Asean Morning News For April 2

Asean Morning News

Compiled by Stella-maris Ewudolu @stmarisewudolu

ASEAN Manufacturing PMI indicates stagnation in March
The Nikkei ASEAN Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, slipped to 50.1 in March from 50.7 in February, as slower rises in both output and new order volumes, alongside inventory depletion and largely stagnant employment weighed.
— Nikkei Asian Review (metered paywall)

Mekong summit sees $66B worth of projects agreed to
Six countries pledged to enact $66 billion worth of projects over the next five years at the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit in Hanoi on Saturday, with Cambodia-specific projects scheduled to receive the least amount of funding of any participant.
— The Phnom Penh Post

Bangkok hosts ASEAN High Level Brainstorming Dialogue
Representatives of ASEAN member nations are meeting in Bangkok for the second round of the High-Level Brainstorming Dialogue (HLBD) on Enhancing Complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
— News Today (video)

ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre to be launched in Thailand in June 2018
The Centre aims to develop the cybersecurity workforce in ASEAN, particularly in governmental agencies and Critical Information Infrastructure operators in ASEAN, training at least 700 cybersecurity personnel in the region in four years.
— OpenGov Asia

China reinforces links with GMS nations
Cooperation with other Greater Mekong Sub-region countries will help China to consolidate links with neighboring countries, construct the Belt and Road initiative and smooth South China Sea issues, Chinese observers said on Sunday.
— Global Times

Palm oil farming is losing its appeal in Southeast Asia
When palm oil farmer Isnin Kasno eventually retires, his three children will turn their backs on the family’s small plantation in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor.
— BusinessDay

The geopolitics behind environmental protection
Environmental issues like climate change and greenhouse gas emissions have come to shape the global agenda for the future. The logic it follows is simple – no environment, no humanity.
— The Asean Post

Southeast Asian Countries Must Increase Efforts To Maintain Progress Towards ASEAN Community Vision 2025 And UN 2030 Agenda
ASEAN countries will need to accelerate efforts to promote economic, social and environmental advancement towards the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to a joint report launched today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand (MFA), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the ASEAN Secretariat.
— Eurasia Review

Vietnam promotes images in ASEAN+3 festival in Cambodia
The Embassy of Vietnam in Cambodia and Vietnamese students in the country on April 1 participated in the third ASEAN+3 festival in Phnom Penh.
— Vietnam Plus

Asia local bonds trace yield and leverage tales
The Asian Development Bank’s March regular survey of nine domestic bond markets, with insights from the last quarter of 2017 through February, alerted the region to higher long-term government yields and private financial stability concerns around global central bank liquidity retreat and economic growth uptick.
— The Asia Times

A new coal war frontier emerges as China and Japan compete for energy projects in Southeast Asia
A joint report by Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and CoalSwarm indicates that Southeast Asia will be the new epicentre of coal production.
— South China Morning Post

Grab-Uber merger may have infringed competition laws, says Singapore watchdog
The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) suspects that Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing app Grab has infringed the country’s Competition Act by purchasing rival Uber’s Southeast Asian operations, it said in a statement.
— TechinAsia

Boracay and Phi Phi islands to tell tourists not to come
Some of Southeast Asia’s world-class beach resorts are beginning to deal with the environmental problems that tourists leave behind every day.
— Nikkei Asian Review (metered paywall)

Twitter bots begin following SE Asian opinion-makers
Many journalists, academics and political figures across Southeast Asia have gained hundreds of new Twitter followers that appear to be bot accounts in the past week, including some with ties to Cambodia.
— The Phnom Penh Post

Maybank Kim Eng aims to be top investment bank in Asean
AFTER becoming the top global trader in Islamic bonds, Maybank Kim Eng now wants to be the region’s top investment bank.
— Business Times

Cambodia Morning News

Compiled by Sreypov Men @MenSreypov

Cambodia road reconstruction projects, financing secured
Financing has been secured for key road reconstruction projects in Cambodia. Work is being carried out on six road projects in the country that measure a total of 600km, as well as a bridge, with this all costing some US$490 million.
— World Highways

Are Chinese-funded dams on the Mekong River washing away Cambodian livelihoods?
Like many other people living near the Mekong River and its tributaries in Cambodia, Khmer farmer Srey Ly Bik regards the waterways as life-sustaining.
— South China Morning Post

Tech centre promises STEM growth
The ICT Innovation Centre (IIC) project broke ground on Friday and will take 18 months to complete, according to a top official from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
— Khmer Times

See here for more of today’s Cambodia Morning News

Indonesia Morning News

Compiled by Stella-maris Ewudolu @stmarisewudolu

$378 minimum wage set to retain Indonesian maids in UAE
The Indonesian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will not attest the job contract of Indonesian housemaids working in the UAE if the contract does not meet the new criteria laid down by the embassy, a top diplomat told Gulf News on Saturday.
— Gulf News Asia

These are Sanctions For Taxpayers Who Fail to Report Annual Tax Return
Taxpayers must report the Annual Tax Return (SPT) before the deadline of March 31, aka three months after the tax year has passed.
— Netral News

Indonesia is hungry for a better food policy
Despite years of reasonable economic growth, 19.4 million Indonesians are still unable to meet their daily dietary needs.
— East Asia Forum

See here for more of today’s Indonesia Morning News

Lao PDR Morning News

Compiled by Leakhena Khat @leakhenakhat

Colonial power trapping the Laotian government and exploiting its workforce
Big changes are taking place in Laos. In the north-western village of Ton Pheung, visitors can clearly see those changes. Its residents speak Mandarin. Local transactions take place in Yuan and clocks display Beijing time.
— Asean Today

