Month: April 2022

Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Suansavan Viyaketh has presented to Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh a plan on preparation for the full opening of the country to visitors, business people, investors and ordinary people wishing to enter or leave the Lao PDR from May 1, 2022 for his consideration.

At a meeting on the preparation for the full opening of the country on Apr 26, representatives of government sectors and business community agreed on the guidance of the government on the full opening of the country to foreign visitors.

Under the proposed plan, the Lao PDR will fully open to foreign visitors, including those traveling through and not through tour agents provided that they hold a certificate proving either they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 for at least 14 days before their trip or they used to be infected with Covid-19.

Travelers younger than 18 years old can enter the Lao PDR without vaccination certificates.

Visitors with certificates proving they are full vaccinated and children under five are not required to take RT-PCR test before entering the Lao PDR.

Those without vaccination certificates are required to have RT-PCR test certificates 72 hours before their departure for the Lao PDR.

Once arriving in the Lao PDR, they must take RDT/ATK test.

Trippers who enter the Lao PDR in the morning and return to their homeland in the evening (1-day trippers) must hold vaccination certificates and take RDT/ATK test. Those without such certificates must take RT-PCR test 48 before entering the Lao PDR.

Visitors must purchase health or Covid-19 insurance with a minimum protection of US$10,000, either in their home countries or in the Lao PDR. Once arriving in the Lao PDR, they must take RDT/ATK test conducted by medical professionals.

Visitors whose trips are arranged by tour companies can have samples collected for Covid test and wait for the test results at facilities arranged by the companies.

Visitors traveling individually will need to wait for the test result not more than one hour. If the test result is negative, they can continue with their travel plan.

Those who are not fully vaccinated must quarantine themselves for 7 days even though the RDT/ATK test suggests they are negative to the virus.

While traveling in the Lao PDR, visitors need to wear face masks, keep social distancing, frequently wash hands with soaps or alcohol-based gels, observe their symptoms. If they suspect that they have been infected with Covid-19 or they are at risk of being infected, they must take self test.

If the test results suggest they are infected, they need to notify the hotel or the place where they are staying immediately.

Source: Lao News Agency

Fifty-two companies investing in the Saysettha Development Zone, Vientiane have started manufacturing with other 55 firms entering initial stages of building factories.

Most of the companies in the economic zone represent China, Thailand, Japan, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore.

Phase one of the development of the economic zone has been completed as developers have built necessary infrastructure, including roads, water supply, electricity, communications facilities, and customs offices.

“Right now, the Saysettha Development Zone is focusing on developing a commerce and tourism centre and new urban areas of Vientiane. So far we have invested 1.3 billion US dollars including 600 million dollars for basici infrastructure development,” said Deputy Director General, Laos-China Joint Venture Company Khiengkham Phoutchanthavong.

During his recent visit to the economic zone, Vice President Bounthong Chitmany appreciated the management committee of the zone upon its achievements, mostly in attracting several major foreign companies to promote the development in the zone and the Lao PDR as a whole, and make the zone a new source of revenues for Vientiane.

He noted that the zone represented the friendship and cooperation between Laos and China.

The Vice President also called on the committee to continue to implement the second phase of the development project to make the zone a model city, a commercial and tourism hub.

Source: Lao News Agency

South Korea said Friday it will lift its outdoor mask mandate next week in response to a steady drop in COVID-19 cases after an omicron-fueled surge.

The announcement comes after Seoul dropped almost all other social-distancing measures earlier this month, ending two years of strict requirements that put a massive strain on the country’s small businesses.

From Monday, residents will no longer be required to wear face masks outdoors unless attending an event with more than 50 participants, health authorities said.

“As social-distancing measures are lifted and the mask mandate is being adjusted, people are increasingly returning to their normal lives,” Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), told reporters.

“This is all thanks to the patience and cooperation of the people over a long period of time,” Jeong added.

