Mekong - U.S. Partnership
ASEAN’s Chief Justices Responds to Environmental Threats
From November 15-18, 2013, the Third Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chief Justices Roundtable on the Environment met in Bangkok, Thailand providing an opportunity for the region’s Chief Justices and senior judiciary to come together and share experiences and consider ways they can collaborate to enforce and even shape effective environmental law for the…
Green Growth for the Mekong
By William E. Todd, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of CambodiaMy sincere appreciation goes out to our Cambodian readership for your thoughtful questions and ideas that help maintain our focus on important issues. Before I answer this week’s question, I would like to extend my thoughts and prayers to the people of the Philippines, who…
Tackling Malaria and Other Transboundary Challenges in the Lower Mekong through Regional Cooperation
By Greg Beck, Deputy Assistant Administrator, AsiaMore than 60 million people live in the lower Mekong River basin, a region of the world currently struggling with drug-resistant malaria. While the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) for treatment of malaria has helped to greatly reduce its prevalence over the past decade, a high percentage of malaria cases are…
Thai Students Develop Software Products to Address Key Development Challenges in Asia
Microsoft has teamed up in Thailand with USAID for the Imagine Cup 2014, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious technology development competitions. One of the categories of the Imagine Cup, the World Citizen Contest, challenges students to develop software products that can directly impact people’s lives. USAID’s Regional Development Mission for Asia helped define…
USAID Supports Small and Medium Enterprise Growth in Lower Mekong Countries
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for over 95% of all business in ASEAN and over 50% of employment in the region. Their contribution to GDP is generally significant, about 30-53 percent. Moreover, they are a key entry point into the formal economy for women and youth. ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment Project is…
Self-certification of Origin Workshop in Yangon Myanmar
Today most ASEAN countries require that the origin (place of manufacture or creation) of a good, which is crucial for determining whether lower tariffs in a free trade agreement apply, must be certified by a government body or business association. This can be a cumbersome process. Under self-certification, the exporter itself would certify the origin of…
USAID Continues Helping Laos on Developing Trade Remedy Legislation
On November 12-13, 2013, Lao Officials visited Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce Department of Foreign Trade for a study mission on Trade Remedies Procedures in order to gain perspective on drafting Lao legislation on trade remedies and to learn about the practical experience of how Thailand carries out trade-remedy investigations and applies trade remedies in practice.Laos…
Yangon Welcomes Self-certification of Origin to Support Its Trade Facilitation
ASEAN plans to establish a region-wide system or self-certification by 2015 to facilitate and reduce the cost of doing business in ASEAN. As in any preferential trading area, a product must first receive origin certification before it can claim any trade privileges. Normally such certificate will be issued by a government agency or an authorized…
NEWS: Lower Mekong Officials Meet to Support ASEAN Integration and Regional Cooperation
PHNOM PENH - Senior officials of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) gathered for a two-day meeting in Siem Reap on 6-7 November 2013 for the 5th Lower Mekong Initiative Regional Working Group Meeting and an informal discussion on the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM). Delegates deliberated on the outcomes of the last LMI Ministerial…
Wildlife Trafficking Investigation Training Strengthens Thai Law Enforcement
From October 29-31, forty-three Thai law enforcement officers took part in a wildlife trafficking investigations training course in Bangkok, Thailand. Organized criminal syndicates profiting from illegal wildlife trade are becoming more sophisticated creating the need for advanced training on detecting wildlife trafficking.The training exposed officers, prosecutors and investigators to the methods commonly used by wildlife…
Developing Accounting Frameworks to Reduce Emissions and Strengthen Regional Forest Conservation
The USAID-funded Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) program recently held two technical meetings in Malaysia and Cambodia to discuss the development of national Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) accounting frameworks.The meetings convened government, private sector and REDD+ representatives to discuss ways to monitor and account for forest emissions at the national…
King of Tigers Training Leads to Capture of Rosewood Poacher
On October 31, 2013, the recently graduated King of Tigers ranger team arrested a Cambodian rosewood poacher in Thailand’s Pang Sida National Park in eastern Thailand near the Cambodian border.The high value of Siamese Rosewood, fueled by demand from China, has seen a sharp increase in the number of poachers and the consequent number of…
