May 24 – The Indonesian government has announced plans to overhaul their unreliable transport system. The ambitious plans will cost more than US$110 billion to upgrade Indonesia’s railways, roads, airports and seaports. The current state of the transport infrastructure threatens to choke growth, with prices rising and waiting times extending.
“The [Indonesian] government recognizes that lagging infrastructure, underdeveloped inter-island connectivity, and an inefficient logistics system are among key constraints on achieving its target of higher growth, faster poverty reduction, and lower inflation,” according to a recent report by the Asian Development Bank. Continue reading
Aug. 23 – The launching ceremony for a new shipping and trucking route linking northeast China’s Hunchun City in Jilin Province and Japan’s Niigata via the Russian port of Zarubino was held at Niigata harbor on August 18.
Jul. 28 – The boom in India’s electronic commerce market, together with the recent relaxation in investment regulations for foreign retailers, has tempted the world’s largest retailer Amazon to enter the populous market. Currently in the process of staff recruitment and partnership negotiations, the Seattle-based company may start operations in India as early as the first quarter of next year, says a report by the Times of India (ToI).
By Lena Xia
Jun. 17 – 2point6billion.com has unconfirmed reports from Mongolia’s South Gobi region, home to much of the nation’s mining industry, that hundreds of Chinese truck drivers have been turned back to the China border.