AEC Briefs

The Yangon regional government in Myanmar is working to make land more affordable for local and foreign small and medium-sized enterprises, Nilar Kyaw, the region’s electricity, industry and transportation minister, said on Monday.
“We talked with foreign investors about ‘expensive’ land prices. They wanted to run SMEs here – so now we're working to make the prices affordable for both local and foreign investors,” Nilar Kyaw told the regional parliament.
The minister added that a supervisory committee for industrial zones had been formed to take care of waste management and upgrading of the zones, and training courses and seminars for development of the SMEs had been organised. 
She said development of the SMEs was important for the economic development of the city. – Myanmar Eleven

Full steam ahead for 
start of Laos-China rail
Hundreds of trucks carrying machinery and equipment for construction of a railway linking with China railway have entered Laos after being delayed at the border, a senior Laotian government official has said.
A special lane has now been allocated at China’s Mohan and Laos’ Boten border crossing to facilitate the passage of the trucks, said the project coordinator in Luang Namtha province, Chanthachone Keolakhone.
A task force was created last week to man the special truck lane. It will inspect and approve the imported items, which are exempt from tariff payments.
The team comprises officials from the customs, public works and transport sectors as well as representatives of the Laos-China Joint Railway Company and shipping company, Chanthachone said.
Authorities in charge met on March 28 and 29 in Oudomxay and Luang Namtha provinces to discuss ways to accelerate the project. They plan to speed up the import of machinery and equipment and arrange for compensation and resettlement for people who will have to relocate to make way for the railway.
Public Works and Transport Minister Bounchanh Sinthavong, who is also chairman of the Laos-China Railway Project Supervisory Committee, told those attending the meetings to ensure proper implementation of the project, especially by facilitating the import of machinery and equipment.
Preparations are now under way to start the boring of tunnels. The 417-kilometre railway will have 75 tunnels with a combined length of 197.83km, and work is expected to begin before the upcoming rainy season, another senior Laotian official said. – Vientiane Times

VietJet records high 
profit growth in 2016
The low-cost carrier VietJet recorded revenue of more than 27.49 trillion dong (Bt41.7 billion) in 2016, up 39 per cent year on year, according to its audited financial results released on Monday.
Last year, VietJet’s pre-tax profit also experienced a significant yearly rise of 113 per cent to about 2.5 trillion dong.
The airline’s total assets reached more than 20 trillion dong, surging 67 per cent from the same period last year, while its equity capital rose 120 per cent year on year to 4.73 trillion dong.
VietJet attributed the encouraging performance to its efforts in launching new domestic and international routes, exploiting existing ones and technical innovation to cut operating costs. According to the data, the airline made up 41 per cent of the Vietnamese market share.
This year, the airline plans to launch additional 26 new routes, including four domestic ones, bringing the number of routes to 86.
In a separate report published in February, VietJet said it transported more than 14 million passengers in 2016, in effect contributing to the development of Vietnam’s aviation industry.
The airline’s operations also registered strong performance in safety and reliability compared to other airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. It operated a total of 84,535 flights, accounting for 121,213 flight hours last year. -– Viet Nam News