Latest news with #Mekong
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
China rolls out Asean Visa for 10 Asean countries and Timor-Leste
BEIJING: China has rolled out an Asean Visa for the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Asean observer Timor-Leste, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The ministry's spokesperson, Lin Jian, said this new programme offers five-year multiple-entry visas to eligible applicants visiting China for business purposes and their spouses as well as children, granting a maximum stay of 180 days. "For anyone with more specific questions on visas to China, they are welcome to contact our diplomatic and consular missions in their countries," he said in a statement yesterday. He said the initiative was to further facilitate cross-border travels in the region, on top of the visa-free arrangement between China and countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and China's 'Lancang-Mekong visas' programme for Mekong countries. In recent years, he noted that China and Asean have advanced the building of a community with a shared future. "Visits between the people of China and Southeast Asian countries have been frequent. "There is a mutual hope to further ease travel between the two sides," he pointed out. He also said that the growing 'visa-free list' shows China's firm resolve in expanding high-level opening up. "The various measures China has taken to ease cross-border travel are all part of China's concrete action to create an open global economy," he explained. Adding to the proof, Lin said in the first quarter of this year, China received over nine million visits by foreigners, up by over 40 per cent year-on-year. "And in the first four months, more than 18,000 foreign-invested companies were established in China, up by 12.1 per cent year-on-year," he said. He further said that China will continue to improve entry policies and add more countries to the visa-free list.
The Star
2 days ago
- Business
- The Star
China rolls out special Asean visa for 10 South-East Asian countries and also adds Timor Leste in list
SOUTH-EAST ASIA (Bernama): China has rolled out an Asean Visa for the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Asean observer Timor-Leste, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The ministry's spokesperson, Lin Jian, said this new programme offers five-year multiple-entry visas to eligible applicants visiting China for business purposes and their spouses as well as children, granting a maximum stay of 180 days. "For anyone with more specific questions on visas to China, they are welcome to contact our diplomatic and consular missions in their countries,' he said in a statement today. He said the initiative was to further facilitate cross-border travels in the region, on top of the visa-free arrangement between China and countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and China's 'Lancang-Mekong visas' programme for Mekong countries. In recent years, he noted that China and Asean have advanced the building of a community with a shared future. "Visits between the people of China and Southeast Asian countries have been frequent. "There is a mutual hope to further ease travel between the two sides,' he pointed out. He also said that the growing 'visa-free list' shows China's firm resolve in expanding high-level opening up. "The various measures China has taken to ease cross-border travel are all part of China's concrete action to create an open global economy,' he explained. Adding to the proof, Lin said in the first quarter of this year, China received over nine million visits by foreigners, up by over 40 per cent year-on-year. "And in the first four months, more than 18,000 foreign-invested companies were established in China, up by 12.1 per cent year-on-year,' he said. He further said that China will continue to improve entry policies and add more countries to the visa-free list. "China is committed to greater openness and deeper cooperation for shared prosperity with the rest of the world,' he added. - Bernama
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Vietnam's US$67 billion North-South high-speed railway: privately built with public money?
Two of Vietnam 's largest conglomerates are vying to lead the country's largest infrastructure project to date: a US$67 billion high-speed railway linking the northern capital, Hanoi, with the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City. Advertisement Vingroup and Truong Hai Group Corporation (Thaco) have entered bids to build the more than 1,500km (930-mile) North–South high-speed rail line. But both are seeking substantial state support – either in the form of massive interest-free loans or government-backed financing. The proposals have raised questions about the potential for cost overruns and the risk of Vietnamese taxpayers ultimately footing the bill. Originally proposed in 2010, the high-speed rail project was rejected by the National Assembly at the time due to its prohibitive cost. But after more than a decade of rapid economic growth, the government approved the plan in November as part of an effort to modernise Vietnam's colonial-era railway system and propel the nation 'into a new era of growth', according to a statement from the transport minister. Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary To Lam has vowed to boost the country's private sector. Photo: AFP The proposals, submitted last month, followed Communist Party chief To Lam's pledge to boost the country's private sector amid intensifying regional competition for large-scale infrastructure contracts – including from Chinese state-backed giants that dominate high-speed rail development across the Mekong region.
