Economy

25 August 2024
An aerial view shows trees and houses in the aftermath of floods, in Phrae Province, Thailand, Aug. 24. (Thailand's Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation/Handout via Reuters)
Frequent disasters encourage Southeast Asians to prepare. A man drives a motorbike in a flooded street after heavy rains in Hanoi, Vietnam, in September 2023.
Natural disasters

Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia top global disaster-readiness poll

Alerts, household planning build resilience as volatility rises, Gallup says

25 August 2024
Myanmar consumers are struggling to access daily necessities like rice and palm oil. (Photo by Nikkei)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's growing price controls deepen economic woes

Response to inflation and weakening kyat backfires as private sector pulls back

20 August 2024
Myanmar traditional restaurant chain Khaing Khaing Kyaw first expanded business operations into the Thai market in November 2023 and has since opened a second branch in Bangkok in March this year. (Photo by Htet Phyoe)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar businesses flood Thailand to follow fleeing customer base

Growing number of restaurants, shops in Bangkok reflect population exodus from war-torn state

9 August 2024
A 7-year-old girl's shrapnel wound is dressed after Pasaung, a town in Karenni state in eastern Myanmar, was repeatedly bombed and set ablaze by the Myanmar Air Force on March 1. (Photo by Free Burma Rangers) 
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar military's bombing of civilians set for record year

Amnesty International and United Nations report failure of jet fuel sanctions

8 July 2024
Aeon Orange is a joint venture by Japanese retailer Aeon and its partner in Myanmar. (Photo by Nikkei)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar detains Aeon unit exec for high rice prices

Military regime targets big businesses as public frustration over economy mounts

2 July 2024
The China-led Myitsone dam project in Myanmar's Kachin state was designed to produce as much electricity as six nuclear reactors.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar revives stalled infrastructure projects with China and Russia

Military regime moves to woo key partners amid pressure at home

16 June 2024
People fleeing Myanmar run across a bridge at the border village of Zokhawthar, Champhai district, in India's northeastern state of Mizoram, on Nov. 15, 2023.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar GDP to stagnate as conscription chases away workers: World Bank

Economic size remains smaller than when military ousted Suu Kyi's government

12 June 2024
 Offices and residential buildings crowd in Bangkok. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Myanmar Crisis

Arrests spook Myanmar condo buyers shifting wealth to Thailand

Myanmar clients behind only Chinese in Thai market in Q1

11 June 2024
A woman sells food at a market in Yangon, Myanmar. Food prices have soared by more than 50% over the past year. (Photo by Nikkei)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's public struggles with inflation as currency tumbles

Local demand for dollars drives kyat lower as draft-age youths flee country

9 May 2024
Myanmar soldiers salute during an Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw on March 27.
Myanmar Crisis

As Myanmar starts military draft, many flee the country

Potential recruits' departures drive national currency to near-record weakness

5 April 2024
Workers in Bangkok protest a Myanmar military decree that they remit at least 25% of their pay to the Myanmar banking system in September 2023.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's shadow government pressures overseas job agencies

NUG threatens to prosecute companies that tax 'remittances to benefit the junta'

13 February 2024
Factory workers in Myanmar. The garment industry is a major export driver. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's garment industry shows signs of a shakeout

Workers move to other plants or overseas in search of better pay

5 February 2024
Protesters gather outside the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo in February 2023. Many Myanmar nationals work abroad, including in Japan and South Korea.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar imposes new income tax on workers abroad

Employers worry payments would help fund military regime

7 January 2024
A jetty for oil tankers is seen in Kyaukpyu, Myanmar. The nation plans to build a deepwater seaport in this township with China's backing.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar and China's CITIC to resume stalled deepwater port project

Site envisioned as Beijing's gateway to Indian Ocean under Belt and Road

29 December 2023
World Bank said it expects little economic growth in near term (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar economy to stagnate as fighting escalates at border

World Bank warns conflict in north disrupts vital trade routes with China

12 December 2023
Garment workers at a factory in Yangon in 2019 before the military torpedoed the Burmese economy.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar regime ups minimum wage by 20% amid inflation

First increase since 2021 forced by currency depreciation, soaring prices

10 October 2023
People line up to buy oil in Yangon in August. Food oil at one point was selling for more than double the reference price set by the government.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's fight to tame inflation sows turmoil over cooking oil

Shortages, tainted products spring up under military's price controls

16 September 2023
F&N has produced and sold ThaiBev's Chang beer in Myanmar since 2019. (Photo by Nikkei)
Myanmar Crisis

In Myanmar, Chinese and Thai companies fill economic vacuum

As Western businesses exit country, investments come from friendly nations

10 September 2023
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing inspects troops during an Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw on March 27.  (Photo obtained by Nikkei)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar military tightens grip on power but vexed by public backlash

Government again delays general election by extending state of emergency

2 August 2023
The military's takeover of Myanmar in February 2021, and the ensuing policy distortions and violence, have put a deep dent in the economy. (Source photos by Reuters and AP) 
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar's crisis will 'permanently' scar economy, World Bank warns

Wages are falling as unemployment rises under military regime

27 June 2023
Stacks of Myanmar kyat sit on a counter at a bank in Yangon.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar interventions threaten to create 3 forex rates

Military government cracks down on black-market trades to stem weakening of kyat

27 June 2023
Staffers of the World Food Programme distribute food in cyclone-affected areas in Rakhine, Myanmar, in mid-May. (Photo coutesy of WFP)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar suspends U.N. access to cyclone-hit Rakhine region

Halt of aid seen bringing more suffering to people, including Rohingya

14 June 2023
A Ukrainian soldier drives a captured Russian T-72 tank in the village of Lukianivka, in northwestern Kyiv, Ukraine, in March 2022.
Ukraine war

Russia 'buying back' arms parts exported to Myanmar and India

Reimports appear aimed at improving weapons for use in Ukraine war

5 June 2023
A car washed away by floods caused by Typhoon Goni in the Philippines in 2020.
Climate Change

Children in Vietnam, Philippines face high climate risks: report

UNICEF urges countries to develop infrastructure to minimize impact

1 June 2023