The closure of dozens of illegal trade gates along the border with Thailand to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is causing shortages of everything from beer and energy drinks to detergent and cosmetics, highlighting the vast scale of informal trade with Thailand.For decades, billions of ...

Việt Nam has made remarkable progress in terms of meeting the sustainable development goals, but more work is needed in a number of areas.In 2023, the Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) highlighted Việt Nam’s significant strides in areas like poverty reduction, provision of clean water, infrastructure ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – Electricite Du Laos (EDL) under the Ministry of Energy and Mines has instructed its staff across the country to ensure that reduced electricity charges are applied to the use of irrigation pumps and livestock farms.EDL Deputy Managing Director Mr Khampaseuth Theppangna ...

India is poised to include Laos in plans for a global electricity grid, in response to an evolving energy security architecture.The country will present proposals for the grid at the second general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to be held in New Delhi from October ...

Officials for the local government in Laos’ Houaphanh province say they want to cancel the survey contract of a Chinese coal company after learning that its operations in the province have caused hardship for villagers who have yet to see any compensation.The company reportedly damaged ...

Rural energy cooperative in Cambodia. Photo by Nomade Moderne, taken on 23 March 2006. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0The electricity distributed in Cambodia is partly generated within the country and partly imported. For many years, local generation was on a relatively small scale, and was ...

The abuse of Cambodian maids overseas has become one of the most documented human rights violation here. But as the Government, media, NGOs and aid agencies focus their energies on domestic laborer living abroad, advocates have begun to urge that closer attention be paid to ...

Cracked riverbeds, empty fishing nets and, snaking its way through the parched landscape, a beautifully clear, blue-tinted river. This was the view of the mighty Mekong River earlier this year, when record-low water levels revealed a striking vulnerability to the main artery of Southeast Asia, a ...

Construction of the controversial Luang Prabang Dam on the Mekong River, near the ancient Lao capital of the same name, is making rapid headway, according to Lao energy officials. Access roads, including a 14-kilometer spur to the dam from a nearby highway and a road that ...

Vietnam needs to invest approximately 368 billion USD from now until 2040 to build a climate resilient and low-carbon economy, according to the Vietnam Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) released by the World Bank on July 13.According to the report, a series of urgent ...

Feed-in tariffs (FITs) are innocuous yet powerful financial tools that enable countries to rapidly build solar or other renewables when supply chains have not had time to develop. While it is true that globally the cost of solar and wind continues to decline, large discrepancies ...

Lao media on November 30 quoted a report by the country’s Minister of Energy and Mines Khammani Inthilath as saying that it is looking to increase electricity export in the time to come. The article said the minister pointed out at the ongoing session of ...

Too often, proponents of a specific dam apply this faulty logic and tell decision makers that a crocodile is really just a gecko.  For example, the debate on the Xayaboury Dam on the Mekong River in Laos—a massive dam that, in terms of environmental and ...

The government last week said the extractive industry is on course to become a main economic pillar. Cambodia’s economic development is mostly driven by the construction, real estate, tourism, garments and agricultural sectors, but the government is working to diversify, with the extractive industry set ...

An innovative digital platform for the government is being developed to promote the sustainable production and consumption of charcoal. It’s the work of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which partnered with the Group for Environment, Renewable Energies and Solidarity (Geres), the Regional Community Forestry ...

Cambodia had attracted some $427 million of investment from China last year, up 62 percent compared with the $263 million in a year earlier, according to a report by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). The cumulative Chinese investment in Cambodia has totaled $9.6 ...

Ministry of Environment officials on February 22 said an inspection team will be deployed to investigate the recently halted sand-dredging operation for the development of the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port’s new multipurpose terminal, which has affected local families. Danh Serey, director of the ministry’s environmental impact assessment ...

Cambodia’s new mining law is on track for adoption by the end of this year and will introduce a raft of reforms to the sector, a senior official said, although the country’s mining tax will likely remain the same. Meng Saktheara, secretary of state at the ...

Implementation of the Lower Sesan 2 hydropower project in northeast Cambodia is underway despite civil society organisations and local residents expressing concerns over possible serious impacts on the environment and natural resources. Ouch Vibol, project officer of the Culture and Environment Preservation Association, told journalists at the ...

The government of Laos has dissolved the Ministry of Science and Technology, transferring its departments to various different ministries. According to a notice issued by the Politburo of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, the Ministry of Science and Technology has been dissolved, leaving Laos with just ...