Yangon / AFP Myanmar’s outgoing government granted the country’s fourth telecom licence to a joint venture owned by a Vietnamese operator and a local consortium that includes the military, state media reported on Saturday. The deal comes days before Myanmar’s army-backed government is scheduled to cede power to a civilian administration led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for …

Bangkok / DPA Thailand’s exports in February swung back to positive territory for the first time in 14 months, with a value of US$18.99 billion (670.37 billion baht) — 10.27 per cent higher than in the same period last year — the Commerce Ministry said. However, the increase was irregularly large due to significant exports of gold and military-drill equipment, …

Beijing / Bloomberg China’s coal use is forecast to fall a third year as industrial output slows, adding force to President Xi Jinping’s drive to cut overcapacity and dimming the hopes of global miners for an uptick in demand by the world’s biggest consumer. Demand will slide 2 percent this year and prices will remain at a low level, according …