Social development

Vietnam and Laos signed a series of vital agreements on Wednesday, pledging to boost co-operation between the two governments and countries.Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc and his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith–who co-chaired the 39th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee in Hanoi on Wednesday –witnessed ...

Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng has urged the northern province of Nam Định to attract more investment in industry, agriculture and services. During a working session with Nam Định’s key authority officials in the province on February 8, he hailed the province’s strategic position ...

The Education Ministry plans to change its policy, from giving away textbooks to students to lending them next academic year, to save money. At present, the ministry spends around five billion baht a year buying textbooks for eight million students at primary and secondary levels ...

In the weeks since the suspicious death of Pen Kunthea, a pall has settled over the small community of sex workers who ply their trade around the capital’s Wat Phnom each night. For many, Kunthea’s death was not an aberration, but a grim testament to ...

Nearly 100 citizens representing 429 families at the center of the Techo Aphivat land dispute gathered at Kampot provincial hall on February 8 demanding resolution of the row and for land titles to be speeded up. However, the authorities said these citizens are not resident there and ...

Five northern provinces recently reported on their efforts to prevent and control locust outbreaks in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and announced plans to prevent a further invasion this year. The five provinces are Huaphan, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khuang, Oudomxay and Phongsaly. More than 4,000 hectares ...

The World Health Organisation is providing US$2.1 million in initial assistance for the strengthening of healthcare services in Laos. With US$11.3 million committed for 2016-17, the amount of funding has increased by 22 percent over 2014-15. An agreement for the funding was signed in Vientiane ...

Plan International’s second cohort of scholarship recipients for classes that teach them to be skilled birth attendants are ready to return to their hometowns and work in rural health centres in Bokeo province. The young midwives have spent two years at the Health Training Centre ...

The business communities of Myanmar and Thailand have been encouraged to foster economic cooperation by Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak’s high-level business delegation. last Friday delivered a speech at the Thai-Myanmar Business Cooperation Forum, which gathered hundreds of business people from both countries. There, he assured ...

The government has secured a loan of US$25 million from the World Bank to further strengthen road maintenance and improve road connectivity throughout the country. The Ministry of Finance signed the loan agreement with the World Bank on February 7, with the two parties represented ...