Myanmar

Train passengers wear masks at Senen Train Station in Jakarta on Mar. 20: governments must think about how to maintain order as well as save lives.
Opinion

Coronavirus challenges Southeast Asia's fragile democracies

Governments turn to military to prevent social unrest after economic crunch

2 April 2020
Aung San Suu Kyi has already started campaigning in minority areas where support for her ruling NLD party has waned. 
Politics

Aung San Suu Kyi reaches out to ethnic minorities in election year

Myanmar leader aims to shore up ruling party's majority despite lack of peace

1 April 2020
New rules permit foreign residents and nonresidents to open accounts at domestic brokerages, through which participants invest. (Photo by Yuichi NItta)
Markets

Myanmar's stock market cracks open door to foreigners

Lower barriers and more listings key to drawing overseas investors

24 March 2020
Although Japan's Suzuki holds a dominant share of Myanmar's automobile market, competition among manufacturers from other Asian countries looks set to intensify.
Automobiles

Suzuki invests $100m to raise Myanmar production capacity

Japanese automaker holds 60% share of nation's growing auto market

23 March 2020
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda spoke to reporters last week after meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the central bank's coronavirus response. (Photo by Uichiro Kasai)
Your Week in Asia

G-7 video summit, BOJ meeting and China economic data

Your weekly roundup of Asia's biggest business and political news

16 March 2020
With strong adoption of mobile phones, Myanmar has seen a mushrooming of telecom towers, with the sector ripe for consolidation. (Photo by Yuichi Nitta)
Business deals

Myanmar's Irrawaddy Green Towers stake sale looks imminent

Shortlist includes Malaysia's edotco Group and private equity funds, sources say

14 March 2020
The Secretariat Building at dusk: The Yangon landmark was farmed out to the private sector for renovation and commercial use to help cover the estimated $4 billion construction bill for the new capital, Naypyitaw. (Peter Janssen)
Life

Marketing Myanmar's heritage is a tough sell

Debate intensifies over new uses for iconic colonial buildings as tourism numbers wobble

11 March 2020
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, center, and her National League for Democracy have been criticized for a lack of results since winning the 2015 general election. (Photo by Yuichi Nitta)
Politics

Suu Kyi's party picks preelection fight with Myanmar military

Doomed constitutional amendments serve as appeal to disappointed voters

9 March 2020
The exchange, known as the YSX, opened in March 2016 for trading only to Myanmar citizens.
Markets

Yangon Stock Exchange to open to overseas investors March 20

Myanmar hopes foreign money will give sleepy bourse a shot in the arm

7 March 2020
Britain plans to establish a new presence in Asia, where it used to have significant influence, following its exit from the European Union.
Comment

ASEAN in position to make strategic gains from Brexit

UK looks to Indo-Pacific region in redrawing of its foreign policy agenda

23 February 2020
Hun Sen is adamant that Cambodia is not going to bow to European demands. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Opinion

Punishing Cambodia is going to backfire on EU

Removing tariff-free access will drive Phnom Penh toward Beijing's orbit

14 February 2020
A nurse checks the temperature of a visitor as part of the coronavirus screening procedure at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 5.
Coronavirus

Coronavirus exposes Southeast Asia's public health shortfalls

Experts say health infrastructure remains 'systematically underfinanced'

13 February 2020
The Westerdam cruise ship anchored near Sihanoukville port in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia, on Feb. 13. It had been denied permission to dock at five ports before Cambodia agreed to accept it. 
Coronavirus

Westerdam finally arrives in Cambodia after 5 ports refused

Prime Minister Hun Sen says decision is "humanitarian"

13 February 2020
Kenta Takada, center, launched a business in Myanmar, believing in the country's growth potential. (Photo by Yuichi Nitta)
Companies

Japan millennial ditches suit to seek fortune in Myanmar deliveries

After launch of Hi-So bicycle-based service, battle with Singapore's Grab looms

13 February 2020
Women work on a  production line at a shoe factory in Kampong Speu, Cambodia.
Trade

Cambodia loses EU tariff privileges on $1bn worth of trade

Southeast Asian nation's top trading partner cites human rights violations

13 February 2020
Rosewood Yangon, the city's first "ultraluxury" hotel.
Life

Discreet boom highlights Yangon's resilience

Politics have fueled Western criticism, but new investors are flocking

12 February 2020
Foreign students in Japan are allowed to work in unskilled-labor positions, such as convenience store work, for up to 28 hours per week. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
Japan immigration

Japan intensifies crackdown on student visa overstayers

Number of countries subject to stricter checks to increase tenfold

11 February 2020
A passenger wearing a mask walks outside a railway station in Shanghai on Feb. 8  as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus.
Your Week in Asia

China's partial reopening, SoftBank results and Singapore Airshow

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

9 February 2020
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's human rights record has been criticized by the European Union, which is set to announce its decision Wednesday on removing trade privileges on some Cambodian exports. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
Trade

EU to end privileges on some Cambodia exports: lawmaker

Decision due Wednesday could hurt nation's $9.5bn apparel sector

9 February 2020
Medical staff work in the isolated intensive care unit in a hospital in Wuhan, China on Feb. 6. 
Coronavirus: Free to read

Coronavirus: Week of Feb. 1 to Feb. 8 brings supply chain strain

US citizen dies in Wuhan as impact on business begins to crystallize

8 February 2020
Supporters hold portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi as they gather in front of City Hall in Yangon on Dec. 10, 2019: Suu Kyi has reemerged as the protector of the Burmese people, the nation and the Myanmar military.
Opinion

Aung San Suu Kyi comes out on top in ICJ Rohingya ruling

Military finds a defender in Myanmar's de facto leader, but pays a price

8 February 2020
Watermelons in front of Myanmar's border with China in Muse in 2018: For the immediate future, farmers will have to find other markets for their produce as borders with China remain closed.
Coronavirus

Coronavirus leaves tropical fruit rotting at China border crossings

Farmers in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam hit hard as city lock-downs disrupt trade

6 February 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Feb. 5.
International relations

'A friend in need is a friend indeed,' Xi tells visiting Hun Sen

Cambodian leader flies to Beijing to show solidarity amid coronavirus

6 February 2020
A view of a bridge that collapsed in Bali, Indonesia in 2016. The new insurance aims to offer protection for such Asian infrastructure. 
Economy

Asia's bridges and piers to be insured against disasters

Singapore, Japan and World Bank team to protect infrastructure

6 February 2020
A worker stands next to robotic arms in a factory in Zhangjiakou, China: robots often supplement and support humans rather than replace them.
Opinion

Asia's economies must learn to accommodate rise of robots

Technology can complement humans but it can also eliminate their jobs

5 February 2020