on crash with the European Union (EU) and the United States government over political freedom and human rights, disturbing video has emerged of Cambodia police shooting at protestors in Sihanoukville, in the country’s southwest. Keep reading ...
Hope for Rohingya: Asean foreign ministers put China, Myanmar on notice
A gathering of Asean foreign ministers in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Friday signalled that the bloc is no longer prepared to ignore the actions of member states if it damages the image of the collective with external partners, at the same time putting China ...
Mediation helping manage Laos’ legal case backlog problem
Law courts in many Asian countries are overburdened. A perfect storm of factors including rapid economic growth, urbanisation, industrialisation and the withering away of traditional governance systems has caused the number of criminal and civil cases to soar. Courts are often ill-equipped to cope with ...
Trade war: Focus turns to Thailand to conclude $7 trln RCEP
Six years in the making, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is slated to transform the region into an Asean-centric, comprehensive free trade area, poised to make a large contribution to Asian and global economic cooperation. The RCEP may well become the second major Asia-led trade ...
Myanmar, Cambodia lead Asean’s soaring minimum wage growth
Countries across Asean are experiencing rapid economic growth, and the associated improvements to the standard of living are conspicuous. Increasing trade means increasing wages — and wage growth is integral to the growth of regional economies. Keep reading ...
