Mekong province seeks $6.7m from government to check coastal erosion
Ca Mau, which once benefited from coastal accretion, is now asking for US$6.7 million from the government to deal with relentless erosion. Vietnam’s southernmost province has a coastline of more than 250 kilometers and the sea has eaten along 80 percent of it, by 50 meters ...
Mekong communities struggle as China tests dam equipment
Water levels on the Mekong River, which flows through China and five other countries before emptying into the South China Sea, have dropped once again after Beijing revealed it was testing equipment at one of its 11 dams in the upper reaches of the vital ...
Leonie Kijewski
Pollution, Overfishing Threaten Important Cambodian Lake
A rich fishery in Southeast Asia is at risk because of overfishing, pollution and hydroelectric dams. The Tonle Sap is a freshwater lake in the middle of Cambodia. The lake shrinks and expands by thousands of kilometers, depending on the season.[]“There are plans to build ...
Kevin Enochs
Roping in China to deal with challenges of the Mekong
Although the Mekong is popularly seen as a South East Asian river, its headwaters are located in China, where it is known as the Lancang. From there it flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The future of the Mekong, though, will be heavily ...
Amata gets IFC backing in sustainability push
The industrial sector in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam contributed 32.3 per cent of the region’s GDP in 2017 and provided an estimated 20 per cent of the employment, said the IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank. It said that industrial zones provide ...
China to aid Mekong's development
China has pledged to work closely with Thailand under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) framework to help promote the development of the Mekong Basin region. The pledge was conveyed by China’s Ambassador to Thailand, Lyu Jian, in a statement released on Sunday to mark the start of the ...
Mekong dams must release less water in dry season to preserve habitats, experts say
Abnormally high-water levels in the Mekong River at the end of May indicate that dams on the river must release less water during the dry season to protect the ecosystem, experts said at an online panel Monday. Rain levels during the dry season this year have ...
Eugene Whong
Vientiane Bans Sale of Alcohol before 4pm
In a drastic move to promote health and safety among members of Lao society, the Mayor of Vientiane has taken measures to ban the sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages in the capital before 4pm.According to a Decision issued 21 December 2018 by the Office ...
Lao Post
Vientiane: Tanmixay-Sikeuth road upgrade delayed by nine months
The upgrade of the 9.4-kilometre road from the Tanmixay crossroads in Xaythany district to Sikeuth junction in Naxaithong district, Vientiane, is likely to require a nine-month extension as work is running behind schedule.The project is one of the capital’s priorities in terms of infrastructure development ...
Phomphong Laoin
Thousands of devotees give alms at That Luang festival
VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – Buddhists from all walks of life gave alms to monks at the That Luang esplanade on Monday morning on the last day of the traditional annual festival to honour the grand stupa.High ranking officials, people from across the country and foreign ...
Visith Teppalath
Mekong River Commission stations not operational
Less than half of the monitoring stations set up by the Mekong River Commission in Cambodia are operational due to a lack of financial commitment from the Cambodian government, officials said yesterday, jeopardising the collection of important environmental and hydrological data.Though the stations were set ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and Rinith Taing
Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Financial Sector and Trade Finance Conference
ADB’s Trade Finance Program (TFP) will have its first Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Financial Sector and Trade Finance Conference on 18-19 January 2018 at Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.Delegates from ADB member countries of Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, ...
Asian Development Bank
Southeast Asia remains world rice bowl as pockets of region suffer crop disasters
Rice crops in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have taken a hit from flooding and conflict this year, casting a shadow on a mostly sunny outlook for Southeast Asia’s output of the key grain as the region deals with other potential longer term supply troubles, farm ...
RFA Burmese, RFA Khmer and RFA Lao
The real importance of Japan’s new strategy for the Mekong
On July 4, the leaders of Japan and the five countries in the Mekong subregion – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – convened for the Seventh Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo. True to form, much of the media focus was on the dollar amount that Japan ...
Korea-Mekong Peace Forum puts Vietnam-RoK cooperation in spotlight
Scientists, experts, and policymakers from the Republic of Korea (RoK) and five Mekong nations of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam gathered at the 2018 RoK-Mekong Peace Forum held in Hanoi on May 10. The event was jointly held by the Institute for Northeast Asian ...
Renewable Power in Southeast Asia: Will the Legal Regime Catch Up with the Opportunities?
Southeast Asia offers rich renewable sector opportunities, recently exemplified by Chevron’s multibillion-dollar sale of its Indonesian and Philippines geothermal projects, and the purchase of Equis Energy for $5 billion. However, industry players and their lawyers face several challenges in developing a responsive and bankable legal ...
Sean Prior and Benjamin Thompson
Chiang Mai gains from lure of CLMV markets
Half of the economic growth in Chiang Mai has been driven by businesses from other regions that want to cash in on the opportunities opening up in the CLMV countries, according to the Federation of Thai Industries’ chapter in the northern province. Businesses from the Central region ...
Enhancing regional water cooperation
Water management in the Mekong region is, in practice, dominated by energy objectives. In Cambodia, the priority is to substitute domestically produced hydropower for expensive diesel and electricity imports. In Laos, the priority is to generate revenue by drawing in foreign investment in dams and ...
PhnomPenh Post Reporters
NA’s extraordinary session opens for national agenda debate
The first extraordinary session of the National Assembly (NA)’s ninth legislature kicked off on Thursday to debate measures to address financial and economic difficulties and suppress the use of narcotic drugs. The premier pledged that the government would be decisive, transparent and professional in implementing ...
Souksakhone Vaenkeo
B Grimm signs MoU for power line in
B GRIMM Power recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Poipet PP SEZ Co, one of the largest industrial-estate operators in Cambodia, to develop a power-transmission line at its industrial park in the western city of Poipet. This will be the company’s starting point in ...