ASEAN News

Closer cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, supported, among other things, by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, would contribute to the post-COVID-19 global economic recovery, a Malaysian expert said. “Cooperation and interaction between China and ASEAN is now even more important as the world is seeking …

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin of Malaysia spoke on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project, with a view to the second and final extension of the construction suspension deadline of 31 December 2020. Media Release – Discussions on the resumption of the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore High Speed Rail project (KL-SG HSR)https://t.co/c5v2KJXUnz pic.twitter.com/l3MozmojhL …

In Vietnam, Facebook and YouTube are complicit in “censorship and repression on an industrial scale” a hypothesis advanced in a recent Amnesty International study that confirms and fleshes out previous studies on Vietnam’s increasingly assertive attempts to extend its control over key social media networks. The 78-page study published on 1 December shows that the number of instances in which …

KUALA LUMPUR, November 30 – With the new ASEAN Customs Transit System, ASEAN Member States are speeding up their economic integration by mitigating intra-Asian trade challenges and accelerating the seamless trade of goods by road (ACTS). To streamline cross-border customs procedures, the ACTS was established with the goal of accelerating land transit movements and reducing the time and cost of …

Governments worldwide have adequately prioritized strong frontline pandemic response systems during the Covid-19 crisis, ensuring timely access to assistance for those who contract the virus. Governments are struggling to create packages of economic stimulus-wage incentives, tax exemptions, and even money transfers. This, combined with a decline in economic growth, would lead to a large rise in debt, generating a new …

BANGKOK, 27 November — A new study released on Friday by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat urges governments in Southeast Asia to extend their COVID-19 stimulus packages with much-needed climate change and investment in adaptation to assist vulnerable populations. The second version of …

SINGAPORE – Going very green seems to offer up to US$1 trillion (S$1.35 trillion) in annual financial benefits to South-East Asian economies by 2030, a report by Bain and Company, a global administration consultancy firm, said in particular on Thursday (Nov 26). According to the writers, greater investment in renewable energy, reduced consumption and better waste management, less unhealthy crop-growing …

As economic and trade cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has developed, border areas in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China have played an important role in linking China to ASEAN. Despite the pandemic, China’s trade with ASEAN exceeded $500 billion in the first 10 months, according to data from the General Customs Administration. …

Asian climate leadership is rising, with three major economies, Japan and South Korea by 2050, and China by 2060, recently promising to decarbonize their economies towards net-zero targets. In particular, our area is exposed to threats from climate change, including increasing sea levels and weather changes that can affect agriculture and food production. One reminder of the vulnerabilities is the …

Plans are under way to increase the ability of Singapore to produce pharmaceutical products as the world gets closer to discovering a Covid-19 vaccine. For example, the global life science company Thermo Fisher Scientific announced plans to build a sterile fill-and-finish facility for therapeutics and vaccines here last month. Ms. Goh Wan Yee, Senior Vice-President and Head of Health at …