These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world.
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Asean ministers to start talks on regional digital economy agreement by 2025
As Asean continues to grapple with Covid-19 cases and an uncertain recovery, its economic ministers have committed to conducting a study on a region-wide digital economy pact by 2023.
They also agreed to start negotiations on the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement by 2025.
A focus on digital transformation to enable the smooth flow of goods and services and data will help ensure the region continues to draw global trade and investments, and better position itself for future growth, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said at meetings with his counterparts last week.
"Asean remains fully committed to free and open trade and deepening regional economic integration, especially amidst the challenging backdrop posed by Covid-19," he said.
"As the region emerges from the pandemic, it is important to leverage new growth opportunities in areas such as digitalisation and sustainability so that we entrench Asean as an attractive trade and investment proposition for our global partners." - Straits Times
Special SOP to ensure smooth Parliamentary sitting - Health DG
The Malaysian Parliament, in collaboration with the Health Ministry (MoH) and the National Security Council (NSC), developed several special standard operating procedures (SOP) to ensure the smooth running of the First Meeting of the Fourth Term of the 14th Parliament today (Sept 13), to reduce the risk the transmission of Covid-19.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said among the SOPs include being fully vaccinated (completed the 14-day window period) and having undergone a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test within three days before entering the building.
"In addition, during the parliamentary session, all attendees in the Parliament building must undergo a self-test to detect Covid-19 infection as prescribed by the Parliament," he said in a statement.
He said the MoH also advised all individuals attending Parliament to comply with the existing SOP and regulations to ensure smooth and safe sittings, and that the spread of Covid-19 could be prevented within the Parliament complex. - New Straits Times
Rift threatens Prayut's future
All eyes are on the political future of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, as well as that of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), after parliament endorsed a charter amendment bill which sought to bring back the two-ballot voting system.
The system will favour major parties, such as the Pheu Thai Party, which is expected to be the PPRP's main rival in the next general election.
After Capt Thamanat Prompow was sacked as deputy agriculture minister and Narumon Pinyosinwat removed as deputy labour minister last week, some believe Gen Prayut is now moving to assert his authority in the party.
Capt Thamanat and Ms Narumon are known to be close to Deputy Prime Minister and PPRP leader Prawit Wongsuwon.
Even though Capt Thamanat has not resigned from his role as PPRP's secretary-general, it is widely believed that his time with the party is coming to an end.
If Capt Thamanat decides to part ways with the PPRP, the party will lose an experienced broker in political circles.
Capt Thamanat stands accused of masterminding the campaign to oust Gen Prayut during the most recent censure debate. The plot allegedly involved a number of PPRP heavyweights and renegade members of micro-coalition partners and politicians in the main opposition Pheu Thai Party. - Bangkok Post
Return to gov't fold, get vaxxed, Brawner urges CPP-NPA rebels
A military official on Sunday has offered coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination to Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army - National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) rebels returning to the government fold, after swab tests on some captured and a slain NPA rebel yielded positive results.
Maj. Gen. Romeo S. Brawner Jr., commander of Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said three of the 10 CPP-NPA terrorists, including one minor, captured in the Sept. 8 clash in the San Fernando, Bukidnon were Covid positive.
Another NPA rebel who was killed in an encounter in Talakag, Bukidnon on Sept. 9 also turned out positive of Covid-19.
In the Valencia City clash on Sept. 10, three of the four captured rebels, including two minors, yielded positive results on the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or swab tests.
“Many in the NPA ranks possibly have Covid-19 as evidenced by the positive test results of the captured and dead CNTs (communist New People’s Army terrorists). Nais ko pong ipaalam sa kanila na wala pong pinipili ang COVID-19, sundalo, kapulisan, mga kawani, simpleng mamamayan at maging mga myembro ng CPP-NPA-NDF ay tinatablan din ng nakakamatay na Covid-19 (Covid-19 infection chooses no one). We are willing to provide Covid-19 vaccines to the CTG [communist terrorist group] if they will decide to abandon the armed struggle and cooperate with us,” Brawner Jr. said. - Philippine News Agency
Fish harvesting teams need to be set up amid pandemic
Localities should establish groups and teams for harvesting fish that could facilitate the issuance of travel permits in groups instead of individual travel permits amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam has said.
Team 970 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will send a document to six Mekong Delta provinces, urging them to set up fish harvesting teams and create the most favourable conditions for the teams to enter fish farming areas to ensure disease safety, Nam said at the online meeting reviewing the team’s performance in Hanoi last week.
Truong Thị Le Khanh, chairwoman of Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company, said tra fish processors and exporters had to cope with the growing pressure of travel for workers and the implementation of the "3 on-site" model had caused many difficulties. - Vietnam News
Booster shot ‘must be given following evidence-based guidelines’
Those who are double vaccinated against the coronavirus are encouraged to take booster shots due to the waning immunity and reduced protection against the variants that are emerging and threatening peoples’ lives.
World Health Organization representative to Cambodia Dr Li Ailan warned on Friday that different Covid-19 vaccines have their own immunogenicity, efficacy, effectiveness, duration of protection, and thus Cambodia should follow the evidence-based vaccine guidelines.
She said that the interval for each dose of vaccine is set by the manufacturer according to the clinical trials.
She added that introducing booster doses should be firmly evidence-based and targeted to the population group in greatest need.
WHO said that the rationale for implementing booster doses should be guided by evidence on waning vaccine effectiveness, in particular a decline in protection against severe disease in the general population or in high-risk populations or due to circulation of variants of concern. - Khmer Times
How Myanmar's junta used a coup to settle old scores
On February 1, the people of Myanmar woke up to their worst nightmare: the return of military rule after nearly a decade of relative freedom. The predawn arrest of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint signalled the end of a brief era of elected government and set the stage for the massive demonstrations and brutal crackdowns that were to follow.
But the country’s civilian leaders were not the only ones detained that day. Many others were also taken into custody, not because they presented any immediate threat to the coup makers, but because they had displeased them in the past.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who orchestrated the military’s return to direct control over the state, moved swiftly to punish perceived enemies, locking them up even before they could utter a word of protest. Besides activists and politicians, his targets included celebrities, monks and other public figures who dared to question the army’s right to rule.
Some had already been marked for revenge before the coup. Charged with offenses related to their criticism of the military or its bigoted henchmen, they were among the first to be silenced when the time came to start settling scores.
Others, however, were arrested without even a pretence of legal justification. As with the allegations of voter fraud that served as the pretext for the military takeover, no serious evidence of wrongdoing was ever presented against them.
In every case, all that mattered was the alleged offenders’ attitude towards the class of men who consider themselves Myanmar’s natural rulers. - Myanmar NOW
Over 2.5 million Jakarta residents have not been vaccinated
Some 2.5 million Jakarta residents have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said.
"As of September 11, 10.3 million Jakarta residents have been vaccinated, while 2.5 million others have not," Anies said at Al-Wiqoyah Mosque in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, on Sunday.
Most of them have not been vaccinated because they are not willing to get vaccinated for various reasons, he said.
In addition, many of the unvaccinated residents are still registered as Jakarta residents, while in fact. they have changed their domicile, he said. - AntaraNews.Com