South Korea’s incoming administration, headed by conservative president-elect Yoon Suk-y, on Friday criticized the decision to end the mask mandate as “premature,” questioning if it had been based solely on “virus prevention measures.”

Ahn Cheol-soo, chief of Yoon’s transition team, had previously said the new government planned to make a decision on the mandate in May.

South Korea reported 50,568 new coronavirus cases Friday, well down from the peak of more than 620,000 a day in mid-March.

The KDCA’s Jeong said there had been a “steady decrease” in COVID-19 cases for the past six weeks.

“The number of new critically ill patients is also decreasing,” she said, adding hospitals had enough beds to treat new inpatients.

More than 86% of South Korea’s 51 million people have been fully vaccinated, with the majority also receiving a booster shot.

About 22,700 people in the country have died from the coronavirus — a 0.13% fatality rate, one of the world’s lowest.

Source: Voice of America

China has suspended cross-border freight train services with North Korea following consultations after COVID-19 infections in its border city of Dandong, the foreign ministry said Friday.

The suspension came within four months after North Korea eased border lockdowns enforced early in 2020 against the coronavirus, measures global aid groups have blamed for its worsening economic woes and risks to food supplies for millions.

“Due to the COVID situation in Dandong, after friendly consultation between both sides, China has decided to suspend freight services from Dandong to Sinuiju,” foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing in Beijing.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said authorities in Dandong had acted on a request from North Korea, citing unidentified sources.

Authorities in Seoul, the capital of neighboring South Korea, said they were keeping watch on the situation.

The Chinese city of Dandong has been fighting a COVID-19 outbreak since late April, reporting 220 infections from April 24-27.

By Wednesday, authorities had locked down 77 residential compounds, while people elsewhere were asked to keep to designated areas.

North Korea has not officially reported any COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began but adopted border curbs among its anti-virus measures.

Source: Voice of America

Hong Kong’s next leader unveiled a manifesto Friday vowing to restore the business hub to its former glory but would not be drawn on when the city might discard zero-Covid controls that have left it internationally cut off.

John Lee, a former top cop and security chief, is expected to be appointed Hong Kong’s new chief executive by a committee of some 1,500 Beijing loyalists on May 8.

He faces no competition but will inherit a city convulsed by huge democracy protests, an ongoing crackdown on political freedoms and more than two years of pandemic curbs that have left residents and businesses internationally isolated.

“Covid is not going to live with us forever, at some stage it will be under control,” Lee told reporters when asked when Hong Kong would reopen to the world.

“It is important we will do a good balancing act,” he added.

China is the only major economy still sticking to the zero-tolerance strategy even as the highly transmissible Omicron variant breaks through those defenses and forces painful restrictions in both Hong Kong and on the mainland.

Hong Kong is at the tail end of a deadly Omicron wave, killing some 9,000 residents and sparking an exodus from the city’s business community.

Lee said Friday his 44-page manifesto will guide his attempt to restore Hong Kong’s sheen when he takes over from outgoing leader Carrie Lam on July 1 — the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover to China by Britain.

But despite fronting a campaign with the slogan “Starting a new chapter for Hong Kong together”, Lee’s policies so far indicate minimal change from the current Beijing-directed course under Lam’s administration.

Lee, 64, was a key figure in the suppression of huge democracy protests and is among 11 top Hong Kong and Beijing officials sanctioned by the United States.

He vowed Friday that a host of new national security crimes will be outlawed in local legislation, bolstering the already sweeping law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 designed to quash dissent.

Efforts to “cultivate a new generation that loves the country and Hong Kong” will continue, he added.

Like other chief executives since the handover, Lee pinpointed the chronic shortage of affordable housing as a key area his administration needed to tackle.

Hong Kong has long held the title of the world’s most unaffordable housing market, where a study this year showed the median property price is 23 times the median household income.

“After all the big debates on land use, it’s time for execution,” Lee said, vowing to build more housing as well as speed up and streamline land sales.

Source: Voice of America