COVID-19

Thailand may lose up to 14.4 million jobs in the second and third quarters, largely because of the coronavirus outbreak and widespread drought, says the government’s planning unit. Of the total, some 8.4 million workers are estimated to be at risk of job loss, 2.5 million ...

Vietnam has reached an inflection point in its economic development and needs to look for new models, the World Bank says. In a report it released on Wednesday, ‘Vibrant Vietnam: Forging the Foundation of a High-Income Economy’, the WB said domestic and foreign business environments in Vietnam are ...

About 1 million people may lose their jobs in Myanmar’s fisheries industry, with almost all exports ceasing since February as the spread of Covid-19 prompted major buyers, led by China and the U.S., to halt orders. Processing plants wouldn’t have been able to deliver anyway, as ...

The Covid-19 pandemic is a deep and lasting shock at global level; we all know that returning to “business as usual” is not an option. It is imperative that we perceive the crisis as an opportunity to rebuild — and even improve — livelihoods in ...

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) launched a campaign in Hanoi on 22 May to step up digital transformation using cloud computing technology. At the launch ceremony, the MIC Minister, Nguyen Manh Hung, said that domestic telecom companies have mastered the technology and built basic platforms for distant learning, ...

When a Chinese tourist was diagnosed with the Covid-19 coronavirus on January 13, the first known infection outside of China before the disease made its fatal global sweep, Thailand would have seemed a likely locale for mass contagion and mortality. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists ...

It takes particularly cynical government officials to use the world’s focus on tackling COVID-19 to accelerate illegal logging of protected forests; simultaneously lining the pockets of business elites, attacking environmental activists, and sabotaging its own ability to fight the climate emergency. Yet this is exactly ...

Local labour authorities around the country need to quickly implement government measures to assist the unemployed and help cushion inevitable job losses in the months to come, according to a leading official. Director-General of the Department of Labour Skill Development at the Ministry of Labour and ...

Laos has announced it will resume domestic flights, begin to reopen schools, and ease other lockdown restrictions starting 18 May. The National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced at a press conference held today nine measures that will be eased, and four restrictions that will ...

Representatives from six countries located in the Lancang-Mekong river basin joined an online meeting for the first time after the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic on Thursday to facilitate dialogue on establishing an information sharing platform to boost transparency and cooperation in water resources management.  The ...