Regardless of its significant negative impacts, the railway has already been built and introduces new possibilities for exports, industry and tourism. The transformations to come around the railway may not be any less fraught than hydropower,
Category: Laos
If Laos fell into a Chinese debt trap, would it make a noise?
China’s largesse in funding regional infrastructure has prompted claims Beijing is seeking leverage over poorer, heavily indebted nations.
Yet Laos’ increasing reliance on its large-pocketed neighbour has faced relatively little scrutiny, in part because it is obscured by Vientiane’s ties with Hanoil.
Japan, WFP helps recover Laos’ communities from floods
The floods in October 2020 have wiped out rice yields, adding to pre-existing challenges for families in the area who are regularly facing rice shortages of up to three months each year.
Chinese Company to Begin Exploring Iron Mining in Laos’ Xaysomboun Province
“They use chemicals that eventually flow into the river. We are now too afraid to eat the fish, shrimp or crabs from the river. Most of us here don’t have jobs, so we live off the forest and the river as our only food sources.”
Germany provides EUR 20 million for forest law enforcement, trade
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is providing about EUR 20 million and the Lao government is contributing the equivalent of EUR 4 million as non-cash benefits for the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) project from 2021 to 2026.
WCS, AFD support communities to conserve largest wetland in Savannakhet
The Xe Champhone Wetland Complex is home to an abundance of aquatic biodiversity that support the livelihoods of more than 30 communities, as well as one of the world’s last remaining populations of the critically endangered Siamese crocodile, endangered turtle species, and wetland birds.
Laos Planned Railways: Opening a National Rail Network in 2021
The first Laos national rail line is to open at the end of the year with the China-Laos, Kunming-Vientiane link. This will change Laos from ‘land-locked’ to ‘land-linked’ and is hoped to spur significant foreign investment into Laos.
Construction Delays Mean Continued Homelessness for Survivors of Laos’ Worst Dam Disaster
“The company has formulated a new plan under which it will complete 496 houses by the end of the year, 440 of which will be complete before May. About 35 percent of these 440 homes are already complete. But for the remaining 204 homes, we have to wait for the land,” an official said.
Illegal logging remains an issue despite PM’s order
In 2020, more than 2,600 cubic metres of illegally harvested wood and over 290 tonnes of illicit timber were seized, inspection authorities reported recently.
Study suggests climate change-Covid link via China, Laos, Myanmar.
They found that over the last century, 40 species had relocated to southern China, Laos and Myanmar — the area where genetic analysis suggests the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 first appeared.