Mekong - U.S. Partnership
Engaging Thai Youth in Protecting Threatened Ecosystems
From January 15 to 17, the USAID-funded Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests project, in collaboration with the Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, organized a youth training camp on water quality and river ecosystem monitoring. More than 30 children from five schools in the Mae Sa Catchment area, part of the Mae…
Local Government and Stakeholders in Vietnam Work Together for Climate Resilience
Under USAID's Mekong–Building Climate Resilience in Asian Cities project, city partners in Hue, Vietnam began a shared planning process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to develop decision support tools to improve flood management.Vulnerability assessments previously conducted by local government partners as part of the project identified the linkages between flooding and urban…
Fourth LMI English Seminar Closes in Vientiane
The U.S. Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Institute for International Affairs concluded the fourth of six planned seminars aimed at improving the English skills of Lao officials working on health, environment, and infrastructure issues. Deputy Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Embassy to the Lao P.D.R. Kenneth Kosakowski and Deputy Director General of…
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Endangered Species Application Presented to Mobile Solutions Workshop
On January 6, members of the USAID-funded Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking Program (ARREST) team presented Wildscan to the Mobile Solutions for Development Workshop at the Regional Development Mission Asia’s Regional Training Center in Bangkok, Thailand.Wildscan is an endangered species identification and response smartphone application currently under development with Vimi.co., Ltd., and is expected to be released…
Mobile Malaria Workers Drive Down Cases in Rural Myanmar
People in the remote village of War Taw in southern Myanmar often do battle with malaria. Here, villagers earn their living working in and around forests that harbor malaria-carrying mosquitoes, but health services are scarce and far away.Villagers who contracted serious illnesses like malaria and needed professional health care often had to travel across the…
Asian Youth Tackle Environmental Issues
They came from all over Southeast Asia and met on the beach. And cleaned it. Without pay. That’s not all. They had to compete for the opportunity.“You need to step outside your comfort zone and make a difference,” said Thai volunteer Rungtip Junlah when asked why she joined in. “Volunteering is another way you can…
ASEAN Negotiators Explore Ways for Liberalization of Trade in Services
Recognizing the importance of services trade liberalization for the successful formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015, the USAID’s ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment (ACTI) project supported a workshop on Trade in Services Scheduling last month in Luang Prabang, Laos.Under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS), each ASEAN Member State (AMS)…
Rule of Law Roadshow in Cambodia
The Human Right Resource Center, with the support of USAID/RDMA, hosted a conference entitled “The Rule of Law in ASEAN: Prospects and Challenges for the Business Community in Cambodia for 2015 and Beyond”.Government and NGO officials, as well as representatives of business associations attended the event. H.E. Dato Param Cumaraswamy, Advocate and Former Special Rapporteur…
Myanmar Officials Prepare for ASEAN Chairmanship in Washington, D.C.
In mid-December, USAID and the U.S. Department of State welcomed a delegation of ten senior officials from Myanmar to Washington, D.C. to discuss Myanmar's ASEAN chairmanship in 2014.Over the three days, the delegation had a number of fruitful meetings with officials from the U.S. Department of State, USAID, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of…
Myanmar Legal Changes for National Single Window is on the Way
In response to Myanmar Custom’s request to USAID to identify legal gaps in domestic laws, in November 2013 Prof. William J. Luddy, a world-renowned legal expert for trade facilitation, conducted a comprehensive legal gap analysis to identify potential barriers to the eventual operation of Myanmar’s National Single Window (NSW) and the interoperability between the Myanmar…
The United States and ASEAN Officially Launch New Cooperation Programs
On December 6, 2013, the United States celebrated 36 years of partnership with ASEAN with the launch of two new assistance programs. The U.S. Agency of International Development and the U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with other U.S. Government agencies, launched two new five-year programs based at the ASEAN Secretariat. Carrie Thompson, Deputy Mission…
