A 100 MW solar project in Bolikhamxay, Laos, is progressing after developers consulted local communities about a planned 140.23-hectare plant expected to generate 197 GWh annually. APDL Solar Power Sole Co., Ltd. and India’s Kosher Climate India Private Limited are developing the project, though construction has not yet been scheduled. The plant is one of 12 sites in Laos’s national solar development and power-purchasing plan, which aims to address dry-season shortages and raise solar and wind power to 11% of the national electricity mix by 2030. Other major projects are advancing in Oudomxay and Savannakhet, including a 1,000 MW facility exporting electricity to China.

Thailand reinstated a 30-day visa-free tourist stay on September 15, ending the 60-day scheme introduced in 2024. Travellers from 60 countries are now limited to two visa-free land-border entries per calendar year to curb visa runs. Lao citizens remain covered by a separate bilateral agreement granting 30 days without a visa, and the land-entry cap does not appear to apply to them or to foreign nationals residing in Laos. However, officials at the Vientiane-Nong Khai crossing could not clarify how the new limit is being enforced.

African swine fever has spread from Xayabouly Province to five other areas of Laos, leaving 11,369 pigs dead or culled by mid-September 2026. The outbreak has caused millions of kip in losses and could worsen pork shortages. Authorities have banned or restricted pig movements and sales, established checkpoints, mandated vehicle disinfection and threatened penalties for violations. Farmers must report sick or dead pigs, submit samples for testing, isolate affected animals, safely dispose of carcasses and strengthen farm biosecurity.

Laos and Thailand are studying a proposed Friendship Bridge across the Mekong linking Vientiane Province’s Banvang checkpoint with Loei Province’s Ban Khok Phai checkpoint. The roughly 400-meter crossing remains in the feasibility and planning stage, with environmental studies, formal negotiations, cabinet approval and funding arrangements still required. The proposal is part of broader plans for additional Lao-Thai bridges, including crossings linking Luang Prabang with Xiengman and Salavanh with Ubon Ratchathani.

Timor-Leste signed a declaration of accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions during the treaty’s Third Review Conference in Vientiane, hosted by Laos. The signing, carried out by Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas, does not make the country a full member; accession will take effect after it deposits an instrument with the UN Secretary-General. The convention bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions and requires stockpile destruction, clearance, risk education, and assistance for victims. Timor-Leste supported the treaty’s development in 2008 but delayed joining because of limited resources and other priorities, despite a history of casualties from unexploded ordnance.

Eight years after the 2018 collapse of Saddle Dam D at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project in southern Laos, 968 severely affected households in Attapeu Province are due to receive the final compensation payments by the end of September 2026. The package totals LAK 102.6 billion and covers personal belongings such as jewelry, vehicles and livestock, completing six categories of compensation. The collapse killed 49 people, left 22 missing, displaced more than 6,000 residents and caused an estimated LAK 1,300 billion in damage. Reconstruction included 700 replacement homes, completed in 2022 after pandemic-related delays. The hydropower project resumed commercial operations in December 2019 and exports most of its electricity to Thailand.

Laos is hosting the Convention on Cluster Munitions’ Third Review Conference in Vientiane, where more than 800 delegates are expected to adopt a five-year action plan focused on clearance, risk education, victim assistance and international cooperation. Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone emphasized Laos’s decades-long humanitarian burden from wartime unexploded ordnance. The Cluster Munition Monitor reported at least 1,063 casualties worldwide in 2025, continued use by several countries, new production in nine countries and stalled growth in convention membership. Declining humanitarian funding, including US assistance cuts that closed a major victim-assistance project in Laos, threatens survivor support, although land clearance by states parties increased by 15 percent in 2025.

Électricité du Laos and Shenzhen Yichu Smart Energy Group agreed to study battery energy storage systems for Laos’s power grid. The feasibility study will assess how storage could help manage electricity supply and integrate expanding solar and wind generation, including potential locations, capacity, costs, and construction timelines. Laos currently relies on hydropower for about 70 percent of electricity output and aims to raise solar and wind power to 11 percent of its energy mix by 2030.

The Vietnam-backed Dakcheung bauxite mining and alumina processing complex in southern Laos is progressing toward production in 2028. Its first phase is designed to produce one million tonnes of alumina annually, with capacity expected to reach two million tonnes by 2035 and employment to grow to as many as 1,800 workers. Lao and Vietnamese officials and project developers are focusing on water management, mining waste, red mud and local workforce training, reflecting concerns over the potential displacement, livelihood losses and environmental damage associated with earlier bauxite projects in southern Laos.

Laos plans to enter 12 sports at the 14th ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur from October 17–23, 2027, including athletics, swimming, powerlifting, boccia, goalball, blind football, wheelchair basketball, cycling, badminton, wheelchair fencing, tennis, and shooting. The proposed participation follows Laos’s appearance at the 2026 Games in Thailand, where its athletes competed in 13 sports after Cambodia withdrew. The delegation has received support from the Lao government and private sector, including funding for team jerseys.