Economy and industry

On June 30 in Hanoi, Vietnamese and EU officials signed a new free trade deal that could shift the balance of manufacturing in the region. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement will reduce tariffs and facilitate trade between the two parties. Vietnam will ...

Letter to the Editor (of The Phnom Penh Post) Dear Editor, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was extremely pleased to hear recent comments from His Excellency Keo Rattanak, the director-general of Electricite du Cambodge (EDC), that he does not want to see the proposed Mekong River mainstream hydropower ...

Local residents and environmentalists spent the weekend having a hot debate with the Chinese Embassy about Beijing’s utilisation and management of the Mekong River.  While the embassy accused Thai media of spreading false information on China’s development projects in Southeast Asia’s longest rivers, the Thai Mekong ...

At the moment, China and Japan are planning to work together on at least 52 business projects in third countries in the region, encompassing both the Indian and Pacific oceans. Certainly, these projects provide tangible ways for Asia’s two largest economies to foster mutual trust ...

Tourists, gamblers, traders and others can now travel by train between Bangkok and the Thai-Cambodian border for the first time since tracks were cut 45 years ago at the end of the US-Vietnam War. The new rail link ends one of the last infrastructural disruptions caused ...

The government will prioritise renewable energy development rather than hydroelectric power, Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) director-general Keo Rattanak has said. Private sector insiders have hailed the decision, saying investment in solar power would make the Kingdom’s manufacturing sector more competitive due to lower prices. Speaking at a ...

Recently, a coalition of civil society groups, which has monitored development on and along the Mekong River, issued a frightening statement. Fluctuations of river flows during the past three decades have been at record highs, they said. That is a big deal for people whose livelihoods ...

The National Assembly yesterday unanimously approved plans by SPHP (Cambodia) to invest in a new hydroelectric dam in Pursat province, as well as plans by Schnei Tech to build solar farms in Pursat and Kampong Chhnang province. Since power cuts began in March across the country, ...

B. Grimm Group, Thailand’s oldest industrial group, has won a race against time to begin operating two of Southeast Asia’s largest solar farms, both located in Vietnam. The two plants came online last month and will raise the share of solar in B. Grimm’s energy portfolio to nearly ...

Villagers living near the Mekong River in Chiang Rai Thailand and Laos are finding it difficult to cope with sudden releases of water from dams upstream in China. More than 200 families living in Laos’ Bokeo province have suffered because of sudden increases in the height ...