News
Human trafficking needs urgent action: Mekong nations
Human trafficking continues to flourish within the region, requiring a joint effort by the Mekong countries to actively stamp out the trade and penalise those responsible. Human trafficking is harmful to socio-economic development and social order in the region and could worsen when the ASEAN Economic ...
ASEAN Ministers boost Belt and Road
Southeast Asia is ready to open more commercial doors to the Chinese government’s Belt and Road program, following a meeting of transport ministers from China and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Belt and Road, a trade and infrastructure construction initiative ...
ASEAN officials discuss cooperation on labour practices
ASEAN labour officials are meeting over two days in Vientiane to update progress, share experiences and seek ways for future cooperation on labour practices. The ninth meeting of Senior Labour Officials Meeting’s Working Group, on progressive labour practices to enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN, will conclude ...
CA$11.9M initiative to boost ASEAN SMEs
Canada is working with ASEAN to deliver an ambitious five-year, CA$11.9 million initiative through a partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region.Keep reading ...
US Group to boost ASEAN disaster relief capabilities
On November 17, a U.S.based nonprofit inked an agreement with ASEAN to help boost its disaster relief capabilities.As one of the world’s most disaster prone subregions, Southeast Asia has been working on setting up new institutions to strengthen regional capabilities to respond to natural disasters. ...
US President-elect Trump vows to withdraw from TPP on first day in office
US President-elect Donald Trump announced on November 21 that he will withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on his first day in office. “I’m going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,” ...
ASEAN, Japan further enhance defence cooperation
ASEAN and Japanese defence ministers have agreed to further enhance their cooperation on politics, security, economics, and socio-cultural affairs. As a result of positive relations in these areas to date, Japan has become one of the most important dialogue partners and supporters of ASEAN. Lao ...
ASEAN, China join forces to tackle transnational crime
ASEAN member states and China will further boost their joint efforts through bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms to tackle transnational crime. Transnational crime includes drugs and human trafficking which are increasing in scale as reflected by the large number of young people that fall victim ...
High schools to develop ASEAN tourism skills
The ministries of tourism and education have agreed to set up a joint committee to work on the development of materials for vocational training of “ASEAN Tourism Professionals” to be integrated into the high-school curriculum, a government official said on November 7.Keep reading ...
China needs 'lose-win' diplomacy in ASEAN
Scanning the regional landscape on November 3, South-east Asian states ought to be quite optimistic about the state of ASEAN-China relations just as the year closes on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of their dialogue partnership. ASEAN and China have agreed to a series of ...
