Government
International relations
Laos, Thai, Malaysia and Singapore power deal delayed
The signing of the Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore Power Integration Project deal has been delayed for another six months. Keep reading ...
12 Pacific nations agree to historic TPP trade accord
Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed the deal late 5 October (Thailand time) to create the world’s largest free trade area, with implications for Thailand and for world trade in the 21st century. Working around the clock for days past their deadline, haggard trade ministers announced they reached ...
Laos to host ASEAN ministerial meeting on rural development
Laos has confirmed its readiness to host the 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication in Vientiane from 13-17 October. Speaking at a press conference on 6 October on preparations for the meeting, Deputy Minister to the Government Office and Vice Chairman of the National ...
South Korea to fund Laos–Vietnam railway feasibility study
Vietnam’s transport ministry and the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) have agreed to study the feasibility of a 500 km-long railway link from Laos’ Vientiane to Vung Ang in central Ha Tinh Province of Vietnam. The study will be conducted with a $US3-million ODA grant from KOICA for ...
Cables detail China-Vietnam strains in ’75 Cambodia
The seeds of China and Vietnam’s bloody rivalry for influence in Cambodia were already apparent to foreign observers in the weeks and months after the April 1975 fall of Phnom Penh, Australian diplomatic cables given last month to the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) show. Born ...
ASEAN, Japan to fight cybercrime, terrorism
Southeast Asian ministers in charge of security held talks with their Japanese counterpart on 1 October in a bid to enhance cooperation in tackling terrorism and cybercrime. Eriko Yamatani, a cabinet minister and also the chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission, led a delegation for the ...
Almost 2,000 deported from Cambodia so far this year: report
Nearly 2,000 people have been deported from Cambodia – the vast majority of them Vietnamese – in the first nine months of 2015, according to new government figures. From January through September, 1,919 people were expelled from the Kingdom, a report issued by the General Department ...
ASEAN countries adopt KL declaration in combating transnational crime
The 10 ASEAN member countries on 1 October reiterated their commitments to cooperate closely with one another, to combat new and traditional areas of transnational crimes. Keep reading ...
Kuwait proposes Laos visa exemption
The Lao and Kuwaiti governments should offer visa exemptions for their citizens as part of efforts to boost the exchange of tourism and trade between the two nations, according to the Kuwaiti ambassador to Laos, Mr Nabeel Aldaheel. The ambassador announced his government’s proposal to the ...
Thai officials join ASEAN crime conference
Thai Interior Ministry and Royal Thai Police officials on 28 September joined the tenth ASEAN conference on transnational crime in Malaysia. Among issues discussed was illegal wildlife trading and drug trafficking, to reduce such problems in ASEAN. Keep reading ...