Government
International relations
GMS biodiversity conservation corridors to operate from 2019
The Greater Mekong Subregion biodiversity conservation corridors and project management plans will be put into operation from 2019, said Vice Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Environment Nguyen The Dong. Dong, who is also the director of the project’s management board, said that the ...
China Fuels Vietnam’s Protest Movement – Analysis
The Vietnamese people, wary of Chinese expansionism, expect their leaders to control development, protecting culture and independence. Few people had expected mass demonstrations to erupt throughout Vietnam in 2018, as the one-party state usually snuffs out dissent before many understand the issue or have a chance ...
Thailand’s ASEAN Chair Challenge in 2019
On November 15 at the recent ASEAN Summit in Singapore, the symbolic gavel of the rotating ASEAN chairmanship was handed from Singapore to Thailand ahead of the official start as ASEAN chair in 2019. While Bangkok is no stranger to chairing ASEAN as one of ...
ASEAN defence ministers meeting begins in Lucknow
The ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts’ Working Group on Military Medicine being co-chaired by India and Myanmar began Sunday at the Central Command in Lucknow, a Defence official said. “The aim of the conference is to establish better co-operation in medical operations amongst ...
China's Belt & Road needs to listen more
In the aftermath of a tense Asean-led summit season, it is clear now that the United States and China are engaged in a great-power competition not seen since the Cold War. The US-China trade war, irrespective of negotiated talks in Buenos Aires between President Donald ...
Myanmar parliament approves Thai loan for Mekong corridor towns development
Myanmar’s Union Parliament has approved borrowing a loan from the Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (NEDA) of Thailand for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) East-West Economic Corridor towns development project, parliament sources said Friday. Keep reading ...
Germany, EU roll out funding to accelerate lower Mekong projects
Germany and the EU continue to grant new funding, worth €8.92 million ($10.15 million), to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to enhance the Mekong cross-border water cooperation among the lower Mekong countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, said an MRC press release The Post ...
25th meeting of Mekong Council reviews work on river
The 25th meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council was convened in Ha Long city, the northern province of Quang Ninh, on November 28. It brought together 120 delegates from the council’s four member countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The commission’s dialogue ...
Residents fear Mekong blasting to proceed
Residents living along the Mekong River in Chiang Rai’s Chiang Khong district have expressed strong opposition to a public hearing on China’s plans to blast away a stretch of rapids, saying there was no need for more talk about the proposal, which they would not ...
New Strategies Needed as EAOs Adapt to Changes in Drug Demand
There is both good news and bad news for Myanmar on the drug front: a sharp decline in opium cultivation and a shift toward synthetic drugs, especially methamphetamine. In the past 20 years, opium cultivation has declined to 41,000 hectares, a 75 percent drop from ...
