Luang Namtha provincial authorities are allowing some poor families to grow rubber trees on their small allotments to discourage illegal plantings in forest conservation areas. An official from the provincial Planning and Investment Department, Mrs Phommy Somboun, told Vientiane Times on January 5 the policy was ...

Like most millennium-old structures discovered in the forests of Cambodia, the locals had known all along about this one. Jarai minority villagers in this remote spot in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadaw district not only knew about it, but they revered the red-brick temple, using it as a ...

Meat prices on Phnom Penh’s markets have seen large gains over the first half of the year, according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce’s Trade Promotion Department. Local vendors say the price increase comes due to a decrease in imports, forcing purchases of domestically ...

New Zealand will provide US$7.2 million, one of the biggest single contributions made through the United Nations Development Programme, to Laos’ UXO sector. The funding will include trialling innovative New Zealand technology which destroys unexploded ordnance by melting casings without having to dig up or ...

About 100 villagers from Kratie province came to the capital yesterday to submit a petition to the prime minister’s cabinet and the Interior Ministry requesting government intervention in a land dispute case that has seen three of their fellow residents arrested, according to village representatives. ...

The country’s national election body says it has rejected more than half of the 61 complaints it received about the June 4 commune elections, most of them requests by the opposition CNRP for recounts in races it narrowly lost, claiming the complainants missed the deadline. ...

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 ...

President Joko Widodo vowed on August 16 to develop all of Indonesia’s frontier areas, including the Natuna Islands close to where it is embroiled in a dispute with China, and outlined plans to fund a massive maritime infrastructure program to accelerate growth in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. “We ...

The Japanese government has approved funding for three projects that will cover mine clearance, agriculture and health services. The approval was made on March 1 at the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh. Signed by Ambassador Hidehisa Horinouchi, the grant amounts to $1,389,888 and will be allocated ...

Air pollution from vehicles and electric generators inside the Angkor Archeological Park and in Siem Reap City is soiling and darkening the monuments at the World Heritage Site, an official at the Apsara Authority, which is responsible for the park, said Friday. Options to decrease ...

Places of scenic and cultural interest are the top draws for people visiting Laos, while the capital Vientiane tops the list of places visited by foreign tourists, according a 2017 statistics report. The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism carried out a survey among 2,591 international ...

Environment Minister Mok Mareth yesterday asked China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to provide more details on the environmental impact of its project, though he said that exploration for oil and gas would likely begin later this month. At a meeting at the Ministry of Environment, ...

The Council of Ministers has granted Petrochemicals (Cambodia) Refinery Ltd permission to conduct two feasibility studies to explore the viability of onshore and offshore gas pipelines, according to a document released yesterday. ...

Once-quiet Myanmar villages have become oil boomtowns made out of bamboo and metal, and powered by generators. Speculators must pay both local authorities and the villagers whose land they want to drill On. And if they do strike oil, they better hope it’s not too ...

The Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (IPonRE) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held a seminar giving guidance on the supervision and evaluation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the environment in Hanoi on February 27.Through the seminar, experts, scientists ...

Hydropower is meant to not only generate renewable energy but also contain floods and regulate water currents. Yet aside from the pros, it has its cons which are deforestation, population resettlement and adverse effects on the natural aquatic environment, to name but a few.Human impacts ...

The European Union Delegation and World Food Programme hosted a business leaders networking cocktail night to establish the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network at the country level in Laos. Vice-Minister, Ministry of Health and Chair of the National Nutrition Committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr Phouthone Moungpak, European ...

An agricultural service centre, which began construction in Huaphan province on February 18, aimed to enhance the quantity and the quality of crops and animals produced in the province for export to Vietnam. The agricultural service centre is the largest agricultural cooperation project between Vietnam ...

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has said the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should be continued since the country has fallen short of achieving some of the targets. Mr Thongloun, also the Chairman of the National Guiding Committee for Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals ...

As the cost of imports rise, local producers could see an opportunity to increase their market share, but for most a lack of output and quality means potential is limited, industry observers said yesterday. Customs officers who had often undercut the official rate are now ...