News
Vietnam, Laos Arrest Facebookers on COVID-19-Related Charges
Authorities in Vietnam and Laos have arrested several Facebook users on charges related to the coronavirus, with Hanoi punishing posts that challenge official reporting on the pandemic and Vientiane acting against a lockdown violation streamed live. The two arrests in Vietnam come as the Communist Party ...
RFA’s Vietnamese and Lao Services. Translated by Huy Le and Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Man spends 15 years on hydropower islet
Mai Van Hao, 61, has lived on the 1.5-hectare islet at the heart of Khe Dien hydropower reservoir since 2003, three years before the investor blocked Nong Son River for construction in Que Ninh Commune, Nong Son District. “When the hydropower dam was built, my home ...
Dac Thanh
Mekong Delta to host Vietnam’s first agriculture museum
A $17 million museum featuring Vietnam’s agricultural history and prowess will be built in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long. The museum will be constructed on an area of 11 hectares in Vung Liem, a rural district. In preserving the value and legacy of Vietnamese ...
Cuu Long
Ensure Mekong River projects don’t harm riparian countries: Vietnam
Hydropower projects must not affect people’s lives in riparian countries negatively, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday. Le Thi Thu Hang was responding to a query about Laos’s plan to build another dam on the Mekong River at an online press meet. “The development of hydropower projects ...
Viet Anh
Ministry given more time to work on public demonstration law
The draft law on public demonstrations in Vietnam, which has been planned for nine years now, will not be submitted to the parliament for discussion in its upcoming session. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a request by the Ministry of Public Security to postpone ...
Viet Tuan
EU, France back Vietnam in fight against climate change
The European Union and the French Development Agency (AFD) have established a 20-million-euro ($21.5 million) fund to help Vietnam deal with climate change. The EU will provide the money as a non-refundable grant to the AFD to run the fund. The latter will in turn provide loans ...
Nguyen Quy
Vietnam’s low-cost COVID-19 battle shows the world what can be done
Daily, a staggering quarter of a million people use the public bus network in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest metropolis. This week, just a month after services were suspended, the distinctive green vehicles are back on the roads. That’s good news for the millions ...
Misha Coleman, Margaret Sheehan
Vietnam’s Economy to Grow Fastest in Southeast Asia Despite COVID-19: ADB
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Vietnam’s economy has shown strong growth in 2019, as a result of high domestic demand, a strong manufacturing and processing industry, and high Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The second outbreak of COVID-19 in March started a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, severely ...
Do Thanh Ha
Vietnam, Despite Low Coronavirus Caseload, Will Take Months to Recover Economically
Vietnam has reported few new coronavirus cases every day since mid-April. Now schools are reopening, smaller restaurants are back in business and traffic jams are forming again in the financial center, Ho Chi Minh City, as commuters head to work. The Southeast Asian country has controlled its coronavirus caseload at ...
Ralph Jennings
New UN initiative to reduce plastic pollution from ASEAN cities
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in partnership with the Government of Japan, today launched a new project which aims to reduce the environmental impact of cities in South East Asia by addressing plastic waste pollution in rivers ...
