ASEAN and the world

Exports of Thai rice have been on the rise as many countries are stocking up on food supplies due to the rampant COVID-19 outbreak, said President of the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) Chookiat Ophaswongse.

Petrol and diesel prices in Cambodia will continue to fall this year due to global tensions, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Seang Thay has said.

The Lao Government has cancelled four regional high-level conferences slated for the end of March in the country’s capital Vientiane over concern about the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Ramkhamhaeng Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, is offering a "drive-thru" service for Covid-19 checking at a cost of 6,500 THB (about 204 USD) from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm every day.

Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, Secretary of the President Office Pratikno announced on March 14th.

(CPV) - Repercussions of the coronavirus on the German economy are already noticeable. Almost every second company in Germany expects declining revenue in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus.

The ASEAN-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee (ARJCC) convened the 18th annual meeting at the ambassadorial level in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 13th to discuss launching projects and promoting bilateral ties.

Cambodia has won the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association's (PATWA) International Travel Award for Best Destination, local media reported on March 13th.

The Japanese government will provide 3.9 million USD in non-refundable aid to help the Mekong River Commission to increase its flood and drought monitoring and forecasting capacity in the lower Mekong basin.

Indonesia’s Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has said that the city administration would limit public interaction as a precautionary measure to protect local residents from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Thailand’s government has announced plans to transform the country into an electric vehicle and motorcycle hub of ASEAN within five years via state measures to boost demand, local media said on March 12th.

Thailand and Singapore on March 11th presented three patrol ships to Laos and Myanmar to bolster drug suppression cooperation on the Mekong River.

The Malaysian government has agreed to review the economic stimulus package was launched by the previous government in late February.

The 14th meeting of the ASEAN-Japan Joint Cooperation Committee (AJJCC) took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 11th under the co-chair of Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN, and Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN Chiba Akira.

Multinational Scatec Solar plans to invest 70 million USD to build a 70MW solar photovoltaic plant in Labuan Bajo, a famous tourist destination in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara.

The Immigration Bureau has announced that all foreigners arriving in Thailand must now specify the countries they have recently visited on their arrival card, to filter out the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Indonesia confirmed the first death from COVID-19 on March 11th.

People in rural areas in the Cambodian northwestern provinces of Pursat and Battambang have been suffering from water shortage for more than four months, reported the Cambodia’s Khmer Times.

Thailand on March 11th cancelled the grant of visa on arrival for 18 countries and visa exemption for three others in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19 outbreak.

Singapore has begun to charge foreigners infected with coronavirus for treatment after recording three new imported cases.

Thailand’s Bangkok administration has decided to cancel all state and private-sponsored events related to Thailand’s annual water-splashing Songkran Festival due to fears of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in southern Cambodia received more than 200 containers of raw materials from China on March 9th.

Indonesia's state budget deficit is expected to reach 2.2-2.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) this year as the new coronavirus-caused acute respiratory disease (COVID-19) has hindered global economic activities, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.

The number of tourist arrivals in Thailand fell 44.3 percent in February from a year earlier due to the coronavirus epidemic, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said on March 9th.

The Singaporean government will soon roll out a second package to help businesses tide over the acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) outbreak.

Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on March 9th unveiled his Cabinet, naming four senior ministers in lieu of a deputy prime minister.

Indonesian authorities on March 9th confirmed that the country reports 13 new cases of the acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), bringing the total number in the country to 19.

The Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports said it will propose the establishment of a Tourism Fund at the next meeting of the National Tourism Policy Committee.

(CPV) - The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will have a significant impact on developing Asian economies through numerous channels, including sharp declines in domestic demand, lower tourism and business travel, trade and production linkages, supply disruptions, and health effects, according to a new analysis by ADB.

State electricity company PLN of Indonesia will spend 90 trillion Rp (6.3 billion USD) on financing the development of new electricity infrastructure in 2020, a representative of the company has said.