Thailand’s singing zebra doves can fetch more than $90,000
Among the most creative investment ideas of present days is certainly the zebra dove, a small bird native to Southeast Asia, which has become the center of a lucrative export business from Southern...
View ArticleASEAN Economic Community: Which professions can move freely?
Expectations are high among workers living in one of the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. With the advent of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), planned to come...
View ArticleWealth of Thailand’s 50 richest crosses $100b
The new Forbes list of Thailand’s 50 richest people is out, and it seems that the sluggish economy and the political uncertainty in the kingdom in the past year did not have that many negative effects...
View ArticleThailand’s foreign trade facing severe troubles
Thai exports dropped more than forecast in May 2015 and imports had their biggest tumble in nearly six years, emphasising how the country’s traditional growth engine of trade is not giving the...
View ArticlePhilippines ‘must improve food production standards’
With increasing demand, both global and regional, for agricultural products, safety in food production is one of the most urgent issues that the Philippines has to face to meet expectations in time for...
View ArticleVietnam seafood exports surge 25% in first 7 months
In the first seven months of 2014, Vietnam exported 24.5 per cent more seafood than the in the previous year. Seafood exports to the world market totaled $4.2 billion, reports the Daily Times, citing a...
View ArticlePapua New Guinea seeks more trade with the Philippines
Papua New Guinea (PNG) plans to expand its trade and investment links with the Philippines. Citing a letter to Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. said PNG’s...
View ArticlePhilippines’ Aboitiz group expanding in ASEAN food sector
The food subsidiary of Philippines industry conglomerate Aboitiz group is looking to diversify and expand across the region with the potential acquisition of overseas flour mills and food companies....
View ArticleHigh cost to pull down Thailand’s rice exports in next decade: Study
Thailand’s share in the international rice market will drop further in the next 10 years if the plantation system is not altered to lower the production cost, said an academic of the University of Thai...
View ArticleMyanmar to expand private investment in forest plantations
Myanmar is inviting foreign and domestic companies to invest in forest plantations on more than 100,000 hectares of government land, state media reported on October 11. The Forestry and Conservation...
View ArticleMalaysia plans rubber roads as prices struggle
Malaysia plans to build rubberised roads from 2015 in a bid to boost domestic consumption and shore up battered prices of rubber, after a price-floor plan by major producing nations proved tough to...
View ArticleThailand’s GDP growth forecast cut to 1%
Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) says economic growth in 2014 will be a mere one percentage point against 2.9 per cent last year. In its report on economic outlook...
View ArticleJapan’s halal food funds meet strong investor interest
Japan, a country that is currently pursuing a foray into the global halal industry, is experiencing strong interest for the country’s first-ever halal fund, launched last year with the aim of providing...
View ArticleMyanmar, Cambodia seek investors to build up rice export industry
Two Southeast Asian countries not particularly known for large agricultural exports, Myanmar and Cambodia, have both declared that they want to participate in the global rice business by intensifying...
View ArticleThai army says situation in Muslim south is “getting better”
The Thai army is confident that it will reach improvement for the volatile situation in the southernmost provinces of Thailand which have been plagued by sectarian violence for many years. “Due to...
View ArticleSingapore company plans Oud factories in the Middle East
Asia Plantation Capital, a Singapore-headquartered group that operates agarwood plantations in Southeast Asia that deliver the precious raw material for expensive Oud perfumes highly valued in the...
View ArticleMindanao attracts Mideast investors for port development and boosts halal...
The Philippine’s southernmost region of Mindanao, a predominantly Muslim island group with about 25 million people which last year signed a peace treaty with the government after a decade-long violent...
View ArticleIndonesia reveals measures for “economic jump forward”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on September 9 unveiled a series of stimulus measures to boost slowing growth in Southeast Asia’s largest economy and help the country’s plunging currency recover. In a...
View ArticleSingapore haze reaching highly unhealthy levels
Hazy conditions in Singapore, a result of forest and peatland fires caused by slash-and-burn techniques used to clear land for farming and plantations on neighbouring Sumatra, have caused air pollution...
View ArticlePhilippines to consider more rice imports, ending subsidy
Philippine officials will meet next week to consider more rice imports and ending a subsidy for farmers to cut debt at the National Food Authority, Presidential Assistant for Food Security Francis...
View ArticlePhilippines abandons rice self-sufficiency plan
The Philippines has shifted away from setting a target date for its plan to be completely self-sufficient in the production of rice, a senior government official said, likely keeping its doors open to...
View ArticleIndonesia now country with world’s highest deforestation rate
Indonesia has double the deforestation rate in Brazil and has become the largest destroyer of forests housing some of the world’s most endangered species according to a report recently published in the...
View ArticleThailand to reclaim top rice exporter spot after poor Indian season
Thailand is set to reclaim its status as the world’s top rice exporter as weak monsoon rains curb India’s crop, helping the Southeast Asian country’s new military government offload bulging stockpiles....
View ArticleItochu in $1 billion tie-up with Thailand’s CP group
Japan’s trading conglomerate Itochu Corp entered into a $1 billion tie-up with Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont’s Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) to target rising demand for meat and livestock products...
View ArticleThai economy struggles as manufacturing output declines
Thailand’s economy continued to struggle in the second quarter of 2014 amid declining growth and manufacturing activity – underscoring concerns over the junta’s ability to revive consumption and...
View ArticlePhilippines to spend nearly $4 billion on rebuilding after typhoon Haiyan
The Philippine government plans to spend nearly $4 billion to rehabilitate areas devastated by super typhoon Haiyan last year, a senior adviser to President Benigno Aquino said on August 1. Haiyan...
View ArticleMergers & acquisitions wave set to hit Vietnam, say analysts
An ambitious plan to privatise more than 400 of Vietnam’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by the end of next year will fuel a new wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the country, analysts say....
View ArticleMyanmar receives $3b in taxes in the last fiscal year
The Myanmar government said it has received nearly $3 billion, 4.4 per cent of Myanmar’s GDP, in total tax revenue for the 2013-14 fiscal year. The amount is the lowest compared to other countries in...
View ArticleChina wants more investments in the Philippines
The Chinese government wants to encourage investments and attract more tourists to come to the Philippines, even as both countries are involved in a territorial dispute. “I should point out that...
View ArticleMeasures attempted to boost Thailand’s growth to 2% in 2014
Attempts are being made through several policies to boost Thailand’s GDP to grow by 2 per cent in 2014, said National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) leader and army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha...
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