The degradation of soil in the Central Highlands has increased, impacting production and ethnic minority groups, according to Nguyen Dinh Ky, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Geography Association. According to Ky, degraded soil is mainly caused by deforestation, the loss of natural plant layers, the farming ...

Opium production in Myanmar has “stabilised” at stubbornly high levels, the United Nations said on 14 December, adding the government must address poverty and end the conflicts which drive farmers to grow illicit poppies. Myanmar, the world’s second largest opium producer after Afghanistan, has struggled to ...

CHIANG RAI – Large quantities of methamphetamine and crystal meth have flooded into Thailand this year as producers have tripled output to keep up with intensified crackdown efforts. The Safe Mekong Coordination Centre in Chiang Mai held meetings over the weekend amongst the six countries in the ...

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Sunday attended a ceremony to put Nghi Son oil refinery and petrochemical complex into commercial operations after more than five-year construction.Speaking at the event, PM Phuc said output of the Nghi Son and Dung Quat refineries will meet around 80-90% ...

Database sharing between management agencies at both central and local levels is key to the process of developing e-government, experts have said. The Ministry of Information and Communications is compiling an e-government development strategy, with services a pillar in Vietnam’s socio-economic development model.By 2025, 100 percent of national ...

A lawyer has withdrawn a criminal defamation case against a British BBC journalist involving a report on foreigners being defrauded of property, the BBC reports. The case against Jonathan Head, BBC’s Southeast Asia correspondent, began Wednesday. “The plaintiff has withdrawn his case against BBC journalist ...

The World Bank in Việt Nam announced on Saturday the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors had approved an US$84.4 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to support Việt Nam’s multi-sectoral policy reforms to promote climate-resilient landscapes and green transport and energy systems.The programme will also support ...

Nine leading companies in the consumer goods and packaging industries joined hands to launch the coalition Packaging Recycling Organization Vietnam in HCM City on June 21. The nine include Coca-Cola, FrieslandCampina, La Vie, Nestlé, NutiFood, Suntory PepsiCo, Tetra Pak, TH Group, and URC.PRO Vietnam seeks to ...

Thirteen people have died and almost 200 infected with cholera in a remote area of Kayin State under Karen National Union control. The number may be higher, however, as no reports have been received from the region since late September, according to the KNU. Eh Kalu ...

The discovery of microplastics in the stomachs of mackerel caught in Trang Sea have raised concerns, but the 3rd Marine National Park Operation Centre urged Thais on Wednesday to refrain from panicking and shunning mackerel. The centre urged people to instead get full awareness of the ...

Cambodia’s top immigration official has warned against corrupt border police allowing foreigners to cross into Cambodia illegally. According to the National Police website, Sok Phal, director of the general department of immigration, warned on 5 January that such practices would be punished without exception. Keep reading ...

Top diplomats from Japan and five Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River have pledged to maintain U.N. economic sanctions aimed at pressuring North Korea to achieve complete denuclearization as promised. The agreement Friday came amid growing concern that countries friendly to North Korea, such as ...

Just three months since starting production, Cambodia’s largest sugar mill is sitting idle due to a shortage of its primary input sugarcane, a provincial Agriculture Ministry official said on August 7. Poeung Trida, director of the Preah Vihear Agricultural Department, said Rui Feng (Cambodia) International Company’s ...

The Hanoi People’s Committee recently issued a plan on building a ‘Hanoi – creative city’ dossier to apply to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network.The offices will conduct survey, gather documents and statistics of the city in various ...

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee recently approved policies to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as proposed by the Government. Accordingly, the Government will adopt a relief package worth nearly VND62 trillion (US$2.6 billion) to ensure the livelihoods of those who are living ...

Around 400 Vietnamese and international architects and master planners discussed smart-city strategies and solutions at the 2018 International Conference of Asian-Pacific Planning Societies (ICAPPS) which opened on August 24 in Ho Chi Minh City.Begun in 1994, the conference is an annual forum of the Asian-Pacific ...

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has nominated Can Gio Biosphere Reserve on its outskirts as a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.It includes a mangrove area of nearly 35,000 hectares with an abundance of ecosystems and wildlife, and ...

Netherlands-based Royal FrieslandCampina, the producer of Foremost dairy products, plans to make Thailand its Asean export hub. The company expects income from Asia to be contributing half of its total revenue globally within five years, chief executive officer Roelof Joosten said on 7 June. He said Thailand ...

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has launched the “Review and remove malware nationwide in 2020” campaign to enhance the country’s network security.The campaign aims to reduce the malicious code infection rate by 50 percent. It also aims to cut the number of Vietnamese ...

Officials in Cambodia’s Kompong Speu province have had to suspend their efforts to grant private land titles over part of a 40-hectare reservoir dating back to the Khmer Rouge in the face of a protest mounted by more than 100 locals afraid of losing their ...