News
Cambodia seizes 1.5 tonnes of marijuana smuggled from Laos
Cambodian police on 25 August showed off a seizure of nearly 1.5 tonnes of marijuana worth more than $7 million packed into coffee bags, part of an ongoing drug crackdown in the country. Keep reading ...
Lao airlines adds Changsha
Lao Airlines will operate twice weekly flights connecting Vientiane to Changsha in Hunan province, China, starting the end of August 2015. Lao News Agency quoted Ministry of the Transport and Public Works office deputy head, Phouphet Thammavong, who said the first flight between Vientiane and Changsha ...
Turmoil at the top prompts business uncertainty
In Myanmar’s business environment, where many prominent firms have close ties to officialdom, political developments at the top can have major ramifications for the economy. It remains to be seen how significantly the political turmoil that recently engulfed Myanmar’s ruling party will play out in Myanmar’s business sector. When Union ...
Ieng Thirith, Khmer Rouge ‘First Lady,’ dies at 83
Ieng Thirith, who was among Pol Pot’s inner circle during the rule of the Khmer Rouge as the regime’s social affairs minister, died on 22 August in Pailin province, where her family remains influential. She was 83. Keep reading ...
Chinese steel may flood Vietnam market
After the strong depreciation of the Chinese yuan, steel industry insiders have warned local steel producers that Chinese steel products could flood the Vietnamese market, causing difficulties for them. Vice-Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association Nguyen Van Sua said although in recent years, the local steel ...
Vietnam's garment firms look to Europe
Enterprises from Hanoi hope to find more business opportunities in the textile, garment and footwear industries in Eastern European countries in the future. At a seminar on encouraging trade between Hanoi and the Czech Republic held in Prague on 20 August, Le Hong Thang, director of ...
Mekong in need of more infrastructure
The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta must plan for future economic growth by investing more in infrastructure, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has said. Speaking at a conference on 21 August in Can Tho City, Ninh said that officials had set the annual GDP growth target at ...
China, ASEAN to strive to end talks on upgraded FTA
Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said on 23 August that both China and ASEAN have agreed to strive to bring to an end their negotiation on an upgraded version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area before the end of this year. “Progress has been made in ...
British rights activist charged with defamation in Thailand
British rights activist Andy Hall has been charged with criminal defamation in Thailand after he researched a report that alleged labour abuses at the Natural Fruit Company, a large Thai pineapple wholesaler that supplies the EU. The Bangkok south criminal court decided on 24 August to indict the ...
Displaced families face fresh hardships
A ‘model village’ built by the government offers little improvement in living standards for several hundred families displaced by conflict in Kachin State. Ngwe Pyaw, which means “wealthy village” in Myanmar language, was founded in May 2014 as a pilot resettlement site. But it is wealthy ...
