Resources Sustainability Palm oil-based green fuel program unlikely to empower palm oil farmers (17 Feb) Oil palm farmers have raised doubts that the palm oil-based “green fuel” scheme laid out in the government's recent five-year plan will benefit them, taking past biodiesel developments as cautionary tales. Palm...
COVID-19 Country No. of Confirmed Cases No. of New Cases Since 19 Mar No. of Deaths Testing Rate Per Million Pop (Est) Malaysia 2,766 +1,866 (900) 43 1,250 Philippines 2,084 +1,867 (217) 88 35 Thailand 1,651 +1,379 (272) 10 288 Indonesia 1,528 +1,220 (308) 136 25 Singapore 926 +619 (345) 3 6,800 Vietnam 212 +127 (85) 0 368 Brunei 129 +56 (73) 1 - Cambodia 109 +62 (47) 0 - Myanmar 15 +15 (0) 1 - Laos 9 +9 (0) 0 - Singapore: Additional Stimulus and Movement Restrictions (26, 28 Mar) Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced...
By Simon Tay and Jessica Wau For The Business Times The Covid-19 outbreak has morphed into a global pandemic with not only healthcare priorities, but also concerns about the economy. Against this context, just five weeks after the S$4 billion "stabilisation and support" package in the 2020...
Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat unveiled a much-awaited supplementary budget on Thursday, 26 March. While the first stimulus amounted to a sizable S$6.4 billion in February, the S$48 billion allocated under this sequel package was unprecedented. Here’s a comparison of...
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, ASEAN countries are implementing a variety of measures to boost their economies and “flatten the curve” of new infections. From stimulus packages to movement restrictions and travel bans, there are a lot of developments to keep track of....
Regional economies are expected to take hard knocks from the ongoing COVID-19 Outbreak, and many governments have revised their initial growth forecasts for 2020. Some governments, particularly those in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, have gone further to come up with stimulus packages to give their...
On Tuesday, 18 February 2020, the Singapore government unveiled Budget 2020. The S$106 billion Budget included widely anticipated measures to bolster Singapore's economy against the fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak and address long term structural shifts. Yet, the Budget also included surprises, particularly the Electric Vehicle...
The onset of COVID-19 took the region by surprise, and countries have scrambled to formulate policies such as travel restrictions to combat the outbreak. Yet, regional economies are already feeling the strain. Tourism numbers have dropped significantly, and growth forecasts with them. The extent of...
COVID-19 Outbreak Governments Calibrating Stimulus Packages to Boost Economies (12 Feb – Ongoing) Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat outlined measures to address the economic impact of COVID-19 in the 2020 Budget. Singapore is expected to be significantly affected by the outbreak,...
Resources Sustainability Mobile App simplifies peatland restoration monitoring efforts in Indonesia An inexpensive, community-based monitoring system is enhancing land management strategies in the Indonesian province of Riau as the government rolls out techniques aimed at strengthening the ability of local people to reduce their vulnerability to fire....