People and government
Southeast Asia is world's hotspot for land disputes: report
Businesses in Southeast Asia are increasingly counting the cost of land grabs, more than half of which result in delayed projects and nearly three-quarters of which lead to lawsuits, according to a wide-ranging research report. Out of a sample of 51 major land disputes surveyed across ...
Simon Roughneen
Laos and Cambodia: the China dance
Laos and Cambodia are often seen as little more than political twins who have chosen to reap economic benefits from China in exchange for their loyalty to the Middle Kingdom – and choosing this alliance over maintaining consensus with their ASEAN family. Keep reading ...
Johanna Son
Meth trade rises as opium output dips
Record number of methamphetamine drugs has been seized recently raising concern of a new menace as the opium trade – which haunted the country for decades – appears to be on the decline, a senior police official said Sunday. He said the government has been ...
Htoo Thant
Global Center for Mekong Studies launched in Cambodia
Global Center for Mekong Studies (GCMS) was launched here on Thursday with the aim of promoting academic exchanges and providing intellectual support for Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC). Keep reading ...
Xinhua News Staff
China’s Mekong plans threaten disaster for countries downstream
Thirty million people depend for a living on the Mekong, the great Asian river that runs through Southeast Asia from its origins in the snowfields of Tibet to its end in the delta region of Vietnam, where it fertilizes one of the world’s richest agricultural ...
Richard Bernstein
Spread of malaria resistance spurs debate on fighting disease
News that resistance to artemisinin combination drugs – the frontline response against malaria – is spreading has spurred debate on whether a new approach is needed to counter the disease and other serious threats to human health. Artemisinin drug-resistant P falciparum C580Y mutant malaria parasites have now ...
Jim Pollard
Myanmar govt to redistribute vacant land
The Myanmar government is developing a plan to redistribute vacant or fallow plots of land to rural landless people willing to farm the land.The Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Dr. Aung Thu told The Irrawaddy on Monday the government had obtained US$4.19 million ...
Htet Naing Zaw
$64b GMS action plan
Cambodia as a member of the six-nation Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) endorsed a five-year action plan framework that includes $64 billion in projects to help the sub-region achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development. Keep reading ...
Sum Manet
New ADB-Lao PDR strategy to support inclusive, sustainable growth
The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has endorsed a new 4-year country partnership strategy (CPS), which is expected to deliver $421 million in assistance through 2020 to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).The new CPS will help the country achieve more inclusive ...
The Financial News Staff
New Mekong bridge opens, linking Xayaboury and Vientiane provinces
A newly built bridge crossing the Mekong River and connecting the provinces of Xayaboury and Vientiane has opened, and is the third bridge linking Xayaboury with neighbouring provinces.The 365-metre bridge runs from Nasak village in Paklai district, Xayaboury province, to Khokkhaodor village in Xanakham district, ...
Vientiane Times News Staff