ASEAN and the world

The Malaysian Government has decided not to allow any foreign vessel that refuses to share essential information required by local authorities to dock in the country.

The embassies of Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in Ukraine on February 13th held a programme to introduce ASEAN culture and cuisine, as part of the popularisation efforts in Vietnam’s ASEAN Chair Year 2020 in the country.

The possibility of a recession looms over Singapore and the country’s economy will take a hit, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said.

Singapore and Malaysia are looking into establishing protocols for the transfer of COVID-19 patients between the two countries as part of efforts to work more closely in tackling the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Singapore remained the most liveable city for East Asian expats for the 15th consecutive year, according to the newest Location Ratings survey conducted by human resources consultancy company ECA International.

Indonesia exported a record 36.18 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) and its products last year, from 34.71 million tonnes in 2018, according to data from the Indonesia Palm Oil Association (GAPKI).

Indonesian and Australian leaders have affirmed the importance of promoting economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and their joint efforts to ensure regional stability and mitigate the negative impacts of natural disasters as a consequence of climate change.

Singapore’s tourism sector will take a significant hit, with visitor arrivals estimated to fall by 25-30 percent this year due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on February 11th.

The US government said on February 10th that it had provided health supplies for Laos in the first delivery from a pledge of up to 100 million USD in global assistance to fight the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Hundreds of mourners on February 9th attended a vigil in Thailand’s northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima for the victims of a bloody mass shooting in the city which took place one day earlier.

Border trade between Myanmar and Thailand reached 1.15 billion USD in the first quarter of the present fiscal year 2019 – 2020 which started in October.

(CPV) - The European Union (EU) announced on February 10th 2020 that it is preparing to support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) with EUR50 million (USD54.9 million) to help governments prepare and catalyze public and private financing for climate-friendly infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia.

Indonesia’s 2020 state budget deficit is likely to further increase to 2.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), much higher than the government’s target, as tax reforms would result in lower revenue collection, according to local economists.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved USD42 million in project readiness financing (PRF) for a facility to help improve transport connectivity and promote multimodal transport in Bangladesh.

Farmers in Myanmar are showing concern about impacts of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (nCoV) on their exports to the Chinese market.

Speaker of Thai House of Representatives Chuan Leekpai has called for the House’s special session on February 13th to repeat the second and third readings of the 2020 budget bill to comply with a Constitutional Court ruling.

Cambodia is a fast-growing country in a slowing world, the World Bank (WB) said in its latest report.

(CPV) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved USD2 million on February 7th 2020 in new funding to support efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (nCoV).

Singapore has designated the status of the coronavirus outbreak in the country as Yellow.

(CPV) - A USD37 million financing package from ADB, Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia, and Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP) has assisted Da Nhim–Ham Thuan–Da Mi Hydro Power Joint Stock Company (DHD) to build the first large-scale floating solar PV panels in Viet Nam and the largest installation in Southeast Asia.

Thai authorities have so far arrested six persons from various locations for spreading fake coronavirus, said Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Buddhipongse Punakanta.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has instructed the assessment of the impact caused by the novel coronavirus (nCoV) on the country’s economy, particularly its trade with China.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on February 4th met with host President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in in Seoul to discuss plans for strengthening the bilateral relations.

Malaysia on February 3rd sent an AirAsia flight to China’s Wuhan city to bring home 141 citizens, and donated 500,000 pairs of gloves to China to assist in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on February 4th that Cambodia hopes to attract more investment from the Republic of Korea (RoK) by taking advantage of a double taxation avoidance agreement between the two countries.

The latest economic ministers meeting chaired by Prime Minister cum Defense Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has issued two measures to support the tourism industry and cope with the effects of coronavirus infections from the beginning of this month.

ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks in Moscow on February 3rd.

The Philippines’ health authorities on February 2nd reported a death related to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the country.

Singapore announced on January 31st that it would stop issuing visas to people holding Chinese passports and deny entry to foreigners who had visited China in the past 14 days, in a bid to counter the spread of novel coronavirus.

Cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN) in maintaining international peace and security was debated at a meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) that was held in New York on January 30th under the chair of Vietnam.