People and government

Open data access and sharing in the Mekong is spreading. Open data can increase public participation, aid greater transparency in government, and improve resource governance, city planning or public health monitoring. A number of initiatives, both private sector and civil society, are emerging.  However, a ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) signed an agreement on 13 November for a $10 million grant as additional financing for a project that will enhance Lao PDR’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) capacity, and improve ...

Medical researchers are inching their way across the fringes of five Southeast Asian countries to test a triple combination therapy of antimalarial drugs. Results from the trial, being conducted in rural corners of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, are due by mid-2018, according to ...

Arabica could hold the key to escaping poverty for farmers in Vietnam’s province Quang Tri, but is it a sustainable option?[] The Mekong Institute (MI), an intergovernmental organization that supports sustainable economic and social development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, came up with an initiative to ...

China’s international rivers are becoming a focal point for contests over control of natural resources—and potentially international conflict.China, in its powerful position as headwater nation, continues to actively promote hydropower development domestically and internationally. When downstream nations rely on un-dammed rivers for fisheries and irrigation, ...

Cambodia has been accused of ‘killing off democracy’ after the country’s supreme court dissolved the opposition party and outlawed over 100 politicians ahead of a general election next year. Thursday’s ruling to disband the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in a Southeast Asian country visited by about 159,000 ...

Twenty-three law enforcement officers from Australia, Asia and Europe are in Hà Nội for the next three weeks for the 44th Asia Region Law Enforcement Management Programme (ARLEMP). The officers will study management, communication and cultural topics, and develop their skills in investigating transnational cybercrime, ...

Fake pharmaceuticals are continuing to flood into clinics and hospitals across Asia despite crackdowns by global counterfeiting hubs China and India, with suppliers simply crossing the border to less-regulated Mekong countries. The issue comes to light as global leaders descend on Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific ...

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc led a Vietnamese delegation to the 9th Mekong-Japan Summit and the 9th ASEAN-UN Summit that took place in Manila, the Philippines, on Monday. The 9th Mekong-Japan Summit drew leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Việt Nam and Japan. Keep reading  ...

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc yesterday held a meeting with his Lao and Cambodian counterparts, Thongloun Sisoulith and Hun Sen, on the sidelines of the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila, the Philippines. []The PMs stressed the need to incorporate CLV projects into cooperation programmes in the ...