Economy and industry

Cambodians are expecting a ‘seamless transition’ when the ASEAN Economic Community is launched in two months and hopefully heralds a second investment wave, capable of transforming this country’s pool of unskilled labor into a manufacturing hub. The first investment wave followed Cambodia’s ascension to the World ...

As of August, only 15,000 of the 330,000 people eligible for unemployment allowances had enrolled in vocational training programmes, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. The unemployed will receive a maximum monthly vocational training allowance of VND1 million (nearly US$45) per person ...

The information and technology (IT) skill standards introduced by Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications will help training centres, employers and employees evaluate the competency of IT staff, experts have said. In May, the ministry issued a decree outlining skill standards for professional staff in the IT ...

The central Quang Tri Province intends to request a total investment of VND87 trillion (nearly US$4 billion) in its 18 projects in key sectors at an investment promotion conference in November. Speaking at a meeting with 20 investors held here on 28 October, Nguyen Van Hung, ...

The Lao Government has entrusted a committee in charge to negotiate with China to lower the interest rate of a loan Laos intends to borrow from China to develop the planned Laos-China rail project. Minister of Public Works and Transport Dr Bounchanh Sinthavong told the recent ...

“After the war, we live afraid of unexploded bombs, and we’re very careful when we go and do anything,” says Somechit Phouangsavat, an artisan from Ban Naphia, also known as War Spoon Village, in Laos. The 32-year-old works alongside 30 other artisans at Article 22, a company ...

Section 44 of the interim charter could be invoked by the prime minister to expedite six double-track rail projects, Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck says. In a radio interview on 29 October, Mr Ormsin said the six projects need a shot in the arm to speed ...

Hanoi has opened the country’s biggest research and development center for technologies related to mechanics, electronics, energy and environment, local media reported. Keep reading ...

The Ministry of Transport is looking for a private company to operate a tourist rail line in the Central Highlands resort town of Da Lat, following decades of losses, news website Saigon Times Online reported on 28 October. Keep reading ...

The national broadcaster Vietnam Television will disinvest from the pay TV market by selling most of its stakes in three major providers, whose combined market share is almost 73 percent, local media reported. Keep reading ...