This study aims to examine and challenge the impact of local government policy governance on the oil palm plantation sector in Riau Province, Indonesia. It was discovered that 1,628 million hectares of illegal oil palm plantations are located within forest areas. Plantation area and crop harvest areas are declining due to the increase in damaged old plants, low productivity of plantation crops, inadequate facilities and infrastructure conditions, low technology application, plantation business licensing, limited downstream plantation industry and marketing, assistance in changing the attitudes, behavior, and skills of farmers. The methodology used was exploratory qualitative to explore this topic, and the determination of research topics was conducted using Biblioshiny application analysis. Then, the data was analyzed using Nvivo 12 Plus software. The results of this study discovered that the policy governance of the oil palm plantation sector as a leading commodity in Riau Province, Indonesia, is influenced by three dimensions: firstly, the actor dimension; secondly, the structural dimension; and third, the empirical dimension of governance. This research contributes as a knowledge reference to oil palm plantations.

The reference urban plan is an urban planning tool often used to orient the development of Chadian cities. However, expanding Chadian urban centers, such as Sarh, face challenges in implementing urban planning orientations of their urban plans within the set deadlines. The objective of this study is to identify the factors impeding the effective implementation of the reference urban plan for Sarh town. The methodology employed encompasses a literature review, individual interviews with urban planning experts, geographic information system (GIS) data, household surveys and statistical analysis. The results revealed that less than a quarter (19.72%) of the households surveyed were aware of the reference urban plan. The applied logistic regression model identified age, occupation and level of education as the main factors influencing public participation in the preparation of the reference urban plan. On average, 33.33% of the urban planning guidelines and 21.74% of the projected urban projects were implemented, with a difference of 1631.28 hectares (ha) between the projected plan and the actual plan for the town. Five factors were identified as contributing to the failure to implement the reference urban plan for Sarh town, including low funding, inadequate land management, a lack of political will, weak governance and poor communication. Consequently, participatory and inclusive planning approaches, effective financial mobilisation, strong governance, and the use of modern technologies such as GIS tools are recommended to enhance the implementation of urban planning tools.

The government’s increased cigarette tariff aims to lower smoking rates and avoid adverse impacts. This study’s goal was to offer process innovation for lowering Asian’ smoking behavior. The participants were chosen by stratified random selection from a total of 738 people residing in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand. The instrument was a questionnaire. A software programmer was used to examine descriptive and inferential statistics using EFA and one-way ANOVA techniques. A strategic framework guideline using a SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix to encourage smoking reduction was proposed. The findings revealed two components: smoking behavior change and continues smoking that were based on SWOT analysis and TOWs matrix. There were nine strategies for the excise department to consider for the adjustment of the next policy in terms of reducing the number of smokers. The practical and policy suggestions could help reduce the negative impact of the cigarette industry on public health and increase government revenue while addressing weaknesses and threats in the industry.

The R3A Route represents a collaborative initiative involving the governments of Thailand, Laos, and China aimed at bolstering connectivity along the North-South Economic Corridor, as a vital component of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program (GMS). Since its inception in 2008, this endeavor has substantially enhanced the logistical framework between Thailand, Laos, and China. However, it has also revealed an imbalance in the benefit distribution of value chains within the tourism industry. One of the fact that, local stakeholders in each country often leverage their home country’s advantages, leading to the exploitation of counterparts with lower capacity in other nations. This unfair utilization goes against the initial intentions of fostering collaboration among these countries. Given China and its development as a starting point for tourism and its popularity among tourists traveling this route, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of China’s policy and insights of its influences on R3A tourism development in Laos and Thailand. The study constructs a content analysis with an umbrella of stakeholder analysis based on reliable data and is cross-verified through data triangulation. The findings lead to recommendations aimed at making Thai-Lao-Chinese tourism cooperation more sustainable and effective.

This research seeks to identify the value of a few common factors determining the speed of economic growth in Baltic states and analyzes their impact in detail on Latvia’s lagging. Latvia’s economic starting point after regaining independence because of the collapse of the Soviet Union was at least comparable to its neighbors. Still, after the implementation of liberal reforms towards a free market’ economy and 20 years of operation as an EU full member, Latvia is lagging in growth, prosperity, and innovation. Within the analysis, this scientific paper pays special attention to the three less discussed factors, namely, the impact of post-Soviet mind-set effects as a part of local innovation culture, lasting since regaining independence in 1991; the importance of the availability of talent pull, its density, diversity, and accessibility; and readiness and capability to capture external knowledge and technology adoption. The overall approach is the systemic assessment of the national innovation system and/or innovation ecosystem, trying to understand the differences between these two models. Research is performed by analysis of the performance of the local innovation ecosystem in connection with export- and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies. The authors present a novel method for visually representing economic growth and its application in analyzing process development within transitional economic nations. The study uses an analytical and synthetical literature review. It offers a new GDP data visualization method useful for monitoring economic development and forecasting potential economic crises—the outcomes from aggregative literature analysis in a consolidated concept are provided for required talent policy proposals. The post-Soviet mindset is seen as a heritage and devious underdog that has left incredibly diverse consequences on today’s society, power structures, economic growth potential, and the emergence of healthy, well-managed, and sustainable innovation ecosystems. The post-Soviet mindset is a seemingly hidden and, at the same time, an intriguing factor that has a significant impact on the desire to make and implement the right decisions related to innovation, education, and other policies promoting business development. The key outcome of the article is that sociocultural aspects and differences in innovation culture led to a slow-down of Latvia’s economic growth compared to Estonia’s and Lithuania’s slightly more successful economic reforms.

Online transportation is a new type of service equipped with an internet network, and its presence in Indonesia is considered a service that disrupts the transportation sector. The government is faced with a complex policy problem to regulate online transportation. This article aims to reveal the role of policy actors in the media regarding policy issues and online transportation policy solutions. This article used qualitative analysis and the NPF policy narrative framework approach. This study found that licensing issues and Permenhub were problems that the DIY and Riau governments shared. More specific problems in Riau Province are related to violence issues, and that in DIY are related to congestion problems. The policy solution recommended by policy actors to the media is to make regional level regulations that technically regulate online transportation according to the area conditions.