Aid and development
Multilateral development assistance
ADB loan targets health infrastructure
Myanmar is set to receive a portion of a US$117 million Asian Development Bank loan aimed at combating emerging infectious diseases. The Greater Mekong Subregion Health Security Project will target outbreaks in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The loan is meant to boost access to ...
The AIIB and shifting economic dynamics in Southeast Asia
The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which seeks to help plug Asia’s infrastructure-funding gap, has begun shifting the economic balance of power and influence in Southeast Asia, a region in which Japan and the United States have traditionally been the key external economic players. While ...
ADB, Microsoft, govt expand economic opportunities for youth
The Asian Development Bank, Microsoft and the Ministry of Education and Sports have signed a Letter of Intent to collaborate and develop a technology platform to provide Lao youth with access to online technical and vocational training resources and employment services. The document was signed ...
Laos joins race against the clock to overcome antimicrobial resistance
Laos and other countries around the world have pledged to take immediate action to combat the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Globally and in the region, the pledge to combat AMR was made with the support and collaboration of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the ...
Government, development partners prepare for polio vaccination campaign
The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with various development partners, on November 3 held a meeting in Vientiane to prepare for a countrywide polio vaccination campaign. The polio vaccination project is supported by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation. The meeting was attended by health officials ...
Luxembourg, Swiss govts lend support to tourism, hospitality sector
The Luxembourg and Swiss governments will provide funding totaling 15 million euros or over 133 billion kip for skills development in the tourism and hospitality sector. A launching ceremony for the Skills for Tourism project took place in Vientiane on November 1, presided over by ...
Mekong countries discuss measures to boost region's development
Leaders of the five Mekong countries discussed measures to promote cooperation and make the region more dynamic and competitive at the two summits that convened in Hanoi on October 26. The capital is hosting both the 8th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Summit and the 7th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation ...
Commission consults on child rights convention
The National Commission for Mothers and Children and United Nations Children’s Fund on October 25 organised a consultation workshop to review and provide input into a draft of the 3rd to 6th state Convention on the Rights of Child report. The workshop in Vientiane reported that ...
Laos makes strides towards poverty alleviation
Laos is pursuing its drive to reduce the poverty rate below 10 percent by 2020, while also attempting to meet outstanding Millennium Development Goals. Head of the Central Committee on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, Mr. Thongvanh Vilayheuang, highlighted various aspects of the government’s five-year development ...
Slow ODA disbursement hampers Vietnam
Slow ODA disbursement is badly affecting Vietnam’s credibility and development according to a workshop on ODA programmes heard on October 18 in Hanoi. The problems were discussed at the workshop on accelerating the implementation and disbursement of ODA programmes and projects. According to the Deputy Minister of ...