Expansion of Vientiane’s Wattay International Airport will begin this year to meet growing passenger demand and accommodate VIP aircraft and delegations during the ASEAN Summit in November 2016. In 2011, the total number of passengers passing through the airport was 520,000 people but by 2014 this had ...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has provided cash and emergency relief materials to communities impacted by flash floods that hit Nam Eng village in Viengphoukha district of Luang Namtha province on Sunday. The people, however, still need other supplies, especially clothes, bedding and equipment ...

The Lao National Rubber Association will be established sometime this year in order to help provide a sustainable income for rubber growers. Many rubber growers, especially in the northern provinces, have been struggling with the low price of rubber on the world market and the limited ...

Situated in Laos’ Luang Namtha province, Boten is China’s gateway to Southeast Asia and will be a critical link in both the North-South and East-West economic corridors. In terms of the North-South corridor, it is the transit point for the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway, which passes across ...

Reporters in Laos must cover the news in greater depth, an official said as the country marked the 65th anniversary of Media and Publication Day, but sources claim journalists are hamstrung by a lack of press freedom in the communist nation, with the public increasingly ...

Even though the construction of a 60-km road linking Kasy and Maed districts is far from complete, travel between the two urban centres of Vientiane has already become easier. Project Manager Mr Somnam Vongphachanh talked to media last week about the progress made on the road ...

The Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund from the Republic of Korea has signed a loan agreement for US$80.8 million (about 658 billion kip) with the Lao government. The funds will be used for the development of the Xepian-Xenamnoy hydropower plant in Champassak province. The loan agreement was ...

Industries that produce pollution may have to pay more taxes now that the Lao government has embraced the National Green Growth Strategy. Under the strategy, which Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith endorsed on Jan 30, the Ministry of Finance will impose taxes to discourage industries from producing ...

Vientiane Traffic Police Department confirmed on 22 September that more Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras are set to be installed throughout the city, aiming to help officers investigate crimes in the capital. The department’s Deputy Director Lieutenant Colonel Bounmark Soundalay told Vientiane Times there are now over 200 ...

Some primary schools in Laos have started offering English lessons. A group of primary students in Laos feels very excited and happy to learn English for the first time. The sounds of the ABCs and laughter can be heard from a long distance away. Keep reading ...

A ceremony to start the first power generation unit of Nam Ou River Cascade Hydropower Project’s second phase was held on Thursday, in Luang Prabang, some 220 km north of the Lao capital Vientiane. Lao Minister of Energy and Mines and President of the Laos-China Friendship ...

The Ministry of Education and Sports is sending over 20 volunteer teachers to educate illiterate rural areas around the country early next year to replicate an earlier successful Saravan province pilot programme. The teachers will come from the Physical Education Teacher Training College, Dongkhamxang Teacher Training ...

After six years working in the southeast Asian country of Laos, a local charity has provided 10,000 people with access to clean water. Adopt a Village in Laos, a charity based in Port Hope and founded by resident Steve Rutledge, works to bring water filtration systems ...

Mr. Thongsing was summarising the government’s performance under his leadership over the past five years from 2011-2015 at the inaugural session of the NA’s 8th Legislature, which opened on 20 April. He told the session that the government had placed great importance on the development of ...

The Laotian government has given the green light to a special economic zone in the southern city of Pakse, a 625-hectare site dedicated to small and midsize Japanese companies. Businesses operating there will have corporate taxes waived for 10 years starting in the first profitable year, among ...

Bamboo or Lee traps that depleted fish stocks in the Mekong river when they were used by fishermen have been banned in Khong district of Champassak province in southern Laos. The Environmental and Social Manager of Sahong hydropower plant, Mr Somphone Phommanivong, told Vientiane Times the ban ...

Laos’ first telecommunications satellite (Lao Sat-1) will officially start business operations in March after successfully launching late last year and is keen to sign up government and private sector customers. Lao Sat-1 officials met in Vientiane on 23 February to introduce the satellite to potential government and ...

Prime Minister ThonglounSisoulith travelled to Khammuan province on 13 June to direct local authorities to strengthen their efforts to clamp down on illegal logging and better protect forests for future generations. His visit to the province took place following an incident involving an exploding bus in ...

Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong has asked the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to take urgent action to set up a labour database to facilitate skills development in line with market needs. The prime minister made the comment at the ministry’s 2015 national meeting, which ended ...

The responsibilities of provincial assemblies in approving budget plans and granting rights to provincial administrations to use money they have collected in excess of the target plan has raised concerns among some National Assembly members. The concerns were raised by National Assembly members on 16 December when ...