News
Bill on contract farming reform gets initial NLA approval
The National Legislative Assembly on November 10 overwhelmingly backed the first draft of a proposed bill that would legalise contract farming. Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya said the bill would protect farmers against conglomerates and ensure fairness in contract farming, which would improve the country’s ...
Cambodia's labour ministry praises Trump's pledge to kill TPP
In the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise win in the US presidential election on November 9, Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said on November 10 that the president-elect’s campaign promise to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal would restore the Cambodian garment sector’s competitiveness ...
Factory openings provide 50,000 new jobs
More than 100 new factories were registered during the first nine months of the year, creating over 50,000 jobs, a government spokesman said on November 10. Oum Sotha, spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft, said the ministry recorded 116 new factory openings from ...
Tata Tea project fails to protect Indian workers
A World Bank investigation into a tea plantation project in India that it jointly finances with tea giant Tata Global Beverages has found that it has failed to tackle alleged abuses of impoverished workers, the group said on November 9. The International Finance Corporation—a member ...
Govt proceeds with planned Mekong hydro project
The government has informed the Mekong River Commission that it will proceed with the planned development of a new Mekong hydropower project in Pakbaeng district, Oudomxay province. The MRC Secretariat said on its website that it has received notification from the Lao government that Laos ...
Govt, int'l organisations discuss SDG strategies
The government and international organisations with a presence in Laos have held a pre-consultation on the Sustainable Development Goals in preparation for the 2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting to be held from November 24-25 in Vientiane province. The 2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting SDG Pre-consultation took ...
UNESCO, government to train Bagan masons
The masons tasked with rebuilding hundreds of crumbling pagodas in Bagan will receive training from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Bagan Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library later this month, department director U Aung Aung Kyaw told The Myanmar Times.`A 6.8-magnitude earthquake near ...
'An epochal change': what a Trump presidency means for the Asia Pacific region
From China and Japan to India and the countries of south-east Asia, leaders are being confronted by the unknowns of a new American president. Donald Trump’s victory has the potential to radically redraw the geopolitical landscape in Asia, where Barack Obama has been trying to counterbalance ...
The hydropower paradox: is this energy as clean as it seems?
In July, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon highlighted the role of hydropower in boosting the use of renewable energy globally, when he visited a nonprofit institute in China that helps emerging nations develop and build hydropower plants. Many countries consider hydroelectricity a clean source of power ...
Radical reform of ‘outdated’ environmental laws urged
Academics and legal experts on November 9 called for radical reforms of decades-old environmental laws, with public participation to ensure the rights of all citizens to live in healthy surroundings. The call was issued as the Law Reform Commission and the Good Governance for Social Development ...
