Laos

Under a proposed bilateral agreement, Vietnam is set to send its workers to Israel to learn agricultural techniques used there. 
Agriculture

Southeast Asia looks to Israeli tech to improve farming techniques

Israel companies offer ways to boost production as region faces supply threats

20 June 2021
A Mitsubishi Corp. wind farm in Akita Prefecture, Japan. The Japanese conglomerate is on the hunt for renewable-energy projects in Southeast Asia. (Photo courtesy of Mitsubishi)
Climate Change

Laos to sell Vietnam its wind power with Mitsubishi's help

Cross-border power-sharing is expected to increase in Southeast Asia

17 June 2021
Festival attendees at Hung Kings temple on April 21. Vietnam has raised its alert to the highest level ahead of a four-day holiday period that starts April 30.
Coronavirus

Vietnam fears COVID wave from Cambodia or Laos as holiday nears

Hanoi tightens borders and boosts pandemic preparations in southwest

26 April 2021
Khemmani Pholsena, left, reportedly attended the same elementary school as Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Politics

Laos taps Xi classmate as presidential aide, deepening China tilt

Ex-commerce chief Khemmani offers personal link to Vientiane's top creditor

26 March 2021
Thongloun Sisoulith will oversee an economy reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. 
Politics

New Laos president faces rising China debt and battered economy

Party General Secretary Thongloun enjoys high support as 'clean' leader

23 March 2021
Jinghong Dam and hydropower station, seen here in 2013: China slashed the Mekong River's flow from this dam in January, leaving Southeast Asian communities downstream to cope with falling water levels during the dry season.
International relations

Mekong's falling water level riles China's downstream neighbors

Jinghong Dam cuts flow bound for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

23 February 2021
The Mekong river bordering Thailand and Laos is seen from the Thai side in Nong Khai. Thailand is objecting to a Chinese-developed dam planned for the waterway in Laos.
International relations

Thailand challenges Laos dam building spree on Mekong River

Move threatens to pull plug on Vientiane's 'battery of Southeast Asia' vision

30 January 2021
Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, in Jan. 2020.
Politics

Laos' new leader to play balancing act between China and Vietnam

New secretary-general looks to largest lender Beijing despite strong ties with Hanoi

20 January 2021
Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has been elected as the country's secretary-general. (Photo by Manami Yamada)
Politics

Laos promotes PM Thongloun as leader of communist party

Under new secretary-general, impoverished nation expected to pivot futher to China

15 January 2021
Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last year. China is Laos' largest lender.
Economy

Laos shifts to China equity from loans as party congress starts

Beijing's communist sibling pushed to salvage state enterprises amid pandemic

13 January 2021
In his latest book, Sebastian Strangio illuminates the unique challenges facing the countries that are close to China, and exactly what is at stake for each. (Courtesy of Sebastian Strangio)
Arts

BOOKS: 'In the Dragon's Shadow,' by Sebastian Strangio

Southeast Asia's foreign policy challenges in the 'Chinese Century'

16 December 2020
Cambodia soldiers participate in the country's 67th Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh on Monday.
International relations

Beijing-friendly Cambodia and Laos pushed out to ASEAN's fringe

China's rise exacerbates Southeast Asian bloc's inherent tensions, experts say

13 November 2020
Mekong Timber is backed by the New Forests Tropical Asia Forest Fund, a sustainable forestry investment fund managed by Australian asset manager New Forests.
DealStreetAsia

$5m Laos forestry investment offered by Dutch bank FMO

Mekong Timber to build integrated saw log, veneer and chipping mill

7 October 2020
Workers in the Laotian city of Luang Prabang build the first rail line linking the country to China in February. Laos is the only Asian country rated "CCC" by Fitch.
Economy

Laos credit downgrade signals 'real' default risk as China looms

Fitch's rare cut to 'CCC' raises possibility of relief from Beijing

24 September 2020
CP All operated about 12,000 7-Eleven stores in Thailand as of June, making the company a clear leader in the industry. (Photo by Akira Kodaka) 
Retail

Thailand's CP Group to open first 7-Eleven store in Laos in 2022

Leading conglomerate expands its retail business in neighboring ASEAN countries

31 August 2020
Ricult uses deep tech, AI and machine learning to improve efficiency in Thailand's agricultural value chain.
36Kr/KrASIA

Thai agritech startup raises $2m in pre-Series A round

Ricult targets product development and expansion into neighboring countries

20 August 2020
Cambodia has been the primary target of the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Fund, which has invested in 13 companies in the region.
DealStreetAsia

Dutch bank weighs investment in Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Fund

FMO's COVID follow-on reserves targeted with $1.4m commitment

8 August 2020
A worker packs polio vaccine vials in Bio Farma's factory: the company is the largest vaccine manufacturer in Southeast Asia.
Opinion

Southeast Asia is on the coronavirus vaccine hunt

Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have successful pharmaceutical sectors

1 June 2020
Workers toil on the Kunming-Vientiane Railway in Yuxi, southwest China's Yunnan Province, as Laos prepares to sell a U.S. dollar bond amid a looming repayment crisis.
Coronavirus

Laos' debt woes worsen as bills for China-funded dams loom

Coronavirus rattles first US dollar bond, adding pressure to weakened economy

1 June 2020
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, and Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, right, pose at the East Asia Summit in Thailand in 2019. 
International relations

Japan's judicial diplomacy at crossroads as Laos enacts civil code

Legal assistance to Southeast Asia brings result, but budget constraints loom

31 May 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has forced Nikon to delay the release of cameras. (Photo by Rintaro Shimomura)
Electronics

Nikon cuts jobs in Thailand and Laos with camera sales slumping

Factory positions pared 10% and more production adjustments expected amid pandemic

29 May 2020
A poster warns about the coronavirus on a street in Hanoi. Vietnam has recorded just over 300 cases with no deaths.
Economy

Vietnam and Mekong peers pay economic price despite low virus tolls

Promising ASEAN quartet likely to fortify and diversify after pandemic cuts growth

21 May 2020
A banner of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Xi Jinping in Belgrade, Serbia, pictured on May 11: more than 100 countries have received China's anti-virus overtures with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Opinion

China wants to know if you are with it or against it

Beijing has divided world with coronavirus policies, making countries take sides

16 May 2020
A Buddhist monks walks past a temple in Vientiane.
Coronavirus

Virus-free Laos lifts shutters on shops and restaurants

State slowly reopens economy while vigilant against new cases

2 May 2020
People sleep on benches at Hua Lamphong train station in Bangkok on Apr. 3: the urban poor are at risk, living in overcrowded spaces.
Opinion

Governments facing tough choices in COVID-19 crisis: World Bank VP

Countries in East Asia and Pacific must expand effective programs for poverty relief

27 April 2020