News
Laos to host ASEAN ministerial meeting on rural development
Laos has confirmed its readiness to host the 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication in Vientiane from 13-17 October. Speaking at a press conference on 6 October on preparations for the meeting, Deputy Minister to the Government Office and Vice Chairman of the National ...
South Korea to fund Laos–Vietnam railway feasibility study
Vietnam’s transport ministry and the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) have agreed to study the feasibility of a 500 km-long railway link from Laos’ Vientiane to Vung Ang in central Ha Tinh Province of Vietnam. The study will be conducted with a $US3-million ODA grant from KOICA for ...
Compensation for Yangon-Dala bridge to be paid this month
In an apparent effort to ensure good relations with local residents and avoid the problems that have dogged other development projects, local authorities have agreed to pay compensation in advance to people forced to move to make way for the Yangon-Dala Bridge. The committee set up ...
Lao Government seeks to improve primary education
The Lao government is aiming to improve the quality of education in pre-primary and primary schools, with the support of various international organisations. The launch of the Second Global Partnership for Education Project on 5 October took place to discuss the issue. Keep reading ...
Vietnam steel association wants fewer plants as supply surplus hurts industry
The Vietnam Steel Association has urged authorities not to go ahead with 27 planned steel plants since local output is already more than twice the demand. Some of the planned plants have not been started while others have proved impractical or are using outdated technology. Keep reading ...
Thailand 'the laggard in ASEAN GDP growth'
Thailand will trail all ASEAN countries in growth because its open economy and export dependence leave it directly exposed to the global and Chinese slowdowns, according to the World Bank. Thai gross domestic product this year is expected to grow by 2.5 per cent, while the East Asia-Pacific ...
Dengue’s link to El Niño
As Cambodia contends with one of the strongest El Niño cycles in recent memory, a new study of millions of dengue cases over the past two-decades-plus has shown that spikes in the deadly disease across Southeast Asia may be linked to the weather phenomenon. Upswings in ...
Cambodia drought spawns fish fears
Fishing communities along two of Cambodia’s principle rivers say their livelihoods are threatened by droughts that have reduced water levels and devastated fish numbers. “The Tonle Sap is 3 metres lower than last year,” Long Sochhet, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Fishing Communities, said on ...
Police block marchers on World Habitat Day
More than 1,000 demonstrators from about 50 communities across the country gathered Monday to mark U.N. World Habitat Day and protest against widespread land and housing evictions, but found their march blocked by municipal authorities, who claimed the protesters posed a risk to security. Beginning the ...
On Cambodia's Tonle Sap, Vietnamese families face mass eviction
The Kompong Chhnang provincial government is in the process of evicting about 1,000 mostly Vietnamese families who live in the floating villages on the Tonle Sap river near the provincial capital, moving them up the river as part of a five-year plan to beautify the ...
