Aid and development
New strategy for Japan, Mekong cooperation
Japan and four Southeast Asian nations along the Mekong River Basin – Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand – have approved a plan to speed up industrial development in the region. Keep reading ...
Flood coordination drastically improved, but not without flaws
According to the National Natural Disaster Management Committee, the ongoing flood crisis has critically affected more than 1.6 million people, displaced over 333,000 households and killed at least 110 people. The massive relief effort is still under way, with the current outpouring of humanitarian aid more ...
Poverty reduction for Laos receives boost from further World Bank financing
The Government of Laos and the World Bank on 17 August signed agreements for three projects aiming to improve the efficiency and reliability of electricity, to improve women’s and children’s health and nutrition, and to enable the construction of vital infrastructure including schools, health clinics, roads, ...
In Myanmar, doing aid better
Around the world, the way foreign aid works is coming under wider scrutiny. Criticisms of an increasingly privatized international aid “industry” include claims that many of its approaches are too top-down, inflexible and ineffective. Reformers also question the relationships between large international aid organizations and their ...
World Bank ups Vietnam GDP forecast
Vietnam’s economic growth could reach 6-6.2 percent this year underpinned by further recovery in domestic demand, in turn reflecting robust private consumption and investment growth, according to a World Bank report. The medium-term outlook for Vietnam is positive on balance in the context that growth in developing ...
Vietnam to seek additional loan for Chinese-built Hanoi elevated railway
The government has decided to seek an additional loan from the Chinese government for a Chinese-built elevated railway project in Hanoi that is becoming infamous for slow progress and ballooning costs. Keep reading ...
Cambodia rice farmers may be advised to plant early-maturing varieties if drought conditions persist
Cambodia rice farmers have started planting for the 2015 main rice crop in May and will continue until July end. However, unusually high temperatures and low rainfall are raising concerns that this year’s paddy production will suffer significantly due to the drought-inducing El Nino weather ...
First HIV/AIDS treatment centre opens in Laos
The first infectious disease ward, which shall include the first HIV/AIDS treatment centre in Laos, opened yesterday in Vientiane, aiming to improve the medical environment to treat infectious disease patients including those with HIV. The centre received financial support from the government of Japan. The new facility ...
World Bank loans Vietnam $507 mln for agriculture, poverty reduction, transport
Vietnam’s central bank and the World Bank on Thursday signed four credit agreements totaling US$507 million to support Vietnam’s priorities in sustainable agriculture, poverty reduction, and a bus rapid transit system. The financing covers four projects: the Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Project (US$238 million), additional financing for ...
Cambodia, Vietnam meet over border concerns
Cambodian and Vietnamese officials are meeting in Phnom Penh over border issues, but on the second of three days, no final decisions were made. Officials are meeting at the Council of Ministers building in Phnom Penh, to discuss June’s violent clashes along the border, as well ...
