News
Nearly 480,000 households without housing in HCM City
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction has recently announced the results of a survey conducted on the status of housing in order to meet demand in the southern city. More than 476,000 households (accounting for 23.46 per cent) have not had housing or are ...
The battle in the plastic industry among local, foreign rivals
Plastics companies’ high growth rate of 11 percent in the last five years has attracted the interest of foreign companies. Many Vietnamese plastics companies have become targets of foreign conglomerates planning to conquer the Vietnamese market. Thai SCG Group, for example, not only has a 20 percent ...
Striking a balance between conservation and development at the heart of Mekong struggle
Depending on who you speak to, there are naturally differing perspectives in regard to the future of the Mekong River, as most people living along the river look for a sustainable future through conservation of the existing ecosystem, while governments seek balanced resource usage and benefit-sharing ...
Healthcare budget hit
The growing elderly population is putting pressure on the universal healthcare scheme, forcing officials to seek fresh funding. The National Health Security Office, which operates the scheme, has submitted a Bt164-billion budget request for the next fiscal year but ended up getting just Bt151 billion. “We ...
Factory workers in limbo
More than 400 workers from the Chun Chao garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Por Senchey district protested in front of their factory on February 13 after discovering the owner had fled the country without paying workers their January wages. A garment worker who only identified herself ...
Cambodia seeks demining aid
Cambodia has asked Belgium to help it get rid of wartime mines and unexploded ordnance, still a cause of injuries and deaths. Ouch Borith, a secretary of state at the Foreign Ministry, spoke of the request after Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn met Belgian Ambassador to ...
Political parties law moves ahead
Ruling party members on the National Assembly’s Permanent Committee approved several proposed amendments to the law on political parties on February 13 despite strong requests for a delay from the opposition. The bill will now be reviewed and studied by the commission of legislation and ...
Laos, Russian discuss border radio frequency coordination security
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is paying attention to radio frequency coordination along the borders, aiming to secure the frequencies and address national security matters. The MPT, in collaboration with the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communication of the Russian Federation, held a seminar ...
Rail construction yet to begin
Actual work on the Laos-China railway project has yet to start in Luang Prabang and other provinces following the official construction launch in December last year. The railway will run from the Chinese border to Vientiane through the provinces of Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, Luang Prabang, ...
Laos, Thailand, China, Vietnam pave way for tourism integration
Eleven provinces across four countries in the upper Mekong basin have agreed to join in a development cooperation agreement that will seek sustainable tourism integration across the sub-region and its borders. Officials from these provinces signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the mechanism of their ...
