Inflation in Laos has surged higher than the projected rate for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), sparking fears among many people regarding the impact on their living standards. The government set an annual GDP growth target of at least four per cent from now until 2025, but the year-on-year inflation rate jumped from 6.25 per cent in January to 7.3 per cent in February, according to the latest report from the Lao Statistics Bureau. Consumer prices surged more than expected over the past seven months, propelled by the depreciation of the Lao kip against the Thai baht and the US…
Author: Asia News Network
The Lao government has pledged to secure more investment from China in the agriculture and forestry sector, using the potential offered by the Laos-China Railway to boost exports. Last year, more than 300 Chinese companies expressed interest in investing in the agriculture and forestry sector of Laos, with the investments expected to touch $1 billion due to the export potential provided by the railway, Lao Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr Phet Phomphiphak said. Dr Phet was quoted by China Radio International recently as saying that exports of Lao agricultural products to China had increased significantly. “I observe that trade…
The international sanctions against Russia and fewer flights to the country have severely affected Thai export of fresh vegetables and fruit to Russia, Thailand’s commerce envoy in Moscow said. Kittinan Yingcharoen, the director of the International Trade Promotion Office in Moscow, said imports of vegetables and fruit from Thailand were affected after Aeroflot and other Russian airlines, including S7 Airlines, Ural Airlines and other freighter airlines, stopped their services since March 8 because of the international sanctions. He explained that the sanctions following Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine had prompted plane lease companies in western countries to cancel their contracts…
Making early moves to transform business processes to be less reliant on labour and be more energy-efficient will put Singapore’s businesses in a stronger position for the future, said finance minister Lawrence Wong on March 22. This is given that labour and carbon constraints are likely to be a permanent fixture in Singapore’s economy in the future, he said. Wong was speaking at the Singapore Regional Business Forum (SRBF), one of the five conferences held during the Singapore Apex Business Summit at Sands Expo and Convention Centre. The four-day summit, organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and events firm…
KBANK Private Banking (KPB) has highlighted three major trends in Thailand’s real estate market for the “new normal” era. KPB says the government’s policy not to extend the land and building tax cut in 2022 will likely prompt high net worth individuals to convert their land holdings into collateral and investment funds to chase higher returns. KPB has targeted a new Land Loan for Investment of up to 10-15 billion baht ($300-450 million) this year. The government’s decision not to renew the 90 per cent cut in the land and building tax means undeveloped land can no longer generate revenue…
The property market in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Phuoc is expected to heat up because a series of infrastructure projects including an airport and industrial parks is planned to be built from now through 2030. Nguyen Minh Chien, head of the province’s Economic Zone Authority, said administrative procedures are being streamlined, favourable policies are being offered to investors, activities to facilitate online investment are being carried out, and modern and smart technologies are being adopted to speed up the projects. Nguyen Tan Hung, director of the province’s Department of Transport, said the focus is on transport infrastructure works…
Laos’ overall balance of payments situation is negative despite a trade surplus of $1.32 billion in 2021 because foreign exchange inflows represent only 26.45 per cent of the total export value. While summing up the result of the first meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Vientiane last week, the director-general of the Bank of the Lao PDR’s Monetary Policy Department, Khankeo Lamaningao, outlined the challenges facing the country. She highlighted the main reasons for the supply-demand mismatch for foreign currencies in Laos, notably the Thai baht and the US dollar. One of the main challenges for Laos is that…
The Indonesian government is scrambling to find new investors for its multi-billion dollar new capital city project following the exit of Japan’s Softbank Group. Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan on March 17 said the government was turning to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to fill the funding gap. The government was hoping to win over the UAE and Saudi Arabia for funds that were initially earmarked for Softbank’s Vision Fund, but that SoftBank had slashed following troubles over some of the group’s portfolio companies. “Now, we are hoping that the Vision Fund funds from Abu Dhabi…
Vietnam’s aviation industry is targeting about 43 million passengers in 2022, including eight million international tourists, or around 50 per cent of pre-pandemic numbers, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. The International Air Transport Association expects global passenger demand to reach 61 per cent of the pre-crisis levels this year. Bamboo Airways this month launched new routes from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City to Melbourne and Hanoi to Frankfurt. The budget carrier plans to expand the number of its international routes to 40 in the future. It will also launch the Hanoi-London and the HCM City-Sydney…
Laos and Saudi Arabia plan to extend cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, mining, energy, agriculture, education, and tourism. These issues were discussed when the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud, paid an official visit to Laos on March 18. The Saudi foreign minister and his delegation visited Laos in response to an invitation from Lao Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith. The visit was arranged to strengthen and expand the existing good relations and cooperation between the two countries for the mutual benefit of both peoples. According to…