News
The changing face of Japan-ASEAN aid
Japan’s foreign aid toolkit has been expanding since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012, as he seeks to shore up Japan’s influence in South-east Asia in the face of muscle-flexing by China. Japan announced on August 12 that it would give two new large ...
Five dead, two missing as heavy rains cause flash floods in Vietnam northern mountains
Downpours in Vietnam’s northern mountains last week caused flash floods that killed at least five people, including two children, and left two others missing. The National Steering Committee for Search and Rescue said heavy rains between August 10 and 14 have taken a heavy toll, news ...
Severe flooding ravages North
Downpours have triggered severe floods in wide areas in the northern provinces of Nan and Phayao, ravaging properties and prompting officials to warn residents to brace for further damage amid the persistent rain. Schools and several hundred houses in the two northern provinces of Thailand were ...
Board of CRF seeks a double term
Just a month since their election, the leaders of the nation’s apex rice industry body have cast a motion to extend their terms – a move some have greeted with suspicion. On August 12, the board of directors of the Cambodian Rice Federation announced it ...
Vietnam gives top priority to relationship with Laos: President
The Party, State and people of Vietnam always give highest priority to consolidating and enhancing the time-honoured friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, President Tran Dai Quang told visiting Vice Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Somphan Phengkhammy on August 15. For his part, ...
Smallholder farmers to face land shortage, study finds
They will need land!, a report commissioned by the NGO Mekong Region Land Governance, predicts that by 2030, the amount of land required to sustain Cambodia’s smallholder farmer population will have increased by anywhere from 10 to 64 per cent of 2015 levels, or 320,600 ...
Laos' thirst for Mekong River dams imperils fishing, farming
Dismissing its neighbors’ pleas, impoverished Laos is rapidly building a Mekong River dam that threatens fisheries crucial to millions of Southeast Asia’s poorest people. Landlocked Laos is Southeast Asia’s poorest state, and all its neighbors far exceed its population of 7 million. But by virtue ...
New commission to decide fate of Myitsone dam in Kachin State
President Htin Kyaw on Friday formed a new commission to evaluate all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River prior to their going ahead. The commission is tasked with assessing the potential environmental and social effects of any proposed project—both up- and downstream—its possible impact on ...
Central Highlands up efforts to prevent soil degradation
The degradation of soil in the Central Highlands has increased, impacting production and ethnic minority groups, according to Nguyen Dinh Ky, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Geography Association. According to Ky, degraded soil is mainly caused by deforestation, the loss of natural plant layers, the farming ...
Japan's economic growth fizzles out in second quarter
Japan’s economy stagnated in the second quarter, data showed on Monday, falling below expectations and rekindling worries about the government’s faltering bid to stoke a recovery. Weak figures on August 15 come as Japanese officials face growing pressure to deliver and economists increasingly write off ...
