News
ASEAN seeking solution to post-war unexploded bombs
An expert working group’s third conference on humanitarian mine action within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) was held in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on 29 October. The event, organised by the Institute for International Relations under the Vietnamese Ministry ...
Ministry's IT skill standards expected to improve
The information and technology (IT) skill standards introduced by Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications will help training centres, employers and employees evaluate the competency of IT staff, experts have said. In May, the ministry issued a decree outlining skill standards for professional staff in the IT ...
Vietnam's Quang Tri province seeking $4b investment
The central Quang Tri Province intends to request a total investment of VND87 trillion (nearly US$4 billion) in its 18 projects in key sectors at an investment promotion conference in November. Speaking at a meeting with 20 investors held here on 28 October, Nguyen Van Hung, ...
Illegal fishing busts up 150%: ministry
Cambodia’s fishing crime busts rose 150 per cent during the first nine months of 2015, compared with the same period last year, while anti-forestry crime actions dropped 13 per cent. Keep reading ...
Ratanakkiri official defends disputed land
A Ministry of Interior immigration official at the centre of a long-running land dispute in a gem mining district of Ratanakkiri spoke out for the first time on 29 October, just days after 200 villagers protested what they termed their illegal eviction. The villagers from Bakeo ...
Difficult rainy season ends
As a fickle rainy season that has seen areas of Cambodia plagued by drought draws to a close, the country’s rice production remains nearly on target, though food insecurity is still a problem for individual communities, according to the World Food Programme. The season’s slow start affected 234,695 ...
Lao forestry officials dismiss WWF report about illegal logging
Lao forestry officials dismissed a recent WWF report which exaggerated the scenario of illegal logging in Laos, a senior official in charge at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has confirmed. Deputy Director General of the Department of Forest Inspection under the Ministry of Agriculture and ...
Lao Ministry to deploy teachers to wipe out illiteracy
The Ministry of Education and Sports is sending over 20 volunteer teachers to educate illiterate rural areas around the country early next year to replicate an earlier successful Saravan province pilot programme. The teachers will come from the Physical Education Teacher Training College, Dongkhamxang Teacher Training ...
Lao Government to negotiate for lower interest-rate rail loan
The Lao Government has entrusted a committee in charge to negotiate with China to lower the interest rate of a loan Laos intends to borrow from China to develop the planned Laos-China rail project. Minister of Public Works and Transport Dr Bounchanh Sinthavong told the recent ...
From bombs to bracelets, this jewelry line is clearing land mines
“After the war, we live afraid of unexploded bombs, and we’re very careful when we go and do anything,” says Somechit Phouangsavat, an artisan from Ban Naphia, also known as War Spoon Village, in Laos. The 32-year-old works alongside 30 other artisans at Article 22, a company ...
