Environment and land
The Philippines declares more than 100,000 acres as critical habitat
In November last year, the Philippines declared its largest critical habitat yet. Located in the long, narrow Philippine island of Palawan, the new Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat is spread across 41,350 hectares (more than 100,000 acres). The second largest critical habitat, Carmen Critical Habitat for ...
Public should look at detail of anti-forest encroachment measures: Prayut
Government chiefs including Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on January 31 urged the public to look at the detail of proposals by the National Reform Steering Assembly for tackling forest encroachment, saying it has merely tried to correct wrongs and not legalise wrongdoings including by resort ...
VnSteel aims to increase revenue by VNĐ800 billion
Vietnam Steel Corporation (VnSteel) aims to earn a consolidated revenue of US$835.5 million in 2017, an increase of VNĐ800 billion from 2016. It will produce around 2.4 million tonnes of steel billets this year, up 17 per cent from 2016, VnSteel said. To accomplish these ...
South Korea offers loan to Cambodia
South Korea has agreed to provide more than $400 million in loans to Cambodia for infrastructure and health development. Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn and South Korean ambassador Kim Weon-jin signed two agreements at a ceremony on January 31 outlining loans that will be dispersed to ...
New regional platform to develop tourism companies
The Mekong Business Initiative will launch a new platform next month aimed at developing startups in the tourism sector throughout the CLMV region, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, a program organiser said on January 31. MBI, a program launched by the Asian Development ...
Ministry issues measures meant to counter wildfires
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries on January 30 signed off on a list of seven measures intended to guard against forest fires, although details on implementation remained scarce on January 31 and observers said they expected little to come of the new document. The ...
Poverty Reduction Fund reports five years of success
Despite poverty reduction activities achieving real success over the past few years, the improvement of behaviour patterns in poor communities in remote areas should continue to be monitored. The lessons learnt from the implementation of poverty reduction projects were discussed at a meeting held in ...
Factory owners say fake ‘squatters’ extorting them
The issue of illegal tenants and land compensation remains a major challenge for the Yangon Region government, and, in the absence of solutions, the matter has taken a new turn with factory owners now accusing farmers of trespassing and extortion. U Aye Thaung, chair of the ...
Economy expected to average 7.1 percent growth over next three years
Myanmar’s economy is expected to grow by an average of 7.1 percent per year in the next three years, amid easing inflation and a rise in investments in infrastructure and sectors such as light manufacturing and hospitality, the World Bank said in a report on ...
Thap Lan: Thailand's unsung forest gemk under threat, but still abrim with life
On the trail of a conservation group conducting a wildlife monitoring survey, we stop the 4×4 on the road and walk along the red earth to check on camera traps. Wildlife rangers from Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and international conservationists ...
