Preparations for the 20th Senior Official Committee for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (SOCA) and the 15th ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council (ASCC) were on track, according to the concerned authority. Lao Senior Officials for SOCA and ASCC led by Mass Media Department Director General of the Ministry of Information, Culture ...

More than 580,000 people have been impacted and at least 28 have died in floods caused by heavy rains over the past two weeks in Laos’ southern provinces, according to estimates revised during a cabinet meeting this week. The death toll figure was reported by ...

Major Cineplex Group is expanding its footprint in Laos, aiming to have 30 movie screens there within three years. Entering the country of 7 million people through its partner Platinum Cineplex, Thailand’s largest movie-theatre operator formed a 60:40 joint venture to open its first five movie ...

The go ahead for construction of a new airport in Laos’ Xayaboury province is still awaiting government approval with no decision in sight. The provincial Public Works and Transport Department sent plans for a new airport to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport earlier this ...

Many more companies are planning to invest in special and specific economic zones (SEZs) in Laos after witnessing the potential to benefit from the coming regional integration, according to a recent report. Keep reading   ...

Laos and Hungary will pursue an educational cooperation programme for the next three years after reaching an agreement recently. The related agreement on the educational cooperation programme was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs MrSaleumxay Kommasith and Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade MrPéter ...

Some 14 families of 85 people who recently moved to make way for the construction of the Don Sahong hydropower project in Champassak province have received new houses. The houses were handed over on 15 February in Don Sahong village, Khong district, in the presence of provincial ...

Laos and Thailand have highlighted areas in which they will intensify economic cooperation and signed an amended Memorandum of Understanding on labour cooperation, Thai media reported on 6 July. The agreement was reached on 6 July by the two governments as Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith led a ...

Laos has plans to build a new coal-fired power plant in Sekong province in the southeastern part of the country, raising concerns among local residents and environmental groups who fear damage to area farmland and forests, sources in the one-party communist state say. Permission to carry ...

Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has agreed to fund an extension of the Right Based Empowerment Project (RBEP) in Luang Namtha province, with funding of US$3 million (about 24 billion kip). The project will be implemented in Viengphoukha and Nalae districts of Luang Namtha province, running from ...

A prominent environmentalist has warned that hydropower-reliant countries will face significant negative impacts in the long-term and could see a repeat of the tragic bursting of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam in Laos last July that killed dozens. Ian Baird, a professor at the University ...

The Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment of Laos has confirmed that 10 industrial plants in Vientiane are discharging unclean and untreated water, some of which contains potentially harmful chemicals. Director General of the ministry’s Department of Pollution Control, Mr Khamphanh Nanthavong, addressed the issue on ...

The Lao Ministry of Finance and the World Bank signed a financing agreement of 50 million U.S. dollars on Tuesday, extending support to the ongoing Lao People’s Democratic Republic Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management Project and Lao Road Sector Project II. Bounchom Ubonpaseuth, Lao Deputy Minister ...

Laos’ World Heritage town of Luang Prabang is on target to hit 500,000 visitors by the end of this year after reaching 470,279 in the first nine months. Keep reading ...

Flood affected families in isolated villages in central Laos have received much needed relief supplies from the US Embassy, the International Organization for Migration and World Vision International Lao PDR, in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare. Residents of Bolikhamxay Province were inundated by the ...

The Japanese government has provided further support to improve the operations of water supply state enterprises in Vientiane and the provinces of Luang Prabang and Khammuan. The Department of Housing and Urban Planning, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and the Public Enterprise Bureau, Saitama ...

Laos failed attempt to win a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council in a secret vote in New York was greeted with relief on 29 October by a leading Lao human rights group, which urged the communist government to adhere to U.N. rights treaties ...

Civil society groups in three countries have called for construction to stop on a dam in southern Laos where a major collapse occurred last year, killing more than 70 people and leaving about 5,000 villagers homeless. The groups say thousands displaced by the disaster at the Xe-Pian ...

Government leaders at all levels have been urged to prioritise the implementation of effective measures to solve malnutrition in Laos, according to a leading official. Speaking at the 3rd National Nutrition Committee Meeting and the 1st Nutrition Forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and ...

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the EU Delegation and the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) last week launched a new project to boost food security and nutrition. The project on Developing Capacities in Agriculture Innovation Systems of Scaling up ...