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| Laos approves Xayaburi 'mega' dam on Mekong | Laos approves Xayaburi 'mega' dam on Mekong |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Laos has given the go-ahead to build a massive dam on the lower Mekong river, despite opposition from neighbouring countries and environmentalists. | Laos has given the go-ahead to build a massive dam on the lower Mekong river, despite opposition from neighbouring countries and environmentalists. |
| A formal ceremony marking the start of full construction at Xayaburi would be held on Wednesday, the government said. | A formal ceremony marking the start of full construction at Xayaburi would be held on Wednesday, the government said. |
| Countries downstream from the $3.5bn (£2.2bn) dam fear it will affect fish stocks and the livelihoods of millions. | Countries downstream from the $3.5bn (£2.2bn) dam fear it will affect fish stocks and the livelihoods of millions. |
| The announcement came as leaders from Asia and Europe began a two-day meeting in the Laos capital, Vientiane. | The announcement came as leaders from Asia and Europe began a two-day meeting in the Laos capital, Vientiane. |
| Landlocked Laos is one of South-east Asia's poorest countries and its strategy for development is based on generating electricity from its rivers and selling the power to its neighbours, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok. | Landlocked Laos is one of South-east Asia's poorest countries and its strategy for development is based on generating electricity from its rivers and selling the power to its neighbours, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok. |
| Xayaburi is being built by a Thai company with Thai money - and almost all of the electricity has been pre-sold to Thailand, our correspondent says. | Xayaburi is being built by a Thai company with Thai money - and almost all of the electricity has been pre-sold to Thailand, our correspondent says. |
| Countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam point to a report last year that said the project should be delayed while more research was done on the dam's environmental impact. Up to now Laos had promised not to press ahead while those concerns remained. | |
| Four dams already exist in the narrow gorges of the Upper Mekong in China but until now there have been none on the slower moving lower reaches of the river, our correspondent says. | |
| Laos deputy energy minister Viraphonh Virawong said he hoped the Xayaburi dam would be the first of many. | |
| "I am very confident that we will not have any adverse impacts on the Mekong river," Mr Viraphonh told the BBC. "But any development will have changes. We have to balance between the benefits and the costs." | |
| Mr Virawong said he believed that concerns about fish migration and sediment flow had been addressed thanks to modifications to the original dam design costing $100m. | |
| "We can sense that Vietnam and Cambodia now understand how we have addressed their concerns. We did address this properly with openness and put all our engineers at their disposal. We are convinced we are developing a very good dam." | |
| There was no immediate reaction from Cambodia or Vietnam, whose prime ministers are in Laos for this week's Asia-Europe summit. | |
| Under the terms of a longstanding agreement on the Mekong, there must be consultation between countries on any development on the river. |