Indonesia's economy grew more slowly than expected in the third quarter, dimming hopes that a high-profile drive to boost Southeast Asia's biggest economy will hit its GDP target this year.The economy expanded 5.06 percent in the July-September period from a year ago, a little below market expectations and off the government's target of 5.2 percent growth for 2017.President Joko Widodo came to power in 2014 on a pledge to boost annual growth to seven percent annually but his go

In the Dutch language, gijzeling means to take someone hostage. In Indonesia, that’s how authorities describe their strategy to deal with tax dodgers, throwing dozens of people in jail as part of a national crackdown.Eight months after the government closed an amnesty programme that gave Indonesians a chance to come clean on their tax affairs, it’s taking aggressive action to deal with those who still haven’t paid up.

Some of the world’s biggest palm oil players will meet in Indonesia this week and just like two years ago, the weather will be a hot topic. But instead of the scorch of El Nino, this year the focus is on La Nina. The conference will feature predictions from industry heavyweights Dorab Mistry of Godrej International, LMC International’s Chairman James Fry and Oil World Executive Director Thomas Mielke.

In Singapore, sand is just as precious a resource as oil and water. Securing a steady supply is proving to be trickier these days.By filling the sea along its coasts with imported sand, the tiny island nation has expanded its physical size by about 24 percent since 1960, according to data from the Singapore Land Authority. At just 278 square miles, the country is smaller in size than New York City.

Indonesia’s finance minister said Southeast Asia’s biggest economy could expand at a faster pace next year than initially forecast.Economic growth may potentially be boosted by a pickup in investment in 2018, Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in an interview in Jakarta Friday.

Only a few years ago Beyonce and Jay-Z were posing for photos among Myanmar's famed temples, heralding the former junta-run country's rise as one of the hottest new tourist destinations on the map.But that dream is cracking as images of burnt villages and Muslim Rohingya fleeing army-led violence in western Rakhine shock the globe, sparking outrage over a staggering scale of human suffering that has festered along the border.Ever since the bloodshed broke out in late August, tourism

Singaporeans on the verge of retiring are prepared to keep working for longer than those that came before them.Men aged 55 to 59 had far greater expectations to work full-time past 65 and 70 than employees currently are, while women had higher such projections beyond 62, 65, and 70, according to the latest survey by the Singapore Management University’s Centre for Research on the Economics of Ageing, which works with the US-based RAND Corporation.

Singapore’s central bank chief said while inflation is still well below the historical average, policy makers need to be proactive if a stronger economy results in a pickup in price pressures.Inflation will climb at some point if economic growth continues to strengthen, and under those circumstances, the central bank – like others around the world – needs to be forward-looking, Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said in an interview at the bank’s headquarter

Singapore, one of the most expensive places in the world to buy a vehicle, has announced it will freeze the number of private cars on its roads from next year but vowed to expand public transport.The growth cap for all passenger cars and motorcycles will be cut from 0.25 percent a year to zero with effect from February, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said.The affluent city-state of 5.6 million people already imposes a quota on the number of vehicles sold and the number on its roads, and h

Vietnam’s central bank said record-high foreign reserves will enable it to keep the currency stable for the rest of the year as the government focuses on boosting growth in the Southeast Asian economy.With reserve levels at 45 billion dollars, “we are confident that we will be able to maintain the dong’s value,” in 2017, Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy governor of State Bank of Vietnam, said on the sidelines of a meeting in Hoi An on Saturday.