Government
Government services
Inspection authority scrutinises unauthorised projects
The State Inspection Authority is investigating unauthorised development projects carried out by government sectors in Vientiane and the provinces in 2013 and 2014. Although these projects are now complete, the inspection aims to determine whether the government’s budget was used effectively. Anyone found to have ...
Water transport to begin operation in early June
Water vehicles will start serving commuters in early June with ships and boats bought from Thailand and Australia, according to Daw Tint Tint Lwin, CEO of Tint Tint Myanmar. The Yangon regional government had promised to implement a water taxi system on the Hlaing River ...
WFP injects more than US$85m to support sustainable development
The World Food Programme has granted more than US$85 million (682 billion kip) to help the Lao government achieve the Sustainable Development Goal targets, as well as middle-income country status. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Friday by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, ...
NEC defends printing of extra ballots for vote
The National Election Committee on May 4 defended its decision to print 1.5 million extra ballots for the upcoming commune elections, saying the chances of misuse were minimal given better identification systems – though the opposition and civil society remained unconvinced. Following the NEC’s announcement that ...
NEC calls for neutrality on Facebook
An election official warned Facebook users not to make any politically charged posts the day before the election yesterday during a three-day training session on campaign monitoring, with observers accusing him of overstepping the bounds of a rule forbidding parties from campaigning on that day. ...
NA ordinary session opens to debate socio-economic performance, law making
The third ordinary session of the National Assembly kicked off on April 25 in Vientiane to review the government’s performance over the past six months, future work plans, socio-economic development plan implementation for 2016 and 2017 and law making. President of the NA, Ms Pany Yathotou ...
New Lao ambassador to Japan takes post
New Lao ambassador to Japan Mr Viroth Soundara last week presented his credentials to Emperor Akihito of Japan at the Tokyo’s Imperial Palace in officially taking his diplomatic post in the country. After the presentation ceremony, a dicussion between His Majesty the Emperor Akihito and ...
WEF ranking upgrade boosts tourism
Cambodia has improved its ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. The nation was ranked 101 of 136 countries in the 2017 report, thanks to performance improvements that drove an overall score increase from 3.2 points in 2015 to 3.3 points this ...
Panel hears bribery rife in fish industry
The Command Centre for Combating Illegal Fishing has set up a panel to look into complaints accusing some officials of demanding bribes from trawler operators. Centre deputy head Vice Admiral Wannapol Glormgeao said Tuesday the centre recently received a number of complaints from anchovy trawler ...
Authorities retrieve 50b kip from corrupt officials
The State Inspection Authority (SIA) has retrieved more than 50 billion kip over the past two years from corrupt officials who had previously embezzled State properties. A senior official from SIA who asked to remain anonymous told Vientiane Times on Monday that all State budget ...