Aid and development
Insurers help to pay for Asia's infrastructure needs
A recent $150 million refurbishment of two decades-old geothermal power plants on the Philippine island of Luzon may sound like just another project aimed at overcoming the country’s severe electricity shortages. But, for Asia’s insurance companies, there is more to it. Bonds issued to pay ...
Laos calls for UN programmes to match development goals
Laos would like United Nations cooperation programmes to comply with the priorities laid out in the development plans of the countries it is assisting, to help them achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith stressed this perspective in his remarks at ...
UNICEF extends support for improved nutrition
The United Nations Children’s Fund to Laos has forecast a budget of over US$7 million in assistance to Laos from 2017 to 2018 to improve nutritional health. The support comes under the new Health and Nutrition Programme for 2017 to 2021 and aims to improve ...
Australia praises Cambodia on refugees
An Australian government minister on March 16 praised Cambodia for taking in refugees from the island nation of Nauru, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry. Mr. Sounry spoke to the media after private talks between Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Australia’s International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. He ...
City sewage plan mooted
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has finalised a sewage management master plan for Phnom Penh, which is in dire need of a wastewater treatment plant, officials said on March 15. Uchida Togo, project formulation adviser at JICA, said the organisation is now working with the ...
Laos to pursue trade, business environment improvement
The government of Australia will contribute US$2.5 million in additional funding for the ongoing Second Trade Development Facility Project, aiming to improve trade and Laos’ business environment. An official launch ceremony for the additional financing took place on March 13 at the Ministry of Industry ...
Japan wades in on Tonle Sap algae
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has agreed to oversee a project to help recover water quality in the Tonle Sap lake in response to the appearance of a large bloom of algae. The project is part of a wider five-year initiative to improve water quality in ...
Nippon Foundation supports IDPs
Pledging to maintain peace, the Karen National Union has called on the Myanmar government and international organisations to work together to help internal displaced persons in the Kayin State. KNU chairman General Mutu Say Poe said IDPs, who fled to Thailand during the conflict with the ...
Japan gives boost to education in northern Laos
The Japanese government has provided grant assistance for education development in the provinces of Oudomxay, Bokeo, Xieng Khuang and Vientiane. The US$560,000 initiative, through Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects, will expand and reconstruct school buildings at six primary and secondary schools. Grant ...
ADB report poses $26tn question for Asia
Back in 2009, the Asian Development Bank estimated the region would need $8 trillion worth of infrastructure investment between 2010 and 2020. Now, for the 15 years from 2016 to 2030, the bank reckons $26 trillion is in order to sustain current levels of growth. ...
