30.8 C
Vientiane
Sunday, June 29, 2025
spot_img
Home Blog Page 3211

Expected Roadblocks for Chinese President Arrival Nov 13-14

In preparation for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Laos, the Vientiane Capital’s Department of Public Works and Transport has ordered roadblocks to be stationed all across the capital to ensure a safe and smooth ride for President Xi Jinping’s arrival on Monday through Tuesday (November 13-14).

Although there has been no confirmation on the specified times of when the roadblocks will be enforced, motorists should take precaution when planning their route to and from their destination in town, and should note that parking on any of these streets is strictly prohibited on these dates. Officials have released the following roads as affected:

  1. Souphanouvong Ave (from Sikay intersection to Sihom intersection)
  2. Setthathirath Road (Sihom intersection – That Khao intersection)
  3. Fa Ngum Road (That Khao – Lao Development Bank)
  4. Lane Xang Ave (Patouxay Monument – Presidential Palace)
  5. Kaison Phomvihane Ave (Patouxay – Dongdok Intersection)
  6. Samsenthai Road (That Khao – Jao Fa Ngum intersection Km2)
  7. Don Chan Road (Lao-German Technical School Intersection – Don Chan Palace Intersection)

Click here to view a map of the scheduled roadblocks.

Earlier in the week, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book on governance was launched and released in Lao language in Vientiane. The Lao version of the book was published with the goal of assisting Lao people in learning more about the Chinese development concept, development path and both domestic and foreign policies. A Chinese official emphasized that the publication will help to promote the exchange of experiences in governance between the two parties and two countries, and will continue to bolster ties between Laos and China.

Content source: Laopost

Photo source: Tholakhong

Dough & Co Ready to Deliver

Hey guys! It’s Fri-YAY and what’s the best way to finish off the week? Ordering yourself and the people you love (or just like a regular amount) a box of donuts filled with deliciousness from Dough & Co, obviously!

We had the chance to try the new speciality bakery and we gotta say, we’re glad they’re here! Dough & Co offers three divine flavors including Balinese fresh vanilla, Lao fresh coffee and chocolate cinnamon. Though we wished there were more flavors to choose from, what they lack in variety, they definitely make up for in flavor. The donut itself has a fluffy, chewy texture that comes off airy, while the inside of the donut is pumped with a generous portion of filling that isn’t too sweet.

With techniques and recipes hailing from the UK, Dough & Co has upped the donut game in Vientiane. Though all of the donuts at Dough & Co are produced with high-quality imported ingredients such as real butter, fresh milk and fresh vanilla, the bakers at Dough & Co proudly use Lao coffee in their fillings and are in the process of creating more fillings using local ingredients such as vegetables and herbs.

Though the donut shop does not currently have an actual storefront, their response time to orders via phone, email or Facebook messenger is prompt accompanied by a very reliable delivery service. Dough & Co anticipates on opening a cafe early 2018.

However, if you need your donut fix sooner, Dough & Co will have a booth set up (stall 306) tomorrow Saturday, Nov. 11 at the annual WIG Bazaar at the National University of Laos Faculty of Engineering, Sokpaluang Road from 10am to 5pm where they will introduce a new speciality flavor. 

Order online with a minimum order a half dozen (6) and a dozen (12) for next day collect and delivery.

Delivery in Vientiane city area for 15,000 kip and free delivery for 2 dozen (24) donuts or more.

For more info please contact Dough & Co directly at Email: info.doughandco@gmail.com, Facebook: doughandcolaos Phone: 020 288 8909

 

Analysts Concerned with Laos’ Rising Debt

For the first time in twenty years, analysts have drawn their concerns back to potentially unsustainable debt that has been accruing in the region. Largely untouched by the ’97 collapse, experts fear that Laos could get pulled into a new era of financial turmoil.

According to a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, the risk of “external debt distress” in Laos, Southeast Asia’s second smallest economy, has risen from “moderate to high.” The country is in debt for miscellaneous big infrastructure projects, including foreign financing for massive hydropower dams.

The IMF uncovered that Laos’ external public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt increased from US$5.4 billion in 2014 to an estimated US$6.5 billion by the end of 2015, or roughly 52% of gross domestic product (GDP). The present figure is currently unknown, however is estimated to be even higher.

Debt sustainability concerns are rising as Laos’ recent booming economic growth, averaging around 8% from 2011 to 2014, has begun to diminish.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicts growth of 6.9% this year and around the same for 2018. Longer term, the IMF projects 6.3% average real GDP growth between 2016 and 2036.

