International relations

High-ranking officials from Cambodia’s Interior Ministry were among 140 delegates from Asia-Pacific nations meeting in Bangkok on 19 October, as a three-day conference on the region’s growing problem of drug production and trafficking got under way. Keep reading ...

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hosted Lieutenant General Suvon Luongbunmi, Chief-of-the-General Staff of the Lao People’s Army and Deputy Minister of Lao Defence Ministry, in Hanoi on the same day. Keep reading ...

High-ranking military officers of Vietnam and Laos have reviewed the implementation of cooperation programmes between the two countries’ armies at talks in Hanoi on 17 October. Keep reading  ...

China has proposed joint maritime drills with South East Asian nations in the hotly-contested South China Sea in 2016. Beijing is currently hosting an informal meeting for defence ministers from the region. Keep reading ...

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and her Lao counterpart Bounnhang Vorachith reached a number of commitments to boost bilateral ties during their talks in Vientiane on 15 October. To foster cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, both sides pledged to facilitate visits by senior leaders and realise ...

The National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting has reported unusual flooding in the Red River in northern Vietnam since 11 October following heavy inflows from China, where massive volumes of water have allegedly been discharged from dams.   Though there has been no human casualty, the flooding has ...

Vietnam resolutely opposes China’s construction of two lighthouses in the Chau Vien (Cuarteron) and Gac Ma (Johnson) reefs in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago, the Foreign Ministry said on 13 October. Keep reading ...

The Vietnamese Government has approved the border trade agreement between Vietnam and Laos, which was inked on 27 June 2015 in the central province of Nghe An.The agreement is expected to create a legal basis for boosting bilateral trade in line with the two countries’ ...

Having diplomatic relations with 138 countries and 124 political parties around the world are seen as major achievements by Laos in the field of foreign affairs and diplomacy over the past 70 years. These achievements were highlighted at a meeting held in Vientiane on 12 October to ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on 12 October arrived in Macau, the first stop on a five-day trip during which he is scheduled to attend a series of conferences on cultural tourism, regional defense and trade, and poverty reduction. Keep reading ...