Apple – the culture-changing company behind the iPod, iPhone and iPad – hit another milestone on Thursday, becoming the first private-sector company to surpass US$1 trillion in market value.Shares of Apple finished the formal Wall Street trading day at US$207.39, topping the magic number two days after the California tech giant reported strong quarterly earnings.The landmark is the latest victory for Tim Cook, who faced scepticism when he took over as chief executive in 2011 from ailing iconi

Vietnam’s skies are about to get more crowded.With state-owned Vietnam Airlines JSC and budget carrier Vietjet Aviation JSC serving one of the world’s busiest routes, property developer FLC Group JSC wants a piece of the action with a new airline, operating 37 routes in the country after its inaugural flight in October.Called Bamboo Airways, the new airline still needs a government aviation license before operating and is seeking to capitalize on the nation’s growing middle class and rapidly

This month marks the third year of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency. His presidency has been controversial to say the least, from being marred with criticisms from international institutions for his war on drugs to his various public outbursts. Most recently, the Filipino president called God “stupid” and vowed to resign if anyone could prove that God existed.His penchant for outrageous headlines however has stolen the spotlight from his economic reforms, dubbed “DuterteNomics”.

Shrimp is a popular seafood around the world. The European Union (EU), United States (US) and Vietnam were the world’s largest shrimp importers in 2016. Vietnam also happens to be the third highest exporter of shrimp.Shrimp exports were so profitable that many small rice farmers in the Mekong Delta switched to shrimp farming some 15 years ago.

As foreign funds continue to dump Indonesian stocks and bonds, President Joko Widodo is chasing dollars from tourism and exports to help contain a widening current-account deficit.Widodo, known as Jokowi, ordered ministers, officials and central bankers on Thursday to step up efforts to lure more foreign visitors into the pristine sand beaches dotting hundreds of islands across the archipelago.

Much has been written about the importance of financial inclusion for rural communities in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. The benefits are obvious even to armchair economists.

Southeast Asia continues to be urbanising at a rapid pace. Alongside this phenomenal growth, a younger and increasingly wealthier urban consumer base with bigger spending power has been steadily growing. This growth is set to boost the online consumer sector even more as the rapid use of technology is poised to add another facet to how citizens in the region shop.

When Western tourists first arrive in the Far East, one of the culture shocks they encounter lies on the other end of local cuisine: the public toilets. It is a make-or-break experience that may soil their view of the country and impact future travellers. ASEAN is determined that this be a positive one.

Malaysia’s Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng pared back expectations for economic growth for this year to about five percent as the export-reliant nation braces for knock-on effects of a brewing trade war.“If the global economy slows, as a trading nation, definitely Malaysia will be impacted,” Lim said in an interview on Thursday.

Until 1953, Lao PDR was a French colony. Following a successful overthrow of the country’s monarchy in the mid-seventies by communist forces, Lao PDR then spent years in isolation. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this small landlocked nation soon began opening its doors to the rest of the world.