Scoop
5 days ago
- Scoop
Rise In Production And Trafficking Of Synthetic Drugs From The Golden Triangle, New Report Shows
Bangkok (Thailand), 28 May 2025 – The illicit manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs from the Golden Triangle have grown exponentially, according to a report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The explosive growth has led to a record amount of methamphetamine seizures in East and Southeast Asia, totaling 236 tons, marking a 24 per cent increase compared to 2023. 'The 236 tons represent only the amount seized, and just so much methamphetamine is actually reaching the market,' said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC Acting Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. 'While these seizures reflect, in part, successful law enforcement efforts, we are clearly seeing unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking from the Golden Triangle, in particular Shan State.' The report, titled Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest Developments and Challenges, shows that the production and trafficking of methamphetamine in Shan State, Myanmar, have significantly increased since 2021. 'The ongoing crisis in Myanmar is further increasing the need for proceeds from the drug trade, but at the same time there is a degree of stability in certain parts of the country, especially those known for large-scale synthetic drug production,' Hofmann said. 'This combination of conflict and stability has created favourable conditions for the expansion of drug production, impacting countries across the region and beyond.' Thailand remained the main transit and destination point for methamphetamine trafficked from Myanmar and recorded the largest quantity of methamphetamine seizures in the region, including one billion tablets of yaba – a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine popular in many parts of Southeast Asia due to its easy availability and low price. At the same time, transnational drug trafficking groups have increasingly exploited emerging trafficking routes to evade law enforcement detection. 'The trafficking route connecting Cambodia with Myanmar, primarily through Lao PDR, has been rapidly expanding,' said Inshik Sim, Lead Analyst at the UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. 'Another increasingly significant corridor involves maritime trafficking routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with Sabah in Malaysia serving as a key transit hub.' The report highlights the evolving nature of transnational drug trafficking groups operating in East and Southeast Asia. These groups have demonstrated remarkable agility in reacting to law enforcement pressure, as shown by the spread of production sites for ketamine and related precursor chemicals, which has now reached most of the lower Mekong countries. Authorities in Viet Nam dismantled an industrial-scale facility in March 2025. Another example is the rise in the illicit manufacture of pharmaceutical products, especially etomidate and its analogues, designed to evade controls on novel substances. The report also underscores the growing use of technology across the entire chain of drug-related crimes, from planning, coordination, and the execution of trafficking to financial transactions and money laundering linked to the synthetic drug trade. 'With the surge in synthetic drug production and trafficking in the region, most countries report an overall increase in the use of methamphetamine and ketamine,' Hofmann said. 'However, in some countries, we are seeing a decline in the number of younger drug users admitted to treatment facilities, which may be attributable to drug use prevention campaigns targeting youth populations,' he added. 'It will be key for the region to increase investment in both prevention and supply reduction strategies.'
GMA Network
7 days ago
- GMA Network
Meth seizures in East, Southeast Asia at record high — UN
BANGKOK, Thailand - Seizures of methamphetamine in East and Southeast Asia were at record highs last year, a UN agency said Wednesday, with a "combination of conflict and stability" in Myanmar driving illicit drug production. Seizures of methamphetamine across the region totalled 236 tons in 2024, marking an "exponential" increase of 24 percent compared to 2023, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement citing a new report. The number represents "only the amount seized, and just so much methamphetamine is actually reaching the market", Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC acting representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, said in the statement. The largest quantities of methamphetamine seized in the region were recorded in Thailand, the biggest destination and transit hub for the synthetic drug. In neighboring Myanmar, a "degree of stability" in areas of the country known for large-scale synthetic drug production combined with an ongoing crisis following a 2021 military coup had driven the "unprecedented" growth, Hofmann said. The spread of ketamine production sites to most of the lower Mekong countries showed the agility of transnational drug trafficking groups in evading law enforcement, UNODC said in the statement. "The trafficking route connecting Cambodia with Myanmar, primarily through Lao PDR, has been rapidly expanding," said Inshik Sim, lead analyst at the UNODC regional office, adding that maritime routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines had become another significant trafficking corridor. — Agence France-Presse
