News from Southeast Asia directly to your inbox every weekday.
The Mekong Memo is proudly presented by:
Horton International is your premier partner for executive search in Southeast Asia. Whether you're a small startup or a global corporation, our reliable and effective recruiting solutions are tailored to meet your unique needs. With extensive experience and offices across the region, we excel at overcoming recruitment challenges and securing top talent for your organization.
Click here to learn how Horton can make your life easier.
The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.
Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.
Headlines:
Siphandone Siblings Lock Down the Top Jobs
Self-Reliant on Paper
Labor Wants 64%, Bosses Offer 12%
Tracks to Tidewater
Three-Day School Week Lasts One Day
Last Call for Railway Cash
Hanoi Shows Vientiane the Cameras
Crown on the Mekong
Beijing's Birthday Card
Going Nuclear, Gently
Siphandone Siblings Lock Down the Top Jobs
The 10th National Assembly on Monday confirmed the country's top leadership for another five years, with one addition that might be worthy of note. Viengthong Siphandone, former president of the People's Supreme Court, was elected Vice President, and she will serve her alongside her brother, Sonexay, who got 170 out of 173 votes to remain Prime Minister. That places the Siphandone family in prime positions in both branches of leadership at a time when murmurs about succession are becoming more frequent. President Thongloun Sisoulith, who was reelected with 171 votes, is 80 years old and continues to serve as both head of state and General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, a role he was also reappointed to in January at the party's 12th National Congress.
Read more: The Star (preview agenda), Laotian Times (voter turnout), VietnamPlus (deputy PM count)
Self-Reliant on Paper
Vientiane has approved a new five-year plan that foresees 6% annual growth via the promotion of a "self-reliant economy" as its main strategy. The gap between goals (hopes? dreams?) and reality is still a big one, though. Public debt peaked at 115.7% of GDP in 2022 and is now estimated to weigh in at about 94%. Since 2020, deferred debt payments to China have climbed to $3.23, which is about a fifth of 2025 GDP. The government wants to reduce debt below 70% of GDP by 2030, by leaning on agriculture, and tourism (expected to bring 22 million visitors), and rising electricity exports. Revenue is forecast at 20.95% of GDP with a small surplus planned. If it is to work, borrowing is going to need to be significantly cut while $30 to $35 billion is raised for new investments. It won’t be easy.
Read more: East Asia Forum (deferred debt figures), The Star (revenue targets breakdown), VietnamPlus (social development metrics)
Labor Wants 64%, Bosses Offer 12%
The National Labor Committee met to talk about raising the minimum wage, but the two sides remain far apart. Labor reps want LAK 4.1 million, a nearly two-thirds increase, but employers have countered with LAK 2.8 million, a figure that’s about 12% more than it currently stands. The government is suggesting a middle option, which would be a base wage of LAK 2.7 million plus allowances, putting the total to LAK 3.6 million. Inflation ran 6.2% in February, energy costs are up nearly a quarter year-on-year, and the price of regular gasoline has almost doubled from LAK 21,990 in mid-February to LAK 40,500 this month.
Read more: Laotian Times
Tracks to Tidewater
The National Assembly is reviewing a $1.3 billion rail line from Thakhek to the Vietnamese border, the first phase of a $6.6 billion plan that would give Laos its first direct access to a seaport. The full 562-kilometer railway is expected to run from Vientiane to Vung Ang Port on the coast of Vietnam using standard gauge track compatible with the existing Chinese railway to the north. Deputy Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith is saying that it’s a top infrastructure priority for the next planning cycle. The first phase,147-kilometer stretch to the Moua crossing, will be built as a public-private partnership between Petroleum Trading Lao and Vietnam's Deo Ca Group. Construction is expected to begin this year, full operations expected for 2030. The assembly should make a decision on it by this Friday.
Read more: Laotian Times
Three-Day School Week Lasts One Day
The government briefly cut the school week to three days last week to reduce pressure on families during the fuel shortage, but reversed the decision after 24 hours after realizing they may have gone too far. The Prime Minister's Office had at first ordered all schools to reduce in-person classes immediately, with plans to extend the academic calendar to make up for lost time as families struggled with transportation costs. By the next day, most of the policy was rolled back. Pre-primary, general and vocational schools went back to a five-day week; universities will keep the shorter schedule starting in April. The Education Ministry is now trying to get students to bike or take public buses to school instead.
Read more: The Star (remote learning contingency), Laotian Times (original proposal), Laotian Times (reversal), Travel and Tour World (flat-fare dates)
Last Call for Railway Cash
Residents displaced by the Laos-China Railway have until June 18 to claim compensation for seized land or risk losing it permanently to the state. The notice applies to 43 villages four Vientiane districts as a cleanup effort nearly four years after the $6 billion Belt and Road project opened. At least 371 families are still holding out - they say the compensation is too low. 6,504 others have already accepted the government's $83 million payout, an average of about $12,760 for each family.
Read more: Laotian Times
Hanoi Shows Vientiane the Cameras
More than 2,000 AI-powered cameras are keeping a close watch on the streets of Hanoi, and Lao Public Security Minister Vanthong Kongmany got a firsthand look at the system during a visit to the command center last week. The visit comes after two previous trips to Vientiane by Vietnamese Party chief To Lam since December. Hanoi and Vientiane signed a five-year police cooperation agreement earlier this year, and Hanoi's police chief is now pushing for an expansion of the agreement. The Lao delegation specifically asked for support for camera systems, a technology Hanoi is already using in about 3,300 locations citywide.
Read more: Nhan Dan
Crown on the Mekong
The first Thai royal state visit to Vientiane in years finished on March 18, with King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida spending three days as guests of President Thongloun Sisoulith. Talks at the Presidential Palace were centered on education, agriculture, and public health. Thailand and Laos are this year celebrating their 76th year of diplomatic relations.
Read more: Asian News Network
Beijing's Birthday Card
Xi Jinping sent congratulations to Thongloun Sisoulith on his reelection and took the opportunity to once again promise closer ties between China and Laos. Premier Li Qiang likewise sent felicitations to Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone on his reelection. The alignment of China's 15th and Laos's 10th planning cycles gives Beijing an opportunity to coordinate aid, investment, and infrastructure projects through 2030.
Read more: CGTN (friendship Events planned), China Daily (party-to-party promise)
Going Nuclear, Gently
Vientiane and the International Atomic Energy Agency have come to an eight-year Country Program Framework agreement that will run through 2033. The agreement is on how to use nuclear technology in agriculture, healthcare, water management, as well as learning about/ developing competence in radiation safety. This is the third program of this kind, previous editions ran from 2014 to 2018 and 2020 to 2025. The IAEA will provide technical support as Laos works toward its 2030 development goals. Planned uses include cancer diagnostics, crop irradiation, and water quality monitoring.
Read more: VietnamPlus
That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.
If you value the Mekong Memo, please consider buying (or gifting!) a paid subscription, sharing it on social media or forwarding this email to someone who might enjoy it. Please also “like” this newsletter by clicking the ❤️ below (or sometimes above, depending on the platform), which helps us get visibility on the Substack network.