News

Stakeholders are concerned about the legitimacy of the multinational approval process for Laos’ Luangprabang hydropower project, after recommendations to lower the environmental impact were raised, but few were accepted during a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) last week in Vientiane. The meeting was held ...

King Norodom Sihamoni has signed off on a new law that will see unlicensed construction company officials punished with a maximum of 15 years in prison if a worker is to die due to negligence. The Law on Construction, passed by the National Assembly and the ...

A committee will be set up comprising farmers and civil society organisations to resolve farmland problems in Kachin State, U M Kawn La of the Kachin National Congress said. The committee, to initially include political party officials, law experts, civil society groups and literature associations, will discuss ...

My grandfather turned his head and watched as his house was engulfed in the devastating water.  On a tiny boat, my grandparents and their neighbours carried some clothes wrapped in plastic sheets, leaving the village for higher ground. It was November 2, 1999, when strong cold ...

The Japanese government has approved more than $250,000 to support the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s Legal Documentation Centre to conduct its outreach activities. According to a press release issued yesterday, the Japanese government approved $251,970 to support the LDC, including the establishment of mobile outreach unit, consisting ...

The Mekong – Lancang Business Forum 2019, themed “Promoting Agribusiness and Investment in Processed Food Sector”, took place in Ho Chi Minh City on November 7. The event was co-organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Thai Ministry of Commerce and the Mekong Institute. Speaking ...

Laos has dismissed fears that its next hydropower dam on the Mekong River would devastate downstream communities after neighboring countries and rights groups raised their doubts at a regional forum in the capital last week. The tiny landlocked country announced its intentions to go ahead with ...

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said “there is no scientific basis” to the recent prediction that the Mekong Delta will be submerged in 30-50 years. The PM said Friday that a paper warning the Mekong Delta could be submerged underwater by 2050 lacks scientific backing. While admitting ...

Typically this time of the year in the Mekong Basin, the annual monsoon is beginning to taper off, the mighty river’s banks are spilling over and saturating the flood plain in Cambodia and Vietnam and the river is moving millions of tonnes of sediment alongside ...

The Asean summit offers a great opportunity for Mekong riparian countries to press China, a major dialogue partner, on commitments for sustainable development of the region’s most important river. Leading the Chinese delegation is Premier Li Keqiang. He is to meet our prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ...