News
Lao, Kuwait visa exemptions come into force
Visa exemptions for diplomats and officials / special passport holders of Laos and Kuwaiti came into force on 28 October after the two sides signed an agreement in Vientiane in June. However the passport holders of Lao and Kuwaiti nationality are allowed to stay in one ...
$1.3m of ivory, scales seized en route to Laos
An air shipment of illegal ivory and pangolin scales, worth an estimated $1.3 million, was intercepted and seized by the authorities on 13 December at the Changi Airfreight Centre. In a joint release on 17 December, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Singapore Customs ...
Laos issues first US$ notes in Thailand
Laos’ Finance Ministry has issued its first US dollar-denominated floating-rate notes in Thailand, worth $182 million (about Bt6.5 billion).The dual-tranche issuance was rated “BBB+” by Tris Rating on December 9. The maturities are 10 and 12 years and the coupons are six-month Libor (London Interbank ...
US should withhold trade, aid from Laos barring rights improvements: Advocacy leader
Washington must withhold trade agreements and assistance from Laos until its government can demonstrate concrete progress on human rights and democratic reform in the one party communist country, the head of an advocacy group has recommended to U.S. lawmakers.Mutually beneficial trade arrangements and political exchanges ...
European Parliament adopts Vietnam-EU partnership agreement
The European Parliament (EP) adopted an official resolution ratifying the Vietnam – EU Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA), at a plenary session in Strasbourg city, France, on 17 December. The resolution welcomes Vietnam’s outcomes in doi moi (renewal) and integration over the past time and hails ...
Mekong area needs $3.8b for projects
The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region will need more than VND86.3 trillion (US$3.83 billion) in the 2016-20 period to develop key infrastructure projects to fuel its economic growth, according to the Ministry of Transport. Around VND65 trillion ($2.8 billion) of the total funding will go to ...
Devaluation risk rises in Vietnam
Vietnam’s dong fell toward the brink of its permitted trading range as a ban on interest payments on US dollar deposits held onshore failed to cool speculation the currency is poised for its fourth devaluation in a year. The State Bank of Vietnam cut the dollar ...
Drawdown of troops at Preah Vihear
Cambodia is quietly reducing troop numbers on the contentious shared border with Thailand in Preah Vihear province. Citing the current good relations with Cambodia’s western neighbour, Ministry of Defence spokesman Chhum Socheath on 17 December said members of three units had been ordered to leave the border ...
Deaths in childbirth plunge
The number of mothers who died in labour has nearly halved over the past four years, down from 182 fatalities in 2011 to 100 this year, the Ministry of Health’s research commission into maternal mortality revealed on 17 December. The dramatically reduced death rate was largely ...
Overcrowding plagues Cambodia's classrooms
A primary school teacher’s complaint this week that his class numbers nearly 70 students in Oddar Meanchey’s Anlong Veng town has shed light on the broader issue of overcrowding in Cambodia’s rural schools. The Ministry of Education acknowledges a severe shortfall of teachers, and has tried to ...
