News
New reports highlight impacts of human and environmental incursions in Mekong
Overfishing and habitat degradation caused by rapid population growth, infrastructure development, and climate change are stressing the Lower Mekong Basin’s fisheries while changes in the Basin’s aquatic ecosystems are impacting social conditions, reports Laotian Times. This was discussed in two reports released today by the Mekong River ...
New Reports Point to Dams 'Stressing' Cambodia's Mekong River Fisheries
Kong Kim, a fisherman in Cambodia’s northeast, is worried about the next few years. “I am concerned that there will be no fish in the future,” the 62-year-old told VOA Khmer earlier this week. “Fish are now less and less.” Once he could fish the Mekong River ...
Sun Narin
End Poverty — Build a More Resilient Economy in Lao PDR
October 17 is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, or End Poverty Day as it is often known, one of the most important days on the calendar for people working in governments and development agencies all over the world. Let me be clear: poverty ...
Laos highlights need for digital transformation
A senior Lao leader has highlighted the need to accelerate digital transformation in line with sustainable development, while attending the ITU Digital World 2021 conference from Oct 12-14. A ceremony marked the 50th anniversary of the first ITU Telecom meeting, the forerunner of this year’s largely ...
Laos Has Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 34% Over Ten Years
Laos has announced it has successfully reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent over the last ten years. Prime Minister of Laos, Dr. Phankham Viphavanh, spoke via remote communication at the UN General Assembly in New York last month, saying that Laos had been able to ...
Phayboune Thanabouasy
Countries Have $385 Billion In ‘Hidden Debts’ To China, Study Finds
A new study found under-reported debts of at least $385 billion owed by different countries to China in the past two decades, and that one-third of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative have run into major implementation problems. The hidden debts, which slipped through the ...
Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Most stations on Laos-China Railway now complete
Most of the stations on the Laos-China Railway are now complete ahead of the planned opening of the railway in December. Kasy Station in Vientiane province was the most recent to be completed and was officially unveiled on Sept 27. The station was built by the China ...
Vientiane Times/ANN
Lao villagers still disenfranchised three years after eviction
Villagers who were evicted from their homes in northern Laos to make way for a new hydroelectric dam remain disenfranchised three years on, according to media reports. The villagers relocated from Xayaburi province in 2018 are housed in resettlement towns where they lack enough land and ...
UCA News reporter, Vientiane
Lao Villagers Displaced by Xayaburi Dam Still Lack Farmland, Water
Lao villagers displaced by construction of the Xayaburi Dam, a hydropower project on the Mekong River in northwestern Laos, are struggling to survive in resettlement towns three years after being moved, saying they lack sufficient farmland and water to support themselves, Lao sources say. Construction began ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
New Indicative Ending Date Set for Sanakham Dam Consultation
An MRC governance meeting has agreed to a new indicative date to conclude the prior consultation process of the 684-megawatt Sanakham dam. The decision by the MRC Joint Committee means the official six-month prior consultation process that began on 9 September 2019 for the proposed Sanakham ...
Latsamy Phonevilay