Mekong Memo Laos 20230823

Mekong Memo Laos Weekly, August 23, 2023: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal updates.

We monitor and filter the very best and most insightful stories from Southeast Asia directly to your inbox every week.

By reviewing a wide variety of media including legal, financial and other relevant industries along with government and NGO sources, we are able to sift through the noise and bring you only what we believe to be relevant to an informed observer of Laos business news.

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 are headlines-only for non-paid subscribers.

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With that said, here is your Mekong Memo Laos for the week of August 23, 2023:

Headlines:

Central Bank Dismisses Rumors About Foreign Currency Restrictions

Laos Records Highest Trade Deficit of 2023 in July

Government Unveils $128 Million Loan Policy to Stimulate Economy

Cambodia and Laos Initiate Cross-Border QR Code Payments

Consortium Proposes Vietnam-Laos Railway to Boost Regional Trade

Laos Raises Minimum Wage to Counter Inflation and Labor Drain

Calls for Cooperation to Tackle 'Golden Triangle' Crime Epidemic

Accelerated Thai Action Needed to Overcome High-Speed Rail Delays

Vietnam Province Plans Cross-Border Coal Conveyor From Laos

Concerns Over Laos' New Chinese-Controlled Ports and Economic Zone

Thai Fruit Exports to China Skyrocket Due to China-Laos Railway

Enhanced Air Connectivity Boosts Laos' Tourism and Regional Ties

ASEAN Seeks East Asian Support for Regional Electric Vehicle Ecosystem

NASA: Shifting Cultivation in Laos Alters Land Cover

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This week’s Mekong Memo is sponsored by Smiling Albino’s Bensley Art Trail 2023. Join Smiling Albino and Bill Bensley for an exclusive trip of Bensley-designed hotels in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos and find your long lost artistic child within.

Bill Bensley, for the first time ever, is conducting a 12-day tour of some of his
favorite resorts while conducting immersive art classes along the way.

This will be a colorful journey for discerning lovers of art, luxury, design and
conservation, culminating in a worthy cause.

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