News
Can ASEAN Play a Greater Role in the Mekong Subregion?
Southeast Asia is often thought of as comprising of two wings, maritime Southeast Asia and mainland Southeast Asia. The five mainland Southeast Asian states of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam make up the Mekong subregion. Keep reading ...
ASEAN meet rocks no boats on Rakhine, South China Sea
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Friday hewed to the group’s practice of reaching the least provocative consensus possible in discussions of such divisive issues as Myanmar’s Rakhine crisis and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. A two-day Foreign Ministers’ ...
Hope for Rohingya: Asean foreign ministers put China, Myanmar on notice
A gathering of Asean foreign ministers in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Friday signalled that the bloc is no longer prepared to ignore the actions of member states if it damages the image of the collective with external partners, at the same time putting China ...
ASEAN countries lag on renewable energy
Renewable energy sources include mainly biomass, waste to energy technology, wind, solar, run-of-river, impounding hydropower sources, ocean, geothermal and hybrid systems. The current renewable energy surge is due largely to booming solar panel deployment in China and throughout the world. It grew by 50 per ...
ASEAN to open markets for regional startups
Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to open their markets for startup companies from the region, especially unicorn startups, to boost development of the regional digital economy. “We also discuss ways to open the markets within ASEAN and expand ...
Thailand’s ASEAN Chair Challenge in 2019
On November 15 at the recent ASEAN Summit in Singapore, the symbolic gavel of the rotating ASEAN chairmanship was handed from Singapore to Thailand ahead of the official start as ASEAN chair in 2019. While Bangkok is no stranger to chairing ASEAN as one of ...
Trade Department pushes 12 priorities for Asean chair
Twelve economic issues, including the conclusion of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, have been proposed for consideration as Thailand readies itself to assume Asean’s chairmanship. Keep reading ...
ASEAN defence ministers meeting begins in Lucknow
The ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts’ Working Group on Military Medicine being co-chaired by India and Myanmar began Sunday at the Central Command in Lucknow, a Defence official said. “The aim of the conference is to establish better co-operation in medical operations amongst ...
Asean 'may have to choose between US, China'
Southeast Asian nations may soon have to “choose sides” between the US and China in their ongoing trade war, the political heir to Cambodia’s strongman ruler Hun Sen warned Wednesday in rare public comments. Impoverished Cambodia has become an unlikely staging ground for geopolitical influence ...
Myanmar, Cambodia lead Asean’s soaring minimum wage growth
Countries across Asean are experiencing rapid economic growth, and the associated improvements to the standard of living are conspicuous. Increasing trade means increasing wages — and wage growth is integral to the growth of regional economies. Keep reading ...