Economy and industry
French bank set to enter Cambodia

French bank BRED Banque Populaire – part of the second-largest banking group in France – will start commercial operations in Cambodia later this year, marking the first foray for a European bank in the Kingdom since the late 1990s, sources in the banking sector said ...
Lao Cai braces for ‘tourism year'

The northern province of Lao Cai is concentrating on developing local tourist attractions in order to host the National Tourism Year in 2017. Ha Van Thang, Director of the Lao Cai Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said the province will create a series of local tourism ...
New auto sector strategy released

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued a decision regarding the mechanisms and policies needed to implement the strategy for Vietnam’s automobile industry development through 2025, with a vision toward 2035. The measures will also cover the master plan for Vietnam’s automobile industry development through ...
Water shipped to parched Banteay Meanchey locale

At least 600 families in the remote Svay Chek district of Banteay Meanchey province are being threatened by a shortage of drinking water that began earlier this month, a provincial official said on 16 February. The water in the wells and rivers has been drying up ...
Longer stay for migrant workers proposed

Currently, migrant workers from other countries possessing “pink-card work permits” can work in Thailand for one year and are required to renew their permits if they want to continue working. Under a new proposal, migrant workers can work for two years before renewing theirpermits. The workers ...
Programme to focus on sustainable production

Seventy per cent of enterprises with high energy needs and emissions and 50 per cent of industrial production establishments will apply clean and energy-saving technologies by 2020. This is the agenda of a newly approved national action programme on sustainable production and consumption for the period ...
Thai products popular in Vietnam's domestic market

Vietnamese products are facing fierce competition from Thailand imports in the local market as Thai companies increasingly expand their presence in the country. A report from the General Department of Customs (GDC) showed that exports from Thailand reached US$7.5 billion in the first 11 months of ...
Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar in line for US$180m loan
The Climate-Friendly Agribusiness Value Chains Sector Project will provide a US$180 million loan to finance initiatives in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to boost the capacity of commercial production in the three countries. A senior official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Vinoth Vansy, told ...
Families displaced by dam get new houses
Some 14 families of 85 people who recently moved to make way for the construction of the Don Sahong hydropower project in Champassak province have received new houses. The houses were handed over on 15 February in Don Sahong village, Khong district, in the presence of provincial ...
ANZ still owes villagers over sugar loan: Oxfam

Australian banking giant ANZ has come under fire for its response to a scandal over its financing of a sugar plantation previously linked to forced evictions and child labour in Kampong Speu province. Titled Still Banking on Land Grabs, Oxfam’s Australia branch released a report on ...