News
Cassava Boom Leading to Deforestation, Air Pollution in Laos
The demand for cassava has seen it become the most profitable agricultural product in Laos, as demonstrated by the country’s February trade figures: cassava was the leading export item, with figures totaling USD 85 million. Laos exports most of its cassava to Thailand and Vietnam, where ...
Manyphone Vongphachanh
Laos Marked as “Country of Concern” for Food Security
According to the report, around 71,000 people had severe acute food insecurity, while 1.4 people were estimated to have moderate levels of food insecurity.Laos was marked as a “country of concern” in August last year after being threatened by food insecurity, according to a 2022 ...
Jonathan Meadley
Burning, Logging Rife in Phou Khao Khouay National Park
According to the tourists, who spoke with Laotian Times on condition of anonymity, areas of the park are being cleared for farming and other activities. The photographs show large stretches of land that have been fenced off and destroyed in preparation for agricultural planting.Phou Khao Khouay National ...
Latsamy Phonevilay
Lao villagers worry that compensation for Pak Beng Dam will be too low
Local authorities in Laos last week met with villagers who will be affected by the Pak Beng Dam project to discuss compensation, but the villagers worry that the government’s offer will be too low, sources in the country. The dam, located in northwestern Laos’ Bokeo ...
RFA Lao
Illegal logging in Laos hinders government’s forestation goals
Illegal logging, concessions to private developers and agricultural encroachment on forest lands are jeopardizing Laos’s goal of achieving 70% forest cover density by 2035.That’s according to a recent survey by Laos’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which pointed to an increase in illegal logging in ...
RFA Lao
UNICEF, NA Strengthen Oversight Capacity on Child-Friendly Budget for Child and Women Development in Laos
UNICEF and the National Assembly of the Lao PDR have organized a two-day workshop to enhance the capacity of members of the Cultural and Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly from across all 18 provinces to monitor and ensure national budgets and spending are ...
KPL
Laos Records Lowest Year-on-Year Trade Deficit of USD 13 Million in January
The trade deficit in Laos soared to USD 233 million in September 2022 but has been decreasing steadily since then.The overall value of trade in Laos was USD 935 billion in January this year, with USD 461 million in exports and USD 474 million in imports, according ...
Manyphone Vongphachanh
Illegal trade of pangolins and their parts widespread online in Laos
Wildlife traders say that the illegal trade of pangolins remains strong – including on the Internet – despite their listing as a critically endangered species by Laos and even though the government has ordered a crackdown on the trade of endangered wildlife. Laos, a popular transit ...
RFA Lao
Govt. Unveils Data Management System for Digital Birth Registration
The government of Laos has introduced a digital central data management system to collect population data in the country. Ministry of Home Affairs launched the Electronic Registration and Vital Statistics System (eCRVS) at a meeting in February to analyze the data on births, deaths, marriages, and ...
Manyphone Vongphachanh
Laos And China Sign MoU to Research Development of Artificial Intelligence
The Research Institute for Smart Technology, Ministry of Technology and Communications (MoTC) of Laos together with the Chongqing College of Electronic Engineering in China signed an MoU to discuss the possibility of further developing AI and Big Data.On 24 February, an online conference was held ...
Jonathan Meadley