During the meeting, leaders reviewed cooperation agreements signed by the two countries in past years, notably an agreement to jointly further China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and an agreement to develop the Laos-China economic corridor from 2019-2030. They also agreed to push for cooperation in areas relating to the sharing of technical expertise.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Australia to help update infrastructure standards
“Australia will now continue our longstanding quality infrastructure partnership by helping Cambodia to update those standards to ensure climate resilience and incorporate recent technologies through our new regional Partnerships for Infrastructure – P4I – program,” said the embassy.
Thailand endorses projects for the conservation of marine mammals
The projects seek to bring Thailand’s conservation and management practices in line with American laws for the protection of marine mammals, to nurture confidence that Thailand’s conservation efforts are in line with global principles and international obligations.
Six challenges to address in agriculture sector
The six challenges are low productivity growth due to scarcity of pure seeds; limited agricultural irrigation techniques and technology; lack of investment in processing which causes high domestic production costs, especially the cost of electricity and logistics as well as the stable supply of raw materials.
Thailand’s festival honoring rivers also pollutes them
Thais flocked to rivers and lakes on Friday evening to release small floats adorned with flowers and candles in an annual festival honoring the goddess of water, with thousands of the tiny boats ending up clogging and polluting the country’s waterways.
The grave human cost of teak wood – and alternatives
John Sifton of the organisation Human Rights Watch explains: “Under civilian government, from 2016-2020, the Myanmar authorities actually made some progress on decreasing unsustainable logging and increasing transparency on revenues. After the coup, however, the situation is going back to how it was, with massive and destructive logging, and all the profits going into the pockets of the military, not the people or the country.”
Rock that could help feed the world at work in Vietnam
Mekong rice uses 2500 litres of water per kilogram; Orlar food uses just 30 litres – and with four times the revenue per kilogram. Also, being vertical farming, with 20 plants grown in each two-metre-high stack or “pod”, it is extremely space-efficient.
Mekong Delta flooded, residents make hay while the sun shines
“The delta has been deprived of its annual blessing by upstream dams and climate change impacts that have altered and weakened the regular regime.
Explain palm oil policy
For over a decade, the government required that palm oil be blended with diesel, and ethanol with benzene. This policy helped boost the price of these energy plants while also lowering imports of fossil fuels and cutting down air pollution.
$180 million ADB loan to improve urban services in Cambodia
The Livable Cities Investment Project will help more than 140,000 residents in Bavet, Kampot, and Poipet access better wastewater and solid waste management services. It will help the cities reduce flooding by upgrading their urban stormwater and drainage systems.