Aid and development

Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a three-day visit to Vietnam, making him the second high-ranking Chinese official to have visited the country since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019 and early 2020. Wang’s trip to Hanoi came on the heels ...

A $54 million Cambodia Sustainable Landscape and Eco-tourism Project (CSLEP) will be the World Bank’s largest tourism investment in Cambodia. It will take five years to carry out and will involve seven provinces including the Cardamom Mountains, Southeast Asia’s largest intact rainforest, the Tonle Sap ...

A frequent contributor to National Geographic, Stefan Lovgren often writes about freshwater conservation issues. He covers the Mekong River as part of the USAID project “Wonders of the Mekong”. Follow him on Instagram @mekongwonders or visit his website:  For decades, Nov Lun and his fellow fishermen harvested ...

China last month inaugurated a new trade route via ship, road and rail running through Myanmar in keeping with Beijing’s dogged building spree across the Southeast Asian country to reach the Indian Ocean and points west. Analysts say it is one more strand in the ever-expanding ...

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged a closer connection and stronger political mutual trust among Mekong countries amid challenges, including the uncertain world economy and the still rampant COVID-19 pandemic at the 7th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Leaders’ Summit held on Thursday via video conference. Experts ...

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Wednesday reiterated South Korea’s commitment to stronger cooperation with Mekong countries in health care, climate, infrastructure and people-to-people exchanges, his office said. Chung made the remarks during the 11th Mekong-South Korea foreign ministers’ meeting co-chaired by him and his Cambodian counterpart, ...

Land holders across Lao PDR, including some of the most vulnerable households, are expected to benefit from improved land administration and titling thanks to a project approved by the World Bank this week. The $31 million Enhancing Systematic Land Registration Project will be run by the government’s Ministry ...

To mark the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, the World Bank is publishing a Country Environmental Analysis for the Lao PDR, analyzing how the country can use its commitment to greener growth to stimulate economic recovery from the current slowdown, and to improve ...

Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn will pay an official visit to the Republic of Korea today. Sokhonn and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong are expected to jointly chair a virtual meeting with their counterparts from four other countries along the Mekong River—a major trade route between western ...

When China announced in early August a new US$6 million for new development projects in Myanmar, the sum was trifling in Beijing’s wider $1 trillion global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China’s Foreign Ministry said the funds will be used for animal vaccine projects, agricultural development, ...