Economy and industry

Nai Win Hla, an executive committee member of the New Mon State Party, said Mawlamyine Cement Limited inked a deal with the Mon State government in Myanmar to build a cement factory, and then built a coal-fired power plant inside the compound without local residents’ knowledge. ...

A huge number of people living in around 30 villages of Hadxaifong district, Vientiane, will have clean water coming from their taps next year after a local company completes the construction of the Thadeua water treatment plant. Work on the project began last year and is ...

After numerous delays, industrial park operator Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone announced on 6 April that it had finalised a timeline for the launch of its upcoming initial public offering, and would kick off a five-day bookbuilding session starting on 18 April and hold a public ...

No more state land will be released under concession for planting rice, coffee, rubber, cassava or maize in Champassak province, as most areas suited to agriculture are already being utilised. Champassak agricultural authorities in Laos advised that prospective investors should go to the province of Saravan ...

A 30-month study by Vietnamese researchers on the impact of 11 proposed hydroelectric dams in the Lower Mekong Basin has found that the economic damage to Cambodia alone will be worth some $450 million per year. According to the researchers, the Mekong River at Kratie could, ...

Companies interested in developing state land into special economic zones in Trat, Mukdahan and Nong Khai provinces can buy the bid documents between April 11 and 19, says the head of the Treasury Department in Thailand. SEZ development is a major government policy aimed at boosting investment ...

Over 1 million temporary passport holders in Thailand will not be allowed to renew their expiring residency documents, issued between 2009 and 2013 as part of a national verification process. Instead, they are being told to forfeit their legal status, and apply for “pink cards” that ...

ADB President Takehiko Nakao on 4 April met Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Minister of Finance Dr Lien Thikeo and Minister of Planning and Investment Mr Somdy Douangdy, to discuss how the ADB can support the country’s infrastructure, private sector, skills development, and health services to enable ...

Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has defended the controversial new Telecommunications Law following a biting legal analysis by rights group Licadho, which says the legislation is a veiled tool to silence critics and potentially criminalize private expression. Keep reading ...

Myanmar’s small and medium enterprises will face both opportunity and risk under the incoming National League for Democracy government, industry observers say. In particular, anexpected increase in foreign direct investment could separate the strong from the weak. Keep reading ...