News

With more and more Chinese investment flowing into the country, many key government officials are speaking out in support of the projects, which range from a high-speed railway line to special economic zones to seaports. At several local investment forums, they have voiced the view ...

The National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development (NCDD) has approved a draft sub-decree to improve the provision of health services in a quality, safe, effective and equitable manner. Consisting of eight chapters and 27 articles, the sub-decree outlines the delegating of authority in health service provision ...

The National Assembly on Tuesday approved the results of a report on inspections into land rental and concessions granted to developers. After hearing the report, Assembly members exchanged views on the subject with some saying there must be clearly-defined measures to penalise contract violators in line ...

The U.S. government agreed this week to give another coast guard vessel to Vietnam so the Southeast Asian country can increase its defense against China. But behind that move, Vietnam and the United States are struggling over a growing trade deficit that has alarmed U.S. ...

Growing up in a rough neighbourhood rife with gambling and prostitution, peer pressure drove 31-year-old Oun* into using drugs while he was a teenager.  Addiction soon followed, leading to him quit school during his third year of junior high. Later, as his strained relations with his ...

River systems help sustain lives and livelihoods. But, thanks to excessive damming and drastic overuse of their water resources, some rivers are drying up before reaching the sea. Nowhere is this truer than Asia. Building large dams has increasingly run into grassroots opposition in established democracies ...

On 6 November, the Mekong River Commission acknowledged that climate change had exacerbated this year’s wildly varying water levels on the Mekong – which saw the mighty river reduced to a trickle in parts, even during the rainy season. But the main contributor, it said, ...

Farmers along the Mekong have been told to expect a worse drought than the brutal water shortages that gripped the region before this year’s rains arrived.  Severe or extreme drought is forecast to affect Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam before the next wet season, threatening agricultural production. The Mekong ...

Chinese top political advisor Wang Yang paid an official visit to Laos from Nov. 16 to 19, calling for implementation of consensus reached by leaders of the two parties and two countries to further enhance bilateral relations. During his four-day stay in the southeastern Asian country, ...

Thailand slipped one position to 43rd out of 63 economies in the World Talent Ranking 2019, while its regional peers Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines advanced, according to a report conducted by the IMD World Competitiveness Centre (WCC). The sixth edition of the ranking takes into ...