Economy and industry

The 23rd preparatory conference of the nine provinces of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand that share the use of Road 8 and Road 12 was recently held in the central Lao province of Bolykhamsay to review their cooperation. A representative of Bolykhamsay province reported the implementation of ...

Malaysia has deported 114 Muslim Myanmar nationals who will be persecuted by the ruling military when they return, although they are not Rohingya, their lawyer said Thursday. Amnesty International Malaysia said Kuala Lumpur returned the Myanmar nationals to their strife-torn country, despite condemning the Burmese junta’s ...

Recent satellite images taken of the coastal area around Sihanoukville, Cambodia, show a significant development of a China-funded naval base that would help Beijing boost its power projection not only in Southeast Asia but also the Taiwan Strait. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2019 that Phnom ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is working to promote the maximization of the potential benefits of hydropower and other water-related development projects while minimising the harmful impact on the environment and millions of people living along this Southeast Asia’s largest river. The MRC launched two sets ...

Thai communities living along the Mekong River have watched their land disappear before their eyes as riverbanks collapse. However, what has caused these riverbank collapses is unclear. Local residents link the riverbank collapses to the irregular water flows that have been seen since the commercial launch ...

Atmo, an AI weather forecast system, has set its sights on the Asia-Pacific region to help improve the lives of citizens, said CEO Alexander Levy in an interview during the COP27 climate summit in Egypt last November. Levy said during the interview that the Asia-Pacific region is ...

Since it entered into force in early 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has helped strongly promote integration of value and supply chains, strengthen confidence in regional economic recovery and create new impetus for trade and investment growth in the region and the world, ...

Following three years of pandemic restrictions, Thailand’s eastern seaboard gateway—U-Tapao airport—has returned to the spotlight after deputy government spokesperson Tipanan Sirichana recently said expansion plans would commence in early 2023. Earmarked as an “Aviation City” in 2017, the $8.8 billion mega airport project will occur ...

Three financial institutions in Japan, the United States and Australia have announced that they will support Vietnam’s decarbonization effort. The institutions, backed by the governments of the countries mentioned above, would help Vietnam transition into liquefied natural gas plants and step up renewable energy utilization and ...

On 30 December, Lao Prime Minster Phankham Viphavanh (72) resigned ostensibly on health grounds, but amidst an economy in sharp decline and saddled in foreign debt. He is succeeded by the scion of one of the country’s two political dynasties, Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (56). Politics in ...