Laos digs deep to help Vietnam counter effects of climate change

• Vietnam's 2016 drought-hit rice output to fall 1.5 percent: government official
• Shrimp farmers going broke due to severe drought
• Japan provides $2.5 million in urgent aid to drought-hit Vietnam
• Historic drought costs Vietnam $400 million

Phomma Sitsena from the Lao Embassy said that it might not be a lot, but it showed how much the Lao government and people want to help Vietnam overcome this difficult time.

It is estimated that 420,000 families in southern provinces have suffered from severe drought and salinity for the last ten months. About 1.5 million people are lacking clean water and more than 400,000 hectares of crops have dried up and died.

The country has for the first time also called on the international community to support a $48.5 million program to overcome the most severe drought it has suffered in nearly a century.