According to experts, there are several reasons for the decline, with economic slowdowns in Laos’ main trading partners, including China, and lower global commodity prices attributing to primary causes.

Analysts also point to poor weather conditions over the last few years for a weakening agriculture sector.

However, while growth rates continues to weaken, the country will need to continue spending to reach its 2020 deadline for graduating from ‘Least Developed Country (LDC) status, a classification as of 2015 where gross national income per capita is below US$1,035.

Analysts suggest to keep borrowing and hope for a new foreign investment driven economic uptick as one solution to the growing problem. The government’s budget plan through 2020 sets the national borrowing rate at 23.7% of GDP, a level analysts doubt the government can maintain at current spending rates.

Though the country remains classified as a LDC, debt repayment and servicing are largely under favorable low-interest terms, however the real test will come when the country transitions from LDC status, shifting the country from concessional to market-based terms.

Government officials have acknowledged this problem, with the finance ministry successfully completing its largest ever bond issue via a US$419 million offering on Thailand’s debt markets in October of this year. According to media reports, half of the raised capital is expected to be used for debt repayment; the other half is earmarked for funding infrastructure projects,.

Boosting domestic revenue would also assist in managing the mounting pile of debt. Last month, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith instructed the finance ministry to re-inspect the state’s revenue sources, including taxes. Tax collection fell from 15.8% of GDP in 2013 to 14.3% last year.

PM Thongloun has personally headed a campaign to diversify Laos’ economic relations away from neighboring China, Vietnam and Thailand, its traditional main trade partners, to other wealthier regional countries.

Upon taking the premiership last year, Mr Thongloun has stated his ambition to transform Laos from being landlocked to “land-linked.”

A Chinese-financed Kunming to Vientiane high-speed railway passing through Thailand, Malaysia and extending to Singapore, is expected to be completed in 2021 and will contribute to that vision.

Land concessions granted as incentives to private companies that involve the movement of populations are also a risk factor.

In past years, Laos has handed over state-owned land in lieu of debt payment to foreign investors. For example, when the country failed to pay back a US$80 million loan China provided to build a stadium for the Southeast Asian Games, the government agreed to hand over a 300-hectare land concession to the contracted Chinese company.

The Prime Minister has expressed his intention to abolish the practice to dispel protests over land ownership. He has also moved to curb the growth of Chinese-run banana plantations in the country’s north where Chinese growers have been granted decades-long land concessions.

Some of Laos’ greatest economic potential is found in its land. Mining and farming remain dominant and hydropower could allow it to become a major power exporter. But it is these same foreign currency-generating industries that frustrate locals, many of whom have come to think the government’s economic development schemes don’t have them in mind.

Source: Asia Times

PM Meets with Relocated Families Due to Hydropower Plant

On Nov 5, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith visited families affected by the Nam Ou 1 hydropower project in the settlement village Houaylo, Pak-ou district, Luang Prabang.

An estimated 134 families have been reportedly affected due to the implementation of the hydropower development project.

The resettlement of the affected households is scheduled to take place by year end, when the crop harvest season has reached completion.

The Prime Minister pressed local authorities to cooperate with all relevant sectors to deliberate on the impacts of the project and address them in a prompt manner.

He urged citizens to attach importance to their family income generation activities by tapping potentials in their communities, cease subsistence agriculture and develop products unique to their communities as an ODOP (One District One Product) of Pak-ou district, contributing to the comprehensive development in their communities.

On Monday, Nov 6, Prime Minister Thongloun then met with the Party committee of the province, where he informed province officials on plans for the designation of Luang Prabang as a capital and tourism affairs in the province.

He encouraged local authorities to prepare a celebration for after the announcement of Luang Prabang district as Luang Prabang Capital in the near future. The PM emphasized that the hospitality of local people should be promoted so that the province can better attract visitors during Visit Laos Year 2018.

The Prime Minister also visited the construction sites of Laos-China Railway Project in Phonexay Meuang village, Luang Prabang district.

Experts Warn Asian Elephants Need a New Alternative

Once known as ‘Lane Xang’, or the land of a million elephants, the Asian elephant population in Laos has decreased by almost half in the past 30 years

New research by French scientists and conservation experts examines how elephant populations depend heavily on the socio-economic practices of a country.

According to research from France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Beauval Nature association, initiating a ‘maternity leave’ system to compensate owners for their loss of income during breeding periods, would contribute to the species’ long-term survival. The  system would remove the economic trade-off between breeding and working, and allow the captive population to depend mostly on wild population dynamics, through the mating of captive females with wild males.

