Environment and natural resources
Mekong nations launch Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework
The Mekong River has always been an important trade route between Western China and Southeast Asia flowing through six different countries. The six foreign ministers met for the first time to frame a cooperation mechanism, agreeing to launch significant projects to enhance water resources, public health, ...
Thousands sign petition against Mekong dam construction
Huynh Thi Kim Duyen said her community in Ca Mau Province has seen a significant decline in fish stocks and water levels in the Mekong River in the past decade. Duyen is among thousands of people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand who have signed off on ...
Promotion of Lao local wood industry to improve livelihoods
The Value Adding to Lao PDR Plantation Timber Products 2 (VALTIP2) project is promoting the improvement of livelihoods for farmers and processing workers in the Lao wood industry. VALTIP2 on 11 November officially opened a veneer processing and products research centre at the Faculty of Forestry, National ...
Floating Vientiane pump stations to access river water
Water storage engineers in Vientiane are now installing pumps on boats moored over deep sections of the Mekong River as alternatives to riverbank pumps to access sufficient water supplies. Currently, riverbank pumps are still taking water from the Mekong to reservoirs but the level of water ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
Rain causes river bank collapse in Chai Nat
Heavy rain that hit parts of Sankhaburi district of Chai Nat province on night of 9 November caused the bank of the Noy river to collapse, damaging a riverside road and pulling down many houses. Hardest hit were villages in tambons Don Kam, Bang Khut and Pho Ngam. Keep ...
Lao Government, stakeholders raise awareness of corporate social responsibility
Government officials and stakeholders met in Vientiane on 9 November to discuss and promote understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR), especially in the land and natural resources sector. The meeting was organised by the Investment Promotion Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment in collaboration with ...
Luxury timber goes to Vietnam en masse
While crowds gathered in Phnom Penh to watch Cambodia’s Independence Day parade, a different sort of procession drew the attention of villagers in Ratanakkiri province on 9 November, with hundreds of motorbikes flooding across border checkpoints loaded with luxury timber. The spectacle, which on a smaller ...
