Environment and natural resources
Cambodia’s energy policy out of balance: WEC
Expensive and unreliable electricity continues to weigh down Cambodia’s ranking on the UN-accredited World Energy Council’s annual Energy Trilemma Index, according to a report released on 11 November. The Kingdom ranked a low 115 out of 130 countries on the annual index, which assesses countries according ...
Lao Ministry imposes ban on log exports
Laos’ Ministry of Industry and Commerce has imposed an export ban on logs and unprocessed sawn wood following the prohibition instruction given by the government. The move aims to add value to wood resources by processing them domestically before they are exported. Recently, the ministry issued an order ...
Ho Chi Minh City eyes $380mln of loans for waterway expansion
Ho Chi Minh City has asked for the central government’s help in taking out loans worth around US$380 million for a major dredging program to deepen one of its key waterways, local media reported on 9 November. The Soai Rap, a tributary of the Saigon River, ...
Rain causes river bank collapse in Chai Nat
Heavy rain that hit parts of Sankhaburi district of Chai Nat province on night of 9 November caused the bank of the Noy river to collapse, damaging a riverside road and pulling down many houses. Hardest hit were villages in tambons Don Kam, Bang Khut and Pho Ngam. Keep ...
Lao Government, stakeholders raise awareness of corporate social responsibility
Government officials and stakeholders met in Vientiane on 9 November to discuss and promote understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR), especially in the land and natural resources sector. The meeting was organised by the Investment Promotion Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment in collaboration with ...
Luxury timber goes to Vietnam en masse
While crowds gathered in Phnom Penh to watch Cambodia’s Independence Day parade, a different sort of procession drew the attention of villagers in Ratanakkiri province on 9 November, with hundreds of motorbikes flooding across border checkpoints loaded with luxury timber. The spectacle, which on a smaller ...
Laos on international unregulated logging list
A consultation workshop on the Forestry Legality Compendium held in Vientiane on 6 November revealed that Laos is one of many countries still on the list of those where unregulated logging takes place. Laos is listed because internationally it is considered that some aspects of forest management ...
Vietnam's longest river is 'seriously' polluted: authority
Vietnam’s environment police on 6 November warned of worsening pollution in the Dong Nai River, the southern region’s main water supply that has been being exposed to multiple sources of contamination. Speaking at a meeting, Duong Van Linh, deputy chief of the Department of Environment Police under ...
Japan extends support for water supply management in Laos
The Japanese government has provided further support to improve the operations of water supply state enterprises in Vientiane and the provinces of Luang Prabang and Khammuan. The Department of Housing and Urban Planning, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and the Public Enterprise Bureau, Saitama ...
Villagers protest against waste recycling plant
Villagers in Lat Bua Luang district of Ayutthaya province are again protesting that a foreign-owned recycling factory in their locality is causing severe pollution, and say their complaints have been ignored for years. Keep reading ...
