Updated: 25  January 2012

• Vietnam moving towards a socialist-oriented market economy

by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung

The core economic philosophy expressed in the documents adopted by the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam is that the economy must be restructured and the model of growth shifted in order to ensure rapid but sustainable development. 

Three strategic breakthroughs are a precondition to implementing this philosophy, with the accomplishment of institutions necessary for a socialist-oriented market economy the key breakthrough that directly affects the process of shifting the model of growth. Doing so does not necessarily require an enormous investment of financial resources and therefore could be accomplished in a rather short time with determination and the proper understanding.

• Vietnam export figures down in beginning of 2012
HA NOI – Vietnam earned US$6.5 billion in exports in January, down by 28.5 percent from last December and 11.1 percent for the same period last year, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

• Cambodia exports drop by 20%
Cambodia's total exports to Thailand decreased by more than 20 per cent year-on-year through November, the effect of a Thai ban on paddy imports from the Kingdom, officials said.  

Exports to Cambodia’s western neighbour fell to US$159 million in the first 11 months of 2011, down from about $200 million during the same period the year before, data from the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh showed.

• 2 major IPO’s in 2012 from Pertamina  
Jakarta - Two subsidiaries of state oil and gas company Pertamina will make an initial public offering of their shares in the first semester of 2012, State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said.

"The two subsidiaries of Pertamina engaged in the upstream sector are ready to go public this year," he said at his office here on Tuesday.

• PM Yingluck to boost Thai-India trade
NEW DELHI, Jan 25 - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has met with Thai businesspeople in the Indian capital and is due to hold talks with India’s Prime Minister to expand cooperation in trade and investment between the two countries.  

The Thai prime minister and her delegation met the Thai business community in India at the Taj Palace Hotel on Wednesday morning.

• Thai exports to fall by 7% in 1 Qtr 2012
BANGKOK, Jan 22 – Thai export revenue is likely to shrink in the first quarter of 2012, possibly by as much as seven percent, according to Kasikorn Research Center Co., Ltd. (KResearch).  

The entire year’s exports are expected to grow between 2-8 percent, in contrast with the Commerce Ministry’s statement that Thai exports would move in a more positive direction this year. 

    Updated:   25   January  2012   

Major Geopolitical Disruptions ahead in 2012

Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 23 January 2012 (World Economic Forum media release) – Fear among international experts of a major geopolitical disruption over the next 12 months has risen significantly to 54%, just as confidence in the state of global cooperation has dropped, according to the World Economic Forum’s third Global Confidence Index.

The bleak outlook at the start of 2012, shared by a majority of 345 respondents from business, government, international organizations and academia, comes as world leaders head to Davos for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2012, which runs from 25-29 January. 

“A major geopolitical disruption early in the new year would certainly tip the global economy in the wrong direction given current confidence levels,” said Lee Howell, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum responsible for the Annual Meeting and the Forum’s Global Risks Report 2012. “The possibility of a geoeconomic disruption, such as sovereign default, is to some degree reflected in the market, but a major geopolitical disruption clearly is not,” added Howell. 

“Low confidence in governance and high concern about disruption are the making of a slow-burning fuse,” More

• Towards Green development in Vietnam

• FDI rises 250 percent in Cambodia

Trade

• Vietnam export figures down in beginning of 2012