Laos launches logo, theme for ASEAN Chairmanship 2016
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 downgrades Laos's rating to Caa2, outlook changed to negative
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 ...
Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos connects to Cambodian grid
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 ...
Prak Chan Thul
Asia-Africa cooperation as Laos, Morocco mark two decades of relations
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 ...
Japanese investment to bring jobs to nation's south
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, ...
Hundreds of Families Forced to Move for Lao Coal Plant Expansion
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 ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
NGOs push for postponement of Don Sahong dam on Mekong
The lower three Mekong Countries, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam as well as environmental groups, have expressed concern about the Don Sahong dam’s impact on the environment, movement of fish and water quality and flow. The project has yet to be approved by the Mekong River Commission, ...
Trains to arrive next month for trial run of Laos-China railway
The Laos-China railway project will bring in locomotives, electric multiple unit (EMU) trains and other equipment to conduct the first trial run of the railway in October. The plan was presented at the 10th Laos-China Railway Project Steering Committee Meeting held in Vientiane on Wednesday, attended ...
Phomphong Laoin
Laos reports local transmission of Zika virus: WHO
Laos is the latest country to report a local transmission of Zika virus, according to the World Health Organization, as fears mount over the mosquito-borne illness that has been linked to birth defects. Asia has seen only a sprinkling of cases of the virus, but a ...
Damning Link between a Bangkok Mall and Injustice in Laos
Six years ago, Central Embassy, Bangkok’s newest shopping mall, celebrated its opening with aplomb, attracting several thousand local celebrities to a glitzy affair. This luxurious and futuristic-looking mall was described by Travel & Leisure as a “monster of a shopping complex”. During the same month, the World ...
Marks, D., & Zhang, J.
More Lao Fishermen Arrested in Thailand After Entering Illegally on Way Home
More Lao fishermen have been arrested in southern Thailand for illegally entering the country as they tried to return home from Malaysia, where they had been working in the fishing industry for years, the fishermen and local officials said. Like an earlier group arrested on Dec. ...
BenarNews
Việt Nam, Laos hold sixth ministerial consultation
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh and Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith co-chaired the sixth ministerial consultation in the northern province of Quảng Ninh on Wednesday. Both sides expressed their delight at the considerable development of bilateral ties in various areas, with ...
Government experts discuss occupational health and safety
Experts from several ministries and international organisations met in Vientiane yesterday to discuss and share experiences as part of framing a draft regulation for occupational health and safety. The creation of the Management of Occupational Safety and Health Decree is in line with the Ministry ...
New oil pipeline in northern Thailand may worsen flooding
A pipeline stretching from central to north-east Thailand promises to “promote Thailand as an energy hub in the region” and “increase energy security”, according to the Ministry of Energy. Construction began in mid-2019, despite local communities objecting that the largely Chinese-financed project could worsen flooding ...
Hydropower experts mull industry's future
The Sixth International Conference and Exhibition on Water Resources and Hydropower Development in Asia, held in Vientiane last week, gathered experts in the field to discuss how hydropower could be developed in the most beneficial ways. The conference, which ran from 1-3 March, discussed the experiences ...
Resettled For Chinese Dam Work, Lao Villagers Fear New Homes Will Be Washed Away
Lao villagers displaced by two Chinese-backed dam projects and now living in resettlement communities in uphill areas of two provinces say they fear their new homes will fall off nearby cliffs due to landslides caused by annual monsoonal rains. Some of the more than 100 families ...
Companies keen to develop Vientiane-Pakxe expressway project
Nineteen domestic and foreign companies have expressed their interest in developing the planned Vientiane-Pakxe expressway, a senior government official has said. The Ministry of Planning and Investment recently called for local and foreign investors to apply for participation in the mega project by submitting an ...
ASEAN nations adopt new technology plan
ASEAN ministers of science and technology met recently in Vientiane to adopt the ASEAN Plan of Action on Science, Technology and Innovation (APASTI) for 2016-2025. The 16th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology was organised in Vientiane by the Ministry of Science and Technology and presided over by ...
Laos and China innovate poverty reduction cooperation along Mekong River
Sept. 11 (Xinhua): Along the Mekong River which winds through the mountains in northern and central Laos, the poverty alleviation projects with China aid are solidly advanced there with innovation made. In the steepy mountains and deep valleys of the Mekong River Basin, infrastructure is weak. ...
China injects 40 billion kip into poverty reduction
Sangthong and LuangPrabang district residents will have better lives after the Chinese government granted over 40 billion kip (33.3 million CNY) to implement the Laos-China Poverty Alleviation Pilot Project. The first time project aims to reduce poverty in rural areas and will be implemented in the ...