News
Cabinet okays Mekong MOUs
The cabinet has approved two draft memorandums of understanding (MOU) that will set in motion the effective management of water resources for countries connected to the Mekong River, says the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR). The MOUs will establish international cooperation under the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation ...
MONGKOL BANGPRAPA
Laos to Reopen Border to Travelers From China Under Streamlined COVID-19 Rules
Laos is set to fast-track entry for travelers from China beginning Sunday, relaxing controls on a northern border crossing previously tightly shut to prevent the spread of COVID-19, under relaxed quarantine policies that worry some ordinary Laos, sources in the country told RFA. Under a recent ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
World Bank provides emergency financing for small businesses
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors last week approved US$40 million in emergency finance support for small and medium-sized businesses in Laos to help them recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank said in a press release. The funding will be channelled ...
Times Reporters
Vietnam Plans to Become Solid Middle-Class Nation by 2025
Vietnam’s top leaders have resolved to become at least a middle-income country over the next five years, an about-face from abject poverty in the 1980s, by attracting more foreign investment in manufacturing. The Communist Party’s Central Committee wrapped up a plenary session October 8 held to ...
Ralph Jennings
China Strikes Deal With Fellow Mekong River Countries for Year-Round Data
China last week agreed to share year-round data from the upper Mekong River with downstream countries, where its dams are being blamed for muting the natural rhythms of one of Asia’s great waterways and adding to the pain of recent droughts. For the past 18 years, ...
Zsombor Peter
Cambodia’s future depends on its poor, discriminated, and marginalised people
I believe the future of Cambodia depends on how the country supports its poor, discriminated, and marginalised people. Inequality will always exist, but all countries that neglect their downtrodden will bear the weight of reproach and the constant risk that immense talent, prospects, and capabilities ...
Youk Chhang
Anti-flood projects should be carried out synchronously: HCMC Party Chief
Mr. Nen made the statement at a yesterday meeting between the delegation of the city Party Committee, the People’s Committee and the Department of Construction. According to HCMC Party Chief Nguyen Van Nen, city authorities have found the best solutions for anti-flooding program for years and ...
Quoc Hung - Translated by Anh Quan
Development project of Mekong Delta interdisciplinary database system approved
Its goal aims to establish and operate interdisciplinary database system for the Mekong Delta on the basis of implementing integrated solutions, connectivity, sharing, linking databases between ministries, central agencies, localities, the Mekong River Commission of Vietnam (MRC), International Mekong River Commission and related agencies and ...
An Ha- Translated by Huyen Huong
Waste not, want not
Thailand has become one of the world’s largest garbage dumps after China banned waste imports, including electronics and plastics, from foreign countries in 2017. As a result, waste from many countries that was originally shipped to China is now being redirected to countries in Southeast ...
SUWITCHA CHAIYONG
Happy eco-campers: protecting wildlife in Cambodia
The path to Preak Tachan ranger station, in Botum Sakor national park, Cambodia, snakes through dense, silent forest. It crosses bubbling rivers and clearings where luminous butterflies flit around gargantuan hanging vines and tall wild grasses. It’s The Lost World, Indochina-style. I half expect a ...
Duncan Forgan