News
Hydropower plants or “hydropower bombs”?

The recent incident at Song Bung Hydropower Plant has alerted Vietnam to reconsider the construction of so many hydroelectric plants, which have been compared to “timebombs”. Those who visit the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang cannot miss Ma Pi Leng, one of the four most ...
Flood protection embankment to be built in Hadxaifong

Construction of a 30-km embankment along the Mekong River starting near the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Vientiane will soon begin. The flood protection levy will run from the Vientiane-Nong Khai Friendship Bridge downstream through Huaymarkhia village to Dongphoudy and Thamuang villages in Hadxaifong district. The project, known ...
Cabinet mulls ways to boost investment in special economic zones

The government cabinet has been exploring ways to better facilitate and promote investment in Special Economic Zones, after many zones have been set up in the provinces and in Vientiane. The cabinet on September 26 convened an extraordinary meeting and discussed a draft of the Law on ...
Innovation for a fruitful harvest

The integration of technology into Cambodia’s agricultural sector is vital to increase the competitiveness and overall performance of the Kingdom’s harvest, but efforts to push for widespread adoption of innovative solutions has been slow to take off, industry experts and stakeholders said at a forum ...
Farming mega-mergers threaten food security, say campaigners

Deals would put the majority of seeds, chemicals and GM traits in the hands of three companies, deepening poverty for small-scale farmers. When an Indian farmer plants his cotton crop, there’s at least a 75% chance the seeds have been been bought from a company owned ...
China MoU to help ‘reform’ judiciary

China has signed an agreement to assist the Kingdom with judicial reforms and to share expertise in overhauling such systems, though one international expert on September 27 cautioned that China shouldn’t be considered “a model for justice reform in Cambodia”. Under the five-year agreement, signed on September ...
Parents to be surveyed on education system
In the hopes of boosting parental involvement in their child’s education, teachers are conducting a survey. Parents will be asked to participate in the paper-based questionnaire, with teachers aiming to gain a better understanding of the issues faced by Myanmar’s education system as it readies itself ...
Thailand pledges $1m to kick off ASEAN science development fund
Thailand will invest an initial US$1 million to establish a Science, Technology and Innovation Development Fund for ASEAN. After the first ASEAN Science & Technology Innovation Forum, held in Bangkok last week, Science and Technology Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj said the forum had come up with three plans to ...
MGMA backs garment industry to boom when US sanctions are lifted

Myanmar’s leading garment industry body has been buoyed by the lifting of sanctions it hopes will see a return to the glory days for the sector, when in the early 2000s a majority of country’s garments were shipped to the US. Speaking at a manufacturing trade ...
Earthquake experts to study tectonic movement in Myanmar

A research project aiming to gather more accurate data on the movement of tectonic plates in Myanmar will be undertaken across the country until May 2017, according to the Myanmar Earthquake Committee. Seismographs have been installed across the country starting in May this year. The first ...