Timor-Leste has taken a formal step toward joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, signing a declaration of accession in Vientiane on 15 September during the treaty’s Third Review Conference.
Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas signed the Declaration of Accession, and handed to Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane.
The move comes as representatives from nearly 100 countries gather in Laos, which remains one of the world’s most heavily contaminated countries with unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War era in the 70s.
Signing the declaration does not yet make Timor-Leste a member of the Convention. The country will become a full member after depositing an instrument of accession with...
Eight years after the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower dam in Attapeu collapsed, killing dozens and displacing thousands in southern Laos, affected families are set to receive the final round of...
On 11 September, Électricité du Laos (EDL) and Chinese energy company Shenzhen Yichu Smart Energy Group Co., Ltd. exchanged an agreement to study battery energy storage systems in Laos.
The...
A major bauxite project in southern Laos is moving closer to production, with Lao and Vietnamese officials now turning their attention to the environmental risks and community impacts of...
Passenger traffic on the China–Laos Railway has increased significantly this year, boosting tourism and cross-border economic links as Laos prepares to graduate from Least Developed Country status, the China...
Residential electricity users in Laos will be exempt from the 10 percent Value-Added Tax (VAT) on monthly consumption of up to 300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) under a new notice issued...
Thailand’s Cabinet approved financial assistance for the Lao government to construct the Xiengman-Luang Prabang Mekong Bridge, Thai authorities announced on 8 September through the government’s Public Relation Department website.
Construction...
Passenger traffic on the China–Laos Railway has increased significantly this year, boosting tourism and cross-border economic links as Laos prepares to graduate from Least Developed Country status, the China State Railway Group said in a report on 9 September.
The group said that the railway carried 244,000 cross-border passenger trips during the first eight months of 2026, up more than 50 percent from the same period last year.
During the summer travel period from 1 July to 1 September, the Mohan railway port processed more than 57,000 entry and exit travellers from 72 countries and regions. Daily passenger clearances peaked at more than 1,100 at the Mohan port.
The railway directly connects...
Laos expects to welcome between 5 and 6 million international tourists in 2026, with Chinese visitors projected to account for around 2 million of that total, according to government estimates.
The numbers will be...
Laos hosted the Mekong Tourism Forum 2025 in Luang Prabang from 24 to 27 June, spotlighting the proposed ASEAN Rail Tourism Corridor (ARTC) as a key initiative to boost regional travel and connectivity.
Held...
Timor-Leste has taken a formal step toward joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, signing a declaration of accession in Vientiane on 15 September during the treaty’s Third Review Conference.
Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas signed the Declaration of Accession, and handed to Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane.
The move comes as representatives from nearly 100 countries gather in Laos, which remains one of the world’s most heavily contaminated countries with unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War...
Laos is preparing to compete in 12 sports at the 14th ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur next October.
The Lao team has proposed entering athletics, swimming, powerlifting, boccia, women’s goalball, men’s blind football,...
Laos continues working to develop chess among younger generations.
A group of young Lao players has returned from Singapore with 12 medals after gaining international experience against competitors from across Asia and beyond.
Team Laos...
Cats spend much of their day sleeping, stretching in the sun, at times hunting, or just watching the world go by. For a group of Lao artists, those habits have become the inspiration for art.
Life feels busier than ever, and Laos is no exception. Seven artists in Laos have turned to cats to explore what many people seem to be searching for today: a little more freedom, self-acceptance and joy in the ordinary moments of everyday life.
Their exhibition, Like a Cat's Tiny Life, running until 31 July at The Tamper Coffee & Studio in Vientiane, brings together paintings, illustrations and photography that ask a simple question: what can people learn from slowing down?
Why Cats?
“All seven of us wanted to create a small space filled with warmth through stories about cats. We wanted people to experience life through the artists’ small perspectives on cats,” artist Fanta Keomanila told The Laotian Times.
For him, cats represent independence.
He described them as animals that follow their own way, sleeping and resting when they choose and finding happiness in simple moments such as watching birds or lying in the warm sun, rather than conforming to...
