Environment and land
Four people killed in UXO accidents over two days
The presence of unexploded ordnance continues to have a major impact on the lives of rural people, including their ability to grow crops, with Bualapha district in Khammuan province being one such area. District Governor Mr Khamphao Thongthephahack said Bualapha district was more heavily contaminated ...
Civet species thought to be extinct found in central Vietnam

The large-spotted civet species recently discovered in the Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Hue city was previously considered to be extinct in Vietnam and China by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to the Forest Protection Department of Thua Thien – Hue province, ...
Gov’t urged to install technical barriers to filter FDI projects

Consultants and experts have recommended that Vietnam take measures to prevent foreign-invested projects from using outdated technologies, causing pollution and consuming national resources. First, oil refineries. The projects licensed so far in the field have total capacity of up to 50-60 million tons. It is estimated ...
Japan building Mekong supply chain

Greater connectivity between Japan and Cambodia is tightening economic links between the two countries while catalysing Japan’s ambitions to develop a chain of industrial complexes that cut a tract through the Lower Mekong region. Officials at Japan External Trade Organisation, Japan’s development agency, say Cambodia’s economic ...
Questions raised over vehicle spraying station
Many people are wondering what the point of the quarantine station on the Thanaleng side of the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge actually is, given that its spray station resembles a nursery water sprinkler. Ostensibly, the spray station, through which every vehicle entering Laos must pass, is to ...
Vietnam's rice exports to decline sharply this year

Viet Nam hopes to export 1.6 million tonnes rice in the four remaining months of the year, raising exports for the year to 4.9 million tonnes, said the Viet Nam Food Association. According to a report the VFA tabled at a meeting held in southern An ...
Foreign sector scooping up Vietnam FMCG market

The foreign sector continues to scoop up more of the market for consumer goods like ice cream, food, drinks, clothing, footwear, toiletries and household supplies, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. At a recent business forum in Hanoi, Phan Chi Dung of the MOIT ...
China media: opposition to hydropower dams in Myanmar is “extreme”

Opposition to Chinese-invested hydropower schemes in Myanmar is being orchestrated by “extreme” groups in the country and has been extremely damaging to joint investment projects, an influential Chinese newspaper wrote on September 19. The suspension in 2011 of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone mega dam project by former ...
Vietnamese firm to sell rubber plantation in Laos

A Vietnamese multi-sector conglomerate has announced it may sell nearly half of its massive rubber plantation stake in Laos to Chinese partners to deal with increasing debts and shrinking profits. The Vietnamese firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai is a major investor in Laos and operates a ...
Terms announced on rice lending package
The government-owned bank charged with issuing $27 million in emergency loans to rice millers as part of an initiative aimed at propping up the struggling rice industry announced the terms of the credit lines on September 19, and said it would ensure that the funds ...