News
Indian mining firm prepares to dig deep in Ratanakkiri
The Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to issue the country’s first commercial underground mining license to Indian company Mesco Gold in two weeks, despite opposition by residents of two villages concerned about compensation and environmental damage. The company plans to break ground on its ...
Poverty solutions prove challenging
Rural development and poverty eradication in Laos could face many challenges in the coming years before getting better in the long term, according to the National Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication. The challenges include unexpected developments and the fact that regional and international integration ...
Survey finds Europe firms looking more to SE Asia
European investors are increasing their exposure to Southeast Asia, reaffirming the region’s position as a bright spot in the global economy, as companies look to other markets for growth amid lingering concerns in China, according to the EU-ASEAN Business Sentiment Survey. The prospect of European ...
Formosa pays $500 mil compensation for marine disaster in central Vietnam
Taiwanese company Formosa Plastics, which caused deadly marine pollution in the central region by discharging untreated effluents, has paid up the US$500 million compensation it promised to, officials said. The environment ministry said on August 31 Formosa had transferred the second half of the promised amount a ...
Binh Phuoc suspends six forest projects
The southern province of Binh Phuoc will stop clearing natural forest land for the planting of industrial trees with high economic value, the provincial authority has announced. Binh Phuoc Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that it had initially suspended six projects for developing ...
Japan grant for electricity access
The Japanese government announced on August 31 that it would provide almost $9 million to improve electricity access in the Kingdom that would enable Cambodians to enjoy better quality electricity services. Speaking at the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh, Foreign Minister ...
Vietnam urged to use more renewable energy
Viet Nam should enhance clean and renewable energy resources as well as promoting energy saving, said Le Tuan Phong, deputy director of the General Directorate of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Statistics from the agency showed that average energy demand in Viet Nam ...
More than half of south Asia's groundwater too contaminated to use – study
Salinity and arsenic affect 60% of underground supply across vast Indo-Gangetic Basin, according to research published in Nature Geoscience. Sixty per cent of the groundwater in a river basin supporting more than 750 million people in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh is not drinkable or usable ...
India to complete Myanmar, Thailand highway by 2020
An ambitious three-nation highway that will connect India with Thailand through Myanmar is a central plank of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Act East policy, which seeks to boost trade and connectivity with Southeast Asia. The 3,200km project conceived in 2002 came up for discussion when Modi ...
World water week to focus on achieving sustainable development goals
The 2016 World Water Week kicked off on August 29, focusing on water to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Opening the event, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Angel Gurria said that water, from having been a subject that was rarely discussed ...
