Economy and industry
Vietnam looking at $4 billion trade deficit in 2015
Vietnam could run up a US$4 billion trade deficit for the whole year after three consecutive years of a trade surplus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) said. The trade deficit would account for 2.4 per cent of total exports, much lower than the set ...
Thai Government to mull power offer from Laos
Thailand will consider a proposal to increase the memorandum of understanding on the purchase of electricity from Laos from 7,000 megawatts to 10,000MW after committing to buy 3,316MW this year, Energy Minister General Anantaporn Kanjanarat said on 9 December. He was speaking after a ceremony to ...
Brands called out over pledges on minimum wage
A Labour Ministry official on 9 December called out international clothing brands for not fulfilling a pledge last year to increase the amount they pay for clothing to support minimum wage rises in Cambodia’s garment sector, according to a statement. Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour was speaking ...
Report slams dam payouts
Households displaced by the massive Lower Sesan II hydropower dam project in Stung Treng province are being under-compensated by as much as $80,000, according to a new study. The research, published by the Rivers Coalition of Cambodia and led by political aspirant Kem Ley, found that ...
Myanmar fishermen give testimony in trafficking case
Fishermen who were enslaved and in some cases held captive for a decade aboard seafood trawlers in Indonesia are now taking part in a lawsuit against one of the accused companies. The 14 Myanmar fishermen were flown back to Indonesia to serve as witnesses in the ...
Laos’s threat to the Mekong River
Sipandon – meaning 4,000 Islands – is an area of immense biodiversity, ecotourism and abundance of fish migration, but its survival is at serious risk from the hydropower Don Sahong dam, which is on the verge of construction. “If this special wetlands zone is protected, it ...
ASEAN sets up EU-style free-flow market
The ASEAN Community was officially declared on 8 December by leaders of the 10 member states of ASEAN in a landmark moment promising greater regional integration for the 48-year-old group. The challenge of this association of nations, marked by diversity, can be seen in the words of ...
Making Southeast Asia's skies safer
Last week, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the safety rating for the entire Thai aviation system, placing it among those of a handful of countries — including Southeast Asian neighbors Bangladesh and Indonesia — that don’t meet international “minimum safety oversight standards.” Boeing expects Southeast Asian airlines ...
Thailand leads declines in Asian stocks, Europe opens lower
Most Southeast Asian stock markets traded lower on 8 December, with the Stock Exchange of Thailand posting its biggest one-day decline in two weeks on falling oil prices. The SET index posted the steepest fall in the region with a 1.6% drop, led by oil firm ...
Gas accounts for smaller share
Thailand’s heavy dependence on natural gas for the power sector has been trimmed to 60% from 70% thanks to greater use of coal and renewable sources, says the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo). The coal-fired Hongsa power plant in Laos has helped to increase the ...
