News
New group aims to help cut Myanmar road deaths by half
Road deaths need to be cut by 2000 a year or they will exceed regional targets, a new traffic-safety NGO says. ASEAN has called on member countries to reduce road deaths by half over the next five years, and the Myanmar Organisation for Road Safety, which ...
Trusted recruiters, friends leading domestic migrants to abuse: ILO report
The Myanmar government’s labour recruitment offices are failing, leaving workers to scrounge for jobs through informal networks rife with opportunistic brokers, according to a new report. In the absence of a functioning, official employment system, the vast majority of over 7000 workers interviewed – 72 percent ...
Military MP calls for new terms on ‘cheap’ land leases
US$54 a year for prime space in a high-end shopping centre; $3850 a year for a 553-acre golf course; $4625 a year for a hotel on 1.6 acres of land: These are just some of the cut-price rates for state-owned land that have been revealed ...
Civil societies call for more space at table
Civil society organisations have called for more representation around the negotiating table when the government and ethnic armed groups launch the next stage of the peace process in early January. CSOs from across the country meeting in Yangon on 17 December complained that they had been completely ...
Armed group embroiled in illegal housing scam
People duped into buying government-owned land beside the Yangon-Mandalay Highway on 17 December urged police to take action against those responsible, shortly after the authorities moved in and evicted thousands from the Hlegu site. More than 1600 acres had been subdivided and sold in 2400-square-foot plots since ...
Lao, Kuwait visa exemptions come into force
Visa exemptions for diplomats and officials / special passport holders of Laos and Kuwaiti came into force on 28 October after the two sides signed an agreement in Vientiane in June. However the passport holders of Lao and Kuwaiti nationality are allowed to stay in one ...
$1.3m of ivory, scales seized en route to Laos
An air shipment of illegal ivory and pangolin scales, worth an estimated $1.3 million, was intercepted and seized by the authorities on 13 December at the Changi Airfreight Centre. In a joint release on 17 December, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Singapore Customs ...
Laos issues first US$ notes in Thailand
Laos’ Finance Ministry has issued its first US dollar-denominated floating-rate notes in Thailand, worth $182 million (about Bt6.5 billion).The dual-tranche issuance was rated “BBB+” by Tris Rating on December 9. The maturities are 10 and 12 years and the coupons are six-month Libor (London Interbank ...
US should withhold trade, aid from Laos barring rights improvements: Advocacy leader
Washington must withhold trade agreements and assistance from Laos until its government can demonstrate concrete progress on human rights and democratic reform in the one party communist country, the head of an advocacy group has recommended to U.S. lawmakers.Mutually beneficial trade arrangements and political exchanges ...
European Parliament adopts Vietnam-EU partnership agreement
The European Parliament (EP) adopted an official resolution ratifying the Vietnam – EU Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA), at a plenary session in Strasbourg city, France, on 17 December. The resolution welcomes Vietnam’s outcomes in doi moi (renewal) and integration over the past time and hails ...
