ASEAN and the world

Indonesia's high-speed rail service, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, is set to begin commercial operations as early as October following repeated delays.

Thailand will reduce approval time and required documents to simplify its visa application procedures as an effort to attract more foreign visitors, said a government official on August 10.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has issued its third bond issue denominated in Mongolian togrog (MNT). The MNT13.7 billion (about $4 million) 3-year gender bond pays a fixed coupon of 11.25% semi-annually.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB), as a transaction advisor for the Government of Bangladesh’s Rampura Amulia Demra Expressway public–private partnership (PPP) project, has mobilized $261 million of private sector capital for a four-lane, 13.5 kilometer expressway that will ease traffic congestion and provide better connectivity between the capital Dhaka and other major cities.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on July 27 announced a new plan to boost economic growth with a vision of guiding the country into the world’s top 30 economies over the next decade.

(CPV) - Tonga’s King Tupou VI, government officials, and the people of Niuatoputau community attended a commissioning ceremony on July 26th 2023 for a new mini-grid generation system and distribution network, funded under the ADB-supported Outer Island Renewable Energy Project.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Niue officially opened the ADB office in Alofi on July 25th 2023.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Shantanu Chakraborty as its new Country Director for Viet Nam.

New corporate registrations are expected to reach 83,000-90,000 this year, boosted by the increase in foreign tourists and the Thai economic recovery, outstripping an earlier projection of 75,000-78,000, reported the Thai Commerce Ministry's Business Development Department.

A webinar on e-commerce opportunities in Singapore and countries in the region for Vietnamese goods was held on July 21 by the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Asia-Africa Markets and the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA).

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is maintaining its growth outlook for developing economies in Asia and the Pacific at 4.8% this year, as robust domestic demand continues to support the region’s recovery.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have renewed an agreement allowing ADB to continue accessing GCF funds for its climate finance ambition in Asia and the Pacific.

(CPV) - The super sea-crossing project from Shenzhen to Zhongshan not only connects traffic directly between these two cities, but also creates momentum to promote economic, financial and social development, and connection in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Recently, more than 40 reporters and journalists from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, countries participating in the Mekong-Lancang cooperation mechanism, have had a field trip to Beijing, Guangdong and Yunnan of China.

The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has warned that Thailand could experience dry conditions due to the El Nino phenomenon until early next year.

With the vote for House Speaker and deputies completed, the parliament of Thailand is heading to the next crucial meeting to vote for Prime Minister. Eight parties holding the majority seats in the lower house said they were united in their decision to vote for Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat.

The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia will hold the ASEAN Energy Business Forum 2023 (AEBF) themed "Accelerating Energy Connectivity to Achieve ASEAN's Sustainable Growth" on August 24-26 in Bali, Indonesia.

Student enrolment in every school grade in Laos has fallen, while the dropout rate has increased in both primary and secondary schools.

Indonesia is working to develop medical tourism in rural areas as part of the country’s effort to strengthen public health care services, a senior official has said.

The ASEAN-G7 Justice Ministers' Interface convened in Tokyo, Japan on July 7, aiming to foster cooperation among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Group of Seven (G7) countries in the field of law and justice.

Thailand's Ministry of Public Health has launched the first mobile renal dialysis unit in the country in a bid to help bedridden patients in remote areas.

The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has sent another batch of relief items from the people of ASEAN to the people of Myanmar affected by Tropical Cyclone Mocha, said ASEAN Chair Indonesia.

(CPV) - The Global Environment Facility’s governing board has approved plans to establish a “game-changing” new fund to finance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to put nature on a recovery path by the end of this decade.

(CPV) - The Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) will deploy $63 million in urgent funding for countries on the frontlines of climate change following a meeting of the Global Environment Facility-managed funds in Brazil.

(CPV) - Meeting in Brazil, the Global Environment Facility’s governing body approved the disbursement of $1.4 billion to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises.

(CPV) - Bond yields in emerging East Asia declined from March to May amid easing inflationary pressure in the region and slower monetary tightening in the United States, according to the latest issue of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asia Bond Monitor.

Malaysian government said on June 23 it will take legal action against Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (META) for failing to remove "undesirable" posts, the strongest measure the country has taken to date over such content.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade is striving to optimise the country's role as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2023 to increase the volume of national exports, especially of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) products, to the region, a senior official has said.

Indonesia plans to launch its carbon exchange in September, with power generation companies the first to trade on it.

Malaysia’s net inflows of foreign investment surged to 74.6 billion RM (16.17 billion USD) in 2022 from 50.4 billion RM in 2021, while investment abroad tripled to 58.6 billion RM from 19.4 billion RM, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) in a statement on June 16.