Xayaboury to open forest as latest visitor attraction
Xayaboury province is opening up its largest forest as one of its visitor attractions, hoping to draw more people to experience its natural beauty and raise its profile as a tourist destination. Director of the province’s Information, Culture and Tourism Department, Mr Chanthi Simanichan, said ...
Laos well prepares for coping with COVID-19 pandemic
The Lao government has announced that the country basically completed the preparation of resources to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in the context that the number of infections is increasing in the Southeast Asian nation. With nearly 500 new infections reported in the country since April 20, the Lao government ...
VNA
Laos to sell electricity to Myanmar: official
Laos and Myanmar are mulling an electricity agreement to empower Laos’ development needs, local daily Vientiane Times quoted a senior Lao official as saying on Tuesday. Keep reading ...
Lifang
Meeting reviews headway in reducing gender-based violence
The government and development partners have reviewed progress in implementing the ‘Bringing Justice Closer to Women Suffering from Gender Based Violence’ project from 2016-2019. The Vientiane National Commission for the Advancement of Women and Mother-Child (NCAWMC) and Sub Commission for the Advancement of Women on Friday ...
New Mekong dam ignores threats to UNESCO World Heritage city, livelihoods and ecosystems
As US-China tensions turn towards the Mekong River and its dams, the area near Laos’ latest hydropower project on the river is already seeing major controversy around existing dam projects. The Lao government is preparing to start construction on the Luang Prabang Dam, a 1,460-megawatt (MW) project that will be ...
Editorial
More use of technology essential in education: minister
Governments around the world including Laos have been promoting and developing digital education systems, which is now an important global issue and a key priority for the education sector. Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs Sengdeuane Lachanthaboune, recently shared her views and experiences on the topic ...
Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
Thai gov't approves financial aid to 5th Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge
The Thai government on Tuesday approved financial assistance to Laos for the construction of the fifth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge linking Thailand’s northeastern province of Bueng Kan with Lao’s central province of Bolikhamsai. “The fifth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge had been approved in principle in the Cabinet’s resolution ...
Xuxin
Mercury rising: Why a Thai community believes it is being poisoned across the international border
NAN, Thailand: On clear mornings, at dawn, Ms Kanchanaporn Paeng-ud stands on a hillcrest where her family processes tapioca and looks out beyond the sweeping valleys across to neighbouring country Laos. On the horizon, some 20 km away, she can see what resembles billowing columns of ...
Jack Board
Thai province provides training for Lao journalists
The Radio and Television Professional Association in Phetchabun province, Thailand, in cooperation with the Institute of Physical Education Phetchabun Campus Stadium, is extending its assistance to Lao National Radio and Lao National Television for personnel training. A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding on the initiative was ...
Severe form of dengue fever surfaces in Vientiane
Health authorities say Laos still faces challenges in preventing dengue fever this year, especially with the emergence of dengue hemorrhagic fever. Meanwhile, the number of dengue fever infections in Vientiane overall has increased at a higher rate than in other parts of the country.Head of ...
Vietnamese laborers flock to China, Laos to work illegally despite issues
According to statistics from Vietnam’s Lao Cai province’s department of labor, invalids and social affairs, every year about 4,000 laborers leave the province for China. Quang Van Tinh, who lives in Muong Ang district’s Bung Lao commune, still feels angry when recalling his time in China. After ...
Feasibility study for Forestry and Eco Agriculture project gets underway
The government has given the green light to Jia Run Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. to carry out a feasibility study for an ecological agriculture development project in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province. An agreement with regard to the project was signed on Wednesday by Deputy Minister of ...
Viengdavanh Banphahaksa
Laos striving to graduate from LDC status, Asian editors told
The government is pursuing its mission to remove Laos from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by 2020 and become an upper middle income country by 2030, a senior government official told Asia News Network (ANN) editors last week.Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr ...
Laos to export electricity to Myanmar, more for Vietnam
Myanmar hopes to import electricity from Laos at an installed capacity of about 300 megawatts (MW) in the near future while the exports to Vietnam may be increased in the next few months. “The Myanmar government proposed this project to Laos about two months ago,” Deputy ...
Hin Nam No to gain World Heritage status by 2022
Laos is hopeful that Hin Nam No (Karst) National Protection Area in Bualapha district of Khammuan province will achieve UNESCO World Heritage status by 2022. The 9th national steering committee meeting on the application for achieving this status for the site was convened in Vientiane on ...
Souksamai Boulom
Cambodia and Laos vow peaceful border solution
Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn yesterday met his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith to discuss how to resolve remaining issues along the border between the two countries.The talks came four days after Prime Minister Hun Sen and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith met on the matter ...
Ros Chanveasna
Thai court throws out decade-long legal fight over Laos dam
A top Thai court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to halt purchases of electricity by the country from a hydropower dam in neighbouring Laos over environmental concerns, bringing an end to a decade-long legal battle. The case brought by 37 villagers from eight provinces along ...
Reuters
World Bank cuts growth forecast for Myanmar amid slowing investments
[] “Myanmar’s macroeconomic environment remains stable, though economic growth is slowing to 5.9pc in 2016-17 compared to 7pc in 2015-16, weighed down by slower investment demand,” the Washington-based lender noted.Despite notable reforms and strong foreign investment commitments, investment demand decelerated as private investors bided their time ...
Thompson Chau
Fighting Poverty by Protecting Landscapes
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the World Bank have launched a $57 million Lao Landscapes and Livelihoods Project that will generate jobs and income in rural areas by promoting investment in environmentally sustainable and socially-responsible forest and landscape management, and in the preservation of Lao ...
The World Bank
Why Laos’ reliance on Chinese money could bankrupt the country
Laos remains on the United Nation’s (UN) list of least developed nations. The government wants the country to graduate from this list. To try to achieve this, it has borrowed money from abroad to fund infrastructure projects. The government’s policy is risking short-term prosperity for ...
John Pennington