Economy and industry
$1.9 billion allocated to building Mekong Delta expressway
The National Assembly on Thursday agreed to spend nearly VNĐ45 trillion (US$1.9 billion) building more than 188 kilometres of highway in the Mekong Delta. On the last day of their third sitting in Hà Nội, legislators passed a resolution to carry out Phase I of the ...
Mekong Delta eyes rapid development of renewable energy
The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta will need to optimise its natural conditions to develop renewable energy and attract investment in the sector to mitigate the impacts of climate change, experts have said. The region has much potential for renewables like wind, solar and biomass, they said. It has a ...
Xuan Hiep and Viet Dung
Laos Needs Improved Hydropower Safety Legislation: Energy Minister
Lao Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr. Daovong Phonekeo, says enacting a specific law to ensure dam safety is a vital part of the country’s efforts to achieve sustainable energy development. Minister Daovong told the National Assembly on Thursday that while there are regulations and standards controlling ...
Latsamy Phonevilay
For Thai fishers facing dwindling catches, a Lao dam looms large
In the rustic old town of Chiang Khan on the Mekong River, a tourist haven in northeastern Thailand’s Isaan region, local fishing communities now live in fear of a proposed dam that threatens to devastate their livelihoods. The $2 billion, 684-megawatt dam would sit just 2 ...
Tom Fawthrop
‘Unlocking’ reform policies can help Laos realise economic potential: WB
Laos is facing significant economic challenges but has the potential to develop sustainably and more equitably, according to a new World Bank report. The latest Lao PDR Country Economic Memorandum, “Linking Laos, Unlocking Policies”, analyses economic performance over the last 20 years and draws lessons from ...
Times Reporters
Running on fumes: Fuel importers denounce new forex policy
As Myanmar’s military leaders relaxed with family members in Pyin Oo Lwin and Nay Pyi Taw for this year’s water festival in April, a crisis was slowly building in the waters off Yangon. Oil tankers from Singapore were bobbing in the Gulf of Mottama, refusing to ...
FRONTIER
Beijing fiddles with the water taps that control Southeast Asian economies
Southeast Asian nations are eyeing Beijing nervously as it fiddles with the water taps that control their economies. But their citizens are alarmed at failed fish migrations and wildly fluctuating river levels. Now they’ve taken their anger to the world. After four years of drought, the ...
Jamie Seidel
Lancang-Mekong 'soft connectivity'
China has collectively consulted, contributed to and shared in the development of the Lancang-Mekong region with the five Mekong countries — Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam — over the past five years, helping to promote economic sustainability and connectivity. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) framework is ...
Duan Haosheng and Liu Yunkang
Large-scale logging in Cambodia’s Prey Lang linked to politically-connected mining operation
The early onset of Cambodia’s wet season had seen the rain fall thick over Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, turning freshly cut paths through the forest into a near-impassible slick of churned-up mud. But the torrential weather had done little to deter local loggers, who rode ...
Gerald Flynn|Andy Ball|Vutha Srey
Long An to maintain its leading economic position in Mekong Delta
Long An Province is focusing on sustainable economic development while staying safe from COVID, maintaining its position as an economic leader in the Mekong Delta. At the start of the year, the province issued a socio-economic development programme for 2022 to assist struggling workers and businesses, ...
Vietnam Economy News