Government

Officials from Laos and Thailand have agreed to step up cooperative efforts investigating and controlling drugs along their shared border. The officials met on 16 September in Vientiane to also discuss their previous joint work on the anti-drug problems of both nations. Chairman of the Lao National Commission ...

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli on 17 September met with leaders from Thailand, Myanmar and Laos ahead of an annual expo and business summit between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in southwest China. They will attend the 12th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment ...

Local government officials in a southern Cambodian province failed to evacuate villagers in time to prevent their homes and rice fields from flooding after the operators of a Chinese-built hydropower dam informed them a day earlier that they would open the facility’s gates to release ...

At least 200 billion baht of the government’s budget is expected to be taken out from October-December as part of efforts to ramp up public spending and tackle cooling economic expansion. In the first three months of fiscal 2016 starting Oct 1, state agencies plan ...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on 15 September that his country will extend 100 billion yen ($835 million) in loans for Vietnam to boost the Southeast Asian economy’s infrastructural development, as Tokyo and Hanoi aim to strengthen ties on the economic and security fronts. Keep reading ...

India’s Vice-president Hamid Ansari will be travelling to two key South-East Asian countries, Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, with which India has cultural and religious links dating back centuries, but are currently perceived to be closer to India’s strategic rival China. Ansari, who begins his ...

Hanoi’s tap water rate will be raised by 20 percent to at least 30.5 US cents per cubic meter from next month, the capital’s water utility has said. Keep reading ...

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief will embark on a four-day visit to Japan on 14 September, seeking not only investment opportunities but geopolitical assurances as China continues its aggressive maritime posturing, according to experts. Nguyen Phu Trong will also become the first party leader to have visited ...

Over 100 election hopefuls – mostly minority candidates – were knocked out of the running in the Union Election Commission’s final list, with citizenship status by far the most common stumbling block. The final list was short 124 rejected candidates, according to the commission’s announcement on ...

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Somdy Douangdy in Hanoi on 10 September, during which he proposed that Laos support the implementation of Vietnam-invested projects there. Keep reading   ...