Environment and land
Thai Government set to divert water from key rivers
The Thai government plans to divert water from rivers which form natural boundaries with Thailand’s neighbours into major dams in a long-term measure to battle drought. Suphot Tovichakchaikul, chief of the Department of Water Resources, said on 11 January that aside from the country’s local sources, water ...
PVN encouraged to expand gas, oil exploration activities
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai requested the National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) to continue to search for new sites, and produce more oil and gas in 2016. He described these activities as a key task for the sector in 2016. Speaking at a conference ...
Cambodian PM touts exemption for land bequests
The Cambodian government has announced its intention to scrap a 4 per cent fee levied on the transfer of property when the transfer is being made as an inheritance. According to a letter signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and posted on his Facebook page on ...
Rice exports miss the mark again
Five years after setting out an ambitious 1 million-tonne milled rice export target, Cambodia’s rice sector fell well short of the mark last year, exporting close to 550,000 tonnes, with industry experts cautiously optimistic over export increases in 2016. The Agriculture Ministry’s report, released on 8 January, ...
Rubber row flares amid rally threat
Rubber farmers in the South are threatening to stage a major rally and a hunger strike if their demands for government action to shore up falling prices are not met. Saksarit Sriprasart, a leader of rubber farmers in Trang, said a network of small planters in the southern ...
China starts rice imports from Laos
The first shipment of rice imports from Laos have passed through inspection and quarantine procedures at south China’s Shenzhen port, according to local authorities. The shipment weighed 87.8 tonnes and was valued at 746 million U.S. dollars, said the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection And Quarantine Bureau. Keep reading ...
Community sues border police over loggers
A group of villagers in Mondolkiri province filed a lawsuit this week against three local border police officers and a forestry official accusing them of allowing Vietnamese loggers to sneak across the nearby border and illegally log the forests they depend on for a living. Khut ...
Vietnam bans leasing land inside Cambodia
Vietnam has agreed to ban its citizens from leasing land in Cambodia to avoid increasing tensions along the border following a request from Prime Minister Hun Sen, according to Interior Minister Sar Kheng. Kheng on 6 January said that Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had agreed ...
Two Malaysian firms plan agarwood venture in Laos
Two Malaysian companies plan to invest US$18 million (RM79 million) for the inoculation of agarwood in Laos that is expected to generate US$200 million in three years. Agriculture transaction company Aseagate (M) Sdn Bhd, forestry management company Richwood Capital Sdn Bhd, together with non-governmental organisation Global ...
Prayut says useless for rubber farmers to protest
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on 7 January warned rubber farmers not to protest, saying he would not comply to their request while they could face legal actions. Keep reading ...
