The Government of Lao PDR’s 8th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) is a continuation of the 7th Five-Year Plan. The Plan is regarded as a measure for achieving socio-economic development, industrialization and modernization towards the year 2020. To view a copy of this 8th plan, click here.   ...

A six-month consultation process has begun for the proposed 770MW Pak Lay hydropower project on the Mekong mainstream in Lao PDR, the Mekong River Commission has announced, despite Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith’s recent announcement that investments in new hydropower in the country will be suspended. ...

Seven bridges along Road No. 6A and water supply projects officially opened for use in Huaphan province on December 23, aiming to boost socio-economic development and poverty reduction efforts. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith was honoured to open the projects in ceremonies that were attended by ...

Recorded water levels in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) saw significant increases during the last seven days as a result of heavy rainfall and sudden water releases from dams, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said on July 29. But it said river levels across all ...

Lao authorities expect to begin a new round of verifying nationality and legalising the status of thousands of Lao workers in Thailand in the coming months, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare said last week. Dr Khampheng Saysompheng told local media during his attendance to ...

Two new hydropower projects, including Lao Pak Beng and Cambodian Sambor, on the upper course of the Mekong River have increased the risks for Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region. Keep reading ...

Food security and control in the country has been boosted with the first official National Food Safety Laboratory opened on Monday in Vientiane. The new laboratory is the first of its kind in Laos, serving as a ready reference centre for the control of food quality ...

Xayaboury province is advising people living alongside the Mekong River to prepare for possible flooding, while neighbouring Thailand has warned its seven north-eastern provinces to brace for sudden overflows along the river until Thursday. The Lao province issued the alert following heavy rainfall in recent ...

Lao workers, many of them young and some still in their teens, have poured in growing numbers this year into neighboring Thailand, braving exploitation and unsafe work conditions in search of employment to help support families back home, sources in the Southeast Asian nation say.Many ...

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has given the green light for loans in Sri Lanka, totalling $280 million, and Laos, which will receive $40 million.Meanwhile the $40 million loan for Laos will go towards improving an important section of National Road 13, which will ...

The Republic of Korea’s renewed foreign policy will advance relations and cooperation with Southeast Asian countries including Laos, the Korean Ambassador to Laos has said. The ‘New Southern Policy’ under President Moon Jae-in’s administration is designed to expand economic ties with the Association of Southeast ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) should not merely issue warnings to money changers who break the currency regulation rules, a senior Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) official said yesterday.The remarks were made during a consultative meeting ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The number of people using social media is predicted to keep surging as telecom operators compete with each other to offer better services, a new forecast has revealed.The report from the Lao National Internet Centre, released at the beginning of this ...

The government will introduce a single window customs system in the coming weeks to facilitate import and export procedures, which it is envisaged will help to improve the overall business environment.Vehicle importers will be the first group to benefit from the Lao National Single Window ...

President Bounnhang Vorachit has signed a Presidential Ordinance to promulgate a law to manage and control public debt while maximising state investment.The Law on State Debt Management, which will come into effect on October 29, prohibits state departments and any party from carrying out unapproved ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The consulting company FISHBIO Laos recently hosted a workshop in partnership with the Department of Livestock and Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to explain a new guidebook developed as a resource to improve the assessment of fish conservation ...

The government is promoting coffee production in 11 provinces across Laos to supply high-quality products to the local and foreign markets.The issue was discussed at a meeting held in Vientiane on Friday to review the extension of the coffee production plan for 2015-2018 and the ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The government is now officially rolling out the Lao National Single Window (LNSW) system to regulate the import of vehicles at the first Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Vientiane.The system is part of efforts to streamline import and export procedures and make ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – High levels of childhood malnutrition present a staggering, yet avoidable, loss of human and economic potential for Laos, according to the World Bank.Nationally, stunting affects over one third of all Lao children under the age of five, the Bank said in ...

A facility for the homeless, mentally ill and drug addicts in the Lao capital Vientiane is facing budget shortfalls and has resorted to fundraising in order to continue operations.The Somsanga Support Center in Vientiane’s Sayettha district urgently needs funding to continue to feed its 230 ...