ASEAN Finance News: Recently, insiders revealed that India plans to spend nearly 3.7 billion US dollars within 10 years to build a border wall between India and Myanmar, spanning 1610 kilometers, in order to prevent illegal activities such as smuggling. A committee of the Indian government has approved the cost of building the border wall, but this still needs approval from the Modi cabinet. Previously, India had stated that due to national security and maintaining the population structure of the Northeast region, it would block the border and end the decades long visa free policy for border citizens with Myanmar.

As of now, the Indian Prime Minister's Office, as well as the Ministry of the Interior, Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Information Broadcasting, have not responded to this news, and Myanmar has not commented on it.

02President Han and representatives of striking doctors meet for the first time

According to reports from Reuters and Yonhap News Agency, on April 4th, South Korean President Yoon Seok yeol met with representatives of the Korean Association of Interns and Residents, marking his first face-to-face meeting with doctors opposing healthcare reform plans. The meeting lasted for more than two hours, and both sides exchanged views on improving the working conditions and salaries of young doctors. After the meeting, the Office of the President of South Korea stated that when discussing medical reform issues such as expanding enrollment of medical students with the medical community in the future, it will respect the positions of interns and resident physicians. The doctor representative posted on social media platforms, stating that there is no future for South Korea's medical services. This shows that there was no consensus reached during this meeting, and there were significant differences between the two sides.

It is understood that in February this year,The South Korean government announcedThe enrollment scale of medical schools in universities will increase from the current 3000 to 5000 in the 2025 academic year, in order to meet the growing demand for medical resources. The expansion plan has caused dissatisfaction in the medical industry, believing that it will lead to excessive healthcare and make the medical insurance system financially tight. Thousands of intern residents across the country have launched strikes.

military affairs

01A major overhaul of the senior management of the Russian Navy

Bloomberg News: On April 2nd, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu announced through social media that President Putin has appointed Admiral Moisheyev as the new Commander in Chief of the Navy. Rear Admiral Pinchuk was appointed as the new commander of the Black Sea Fleet; Kabanzov succeeded Moishev as the commander of the Northern Fleet. Former Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy, Yevmenov, was dismissed from his position last month.

It is understood that before Yevmenov was dismissed,Several ships of the Black Sea Fleet were sunk by Ukrainian unmanned fast boats, includingThe patrol ship Sergei Kotov. This forced Russia to withdraw most of its ships from the Crimean base, giving Ukraine a safe passage for ships transporting grains, metals, and other commodities near the port of Odessa.

01Apple lays off over 600 employees at its California headquarters

According to sources in the United States, on April 5th, Apple has laid off over 600 employees at its California headquarters as the company decides to terminate its electric vehicle and smartwatch display projects. This mainly includes employees related to car offices and satellite offices, but there are also some Apple car team members who have been transferred to other teams, such as artificial intelligence or personal robot work teams.

According to reports, the Apple electric vehicle project has beenThe reason for the cancellation is that executives are indecisive about this development direction and concerned about costs. The display screen project was closed due to engineering, supplier, and cost challenges. As of now, an Apple spokesperson has declined to comment on the number of employees affected by layoffs.

02Vietnamese durian accounts for nearly 32% of the Chinese market share

Recently, according to Vietnamese news agency HanoiVietnamAccording to the Plant Protection Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, although Vietnam only started exporting durians to China in September 2022, the market share of Vietnamese durians in the Chinese market has reached 31.8%, second only to Thailand's 68%. This shows that the quality of Vietnamese durian products has been recognized.

The Vietnamese side stated that if opportunities and advantages are fully utilized, the Vietnamese durian industry can continuously improve technology and quality through specialized production, and its position or market share can even surpass Thai durians and occupy the Chinese market. The Vietnamese Plant Protection Bureau requires local governments and relevant departments to strengthen inspection, supervision, and supervision of durian production areas and packaging units, and manage imports and exportsagricultural productsQuality, development of agricultural product value chain, promotion of cooperation between farmers and enterprises, timely detection and handling of violations, ensuring the normal operation of durian export supply chain.

At present, the planting area of durian in Vietnam exceeds112000 hectares, accounting for 9% of the fruit planting area, with a yield of 863000 tons. The main sales markets for Vietnamese durian include China and ThailandJapan and the United States. In 2023, Vietnam exported over 603000 tons of durian, of which the Chinese market exceeded 595000 tons, accounting for 98.6%. In the first two months of this year alone, Vietnam exported 41000 tons of durian.