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 widespread, but which is one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.

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