People and government
Korea signs US$80.8 million loan for hydropower project with Laos
The Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund from the Republic of Korea has signed a loan agreement for US$80.8 million (about 658 billion kip) with the Lao government. The funds will be used for the development of the Xepian-Xenamnoy hydropower plant in Champassak province. The loan agreement was ...
Lao Government renews award policy for veterans
The Lao government has renewed a policy that rewards veterans who excelled in the revolutionary fight for national liberation, with targeted groups to be awarded under the new system. Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong last month inked the eight-page governmental decree to replace the previous one promulgated ...
35 percent of Lao budget for debt repayment
The Lao government has instructed central and local state organisations to use up to 35 percent of the annual total budget allocated to them to repay debt they have accumulated. The instruction was part of debt payment measures resolved by the annual government meeting where the ...
Low-cost housing project in Yangon struggles to secure water supply
Supplying water to the estimated 100,000 residents of a new housing development in Yangon could put supplies to the rest of the city at risk, the Myanmar government has warned. Next year, the first 6000 of the 19,600 apartments now being built in the Ayeyarwun and Yadanar ...
Letpadan students set to expand hunger strikes
Legal proceedings at Tharyarwady District Court against students arrested last March have been at a standstill for the past several weeks, but that did not stop a crowd from appearing there on 27 October. Most had come to show their support for Ko Aung Hmine San, ...
Ratanakkiri minorities say land stolen
Ethnic minorities in Ratanakkiri province have accused local authorities of selling community forest land to a provincial court official and threatening to put them in jail, according to a complaint filed on 27 October. The complaint was filed to the provincial office of rights group Adhoc ...
UK backs STEM push in Cambodia
Young Cambodians will be urged to consider a career in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), through a joint initiative launched on 27 October by the Ministry of Education, the British Embassy and the international employment and training organisation IDP Education. Keep reading ...
Phnom Penh congestion costing ‘$6 million a month’
Phnom Penh authorities on 27 October offered an economic argument for ministries, motorists and citizens to respect traffic laws, claiming that congestion-related costs in the capital were setting the country back about $6 million per month. Speaking at a national seminar, Effects of Traffic Congestion on Environment ...
School curriculum overhaul under way in Myanmar
For the first time in 20 years, education specialists are overhauling the curriculum used in Myanmar’s state schools. The process, which began in 2014, will be completed in stages over the coming years. U Myo Thein Gyi, director general of the Department of Myanmar Education Research Bureau, said ...
ASEAN environment meeting opens in Hanoi, looks to green community
Vietnam is hosting the 13th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME-13), which kicked off in Hanoi on 25 October, focusing on creating a green and clean ASEAN community. The AMME-13 and other related meetings, which will last until 30 October, are of significant importance as ...
