News
Lao Migrants Fleeing Poverty Defy Dangers to Work in Thailand
Lao workers, many of them young and some still in their teens, have poured in growing numbers this year into neighboring Thailand, braving exploitation and unsafe work conditions in search of employment to help support families back home, sources in the Southeast Asian nation say. Many ...
India to Include Laos in Planned Global Electricity Grid
India is poised to include Laos in plans for a global electricity grid, in response to an evolving energy security architecture. The country will present proposals for the grid at the second general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to be held in New Delhi from October ...
Planning department boosts women’s leadership potential
The Department of Planning under the Ministry of Planning and Investment hosted a one-day training seminar on “Smart Leadership for Women” aiming to enhance the capacity of its female staff. The department’s Director General, Ms Phonevanh Outhavong, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning and ...
Laos plans regulatory reforms to boost trade at border crossings
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will continue efforts to improve or remove unnecessary measures and regulations relating to exports and imports to bolster cross-border trade. Officials in charge of trade facilitation met in Vientiane last week for the 2nd Trade Facilitation Committee Secretariat meeting to ...
Bounfaeng Phaymanivong
Meeting reviews headway in reducing gender-based violence
The government and development partners have reviewed progress in implementing the ‘Bringing Justice Closer to Women Suffering from Gender Based Violence’ project from 2016-2019. The Vientiane National Commission for the Advancement of Women and Mother-Child (NCAWMC) and Sub Commission for the Advancement of Women on Friday ...
Resettled For Chinese Dam Work, Lao Villagers Fear New Homes Will Be Washed Away
Lao villagers displaced by two Chinese-backed dam projects and now living in resettlement communities in uphill areas of two provinces say they fear their new homes will fall off nearby cliffs due to landslides caused by annual monsoonal rains. Some of the more than 100 families ...
Govt looks to ease Mekong dam impacts
The Department of Fisheries will roll out a number of measures to help cushion the impacts of dam construction in the upper reaches of the Mekong River on Thai fishermen. Department chief, Adisorn Promthep, said the measures will entail further diplomatic coordination with Laos — which ...
Apinya Wipatayotin
Economic growth rebounding but further reform needed: World Bank
The World Bank is optimistic about economic growth in Laos, which is projected to rebound to 6.5 per cent in 2019, rising from 6.3 per cent recorded last year. Despite continued fiscal tightening, the pickup is expected to be driven by robust investment in mega infrastructure ...
Somsack Pongkhao
Dam Break in Northeast Laos Causes Heavy Losses For Locals, Builder
Heavy monsoonal rains in northeastern Laos ripped through a small one-megawatt hydropower dam in Xieng Khouang province’s Pek district earlier this week, causing extensive damage and flooding rice fields and property, local residents said Wednesday. “Because of heavy rainfall and too much water, the dam couldn’t ...
A Year On, 70% of Attapeu Flood Victims Return Home
About 70 percent of survivors have returned to their villages a year after the catastrophic dam collapse last year in Attapeu, amid ongoing efforts to rehabilitate flood victims. The disaster occurred on the night of July 23, 2018, when water poured over a saddle dam at the ...
