News
TPP, AEC seek increased growth in farming exports
Exports of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and fishery products would be aided by the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the enactment of the ASEAN Economic Community. According to experts speaking at a seminar on the impact of free trade agreements on Vietnam’s agricultural sector, the TPP ...
Vietnam blocks exports by foreign gold miner over huge back taxes
Two major foreign-invested gold mining companies in the central province of Quang Nam will not be allowed to resume exports until they pay VND387 billion (US$16.93 million) in back taxes, a government spokesman confirmed at a press conference on 27 November. Nguyen Van Nen was responding ...
In the Mekong Delta poorest homes, education takes a back seat
Poverty and a lack of parental support have forced many children in the Mekong Delta to drop out of school and face a very high risk of falling deeper into poverty. Many children in An Giang Province sell lottery tickets or earn money from casual, low-pay ...
Conservative Buddhists donate to Kachin IDPs
Hard-line nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu has revealed that his Committee for the Protection of Race and Religion, known as Ma Ba Tha, is providing aid to displaced Christians in war-ravaged Kachin State. Ma Ba Tha said it had donated K6 million for internally displaced persons ...
Landslide risk survey seals fate of Chin capital
A Team of German geologists have confirmed that Hakha, the capital of Chin State, is too dangerous to live in. The team has deemed most of the city at very high risk of landslides, which are often caused by heavy rain. The survey is the first ...
UN warns of need to boost immunisation
The United Nations has called for an expansion of immunisation to combat the threat of polio and other preventable diseases, after two cases of a vaccine-derived form of the virus were detected in northern Rakhine State. The World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund said ...
Thai traffickers exposed by campaign group investigating fishing industry
A three-year investigation into slavery on Thailand’s fishing boats has uncovered a well-oiled system of trafficking, abuse and exploitation in the southern port of Kantang, leading to eight arrests this month, a campaign group said on 30 November. The owner of a fishing company, three enforcers ...
President, Senior General to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on 2 December
Top-level talks on the transfer of power to Myanmar’s next government are to take place on 2 December. President U Thein Sein and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing released statements on 1 December saying they had agreed to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi separately on 2 ...
UN document: Thailand 'knew' Chinese deportees were refugees
The government knew two Chinese men it detained were refugees awaiting resettlement in Canada, but still deported them to China, according to a United Nations letter seen by Reuters. The letter, sent by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ...
Laos pins economic hopes on extra electricity
As Southeast Asia’s energy demands grow, Laos is banking on increased electricity exports to shore up its economy. The tiny country, which has a population of just under 7 million, has been opening a string of large-scale hydropower stations that will boost its total generation ...
