Lao electric power provider Electricite du Laos is deep in debt, owing at least $2 billion to foreign creditors, mainly Chinese and Thai. Meanwhile, EDL managers still live well, in some cases amassing large personal fortunes, sources say.
Category: Article
Cambodian farmers can no longer rely on the Tonle Sap lake
The seasonal flooding of Asia’s largest freshwater lake is being disrupted by upstream dams and climate change – and affecting 4.8 million people
Trafficking of banned Myanmar teak lands German company with $4m fine
Although there is a regulation that prohibits imports of Myanmar wood into the EU, companies take advantage of legal loopholes to evade it, says the Environmental Investigation Agency.
French court dismisses complaint over Agent Orange use in Vietnam War
Dismissing the case the court said that the companies were acting “on the orders” of the US government, which was engaged in a “sovereign act”.
Envoys refute China’s water hegemony on Mekong River with in-person visits
“When I heard Western countries talking about the damage by the Chinese dams to the Mekong River, I felt like it is serious. But when I came to see, the fact is very different from what they said. The dams are very good to protect the environment and rare animals, and especially for preventing floods and drought in downstream countries,” Sreng Sataro, minister counselor of the Embassy of Cambodia in China, told the Global Times after his visit. “You see the Western media ignore the facts as they did with my country,” he noted.
Hunger Stalks Many in Myanmar After Double Whammy of Coup And COVID-19
he 3.4 million threatened with hunger are mostly urban residents and are “over and above the 2.8 million people considered to be food insecure in Myanmar before the military takeover,” the U.N.’s food-assistance branch was quoted by the U.N.’s news agency on April 22.
Enduring battle to save beaches from erosion
Inclusive and sustainable solutions are in urgent need to rescue beautiful beaches along Vietnam’s central region amid the increasing frequency of landslides and sea erosion in the area.
Implications of new draft law on NGOs
Indeed, the government’s concerns over the state’s security, especially those pertaining to the monarchy, are one of the major reasons for the new draft. In the past five years, local NGOs with foreign funding have adopted an active platform calling for political and constitutional reforms — some with references to the royal institution in the most radical ways. This trend has intensified over the past year leading to all kinds of conspiracy theories between donors and recipients regarding the country’s political landscape.
‘Untie knots’ in Mekong Delta infrastructure growth: PM
Local authorities should not be reluctant to begin work because of the projects’ high price tag of projects, he said, advising that priority be accorded to studying the possibility of building a port in Soc Trang Province to receive 100,000-ton ships as well developing aviation infrastructure for the region.
Struggle for justice for Agent Orange victims to continue
Talking via videoconference, Nga, who is currently in France, said regardless of the rulings to be issued by the court, the 10-year struggle will still continue, noting that she and her friends have been prepared to keep going for many more years.