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Oil Shock Reaches Laos
The energy import bill in Southeast Asia could triple to $245 billion by 2035, the IEA said, after the Iran war showed how badly the region bet on the Strait of Hormuz staying placid. For Laos, however, that is not a 2035 problem - it is much more urgent. Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone told Nikkei Asia that development projects are already starting to stall as oil prices rise, and the Lao government is looking at getting reliable supply from neighboring countries. Sonexay said that stable fuel imports was a “top” government priority. Within the region, the war is also pushing coal back into fashion, which isn’t the energy transition anyone outside of the industry was hoping for. EV sales more than doubled in 2025 to about half a million units, but oil’s still got the region by the throat.
Read more: CNA (import bill), Nikkei Asia (Sonexay)
Rosatom Pencils In a Reactor for Vientiane
Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev and Lao Industry Minister Malaithong Kommasith agreed to a framework nuclear cooperation agreement in Moscow mid June, with both prime ministers looking on. The deal formalizes a conversation the two sides have been having since 2016. The first step will be to figure out where a reactor could go and how it might fit into a power grid built around hydropower. Rosatom is coming with options; floating and land-based small modular reactors are both on the table. That is the same RITM family it sold Myanmar in March 2025, Vietnam has signed up for the larger VVER-1200. The economics are still catching up to the ambition - bilateral trade almost doubled last year but is still only about $50 million. Russia also wants access to Lao bauxite for its aluminum industry. Direct flights and Russian petroleum products remain topics of discussion.
Read more: The Star (PMs), Jakarta Globe (Vietnam), United24 Media (petroleum)
Beijing Reminds Vientiane Who's Family
Xi Jinping met Lao leader Thongloun Sisoulith in Beijing on June 5, ending a five-day state visit with the full menu of party-state friendship. The two agreed on a promise to defend the socialist system and the Communist Party's ruling status, set up a new "3+3" dialogue for diplomacy, defense and public security, and try to figure out how to speed up the construction of the China-Laos-Thailand railway.
Read more: China Daily Asia
A $3 Billion Wind Bet
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Vietnam's FECON are looking at a one thousand megawatt onshore wind farm in Savannakhet Province that would support electricity exports to Vietnam beginning sometime between now and 2028. CIP manages about $40 billion in green energy investments worldwide and plans to put roughly $3 billion into Vietnam by 2030. The Savannakhet site is part of a 2.5GW portfolio for wind, solar, cross-border exports and battery storage in both countries.
Read more: ScandAsia
Landlocked Laos Buys a Ticket to the Baltic
Deputy Minister Ngampasong Muongmany signed Laos into the OSJD railway organization at a 3 day summit in Dushanbe which began onJune 9th, giving the country formalized access to a 13-corridor freight network reaching from Southeast Asia to the Baltic coast. One corridor runs from the Capital through to China, Kazakhstan and Russia, then on to Estonia. Between Southeast Asian nations, only Vietnam is also a member. The accession gives the planned Laos-Vietnam line a recognized international network to plug into before it is expected to start running in 2030.
Read more: Laotian Times
Vientiane Tightens the Rulebook
Decision 1338, published by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on May 13 and taking effect on June 27, does what the Enterprise Law never got around to doing properly in that it finally tells companies exactly what a violation will cost. The decision at long last connects 17 categories of misdeeds to specific fines. Corporate governance basics, including holding an annual general meeting, keeping shareholder registers and keeping articles of association are included in the new list. Authorities are expected to enforce the rules through complaints, inspections and application triggers.
Read more: VDB Loi
The EV Push Rolls On
The price of a liter of gasoline in Vientiane is LAK 31,300 after six price adjustments since the beginning of May. The government isn’t exactly cheering at the pump though. A March order from the Prime Minister is pushing authorities to try and push the shift away from fossil-fuel vehicles, given the low 3 percent excise tax on EVs against 25 to 90 percent on conventional cars. Public charging stations are still thin on the ground, and poor charging infrastructure mean drivers can’t always rely on the station they find working with the plug that their car demands.
Read more: Laotian Times
Old Friends Block Out the 2027 Calendar
Lao PM Sonexay Siphandone called on Vietnamese President and Party General Secretary To Lam in Hanoi on June 9, after the 3rd ASEAN Future Forum, with 2027 looking like its going to be a good year for the relationship. Next year will be the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and it’s already being labelled as the Laos-Vietnam Solidarity and Friendship Year.
Read more: Asian News Network
Vientiane Pays a Visit on Naypyidaw
Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane spent June 12-13 in Naypyidaw, congratulating Min Aung Hlaing on his inauguration in April and reviewing plans for the 13th session of the Laos-Myanmar Joint Commission. He also met his counterpart U Than Swe. Thongsavanh was not alone in heading to the capital, as Indonesia's foreign minister sat down with Min Aung Hlaing days earlier, after separate calls by Malaysia's top diplomat and an adviser to Thailand's.
Read more: Asian News Network (70-year anniversary), Laotian Times (border cooperation)
The Mountain Keeps Two Souls
The Xaisomboun cave rescue that brought international divers to Laos ended on June 6 with five of the seven trapped miners out and two still unfound. A 4.2 magnitude earthquake and a partial entrance collapse unfortunately made the cave too unstable to keep diving. The eight gold-seekers had squeezed single-file into an old mining tunnel on May 20 before rains flooded the entrance. One escaped to raise the alarm, four eventually swam out with the help of divers through air pockets opened by pumps, and a fifth was guided through a flooded passage on May 29. Local volunteers are still pumping water from outside.
Read more: DOGOnews
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.
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