With a growing population and rapidly developing and urbanizing socio-economy requiring investment in human resources and infrastructure, the calls on public finances in Laos are larger than ever.These needs are spread across all the sectors you’d find in most countries, along with some particular challenges like unexploded ordnance (UXO).More. ...

A new Mekong river dam in Laos’ Luang Prabang province will displace up to 465 families this month, the latest in the continuing trend of hydropower projects forcing villagers to relocate all over the country.Residents of 10 villages in Luang Prabang’s Chomphet district must be ...

The Lao government’s economic policies have worsened the living conditions of the nation’s poor and marginalized populations, while widening the gap between the haves and have-nots, a United Nations rights expert said Thursday, at the end of an 11-day official visit to the country.In a ...

Water levels in some sections of the Mekong River have increased slightly over the last seven days, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat said today.According to MRC’s observed water level data, the outflow at Jinghong hydrological station rose from 786 cubic metres per second (m³/s) ...

Huaphan and Xieng Khuang provinces will soon have much-needed modern hospitals funded by the Vietnamese government. Deputy Director of the Planning and Investment Department in Huaphan province, Mr Mayleuy Phimmasone, told Vientiane Times the Vietnamese government had agreed to grant an estimated US$24 million to ...

Vietnam has unveiled a new plan to transform the country into a regional logistics hub by 2025. The new plan draws attention to the importance of logistics in Vietnam’s positioning as an international trade hub Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently sanctioned the action plan to enhance ...

A Chinese-owned factory in Laos that recently started operations is causing noise and air pollution that affect the health of nearby residents in the country’s Bolikhamxay province.The factory, which produces packing foam for use in transporting bananas, is made up of one building situated on ...

Following the signature of two separate but complementary Practical Arrangements (PAs) on 17 September, the IAEA has established a new framework for south-south cooperation involving three Member States in the Asia and Pacific region alongside with the IAEA.The Arrangements provide a framework for collaboration in ...

VIENTIANE, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — Xieng Khuang provincial authorities in Laos plan to install more facilities at the Plain of Jars to make the area more visitor friendly, in anticipation of a tourist influx following its listing as a World Heritage Site this year.During a ...

A Chinese-backed firm is growing bananas on land promised by the government of Laos as compensation to survivors of a 2018 dam collapse that that has been described as the country’s worst flooding in decades, RFA’s Lao Service has learned.The disaster occurred last July, when ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – Germany and Australia have provided US$4.5 million to develop locally-run systems that enable impoverished people to more easily access finance.Representatives from the Lao government, Germany and Australia met on May 9 to launch Phase V of the US$4.5 million Access to ...

Thailand, China and Laos will sign a memorandum of cooperation on a new bridge for a railway across the Mekong River during Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s Beijing visit this week, a Thai foreign ministry official said Tuesday.The bridge would link Thailand’s northeastern Nong Khai province ...

BANGKOK, May 21 (Xinhua) — Several cooperation projects on the connection between Thailand and Laos, including a new cross-border railway in southern Laos, have been discussed by the two countries’ transport ministers.Thai transport minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith on Monday held a meeting with Laos’ Public Works ...

South Korea has been criticized for failing to protect children’s rights after a dam collapse in Laos caused dozens of deaths last year. The United Nations has advised the country to “closely look into” its overseas projects for possible violations of such rights.The United Nations ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT) joined hands with Huawei, LTC and other operators to organise the Laos ICT EXPO 2019 which officially opened on Tuesday at Don Chanh Palace hotel, Vientiane.Prime Minister of the Lao PDR, Mr Thongloun Sisoulith ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – Around 50 million fish fingerlings will be released into rivers and lakes across the country to sustain and replenish fish stocks and maintain the equilibrium of ecosystems.Some 250,000 fish were released during an official event held at Namxuang Lake in Vientiane’s ...

The delegation was led by Athipu Chitranukroh, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Rail Transport (DRT), and Kitjaluck Srinuchsart, Deputy Director-General of the Thai Customs Department. Representatives of Thailand’s Railway Technology Development Institute also participated in the visit, according to a DRT news update. The two sides ...

China remains the largest foreign investor in Laos, undertaking a total of 813 projects worth USD 16 billion. “China also plays a significant role in special economic zone investments, with the Lao government having authorized 89 projects worth over USD 215 million,” Mr. Sonexay Siphandone ...

The second phase of a flood protection embankment along the Mekong River in Vientiane Capital is to commence next month. The eight-kilometer embankment will commence in Sisattanak District and continue into Hatsayfong District, with a public park to be constructed during the final stage of ...

Policy leaders, academics, international organizations, NGOs, and media have all warned that tensions between nation-states sharing watercourses would be the source of inevitable conflict in the 21st century.Dr. Anoulak and Germany’s Dr. Susanne Schmeier, an associate professor at IHE Delft who co-edits the book, who ...