Provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta have set to develop  high-quality agriculture combined with eco-tourism, services and industry as their ambitious targets this year. Located in a key economic region, with advantages in tourism, aquaculture and rice production, Kien Giang province, for instance, achieved ...

Five years ago, when cold pills first trickled across Myanmar’s untamed border with India, many local officials were baffled. Where was this medicine going, and why were smugglers so interested in it? Today, the cross-border trickle has become a torrent and everyone knows why the Indian-made ...

People in Vietnam hope Thailand will reconsider its plan to divert water from the Mekong, because it would seriously affect their ability to produce food. The Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s most important agricultural area. Each year, the area produces the most rice and fruit in the country. This region ...

Ca Mau, which once benefited from coastal accretion, is now asking for US$6.7 million from the government to deal with relentless erosion.   Vietnam’s southernmost province has a coastline of more than 250 kilometers and the sea has eaten along 80 percent of it, by 50 meters ...

Enjoy magnificent Northeastern scenery, culture and, of course, food, and get fit into the bargain in the upcoming ‘Great Mekong Bike Ride 2018’ scheduled for May 17 to 20. The eco-friendly race, which is being organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Thailand Tri-League, ...

The government is being advised to waive the daily minimum wage requirement for six months to help entrepreneurs maintain employment during the pandemic.Thanit Sorat, vice-chairman of the National Labour Development Advisory Council, said the council estimated that the country’s total unemployed could reach 9-10 million ...

A vast majority of Thai farmers are struggling to upgrade the quality and quantity of their yields, as more than 90% of agricultural household use basic machinery for their production process, however a melon farm in Ayutthaya province has adopted an advanced technologies through computer-based ...

The government is able to borrow an additional 100 billion baht to offset a budget deficit if state revenue collection for fiscal 2021 misses its target, says the Budget Bureau.If the coronavirus outbreak is still battering the economy and causes a shortfall in state revenue ...

Some 150 hectares (370 acres) of coconut groves in Ben Tre Province have been damaged by a caterpillar species endemic to India and Sri Lanka. In mid-March trunks of dead coconut trees could be seen scattered along either side of National Highway 60 in Chau Thanh ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) and its development partners are keen to equip more people in the country with knowledge about financial literacy as part of efforts to empower them with key economic skills.BOL, as a supervisor of the ...

The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) estimates the industry’s unemployment rate in the second quarter could reach between 2-2.5 million as reopening plans might be delayed if the government cannot flatten the virus curve within a month.Chamnan Srisawat, president of TCT, said staff had been ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has agreed to cooperate with Soils North Pty Ltd of Australia to launch field and laboratory trials to combat the fungal banana disease, Tropical Race 4 (TR4) in Laos.The technical cooperation ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting a favourable outlook for Laos’ economic growth in the upcoming years despite the present difficulties.The international financial institution unveiled its projection last week as part of the Article 4 Consultation with the Lao PDR ...

As the biggest festival in the press circle, the event is expected to bring together 63 journalists’ associations of cities and provinces and 60 central and local press agencies, with 87 booths displaying outstanding publications in 2022 and the first quarter of this year.The festival ...

Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) has confirmed that international bodies that wish to observe the general election next year will need to seek its approval. EC Secretary General Jarungwit Phumma said it would be customary for the EC to invite electoral organs of other countries to ...

The Education Ministry will work with the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) in setting up an innovation fund for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of creating at least 1,000 start-up SMEs with revenue exceeding Bt1 billion per year within five years.Kittipong Promwong, ...

Many Mekong Delta provinces, including Bac Lieu, Long An and Tien Giang, are saying ‘no’ to coal-fired thermopower plants.According to Le Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Institute for Climate Change Studies, an arm of Can Tho University, if the plant uses the most advanced ...

A genuine ceasefire agreement between the government and armed groups is needed to tackle poppy cultivation in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone, local groups say. Research conducted by the Pa-O Youth Organisation (PYO) has found that opium eradication projects continue to fail because of the taxation of ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times) – Laos needs about 27 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for development in 2020 to ensure the country’s steady economic growth.Of this amount, 4,750 billion kip, or 10.2 percent of the total, will be taken from the domestic budget, Deputy ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism has organised a meeting in Attapeu province to assist southern authorities in the protection of vulnerable people against human trafficking.In his opening remarks at the meeting for the four southern provinces of Saravan, Champassak, ...