News
Govt seeks to increase bank deposits to 84 percent of GDP
The government has announced its intention to increase deposits in commercial banks to 84 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2020, up from the 57 percent expected in 2016, in a bid to meet growing development needs. Governor of the Bank of the Lao PDR, Mr. ...
Trade deal to reduce tariffs with Vietnam
Cambodia and Vietnam inked an agreement on October 26 to drop import tariffs on dozens of products in an effort to boost bilateral trade. Cambodian Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese Minister of Trade and Industry Tran Tuan Anh ahead of the ...
Locals want a disruptive dam project in Northern Myanmar terminated once and for all
It has now been five years since the Myitsone Dam project in Northern Myanmar was suspended, but a local ethnic Kachin man, Mung Ra, is still not satisfied. He wishes that the project had been entirely terminated. He frequently laments the loss of his farm and ...
Southeast Asia’s last major undammed river in crisis
China has suspended dams upstream of the Salween but the Myanmar government is pushing ahead with Chinese backed dams downstream, despite environmental costs and cheaper alternatives. From the snow-capped mountains of Tibet, the Salween rushes through steep gorges in Yunnan Province and flows through four of ...
PM: harness the Mekong region's economic power
The Greater Mekong Sub-region has the potential to become a major global production center due to its favorable geographical location and its proximity to economic powerhouses in both Southeast and South Asia, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on October 25. Speaking in Hanoi at the opening ...
Deputies uneasy about draft Law on Associations
National Assembly deputies spent the whole day on October 25 trying to iron out their differences over the draft Law on Associations. All agreed that the right to establish associations was one of the fundamental rights of citizens provided by the Constitution. However, some deputies said ...
Việt Nam, Thailand work to ensure Mekong river water usage
Việt Nam and Thailand will work closely with each other and with international organisations to use and manage Mekong river water resources efficiently to ensure the interests of the river basin nations. That was agreed by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister ...
Optimism for pharma sector
Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies are optimistic about the business prospects of the sector, as well as its potential in 2016-17. This information was released in a survey alongside the top 10 most prestigious pharmaceutical companies in the country by the Ministry of Information and Communications and Việt ...
Cabinet approves budget worth B17.5bn for Village Funds
The cabinet on October 25 approved a 17.5-billion-baht budget for 74,655 Village Funds across the country at 250,000 baht each for local development. The move is a fresh bid to boost the rural economy, prevent people from borrowing from loan sharks and maintain the country’s ...
Mekong countries discuss measures to boost region’s development
Leaders of the five Mekong countries discussed measures to promote co-operation and make the region more dynamic and competitive at the two summits that convened in Hà Nội on Wednesday.Keep reading ...
