“Mekong Institute is glad to co-organize this Business to Government (B2G) dialogue with Khammouane, Nakhon Phanom and Quang Binh in order to facilitate cross-border trade among three provinces. While trade volume in the region is significantly increasing, trade cost of CLMVT countries accounted to 26% compared with 8% in Singapore. Hence, there is a need …

BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT ACTORS DISCUSS BORDER TRADE DEVELOPMENT IN LAOS-THAILAND-VIETNAM BORDERS Read More »

Four rice farmer groups from Savannakhet province and eight from Khammouane province of Lao PDR received their Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification on March 14, 2019 from the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR. The GAP certifications attest that rice produced by the farmers follow proper and safe production processes, and …

EWEC PROJECT DRIVES FORWARD GAP STANDARDIZATION IN LAO AS FARMER GROUPS GET GAP CERTIFIED Read More »

Mekong Institute, under its RLED-EWEC Project, organized a business-to-business (B2B) meeting gathering 30 private sector stakeholders from the border provinces of Tak, Thailand and Myawaddy, Myanmar on February 21, 2019. Held in Mae Sot, the meeting was co-hosted by the Tak Chamber of Commerce and Myawaddy Township Border Trade Chamber of Commerce.   The meeting served …

B2B MEETING CALLS FOR HEIGHTENED CROSS-BORDER TRADE BETWEEN TAK AND MYAWADDY Read More »

Members of the private sector of the twin provinces of Khammouane, Lao PDR and Nakhon Phanom, Thailand met on January 26, 2019 in a Business to Business (B2B) meeting to discuss the challenges and ways forward to advance competitive cross-border trade in their twin border crossings. Held in Khammouane province, the meeting was co-hosted by …

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MEETING SEEKS TO ADVANCE CROSS-BORDER TRADE IN KHAMMOUANE AND NAKHON PHANOM BORDERS Read More »

A team from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) led by Mr. Paul Welcher, Agriculture Attache from the Office of Agricultural Affairs, visited the RLED-EWEC Project Field Office in Khammouane, Lao PDR on September 5, 2018. The visit was to gain a better understanding about the EWEC Project’s on-the-ground implementation including best practices, challenges …

US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE VISITS EWEC PROJECT IN KHAMMOUANE PROVINCE Read More »

On September 12, 2018, the Mekong Institute team, led by MI Executive Director Dr. Watcharas Leelawath, handed over a donation amounting to USD7,400 (60 million Laotian Kip) to Khammouane Vice Governor Mr. Bounmy Phimmasone. With them were Mr. Nguyen Hung Cuong, Director of the RLED-EWEC Project, Dr. Jun Acedo, Senior Program Specialist, and members of …

MI HANDS OVER DONATION TO KHAMMOUANE PROVINCE Read More »

RLED-EWEC Holds Second PSC Meeting The second Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting of the RLED-EWEC Project was organized on August 14, 2018 at Mekong Institute, Khon Kaen, Thailand. In attendance were government officials from the project sites in Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam, along with representatives from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and …

CONTINUING SYNERGIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY Read More »

The Business to Government (B2G) Dialogue on Cross-Border Trade Facilitation (CBTF) in the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) was held in Mukdahan province, Thailand on August 8, 2018. With over a hundred delegates from both public and private sectors, the dialogue served as a platform to resolve issues and challenges as well as propose solutions and …

B2G DIALOGUE EXPLORES AVENUES FOR STRENGTHENING CBTF IN EWEC Read More »

Around 29 participants from Lao PDR’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry, District of Agriculture and Forestry Office, and Department of Industry and Commerce in Khammouane and Savannakhet provinces, as well as farmer-leaders from the 10 GAP rice-producing groups, joined the ‘Training of Trainer on Advanced Rice Farming for Sustainable Productivity’ on May 23-25, 2018. The …

LAO AGRI OFFICERS, FARMER-LEADERS JOIN TRAINING ON ADVANCED RICE FARMING Read More »

The RLED-EWEC Project of MI continues to build stakeholder capacity with a recently-concluded Enterprise Workshop on the Facilitation and Promotion of Cross Border Trade between Mukdahan, Quang Tri and Savannakhet Provinces. Organized on May 18-19, 2018 at Quang Tri province, Vietnam, the workshop gathered 40 private sector delegates from such agencies as the Mukdahan Chamber …

EWEC PROJECT HOLDS ENTERPRISE WORKSHOP ON CROSS BORDER TRADE FACILITATION Read More »