Indonesia’s economy is expected to contract sharply in the second quarter this year as trade data show that both exports and imports nosedived in May amid a coronavirus-induced global economic slowdown.
South Korea’s foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with the chief of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Monday and discussed ways for greater cooperation amid the coronavirus pandemic, her office said.
Vietnam will emerge from the pandemic the least affected of all countries in South-east Asia, though it is not immune to the sharp slowdown in trade flows, according to a report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Oxford Economics.
Unlike Europe, North America and recently Russia, Southeast Asia does not seem to have been hit as hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of total deaths and confirmed cases. Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia are the worst affected countries in the region, but Vietnam, Cambodia and previously Singapore, have managed to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The Thai Ministry of Commerce has teamed up with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to drive a marketing-led production strategy, aiming to upgrade Thailand into a hub of quality agricultural products and food.
Two-way trade between Cambodia and Thailand hit 3.1 billion USD in four months of this year, up 18.3 percent year-on-year, Cambodia’s Fresh News website quoted the Cambodian Embassy in Thailand as saying on June 13.
The Thai government will offer a scheme worth 20 billion baht (645,570 USD) to revitalise the tourism industry.
Malaysia's foreign direct investment (FDI) increased 3.1 percent to 31.7 billion ringgit last year from 30.7 billion ringgit recorded in 2018, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
