Lao Morning News Roundup February 21

Welcome to the Lao PDR morning news roundup by AEC News Today, your one stop for Lao PDR news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.

Laos border stand-off developing
Authorities in Stung Treng province are in talks with their Laotian counterparts to resolve a military impasse, after armed soldiers from Laos confronted a Cambodian military engineers unit on Saturday and demanded they stop constructing a road near the border.
— Phnom Penh Post

Concerns accounted for in Xayaboury hydropower development, EU told
All concerns have been taken into account in the development of the Xayaboury run-off-river hydropower plant the project developer recently relayed to European Union (EU) Ambassador to Laos, Leon Paul Faber.
— Vientiane Times

Kha Young Kham Begins Constructing Xe La Nong 3 Hydropower Project
(KPL) Kha Young Kham has begun constructing the Xe La Nong 3 Hydropower Project, a 12.5 -megawatt hydropower plant valued at about US$31 million, in Ta-oy district, Saravan Province.
— Lao News Agency

Laos, China and neigbouring countries discuss locust outbreak in Laos
High-level officials from Laos, China, Vietnam and Thailand have discussed cooperation efforts in the prevention and control of the yellow-spined bamboo locust outbreak in Laos.
— Vientiane Times

Laos drug busts still only half the story
Late but better than never, Lao police last week finally broke a disturbing silence and acknowledged the arrest of more than 30 members of dope-peddling syndicates, one of which is said to be even bigger than that run by recently detained drug lord Xaysana Keophimpha.
— The Nation

Laos to receive Asean funding for intellectual property protections
Laos will benefit from the Asean Intellectual Property Rights fund, which is supported by the European Union, following a substantial increase in funding.
— Vientiane Times

Illegal land titles emerge as outstanding issue in Vientiane
Illegal issuance of land titles has emerged as an outstanding problem in Vientiane over the past year with the illegal titles involved in a total land area of 506,662 square metres, an official report has suggested.
— Vientiane Times

MoICT Briefs about International Cooperation
A meeting of the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism was held in Vientiane Capital on Feb 17 to conclude the international cooperation affairs conducted over the past one year and to discuss focal development work for 2017.
— Lao News Agency

Feature photo: John Le Fevre

The Lao morning news roundup is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.