News: 21 December 2022

Hello from Ho Chi Minh City! I finished my Manila trip and I’m now going to ride out the holiday season here (Christmas/New Year/Tet) and work out my strategy for 2023.

This last trip I just finished lasted about six weeks, so I had a bit of a walk around Saigon to see what is going on. I saw this sight of a team putting a new billboard up

The rope ladder is rigged to a fire hydrant, with a man sitting on the rope for ballast while someone puts up the new banner. This could be a scene anywhere in Southeast Asia (apart from you, Singapore). This would violate OH&S laws in my homeland of Australia, but I have been here so long that this just looks like getting things done.

I was thinking about this after reading a review of the Vinfast electric car that has just shipped to the US (link in the Vietnam section below). The writer came here and had the “most bizarre experience” of his life. It was interesting to read about someone with fresh eyes on how business works here.

Latest posts at Future Southeast Asia

• Future Manila – Transport and urban development projects in Metro Manila

Dispatches from Southeast Asia

• Manila trip report - 2022 edition

Beginning the mammoth task of reporting on transport and urban development in the megacity of Metro Manila.

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• Opinion: How China can boost Southeast Asia’s energy transition

• Hotel Okura to double facilities as Southeast Asian demand surges

Hotel Okura was supposed to open in Saigon in 2023, but the prime block of land it will be built on at Nguyen Hue Street remains an empty eyesore.

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Riverside’s reinvention: The case for car-free Sisowath Quay

• Beyond beautification: Riverside must adapt to climate’s heat

• ADB backs Kingdom’s energy transition

• Heritage buildings at Wat Ounalom demolished for chief monk’s mausoleum

• Island shopping: Cambodian officials buy up the Cardamoms’ coast

• Third expressway project from Phnom Penh-Siem Reap announced

• Regulator hails expansion plans toward long-haul flights to S’ville

• With TikTok and trash boats, cleanup efforts target Mekong

• Cambodia’s tallest statue of the Buddha to be built on top of a mountain in 2023

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• A Tale of Two Cities – Jakarta is sinking, but funding for Indonesia’s new capital has yet to surface

• Chinese worker deaths on Indonesia rail site raise fresh safety concerns of belt and road project

• Outcry from environmentalists forces Indonesia to block auction of Widi Reserve islands

• ‘I was very anxious’: Experts voice concern as work on Jakarta MRT expands into historical sites

• Rp106.6 trillion in investment absorbed by 19 SEZs: ministry

• Canggu residents disagree with compensation offered to sell land to improve Bali roads

• Inside the world’s biggest tech bazaars 

This special feature from Rest of World includes Indonesia: Jakarta’s once-booming electronics market is a ghost town.

🇱🇦 Laos

• Govt. to compensate those affected by construction of Laos-China Railway

• Work starts on Việt Nam’s biggest project in Lao province

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Hartasuma wins RM245mil Penang cable car project

“Penang has selected Hartasuma Sdn Bhd to build its first 2.9km cable car from the Botanic Gardens to the Penang Hill station.”

• Halt Penang cable car project before it’s too late, warn groups

• Sarawak premier says Autonomous Rapid Transit to start service in Q4 2025

[Updated: Autonomous Rail Transit (ART) Kuching]

• Nylex in talks on Johor LRT project

• Penang govt appeals to reinstate Penang South Reclamation project

[Updated: Penang South Islands]

🇵🇭 Philippines

• DOTr committed to develop railways

• Mass transit, outside growth must be prioritized to address NCR traffic woes: NEDA chief

• Villafuerte calls out DOTr about delay in Naga Airport expansion, Bicol railway project

• ADB eyes $4.3 billion annual lending to Philippines until 2025

• Crumbling nuclear plant may fuel Philippines after 36-year delay

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Singapore’s Canary Wharf is running out of office space

• Cooling Singapore 2.0: A step towards becoming a climate resilient and regenerative city

🇹🇭 Thailand

• With trams, monorail stalled, Pattaya now looks to cable cars

• Exat seeks partner to build new Phuket expressway

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• HCMC metro carries out 1st test run

• International agreement to support Vietnam's ambitious climate and energy goals

“The JETP will mobilise an initial $15.5 billion of public and private finance over the next 3 to 5 years to support Viet Nam’s green transition.”

• Bid package of VND35.23 trillion to build Long Thanh airport terminal canceled

[Updated: Long Thanh International Airport]

• The first 999 VinFast electric vehicles arrived in the United States this week. VinFast has proven to be a popular vehicle in its home country, but I have been bracing myself for the reviews from the US. This one from someone who was on a sponsored trip doesn’t bode well: The VinFast VF8 is simply not ready for America

“The electric-car startup brought me to its Vietnam headquarters to drive its first EV meant for the U.S. market. It was the most bizarre experience of my life.”

• Apple to start making MacBooks in Vietnam by mid-2023

• VietJet Air sold flight tickets from Bengaluru without any service: Report

I saw this on an aviation news site, but I haven’t seen it in the local news. VietJet Air has pivoted to India this year while the China market is out of commission. They have already started flights to Delhi and Mumbai, so I don’t know what has gone wrong with Bengaluru.

• Vietnam loses billions to traffic, needs solutions: World Bank

• Beachfront villa sales down 83% in November

There is a plague of cookie-cutter villa and shophouse projects all along the coast of Vietnam. They are built before they are sold, so when no one is buying you are left with these ugly half-finished projects.

• Vietnam's Economy 2022: Maintaining an overall recovery by