News

A World Bank investigation into a tea plantation project in India that it jointly finances with tea giant Tata Global Beverages has found that it has failed to tackle alleged abuses of impoverished workers, the group said on November 9. The International Finance Corporation—a member ...

The government has informed the Mekong River Commission that it will proceed with the planned development of a new Mekong hydropower project in Pakbaeng district, Oudomxay province. The MRC Secretariat said on its website that it has received notification from the Lao government that Laos ...

The government and international organisations with a presence in Laos have held a pre-consultation on the Sustainable Development Goals in preparation for the 2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting to be held from November 24-25 in Vientiane province. The 2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting SDG Pre-consultation took ...

The masons tasked with rebuilding hundreds of crumbling pagodas in Bagan will receive training from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Bagan Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library later this month, department director U Aung Aung Kyaw told The Myanmar Times.`A 6.8-magnitude earthquake near ...

From China and Japan to India and the countries of south-east Asia, leaders are being confronted by the unknowns of a new American president. Donald Trump’s victory has the potential to radically redraw the geopolitical landscape in Asia, where Barack Obama has been trying to counterbalance ...

In July, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon highlighted the role of hydropower in boosting the use of renewable energy globally, when he visited a nonprofit institute in China that helps emerging nations develop and build hydropower plants. Many countries consider hydroelectricity a clean source of power ...

Academics and legal experts on November 9 called for radical reforms of decades-old environmental laws, with public participation to ensure the rights of all citizens to live in healthy surroundings. The call was issued as the Law Reform Commission and the Good Governance for Social Development ...

Over the past five years, Singapore’s investments in Việt Nam have nearly doubled. Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister, Lim Hng Kiang, emphasises the development of longstanding economic relations between Singapore and Việt Nam, which have yielded concrete outcomes, including creation of the Việt Nam-Singapore Industrial ...

The Germany-Việt Nam Water Forum held on November 9 in HCM City discussed ways the two countries could cooperate in water, wastewater and urban resilience projects. “For economic, social and ecological reasons, it is imperative that we enhance resource efficiency. Interlinked and intelligent infrastructure for water supply ...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to meet US president-elect Donald Trump next week in New York, officials said November 10, after phone talks between the two following the billionaire’s shock election win. Abe and Trump spoke for about 20 minutes and tentatively set a ...