News
Greater availability of loans boosting business in Laos
“I bought my mobile phone for 8 million kips (about Bt34,500) by using First Choice because that facility enabled me to make the payment over 15 months,” a customer of the brand, Somkhith Chitdavongsor, said last week. It was the first time he had made a purchase ...
Development partners to further support Laos: UNICEF
UNICEF will continue to expand its partnership with government counterparts, development partners and UN agencies, INGO/CSOs under the umbrella of the Vientiane Declaration on Aid effectiveness. The agency will work closely with all related partners to develop a new country programme of cooperation for 2017-2021 within ...
Veggie farming to trim Cambodia's import bill
Government officials, economists and businesses discussed the implementation of a draft program to invigorate vegetable farming in Cambodia and cut imports from neighbouring countries in half by 2018. The workshop, organised by the Center for Policy Studies and Agriculture Ministry last week, revolved around the Cambodian ...
US trade treaty to aid Cambodia's TPP ambitions
As Prime Minister Hun Sen attends the US-ASEAN Summit in California on 15 February, government officials are in the midst of ongoing negotiations with their American counterparts to formulate a trade and investment agreement, which analysts say could be a stepping stone towards one day ...
Volunteers, fishermen clash in ‘naval battle’ off Kep’s coast
A group of foreign conservation volunteers sailing off the coast of Kep province late on 12 February were set upon by a flotilla of illegal fishermen who attempted to pelt them with rocks and other projectiles, only disbanding after Cambodian maritime police fired warning shots into ...
Ex-general who led Myanmar from dictatorship leaves mixed legacy
When U.S. President Barack Obama hosts a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders in California this week, his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein will be notably absent. Myanmar’s outgoing president abruptly pulled out of the summit as secretive talks continued between his country’s powerful military and the incoming ...
Hanoi’s first elevated rail line to start service in December
After several years of sputtering, Hanoi’s notorious elevated rail project now has a new finish date with the first train scheduled to run on 31 Decembe. The Railway Project Management Unit (PMU), the investor, and the main contractor China Railway Sixth Group Co. Ltd on 13 February signed ...
US issues travel alert after deadly attacks in Laos
The United States issued a warning on 12 February urging Americans to avoid a central Laos province popular with adventure travelers after a sudden spate of deadly bomb and gun attacks. Two roadside attacks killed three people last month in Xaisomboun province. Those attacks followed a series ...
Flood control: Giant Bangkok tunnel ahead of schedule
A giant new underground tunnel which promises much faster flood water drainage in Bangkok, expected to be complete early next year, will help six flood-prone areas of the capital, Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra says. The construction of the 6.4-km tunnel,linking Lat Phrao canal and the Chao Phraya River, is ...
Power in numbers: mob killing in Cambodia
A year ago, a mentally ill man was beaten to death by villagers who had mistaken him for a thief. Despite only four of those involved being sentenced, it was a harsher punishment than expected – in almost all instances of mob killings, no questions ...
