Data is the oil of the 21st century, and Southeast Asia risks pumping its reserves into foreign tanks. The need for the region to develop its own technological infrastructure has never been more pressing.

With nearly 700 million people and rapidly growing economies, Southeast Asia has become a pivotal region in the global geopolitical landscape. The technological revolution sweeping across its diverse nations is reshaping traditional industries and governance structures at an unprecedented pace. As digital innovation accelerates, Southeast Asian countries are strategically positioning themselves to maintain sovereignty over their technological futures while fostering vibrant innovation ecosystems amid intensifying global tech rivalries amongst states and their respective firms. At a time when a multipolar world order is characterized by intensifying strategic competition and fluid geopolitical realignments, the imperative for the region to develop autonomous technological infrastructure and digital sovereignty has never been more critical. 

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Watchara Kumpai, 68, spends most of his time in boots, stomping through coastal mangrove forests in southern Thailand.

He used to work in the tin mining and logging industries that contributed to mangrove loss, until all concessions in mangrove areas were cancelled in 1991. Today, Watchara is dedicated to restoring and protecting these vital ecosystems in Ranong province, as Thailand aims to restore 500,000 rai (80,000 hectares) for carbon credits by 2031.

The Bang Rin sub-district, where Watchara lives, was among the first of 98 communities to join Thailand’s Coastal Community Mangrove for Carbon Credit programme in March 2023. His conservation group protects mangrove patches scattered around three villages in the sub-district, and has so far registered 1,881 rai (301 hectares) of mangrove to generate carbon credits.

“The project is good because we receive additional money for the communities to spend on mangrove restoration,” says Watchara.

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Thanks to the national government’s investment in infrastructure in the Mekong Delta, localities in the region have achieved outstanding results in economic development over the past few years, returning to the growth trajectory seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021-25, the economy of the Mekong Delta and the country as a whole were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and global conflicts.

2024 was considered a pivotal year for the provinces to complete their development targets for the period.

Outstanding budget revenue

In late 2023, the 23-kilometer My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway was opened to traffic, connecting to Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong and Trung Luong-My Thuan expressways.

The 120 kilometers of expressways have shortened the travel time from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta by two hours. 

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The post Infrastructure development boosts economy in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

The IMF projects Vietnam’s GDP growth at 6.1% for 2024, supported by external demand and government policies, despite risks in exports and the real estate sector.

In its recent September report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) significantly upgraded its 2024 GDP growth forecast for Vietnam to 6.1%, anticipating that the country’s GDP will achieve $468.5 billion by year-end. This optimistic projection stems from several positive indicators such as robust external demand, a resilient inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI), and supportive government policies targeted at economic recovery.

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PREK TAKEO, Cambodia (AP) — The Mekong River is a lifeline for millions in the six countries it traverses on its way from its headwaters to the sea, sustaining the world’s largest inland fishery and abundant rice paddies on Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

Cambodia’s plan to build a massive canal linking the Mekong to a port on on its own coast on the Gulf of Thailand is raising alarm that the project could devastate the river’s natural flood systems, worsening droughts and depriving farmers on the delta of the nutrient-rich silt that has made Vietnam the world’s third-largest rice exporter.

Cambodia hopes that the $1.7 billion Funan Techo canal, being built with Chinese help, will support its ambition to export directly from factories along the Mekong without relying on Vietnam, connecting the capital Phnom Penh with Kep province on Cambodia’s southern coast.

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The fifth Thai – Lao friendship bridge, which links Bueng Kan province of Thailand with Pakxan town of Laos, is scheduled to open this November.

Deputy Transport Minister of Thailand Manaporn Charoensri said recently that the project features a 1.35km crossover with a dual-lane road traversing the Mekong River and a four-lane bypass on the Thailand side.

The bypass links Highway No.222 (Bueng Kan – Phang Khon) with Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon provinces of Thailand. Additionally, a 2.86km dual-lane bypass in Pakxan is also included in the project.

Manaporn noted the project, worth 3.9 billion THB (105 million USD) in total, aims to facilitate transportation between Thailand and Laos. When operational, the bridge will help transporters decrease costs and time spent on cargo transportation between the two countries, thus benefiting logistics and tourism.

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A Vietnamese delegation’s visit to China last week has underscored increasingly close economic ties between the territorial rivals, which analysts say is posing a challenge to the dominance of South Korean investment in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue led the high-level delegation from April 7 to 12 and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Hue proposed the two countries create a new push for trade development and “connect Vietnam to China’s large development strategies.”

He also met with the heads of many large Chinese companies that want to participate in Vietnam’s infrastructure construction.

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner and on the way to becoming its biggest foreign direct investor.

A representative of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or KCCI, in Vietnam last week told Nikkei Asia that Chinese companies are pushing back South Korean firms as China steps up investment in Vietnam.

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Statistics from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) show that out of 47 million tonnes of straw per year, only 20 percent is used as straw mushroom beds, cattle feed, cushion for fruit transportation. The rest is either burnt (20 million tonnes such each year in Vietnam) or buried in rice fields, which is a huge waste.

Lately, in Vi Thuy District of Hau Giang Province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has introduced advanced machines to roll or mix straw to turn it into organic fertilizer. Obviously, the need for investment in the agricultural field is extremely high to make better use of produce and its by-products.

At present, the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry is launching various measures to synchronize agricultural mechanization, which means a great need for collaboration between private businesses and agricultural cooperatives in the Mekong Delta to invest in machines to offer necessary services to farmers.

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Over the past year, the pace of hydropower development along the mainstream of the Mekong River in Laos has picked up, fuelled by long-term funding agreements. Chinese and Thai hydropower project investors have been signing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which usually cover a 30-year period, with the governmental Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).

Thailand is the largest investor in Laos’ power generation sector. In 2016, Thailand signed an agreement to purchase 9,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Laos over the following two decades, a figure that increased to 10,500 MW with the signing of another agreement in early 2022.

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VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN): Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has pledged to amend legislation to improve the business environment amid fierce international competition by governments to improve their ease of doing business.

he government will “amend the Investment Promotion Law and relevant legislation to smooth business operations and investment,” he told lawmakers at the ongoing National Assembly (NA)’s 5th ordinary session.

In response to questions from Assembly members, the head of government said his cabinet will explore and employ greater incentives to attract private investment.

The relevant sectors will be entrusted to expedite the categorisation of land types so that land concessions can be issued quickly in accordance with particular investment projects upon approval.

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