People and government

Much of the recent ASEAN summit was focused on political snubbing between Donald Trump and the region, an Asian trade agreement, and the South China Sea dispute, but one topic was not a priority: human rights. So says the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights organization, (APHR) ...

There are approximately 124 million people around the world who suffer from acute hunger. According to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2018 report, without intervention, 50 countries will fail to achieve the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of zero hunger by 2030. On ...

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has endorsed a new decree which aims to centralise the administration of Official Development Assistance (ODA). Mr Thongloun signed the Prime Ministerial Decree on the Administration of Official Development Assistance on October 9. The Lao Official Gazette, a website administered by the ...

The construction of a $27 million Japanese government-funded wastewater treatment plant in Phnom Penh to improve water quality and protect the environment will begin late next year, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) announced on Friday. Jica said the Japanese government had granted 2,777 million yen ...

Technological advancements and artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionising manufacturing for industries around the world. The International Federation of Robotics estimates that by 2020, the worldwide stock of operational industrial robots would have increased to 3,053,000 units, with the capability to help produce cars, electronics and ...

Asean civil society groups on Saturday criticised the deterioration of human rights in Asean as well as the bloc’s principle of non-interference, especially over the Rohingya crisis, which will reportedly receive no mention in the East Asia Summit statement. Phil Robertson, the Asia Deputy Director of ...

Countries in the Lancang-Mekong Basin, including China, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, recently announced they would launch a joint operation against precursor chemicals in November. The Lancang-Mekong Integrated Law Enforcement and Security Cooperation Center said officials from the six countries made the announcement in Kunming, ...

Thailand is counting on a new bridge connecting with Myanmar to increase border trade between the two countries. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said after opening the second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge that the new link between Mae Sot district and Myanmar’s Myawaddy will increase border trade to ...

In a few months’ time, the current Thai government’s position could be hanging in the balance. This is thanks to the country’s 3.2-trillion-baht (US$105.6 billion) fiscal 2020 budget which will have its third reading on 9 January next year.  The 2020 fiscal year began on 1 ...

A draft of the statement to be issued after the East Asia Summit in Bangkok early next month makes no mention of the exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to a copy of the communique seen by Kyodo News on Sunday. According to ...