News
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 ...
Officials look to formulate national policy on ageing
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement hosted an event this week in Yangon aimed at drafting a national policy for a growing contingent of those over 60 years old. One in every 11 Myanmar citizens is elderly, the ministry’s deputy director general Daw ...
The challenge for Asia's female politicians
Asia is seeing a new wave of successful female politicians, but getting to the top requires hard choices. What a disastrous few months for women in politics. The world started 2016 with the hopes of seeing both the first female UN secretary general and first ...
Vietnam scraps huge nuclear power plant projects
Power-hungry Vietnam scrapped plans for two multi-billion dollar nuclear power plants on November 22, citing environmental and financial reasons after the cost of the projects skyrocketed. The two plants in central Ninh Thuan province would have had a combined capacity of 4,000 megawatts and were ...
Researcher sounds Thai quake alarm
Thailand is at risk of moderate earthquakes following a 7.4-magnitude temblor off northeastern Japan on November 22, an academic warned on November 22. Asst Prof Passakorn Pananont, who is conducting research into seismic risk reduction in Thailand at the Thailand Research Fund, said areas around ...
Labour Ministry forms new body to monitor workplace safety
A new National Committee on Occupational Safety and Health established under a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on November 21 will advise the government on all work-place safety issues – but excludes transportation accidents, which one observer said make up the majority of work-related ...
Thailand braces for Trump dumping TPP
Country needs to focus other bilateral and regional deals next year, officials say. Thailand should get ready to renegotiate the framework of the US-ASEAN free-trade agreement after US President-elect Donald Trump announced on November 22 that he would scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal in his first ...
Banned rosewood trade up
Despite the presence of a blanket ban by the Cambodian government on all trade in Siamese rosewood since 2013, exports of the precious timber to Vietnam increased in the third quarter of this year, according to Vietnamese customs data compiled by US-based NGO Forest Trends. ...
Cabinet approves five decrees to boost economy, improve administration
The government cabinet has approved five new and amended draft prime ministerial decrees to boost socio-economic development and improve administration. They are the draft Decree on Government Bond, Decree on Tourism Fund, Decree on Technical Positions of Civil Servants, amended draft Decree on Private Education Institute ...
Lese majeste suspects 'bottled up in Laos'
A number of suspected lese majeste offenders are holed up in Laos and police will work with public prosecutors and Interpol to track them down, the national police chief says. Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said the Thai and Lao governments have discussed the matter and ...
