Economy and industry
Hanoi targets reduction in power safety violations
Hanoi has targeted reduction in violations of safety regulations for the high-voltage grid by 30 per cent in this year, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade has said. Le Hong Thang, director of the department, who is also deputy head of the city’s steering committee ...
Cambodian activists want Laos dam on US-ASEAN agenda
Civil society groups are calling for Laos’ Don Sahong hydropower dam project to be discussed when Southeast Asian leaders meet with President Barack Obama next week at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, California. The unprecedented U.S.-hosted ASEAN summit comes amid increased efforts by the Obama ...
Oil blocks to remain open
The Cambodian government said on 9 February it would postpone bidding on two vacated offshore oil blocks given the low global levels of investment flowing into petroleum exploration activities. The Ministry of Mines and Energy revoked the exploration licences of Resourceful Petroleum Limited last month after the ...
Alleged attackers at Capitol protest to sue
The president of a tuk-tuk and motodop drivers’ association, whose members were recorded on video brutally beating protesting bus drivers over the weekend, said he would file complaints against prominent union and civil society leaders for sparking the violence his own group was accused of ...
Media restrictions remain in place in Magwe
Journalists in Magwe blocked from parliament for the past five years have had their hopes of entering the chamber dashed. The previous hluttaw, dominated by Union Solidarity and Development Party representatives, refused to grant them access. But at the opening of the Magwe Region Hluttaw on ...
Community tourism begins to pay in Magwe
Community-based tourism is finally paying off in rural Magwe Region, says a local NGO official. A four-year project in Myaing township has hosted its first tourists, according to U Aung Min Naing, regional manager of ActionAid Myanmar. ActionAid launched the project in 2012 in the Inn ...
Domestic retailers urged for better links
Vietnamese domestic enterprises in the retail industry should strengthen their connections to take better advantages of resources and increase their competitiveness over foreign investors, Chairman of the Hanoi Supermarket Association Pham Vinh Phu said. According to Phu, Vietnamese retailers are vulnerable to integration because of their ...
Thai shares dip as global recovery stalls
Thai stocks fell briefly below the psychological 1,300 mark on 9 February as intensifying anxiety over the global economy fanned demand for safe-haven assets, with local gold bullion momentarily hitting 20,050 baht per baht-weight. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index started the day on a ...
Thai AirAsia the first LCC to serve Luang Prabang
Laos has finally opened its restricted skies to Thai AirAsia (TAA), which has relentlessly pursued the issue for eight years. The neighbouring state will from 24 March allow the no-frills carrier to operate regular flights from Bangkok to Luang Prabang, with Vientiane a second destination on ...
Mid-term public investment need estimated at almost $495m
Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction has completed its mid-term public investment for 2016-2020 under the Law on Public Investment to submit to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Under the plan, total public investment need for the period is estimated at nearly VND11 trillion (US$495 million), equal to ...
