Government
International relations
Laos placed in top quarter of global peace rankings
Laos has been ranked 41st out of 162 countries in terms of peace, according to the recent Global Peace Index 2015 (GPI) report. The report ranked countries in five categories from ‘Very High’ to ‘Very Low’, and had Laos in the second best ‘High’ grouping alongside ...
Lao official thanks Vietnamese aid
Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said the support Laos received from the Vietnamese Supreme People’s Procuracy will help the nation successfully host the upcoming 10th ASEAN-China Procurators General Conference. Keep reading ...
Laos, Cambodia enhance cooperation
The opening of general consulates in each other’s main cities, cooperation in border security and education, and the progress of border surveys and marker installation are the results of the longstanding cooperation between Laos and Cambodia. These achievements were reviewed at a meeting between high-ranking officials ...
Spotlight shines on Laos as it takes a turn in the ASEAN chair
As Laos kicks off its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, activists fear that the human rights agenda in the country and the region will get swamped by economic concerns and regional discord over issues like the partition of the South China Sea. “When ...
Laos starts off as ASEAN chair with ministers' retreat
Laos kicks off its Asean chairmanship on 26 February with an agenda-setting foreign ministers’ retreat in Vientiane, its capital on the east bank of the Mekong River. Analysts say this year could be a coming of age for the “lower-middle income economy”, where poverty continues to be ...
China’s expanding influence in Laos
The recently signed Joint General Scheme of Mohan–Boten Economic Cooperation Zone is the first cross-border economic cooperation zone that China has established in Laos and, for that matter, in the whole of Southeast Asia. The deal hints at the Asian giant’s goal to expand its ...
Southeast Asian delegations jet into Laos for Foreign Minister's retreat
Top diplomats and delegations from across 10 countries commenced descent into the Lao capital Thursday in preparation for Saturday’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers Retreat. Keep reading ...
Laos-US relations look to growing ties: US diplomat
Relations between Laos and the United States have been transforming towards growing ties, a US fellow and former US ambassador to Laos has noted. Adjunct Senior Fellow of the East-West Centre based in Hawaii, Charles B. Salmon Jr., made the comment during a recent meeting with ...
Inefficiency slowing development along Lao-Viet border
Human resource development and awareness of self-ownership and self-reliance on the part of local authorities is inadequate and is hindering the progress of grassroots development projects. This finding was reported at a meeting in Vientiane on 19 February to review development progress in areas along the shared ...
US, ASEAN agree on freedom of navigation principle
President Barack Obama and the leaders of Southeast Asia called on 16 February for peaceful resolution of the region’s maritime disputes as they concluded a summit in California. Mr Obama told a news conference that disputes must be resolved by legal means, including a case brought by ...
