News
Myanmar reveals new strategy for coronavirus-free status
Myanmar is planning to adopt a new community-based containment strategy in an effort to become a coronavirus-free country in a matter of months, said the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Sports. “It is a community-based program designed to restore the current situation of high ...
Hmue Angel
Mekong Delta provinces build more wind power projects
Numerous wind power projects are being implemented in provinces in the Mekong Delta region. Bạc Liêu is one of the pioneering provinces developing coastal wind power. Almost the entire length of the province’s coastline is covered with wind and solar power projects. Contractors are currently carrying out construction on many items at the ...
VNS
‘I often thought about hurting myself’: factory workers suffer through shutdown
Ko Thant Zaw Win, 26, lies sprawled out on the floor, the dim overhead light illuminating the sweat glistening on his forehead. An unpleasant smell dominates the tiny space: too many people, too little ventilation. The room is just nine feet on each side; there’s only ...
PYAE SONE AUNG | FRONTIER
Cambodia chooses coal in rush for power
From the top of a low hill, farmer Pich Sophat points to an area scarred by excavators. Remnants of a house can still be seen in the centre of land being cleared for Cambodia’s Botum Sakor coal-fired power plant. A newly excavated ditch marking the site ...
Michael Tatarski, Chan Muyhong
Extreme weather highlights Southeast Asia’s vulnerability to climate change
Over the past several weeks, parts of Southeast Asia have been pummeled by severe storms. Widespread flooding across the region, especially in Vietnam, left hundreds of thousands of residents temporarily displaced. In Vietnam alone, at least 90,000 people were forced from their homes during the first several weeks ...
Zachary Frye
IFC Helps Businesses In Poorest Countries Fight Pandemic With US$4 Billion In COVID-19 Financing
IFC’s pandemic response is focused on reaching the most vulnerable people in developing countries. Of the US$8 billion in IFC COVID-19 fast-track financing approved by the IFC Board in March 2020, US$4 billion has been committed to date, of which close to half is expected to benefit people ...
KPL
First Person: supporting migrants on the COVID-19 frontline in Myanmar
Myanmar has been preparing for the return of hundreds of thousands of workers – some 650,000 are in Thailand alone – and one of the key tasks was to set up quarantine facilities for those returning migrants. Sandi Swe, who has been working in a ...
UN
Mekong Delta localities plant trees, build natural embankments to prevent erosion
More people in the Mekong Delta are planting trees and building embankments made of natural materials to prevent erosion along rivers and canals. The delta, which has a dense river and canal network, has faced increasing erosion along rivers and canals in recent years because of human activity and climate change. In Hau ...
VNA
Rice agenda needs unity
The Thai Rice Exporters Association recently revised its estimation of Thai rice exports this year to five million tonnes, the lowest in 20 years, from a previous projection of 6.5 million tonnes. In contrast, India’s Rice Exporters Association estimates the country’s rice exports will jump by ...
OPED
With someone taking out the trash, Hanoians breathe a sigh of relief
Nguyen Thanh Quang is looking forward to resuming his morning habit of cycling around his neighborhood in Hanoi’s Dong Da District. He had been staying at home all day after uncollected trash piled up on several streets, the resultant stink exacerbating the capital’s long-standing air pollution ...
Long Nguyen