Energy and mines growth boost Lao
THE LAO government says the country will earn increased revenues from the energy and mines sector this year on the back of continued growth.
— The Nation

PM pushes for greater regional connectivity at GMS Summit
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has called for Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) member countries to intensify cooperation to increase and advance the regional connectivity network to drive development in the region.
— Vientiane Times

See here for more of today’s Lao Morning News

Malaysia Morning News

Compiled by Sreypov Men @MenSreypov

GE14: What Malaysians want for their vote
As Barisan Nasional (BN) prepares to unveil its manifesto for the upcoming election, Malaysians talk about what government policies they want for a better life.
— Malay Mail

Wages too low, says Bank Negara
ALTHOUGH the income levels of Malaysians have increased significantly over the years, voices of discontent are mounting over the decline in purchasing power.
— The Star Online

BIMB’s insurance earnings likely to be strong — Analysts
BIMB Holdings Bhd’s (BIMB) earnings from its insurance subsidiary, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd (Syarikat Takaful), is likely to be strong due to its strategic tie-ups with banks for bancatakaful.
— The Borneo Post

See here for more of today’s Malaysia Morning News

Myanmar Morning News

Compiled by Leakhena Khat @leakhenakhat

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi urges nation to stay united amid ‘challenges’
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Sunday for her people to remain united, saying the Southeast Asian country faces “challenges” at home and abroad, as she marked two years since her party swept to power in a historic vote.
— Reuters

Myanmar’s not-so-underground casinos in line for legalization
Casinos are banned in Myanmar, but you would not know that by looking at the ones in the country’s border areas. In the eastern town of Myawaddy, across a river from Thailand, the gaming houses light up the night like their counterparts in Macau or Las Vegas, though they are smaller. Little effort is made to conceal what goes on inside.
— Nikkei Asian Review (metered paywall)

Rohingya boat marks new exodus
A BOAT carrying 56 Rohingya that landed in Thailand yesterday was the first batch of hundreds fleeing across Southeast Asia from conflicts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state as well difficulties now plaguing refugee camps in Bangladesh, sources said.
— The Nation

See here for more of today’s Myanmar Morning News

Philippines Morning News

Compiled by Stella-maris Ewudolu @stmarisewudolu

IMF extends PH’s $1-B loan commitment to 2019
The Philippines’ $1-billion loan commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will expire on December 31, 2019 while other arrangements are reviewed quarterly.
— Manila Bulletin

US: Corruption in Philippines remains among barriers to trade
Corruption continues to be a major headache for the United States when it comes to doing trade with the Philippines, a new report by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) shows.
— Philippine Star

34,724 Cebu households get P2.4T subsidy
A TOTAL of 34,724 poor households in Cebu have received the unconditional cash transfer of P2,400 for the year intended to mitigate the impact of the increase in the prices of oil and basic commodities brought by the passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law.
— Sun Star

See here for more of today’s Philippines Morning News

Singapore Morning News

Compiled by Leakhena Khat @leakhenakhat

University of Sydney and NTU Singapore enter into partnership for engineering research
Engineers from the two institutions are collaborating on research in diverse areas ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and food technology to clean energy and waste management.
— Open Gov Asia

Six local universities offer course on imagining Singapore’s future
For the first time, the six publicly-funded local universities have one common course for all their undergraduates.
— The Straits Times (paywall)

Can Singapore be the Asian furniture hub by 2021?
Founder of Ipse Ipsa Ipsum says multi-cultural Singapore could even play a pioneering role in creating “a new design language” for the region.
— Channel NewsAsia (video)

See here for more of today’s Singapore Morning News

Thailand Morning News

Compiled by John Le Fevre @photo_journ

BoT revises GDP growth target to 4.1%
The central bank has revised this year’s GDP growth target to 4.1% and export growth target to 7%.
— NNT

Thailand protests China over registration of “Monthong” as trademark
The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has officially protested China over a Chinese business operator’s request to register trademarks in English and Chinese meaning “Monthong”, the popular durian species in Thailand.
— Thai PBS

Thai rice exports topple 30 billion baht in first 2 months of 2018
The value of Thai rice exports in the first two months of 2018 was recorded at 30 billion baht.
— NNT

See here for more of today’s Thailand Morning News

Vietnam Morning News

Compiled by Sreypov Men @MenSreypov

Food association unfit to lead rice sector: experts
The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) came under heavy criticism on Friday as economic experts voiced discontent with the association’s favouritism, lax business practices and overall incompetency in the rice export sector.
— Bizhub

National industrial production index hits 11.6 percent
Vietnam’s index of industrial production (IIP) in the first quarter of this year gained the highest year-on-year growth rate of 11.6 percent in the past three years.
— VietnamPlus

Blockchain Enabled Export Portal Continues 100 Country Push & Brand Ambassador Search with Visit to Vietnam Expo: Hanoi – April 11-14
Coming off the success of their trip to the Mumbai in February, Blockchain enabled Export Portal looks forward to showcasing what ExportPortal e-Commerce platform can do for international trade at The Vietnam Expo in Hanoi, April 11-14.
— AEC News Today/ PR Newswire (media release)

See here for more of today’s Vietnam Morning News

Asean Morning News is the most comprehensive selection of reports on what you need to know from around the Asean Economic Community (AEC) published. All articles are hand curated by the team at AEC News Today. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.