News
Ho Chi Minh City to spend $443 million on embankment, drains to fight flooding
Ho Chi Minh City is seeking the prime minister’s approval to spend VND9.85 trillion, or more than US$443 million, on a massive anti-flooding project that will include a seven-kilometer riverside embankment. Keep reading ...
Bokeo police confiscate over 100,000 amphetamine pills
Bokeo provincial police confiscated over 100,000 amphetamine pills and arrested two drug traffickers in Phonthong village, Paktha district, last week. Head of the Bokeo provincial Public Security Headquarters, Colonel Lamphai Yotpaphai, told Vientiane Times on 11 November that police received a tip off about illegal drugs being ...
Lao officials warn about overuse of antibiotics
It is estimated that 90 percent of private hospitals and medical clinics in Laos give too much antibiotics to their patients because they lack training in prescribing antibiotics. However this carries many risks. Director General of the Health Care Department under the Ministry of Health, Associate Prof. ...
Cambodia’s energy policy out of balance: WEC
Expensive and unreliable electricity continues to weigh down Cambodia’s ranking on the UN-accredited World Energy Council’s annual Energy Trilemma Index, according to a report released on 11 November. The Kingdom ranked a low 115 out of 130 countries on the annual index, which assesses countries according ...
Mining firms gear up for big season
With the rainy season petering out, mining companies are gearing up to resume full operations on prospects in northern and eastern Cambodia, with investors keeping a close watch as firms push to expand their resource estimates and the country prepares to open its first royalty-bearing ...
Lao Ministry imposes ban on log exports
Laos’ Ministry of Industry and Commerce has imposed an export ban on logs and unprocessed sawn wood following the prohibition instruction given by the government. The move aims to add value to wood resources by processing them domestically before they are exported. Recently, the ministry issued an order ...
Nam Theun 2 dam generates funds for poverty reduction
The Nam Theun 2 hydropower plant, one of the largest in Laos, has generated sizeable revenue for the government and contributed to the alleviation of poverty, according to the International Environmental and Social Panel of Experts. The Nam Theun 2 Panel of Experts released its latest ...
Overpass mulled as solution to Vientiane's traffic snarls
Officials are wrestling with the problem of identifying a long-term solution to Vientiane’s chronic traffic jams and some are suggesting that an overpass might ease the situation. While no such scheme currently exists, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility to imagine that overpasses will ...
Vietnam's ambitious education reform plans come in for praise
The education ministry’s plan to transform general education from a system that provides knowledge into one that develops capacity is necessary but not sufficient, experts say. Keep reading ...
Ho Chi Minh City eyes $380mln of loans for waterway expansion
Ho Chi Minh City has asked for the central government’s help in taking out loans worth around US$380 million for a major dredging program to deepen one of its key waterways, local media reported on 9 November. The Soai Rap, a tributary of the Saigon River, ...