People and government
Malaysian trade agreement inked at Phnom Penh business forum
Cambodia and Malaysia took strides on August 9 to enhance bilateral trade and investment, holding a business forum in Phnom Penh and inking a cooperation agreement aimed cementing existing ties – and forging new ones. Malaysia is one of the top investors in Cambodia, and a cornerstone ...
Indian pills fuel drug boom in Myanmar
Five years ago, when cold pills first trickled across Myanmar’s untamed border with India, many local officials were baffled. Where was this medicine going, and why were smugglers so interested in it? Today, the cross-border trickle has become a torrent and everyone knows why the Indian-made ...
Myanmar begins repatriation of 2,000 migrants from Malaysia
Beginning this week, the Myanmar government will be beginning the process of taking home some 2,000 of its people who have been detained for months in Malaysia, Myanmar Times reported on August 10. “We have plans go through this repatriation process more than 10 times, chartering flights ...
U.S. urges Thai junta to cede power to civilian government soon
Speaking at a press briefing, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau also raised concern about the drafting process of the proposed constitution, saying it was “not inclusive” and lacked “open debate” before it was adopted. The United States urged Thailand’s ruling junta on August 8 to return the ...
China-Laos relations improve as Gezhouba Group constructs hydro power plant
The project is called Xelanong 2 and is foreseen to generate 35 megawatts of power, or 140,700 megawatts of electricity annually. The Chinese company is the one which built the giant Gezhouba Dam in the Yangtze River which produces 2,715 megawatts of power. Lin Boqiang, director of the ...
Vietnam cancels water pipe deal with China supplier over quality concern
State-owned construction firm Vinaconex has backed out of a deal to use pipes from a Chinese company to fix an unreliable water supply system in Hanoi amid concerns over the quality of the replacement. Viwasupco, the water utility subsidiary of Vinaconex, said in a new statement ...
Lao government muted representatives to ASEAN people's forum
Laos’ representatives attending a meeting of civil society organizations that is held each year during the ASEAN summit said little about human rights issues inside their own authoritarian country because they were selected by the government in Vientiane, sources tell RFA. “Most Lao representatives are selected ...
ASEAN and the EEU: close to free trade zone?
ASEAN and EEU member countries are estimated to have a combined GDP of $3.5 trillion and a combined population of over 700 million. On August 5, Russian media outlets quoted Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev as saying that an agreement had been reached ...
World Bank loan will not be used for govt salary increases, says president’s office spokesperson
Government employees’ salaries will not increase despite plans to take out a loan worth US$100 million from the World Bank, aimed at covering a state deficit by separating salaries from the budget, according to government officials. Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw sent a message on August 5 ...
GMS cross-border pact on hold
Though all countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region had signed a cross-border trade agreement 14 years ago to enhance the sub-region’s economic connectivity, the CBTA, however, is yet to be ratified in individual Mekong nations for its full implementation. This was revealed last week by ...
