The year-on-year inflation rate in Laos surged 8.5 per cent in March, even more than expected, and rose to the highest figure recorded since January 2016. The Covid-19 pandemic, together with volatile fuel prices and the continuing depreciation of the kip, are the main factors driving consumer prices in Laos, according to the latest report from the Lao Statistics Bureau. The spiralling cost of fuel on the world market forced the government to raise the retail price of petrol three times in March. Since the beginning of this year, the government has adjusted fuel prices nine times, raising the price…
Author: Asia News Network
The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour has proposed a seven per cent increase in minimum wages from July 1, but many insiders gave a thumbs down to the proposal. Garment 10 Corp deputy director-general Bach Thang Long underlined that the resurgence of the pandemic in the first quarter had a negative impact on firms’ financial situation. Higher payroll costs would add to their woes, putting a strain on small-sized firms. He suggested the increase in minimum wages be put off until 2023 and cover only inflation to leave room for firms to recover. “Minimum wages should increase only to offset…
A majority of US businesses in South Korea were optimistic that investment in the East Asian country will continue over the next two years, and picked Korea as the second most preferred location for regional headquarters in Asia after Singapore, survey results showed on April 7. In an annual survey of member companies by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AmCham Korea), 44 per cent of the respondents said they will increase investment in Korea through 2024, while another 42.9 per cent said there will be no change to their investment levels. Six per cent said their investment will…
Google searches for “cryptocurrency” increased sharply in recent years as Vietnamese sought investment channels, especially during the pandemic with social distancing measures in place, which forced people to stay home. A recent report of Google showed that the total number of searches via the search engine in Vietnam rose by 37 per cent from 2021 against 2019. Searches for financial investment-related keywords in general and “cryptocurrency” in particular were among the keywords that saw the highest increases over the same period. The trend of searching for “cryptocurrency” emerged at the end of 2020 and reached its peak in May 2021,…
Hong Kong’s former No 2 official John Lee formally announced his bid to run for the top job on Saturday (April 9), promising a “new symphony” for the city for which he would be “the conductor”, and listing three key policy areas in his strategy as the next leader. Lee, 64, is the first person to declare his intention to run in the chief executive election on May 8. He is expected to be the sole candidate in the race. “I now announce my decision to stand for the election for the sixth-term chief executive of the Hong Kong Special…
Japan and the Philippines vowed closer military cooperation via more complex, high-level joint exercises and intelligence sharing on Saturday, voicing “serious concern” over tensions in the East and South China Seas. Their first meeting under the “two-plus-two” arrangement, involving their foreign and defence ministers, came amid heightened concerns over the war in Ukraine and the potential spillover effect in regional waters. Japan and the Philippines are strategic partners, while both countries are also security allies of the United States. In a joint statement after the meeting, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi as well as their…
The Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications reported more than 3,000 cyberattacks on systems in Vietnam in the first three months of this year. Statistics show a growing trend of cyberattack incidents on information systems in Vietnam in the context of agencies and units strongly promoting digital transformation. The Authority of Information Security has recorded, warned and given guidance on handling more than 9,700 cyberattacks that led to problems with information systems in Vietnam last year, increasing 42.4 per cent compared to 2020. Hackers have used many sophisticated tricks to steal bank accounts, social networks,…
For the first time since March 2020, no area or even household in any of Metro Manila’s 16 cities and one municipality was considered on lockdown, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) confirmed on Saturday. Even across the nation, only four households, with seven Covid-19 infected individuals, in the Cordillera Administrative Region remained on granular lockdown, as of April 8. The Philippine National Police, however, reported that there were still 292 quarantine control points throughout the country, but none in Metro Manila nor Central Luzon. While previously called by different names – localised enhanced community quarantine, pocket lockdown, special…
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is taking steps to protect babies, especially newborns to 4-year-olds, from contracting Covid-19. Khajit Chatchavanich, BMA permanent secretary, said the BMA Medical Service Department and Health Department are closely monitoring the infection rate among high-risk groups, especially infants. The city administration is addressing this issue in cooperation with the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Disease Control and other relevant agencies. Newborns up to the age of six months face the greatest risk of developing severe symptoms and succumbing to the virus than other age groups, Khajit said. According to the Department of Disease Control, as…
The Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to 51.7 in March from 54.3 in February, as the latest wave of the Covid-19 pandemic led to widespread labour shortages in the manufacturing sector during March, according to S&P Global. In a report released last week, S&P Global said that although the situation still pointed to an overall strengthening of business conditions, the latest improvement was the least marked in the current six-month sequence of growth. Central to the slowdown in the rate of improvement overall was the current wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam. One of the main impacts…