In a report recently published in Scientific Reports, research indicates how an increase in elephants’ workload in the last two decades, specifically in the timber industry, has affected its reproduction cycle.

According to experts, the elephant’s long gestation period of 22 months, followed by two years of weaning, makes reproduction impossible when put to work. Furthermore, the exportation of Lao elephants to neighboring countries for tourism purposes threatens the population’s survival.

With data provided by the Lao Department of Livestock, researchers developed a bio-economic model that included an annual estimate of the elephant population based on demographic data such as age, gender and location, as well as 50 interviews focusing on elephant owners’ breeding practices.

Projected over a century, the model simulates the owners’ decision-making process and questions if breeding elephants is more profitable than working for the logging or tourism industries.

Using several scenarios, research shows that if current elephant exportation rates remain a trend, the Asian elephant population could become extinct in a short period of time.

The research also highlights the importance of including both wild and captive elephants in conservation policies.

Laos Expresses Sympathy Over Manhattan Attacks

On November 1, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Saleumxay Kommasith offered the State Secretary of the United States of America, Mr. Rex Tillerson his condolences over the recent attack in New York.

According to news reports, eight people were killed and almost a dozen injured when a 29-year-old man in a rented pickup truck drove down a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City on October 31.

The message from the Minister  read:

I have learned with profound sadness over the terror attack in Manhattan, New York on October 31, 2017, that claimed lives of innocent people and caused several casualties.

On behalf of the Government and People of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, I would like to express my heartfelt sympathy and deep condolences to Your Excellency and through You to the Government and American people, especially to the victims’ families.

Thai Firm to Run Bokeo Mekong River Port

In an effort to manage regional traffic the upcoming year, Laos has put forth a plan to launch a new port checkpoint located in the Mekong River, with a Thai firm winning the contract to develop and operate the port for 40 years.

The Ban Mom port is located in Ton Pheung, Bokeo province and is scheduled to launch in January, 2018.

A source has explained that the port is designed to service cargo vessels traveling along the Mekong River and is being contemplated for expansion into an agricultural hub linking Thailand and the south of China.

The port will primarily serve as a checkpoint for cargo ships traveling north to China with fees of US$40 (1,300 baht) for 100-tonne ships and $50 for larger ships.

According to the source, all vessels will be examined for proper registration and licenses, legally employed crew members, and the cargo being transported. Vessels traveling downstream may stop at Xiengkok port.

The Ban Mom port development plan is in line with an agreement between four nations — Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and China — on common navigation rules along the Mekong.

The rules covers six areas: safe navigation, water level management for cruising, navigation administration, procedures on accident investigation, search and rescue, and vessel monitoring processes.

The agreement, which was signed in 2000, has 14 ports designated to its route, and was developed to promote trade and tourism in the region, with each country expected to push along commercial navigation by member countries.

Of those ports, six are in Laos, two are in Thailand, four in China and two others in Myanmar.

The new port checkpoint is crafted to meet international standards and will boost efforts to combat smuggling of contraband into China.

Traffic in the Mekong is likely to spike when the China-Thailand free-trade agreement covering 703 items including EVs and agricultural products comes into effect early next year.

Government Approved to Grant Lao Citizenship

On Nov 1st, during the National Assembly’s (NA) ongoing 4th Ordinary Session of the National Assembly’s 8th legislative to the Law on Lao Nationality, the NA authorized the government to grant Lao nationality to foreigners.

The Minister of Justice, Mr Xaysi Santivong, proposed the amendment on the Law on Lao Nationality at the 4th Ordinary Session, with the current law originally endorsed in 1990,  and a decree on its implementation was approved in 1994.

In 2004, the law was amended for the first time.  

The current law states that the presentation of Lao citizenship can only be approved by the provincial constituency caucuses, while the amended law allows provincial administration to hold a ceremony to award Lao citizenship once the grantees have registered for citizenship conversion.

However, the most recent amendment states that government and provincial administrations can now grant Lao citizenship to foreigners as well.

The current Law on Lao Citizenship Article 27 states that Lao citizenship granting, Lao citizenship revocation, Lao citizenship restoration and Lao citizenship abandonment can only be reviewed and approved by the standing committee of the National Assembly.

The amendments approved at the NA ordinary session included those related to the submission and consideration of Lao citizenship applications.

The amendments also included the addition of four chapters namely prohibitions, citizenship management, citizenship inspection, awarding of outstanding people and measures against violators.