Work on a fifth bridge linking Laos and Thailand across the Mekong River has begun after a construction agreement was signed in December. The bridge, which will take 36 months to build, will connect Bolikhamxay province in Laos to Thailand’s north-eastern province of Bueng Kan. Local daily ...

Authoritarianism in Laos is at the root of illegal land grabs, land grievances, and ongoing human rights violations. The upcoming elections in Laos are unlikely to change this. International business stakeholders, however, can do more to support local communities and uphold fundamental human rights. The Lao ...

Vietnam’s electricity firm EVN has signed five new deals to buy electricity from Laos starting from next year, the state-run company said. The southeast Asian nation faces severe power shortages from 2021, as demand outpaces construction of new plants, with demand expected to exceed supply by ...

Laos has huge potential in developing tourism sites, with a number of incentives introduced to boost investment in the sector. Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Mr Ounethouang Khaophanh said investors were welcome to invest in developing and operating tourism sites in line with ...

The Lao government is pushing ahead with more hydroelectric dams despite uncertainty about Thailand’s willingness to purchase the electricity they generate, Lao officials and others with knowledge of the situation said. Laos has 78 dams in operation and has signed memorandums of understanding for 246 other ...

The World Bank has provided financing of more than 250 billion kip (US$31 million) to Laos, to implement the Lao Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management project. The project will invest in urban flood risk management in Oudomxay province, and in more reliable hydro-meteorological services across ...

Hongsa Power Co., Ltd. has built 136 houses and other essential infrastructure to accommodate people who had to move from their homes in Kiewngiew village, Ngeun district, Xayaboury province, when the company extended its mining operations. The 136 new houses have electricity and water connections, while ...

The wind speeds in some parts of Attapeu province are sufficient for the development of wind power in the neighbourhood however wind turbines are not yet seen there. Director of the provincial Energy and Mines Department Mr Vithaya Phommachanh told Vientiane Times on 10 February that there ...

Thailand will raise concerns about its current drought during a Mekong River Commission meeting expected next month, the Thai water-resources chief said, as local farmers complained that dams in China were choking the waterway on which millions depend for their livelihoods. Somkiat Prajamwong, director of Thailand’s ...

Laos exported as many as 50,712 workers in the fiscal year that ended in September, including 27,176 females, official statistics show. Most of the workers obtained jobs in Thailand, while just over 50 people found employment in Japan, according to statistics from the Ministry of Labour ...

Four ‘Friendship Bridges’ span the wide majestic Mekong River as it creates a meandering borderline between Thailand and Laos but just how friendly are these border bridges? When the first bridge opened back in 1994, spanning the river between Nong Khai in Thailand and Vientiane province ...

Laos and Russia have agreed to strengthen their cooperative relations in areas related to politics and military capabilities as well as economics, trade, investment and technology. The agreement was reached during the bilateral talks held between Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Saleumxay Kommasith and his Russian ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Lao counterpart, Choummaly Sayasone, sent each other congratulatory messages on 21 November to mark the successful launch of a Lao communication satellite with a Chinese carrier rocket. The satellite, Lao Sat-1, was launched on 21 November at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center ...

Laos officially launched the logo, theme and website for its ASEAN Chairmanship 2016 on 6 November as part of the country’s preparations for the event. The ASEAN 2016 theme is “Turning vision into reality for a dynamic ASEAN community” and the website is www.asean2016.gov.la. Keep reading ...

Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has today downgraded the Government of Laos’s issuer rating to Caa2 from B3 and changed the outlook to negative. This concludes the review for downgrade initiated on 19 June 2020. The decision to downgrade the rating to Caa2 reflects Moody’s assessment that ...

Rights groups and researchers have welcomed Thailand’s decision to cancel a Beijing-backed project to dredge and blow open a shallow and rocky stretch of the Mekong River along the Thai-Lao border. The move is a rare victory for groups and communities fighting to save Southeast Asia’s ...

The Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos has begun operations and this week connected its power grid to Cambodia, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday as the country steps up electricity imports after continued power outages last year. Don Sahong, which was designed for an installed ...

Laos and Morocco have made satisfactory progress in bilateral relations and cooperation over the past two decades, with the two countries in Asia and Africa cooperating in various sectors, an audience in the capital heard Wednesday. Diplomats outlined highlights of the relationship to date at ...

More Japanese investors are seeking to locate factories at Pakxe-Japan SME Specific Economic Zone in Champassak province in moves set to generate hundreds of jobs for Lao people. Approval of planned investments by the companies is expected between now and the end of this year, ...

Authorities in northwestern Laos are forcing hundreds of families to relocate to make way for the expansion of a lignite power plant, setting the stage for a dispute over compensation with residents who say they will be shortchanged by the communist government’s ambitious development plans. A ...