News
Laos' Luang Prabang set to hit tourist target
Laos’ World Heritage town of Luang Prabang is on target to hit 500,000 visitors by the end of this year after reaching 470,279 in the first nine months. Keep reading ...
Xayaboury dam 50% completed
After beginning in 2012, the construction of the US$3.5 billion Xayaboury dam is now about 50 per cent complete, according to a report by Vientiane Times. When it becomes operational in 2019, about 95 percent of the 1,285-megawatt electricity produced will be sold to Thailand. The dam, ...
Cambodia's new garment sector minimum wage set at $140
The Cambodian government set the new monthly minimum wage for the country’s billion-dollar garment sector at $140 on 8 October—up from $128—more than what factory owners wanted but far less than the raise demanded by some unions. Keep reading ...
Wife of jailed Lao activist asks Poland’s justice ministry for help with extradition
The wife of a jailed Polish citizen of Lao heritage has asked Poland’s justice ministry to request the Lao government to transfer her husband from a detention center in the Southwestern Asian nation to one in his European home country. Barbara Paklak-Thammavong told RFA’s Laos Service ...
Myanmar fishermen agree to return to Indonesia for long-sought justice
Fishermen who had been enslaved and abused onboard illicit trawlers plying far-flung Indonesian islands will soon be headed back to the nation where they were held captive for up to a decade. This time they’re after justice, and will take part in a lawsuit against one ...
Myanmar Central Bank issues directive on customer due diligence
The Central Bank of Myanmar has issued a directive on customer due diligence related to anti-money laundering and the financing of terrorism. All banks and financial institutions licensed by the Central Bank must develop effective frameworks to manage these risks, said the note, issued on 5 ...
CPI Yunnan calculates cost of Myitsone Dam
CPI Yunnan International Power Investment Company has recalculated its spending on the suspended Myitsone hydropower project, and is waiting for the Myanmar government to approve the figure. CPIYN is the majority shareholder in Upstream Ayeyarwady Confluence Basin Hydropower Company, the dam’s developer. The calculation was made in ...
Malaysia mulls over plan to buy electricity from Laos
Laos, Thailand and Malaysia may proceed with a planned cross-border power trade minus Singapore, which had some concerns over the initiative, said Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili. He said his officers were exploring the possibility for the pilot project, known as the Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore ...
Group of Montagnards heads back to Vietnam
Twenty-four Montagnards are set to return to Vietnam on 8 October, becoming the first group to volunteer for repatriation since the government last month ordered the asylum seekers to leave of their own volition or be forcibly expelled, officials said. Keep reading ...
Vietnam's real estate transactions skyrocket in 9 months
Some 30,000 real estate transactions were recorded in the first nine months of 2015, which was tantamount to the combined figures from last year, as heard at a seminar on housing development in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on 7 October. According to Chairman ...
