News
Laos Issues New Decree on Dams Aimed at Minimizing Harm
The government of Laos issued new guidelines for managing hydropower dams aimed at minimizing water shortages and flooding, state media reported on Thursday, amid debate on how its hydropower boom has altered the vital Mekong River. The new decree, effective March 4, requires all hydropower operators ...
Reuters
New dam management guidelines to minimise water issues
New guidelines issued recently by the government aim to minimise water shortages and flooding both downstream and upstream of hydropower plants. Once water levels in reservoirs rise to a critical point, dam operators are required to notify the relevant authorities, under a new decree issued by ...
Times Reporters
Lao PDR: New Project to Protect Landscapes and Enhance Livelihoods
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$57 million project to help Lao PDR promote sustainable forest management, improve protected area management, and enhance livelihoods opportunities in eight provinces across the country. Project funding comes from the World Bank’s International Development Association, ...
Newsroom
Human Rights Abuses in Laos Are Rampant. International Businesses Should Take Action.
Authoritarianism in Laos is at the root of illegal land grabs, land grievances, and ongoing human rights violations. The upcoming elections in Laos are unlikely to change this. International business stakeholders, however, can do more to support local communities and uphold fundamental human rights. The Lao ...
Malaak Jamal and Jenny Wang
Germany provides EUR 20 million for forest law enforcement, trade
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is providing about EUR 20 million and the Lao government is contributing the equivalent of EUR 4 million as non-cash benefits for the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) project from 2021 to 2026. An agreement ...
Viengdavanh Banphahaksa
Laos Planned Railways: Opening a National Rail Network in 2021
At present, Laos doesn’t have any railways. However, that is about to change in 2021. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Laos counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith last week in a virtual meeting to discuss progress on the China-Laos Economic Corridor. Both Governments have occasions ...
Chris Devonshire-Ellis
Mekong River Water Levels Fail to Rise Due to China’s Jinghong Dam
Water levels on the Mekong River have failed to rise raising concerns in communities living downstream, sources say. The Mekong was already low because of equipment testing at China’s upriver Jinghong Dam. However water levels were suppose to resume to normal after equipment testing ended ...
CTN News
Water Levels Drop, Fail to Rise Again on Mekong River Along Thai-Lao Border
Water levels on a stretch of the Mekong River along the border of Thailand and Laos, already low because of equipment testing at China’s upriver Jinghong Dam, have failed to rise again, raising concerns in communities living downstream, sources say. Chinese authorities at the end of ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Housing for southern Lao flood victims to be complete in 2021
Some 496 of 700 planned new homes have been completed for flood victims in southern Laos’ Attapeu province, and will be ready for residents in 2021. According to daily Vientiane Times, 496 new homes have now been built for victims of the flood caused by the ...
huaxia
Lao PDR and World Bank sign $42 deal to reduce emissions from deforestation
The Lao PDR and the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) have signed an agreement to provide up to $42 million between now and 2025 to support the country’s efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). A ceremony today marked the launch of this ...