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Chinese Approvals USD 8.5 Billion
The government approved USD 8.5 billion worth of investment projects in the first seven months of 2026, up almost 70 percent year-on-year. Capital that has been sent so far is closer to USD 1 billion, which is a timely reminder that approval totals are not the same thing as money-in-hand. Deputy Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith told an investment conference in Vientiane that the cumulative tally since Laos opened to private investment in 1989 is 5,394 projects worth USD 65.5 billion. China leads with 970 projects worth USD 15 billion, followed by Vietnam at USD 12.7 billion and Thailand at USD 6.9 billion.
Read more: Laotian Times
Rare Earth Pause Comes With Two New Targets
Vientiane suspended a Chinese-operated rare earth project because of legal compliance and environmental violations. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce also said field surveys had found two new target zones, one around the Bolikhamxay-Khammuane border and another in the Sekong-Attapeu area. No reserve size or grade has been discussed publicly. The suspended operation is in the north, where a 2024 wastewater discharge polluted the Van and Xam rivers in 36 villages in Houaphanh. A little over a dozen rare earth projects are running nationwide, most of them Chinese-backed, and they feed Beijing's magnet industry with dysprosium and terbium that Chinese deposits can’t fully supply. Late last year, Vientiane asked the National Assembly to convert protected forest in Xieng Khouang and Houaphanh into rare earth mining and processing land.
Read more: Rare Earth Exchanges (named operators), Laotian Times (new target zones)
Border Checkpoint Blows Past Revenue Target
The Lalai International Customs Checkpoint in Salavanh, on the Vietnam border, collected LAK 467.84 billion, or about USD 20.7 million, in the first half of 2026. The windfall was more than ten times its half-year plan and far above the same period last year. The 3rd Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Khammouane brought in USD 33.2 million, up more than 140 percent, on fuel and goods imported for re-export including vehicles, live cattle and fresh fruit. The newly opened 5th Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Bolikhamxay reached 86 percent of its annual target in its first six months, with fuel making up almost all revenue. Good to see that trade in the region appears alive and well.
Read more: Laotian Times
Vientiane Pitches Data Centers on Cheap Hydro
The government wants data centers, AI and fintech to headline the 2026-2030 investment plan in a turn away from the mining and hydropower deals (please don’t mention the bitcoin) that have shaped the economy for two decades. Deputy Finance Minister Phonevanh Outhavong made the pitch at an investment promotion conference this week, leaning on the country's inexpensive hydropower at a moment when global data center spending is gobbling up an ever-expanding share of greenfield investment. No incentive package, land terms or single site is yet public, but officials say they want projects that bring skilled jobs and connect firms to regional supply chains, which is the right aspiration. The bigger question will be if the cost of power alone will be enough to compensate for the missing pieces.
Read more: The Star
Pakngum Lines Up a Sixth Industrial Park
The government cleared a 24-month feasibility study on August 13 for the Vientiane-Lidu Industrial Park, a 307-hectare site in four Pakngum district villages pitched to draw USD 1 billion. Zone A would take mineral processing and power infrastructure, Zone B would handle agricultural processing, and Zone C would house offices, warehouses and worker dorms. It is the sixth SEZ feasibility study cleared under the 2025 industrial zone decree, joining a 6,279-hectare clean-energy and aluminum zone in Oudomxay and a separate USD 165 million estate already underway in Vientiane-Pak Ngum. The country has 21 approved SEZs with registered capital above USD 41 billion. As with the broader investment numbers, registered capital is a flattering version of the story. At the Golden Triangle zone, tax revenue fell 49 percent to USD 1.5 million after 551 businesses closed.
Read more: Laotian Times
Hydropower Becomes an EV Sales Pitch
The government wants to seee a 30 percent electric share of the national fleet by 2030 and has paused imports of gas-fueled cars to speed the shift. The reason is that Laos has both cheap domestic hydropower and needs to import gasoline and diesel, a problem that is exacerbated anytime the fuel supply gets jumpy. Chinese automakers now have room to press into a market where pump supply has become unreliable. No subsidy scheme or charging-network plan has been detailed yet, but the import pause is the sharpest policy lever pulled so far.
Read more: Nikkei Asia
Umoney Gets First Crack at Digital Lending
The Bank of the Lao PDR approved Star Fintech's Umoney in June so they could test digital loans in a regulatory sandbox. Umoney now claims 1.8 million active users, more than 15,000 QR merchant points and more than 5,000 cash-in and cash-out agents in all 18 provinces. It’s been building that network since launching as the country's first licensed mobile money service in 2018. There’s a real credit gap is real. World Bank Findex data shows that 7 percent of adults borrowed from a formal institution or mobile money account in the latest survey, down from 9 percent in 2017 and 2021, despite more than 280 banks, microfinance firms, leasing companies, pawn shops and payment providers already in the market.
Read more: Fintech News
Bolikhamxay Bust Nets Almost Two Tons of Ivory
Police raided a trafficking network in Pakkading district on August 16, detaining 11 foreign nationals and seizing 1,755.6 kilograms of suspected elephant ivory along with two 45.5-kilogram carcasses resembling black panthers. Nationalities have not been disclosed, and investigators say they are still tracing others tied to the ring. The seizure dwarfs every prior case this year, including more than 110 kilograms of ivory, rhino horn and pangolin parts in Luang Prabang in late June.
Read more: The Star
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