News
CEEC driving energy development in Lancang-Mekong nations
China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC), a multinational corporation specializing in energy solutions and services, is actively shaping the landscape of high-quality energy development in the Lancang-Mekong countries. As part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China Energy is deeply involved in the Southeast Asian ...
Kong Arey and Raquel R Bacay
Lancang - Mekong countries augment media cooperation
BEIJING — The 2023 Lancang – Mekong Cooperation Media Summit took place in Beijing on June 27, gathering media agencies from the six countries in the Lancang – Mekong river basin, namely China, Việt Nam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand. The Vietnamese side included representatives of ...
Cambodia PM threatens Facebook ban after posts ruled violent
Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen has quit Facebook and threatened to block it in his country after the platform’s oversight board recommended he be suspended for six months. Hun Sen had called for violence against his political opponents in a video in January which was viewed 600,000 ...
Joel Guinto
Villages and academic collaboration gathers crucial data on Mekong River dam projects’ impact
In a collective stance against two prospective dam projects along the Mekong River, villagers from five communities, researchers, as well as a Thai university, have teamed up. The collaboration aims to gather comprehensive data regarding their local economy, natural resources, and potential downstream impacts. The participation from within ...
Nattapong Westwood
Indigenous and local communities see big gains in land rights, study shows
Land legally designated or owned by Indigenous, Afro-descendant and local communities increased by 102.9 million hectares (254 million acres), larger than the size of Egypt, between 2015 and 2020, according to a new report released by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI). These groups now own more ...
Dimitri Selibas
Laos to proceed with seventh Mekong dam despite impact concerns
Pressing ahead with its vision to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia,” the government of Laos is going forward with plans to build its seventh of nine mainstream dams on the Mekong River, despite widespread concerns that it could inflict social and environmental damage. The 728-megawatt ...
Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Myanmar: Junta Blocks Lifesaving Cyclone Aid
(Bangkok) – The Myanmar junta’s increasing obstruction of humanitarian aid in the month since Cyclone Mocha has put thousands of lives at immediate risk and endangered millions of people, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the cyclone made landfall on May 14, 2023, junta authorities have refused ...
HRW
Swiss-Viet Officials Meet, Discuss Progress on FTA
The Swiss ambassador, Thomas Gass, met with National Assembly Chairman, Vuong Dinh Hue earlier this week ahead of the 52nd anniversary of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Vietnam later this year. The two officials discussed bilateral trade and investment with progress on negotiations of a free ...
Dezan Shira and Associates
Australia, Laos Partner on River Basin Management
Australia and Laos have been cooperating on water resources management for nearly two decades. Key milestones in recent years include the Sekong Groundwater Management Plan approved earlier this year, the revision of the Water Law endorsed by National Assembly in 2017, the development of key ...
Phontham Visapra
Plan to Move Vietnam to Carbon Neutrality Faces Hurdles
HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM — Vietnam’s long-awaited national power development plan, aimed at achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050, was approved by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on May 16, but faces obstacles in implementation and funding. Delayed by more than two years, the plan, known ...
Govi Snell
