News
Vietnam PM wants $3 billion in unpaid taxes collected by year-end
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on 27 November ordered local governments and state agencies to collect VND70 trillion (US$3.06 billion) in back taxes by the end of the year amid budget concerns. The order came as the government is expected to fall short of its revenue target ...
Vietnam attends Vientiane Expo 2015 in Laos
Vietnamese enterprises are displaying handicraft items, food and technologies at the Vientiane Expo 2015, which kicked off in Vientiane, Laos on 28 November. Keep reading ...
The night the lights went out
Underscoring Cambodia’s heavy dependence on imported electricity, the lights went out not just in Phnom Penh but across provinces nationwide on Thursday, an unprecedented blackout that Prime Minister Hun Sen said was caused by an electrical fault in neighbouring Vietnam. Between about 10pm and 11pm, Phnom ...
Thai start-ups in line for incentives
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry is considering tax incentives for companies investing in tech start-ups in an attempt to stimulate long-term investment. The ministry plans to spend 100 million baht to promote Thailand’s tech start-up industry, said vice-minister Pansak Siriruchatapong. Keep reading ...
Thai Chamber urges bolder Myanmar approach
Thai businesses want the government to help them enter or expand into the Myanmar market by conducting more official visits to the neighbouring country, according to the AEC Strategy Centre at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. Centre director Pussadee Polsaram said more official ...
China says 2 activists sent back by Thailand now detained
The Chinese government confirmed it has repatriated and detained two dissidents who were living in Thailand and had won UN recognition as refugees, a state-run newspaper reported 26 November. Thai police handed over the two Chinese men — Jiang Yefei and Dong Guanping — to Chinese ...
NLD urged to make environment a focus
After five years in which the government had concentrated on economic reforms, it was now time to protect the neglected environment, activists say. Speaking at a 25 November conference on environmental laws organised by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability, participants said the incoming government ...
NLD pledges support for ceasefire process
Myanmar’s new government to be formed by the National League for Democracy will support the nationwide ceasefire process, senior party officials on 26 November assured five ethnic armed groups that signed the pact last month with President U Thein Sein. Leaders of the five groups met the officials ...
Relatives of landslide victims urged to reject compensation
A Kachin civil society group is urging relatives of those killed in a landslide near a Hpakant jade mine on 21 November to reject an offer of K600,000 compensation for each victim, and has reiterated threats to press charges against those involved in the mining ...
November trade deficit narrows to $3.8b
Vietnam’s trade deficit narrowed to US$3.8 billion in the first 11 months of this year, from the $4.1 billion recorded for the first 10 months. According to the General Statistics Office, the reduction was thanks to an $18.8 billion trade surplus achieved by foreign direct investment ...
