News
Parliament calls for full revenue collection

National Assembly members have called for the government to do more to seek new revenue sources and fully collect revenue following last fiscal year’s revenue shortfall despite there being numerous income generating sources. Members of parliament put forward the requirement when debating the government’s proposal to ...
USAID funds project to monitor HIV prevalence
Laos has a concentrated HIV epidemic compared to other countries, with the prevalence of HIV still at a low level in key groups. But risk behaviours threaten to increase the prevalence of HIV transmission amongst the population so the National Centre for HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted ...
Commission consults on child rights convention
The National Commission for Mothers and Children and United Nations Children’s Fund on October 25 organised a consultation workshop to review and provide input into a draft of the 3rd to 6th state Convention on the Rights of Child report. The workshop in Vientiane reported that ...
Vietnam among top places for business expansion in Southeast Asia: survey

With competitive labor cost, the country only comes after Singapore in terms of attractiveness. In the Southeast Asia region, Singapore tops the list of most favorable expansion destinations for Asian companies, with 32 percent of respondents saying they will invest more, followed by Vietnam, according ...
One in nine has no access to clean water

Every year during the wet season, millions of Cambodians are surrounded by water as the Mekong River floods. Yet the water is unsafe to drink, fouled by sewage and agricultural and industrial pollution. Living in villages on stilts, Cambodians bathe, fish and defecate in the flooded ...
Residents fear restart of coal power plant

A coal-fired power plant in southern Shan State that was shut down two years ago due to residents’ complaints may be reopening, despite the opposition of the local community, villagers say. They are already accusing local officials of breaking their promises. Test operations at the plant, ...
Public debt ceiling to remain at 65%

The government will not lift the public debt ceiling but will tighten its financial discipline to develop enterprises and further attract social investment to create the resources needed for reform and socioeconomic development. Lifting the ceiling would affect the country’s loan repayment capacity, Deputy Prime Minister ...
Ministry names 30 environmentally unfriendly projects

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced a list of 30 thermal electricity, hydropower, chemical and mining projects that are posing risks to the environment. Among the environmentally unfriendly projects are thermal power plants Thai Binh 1, Vinh Tan 2, Vinh Tan 4, expanded Vinh ...
Govt asks parliament to lower growth targets

On October 24, the government asked the National Assembly to lower economic growth targets over the next four years after encountering difficulties that resulted in failure to meet the target set for last fiscal year. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith presented the proposal at the second ordinary ...
Farmers have date with destiny

A Thai agricultural company will work with a local firm to introduce commercial date palm cultivation to the Kingdom, which it claims can generate more profits for farmers than pepper and other cash crops, and for which it has already lined up buyers. Chiang Mai-based Daily ...