During the 6th Plenary Session of the 11th Party Central Committee held last week, President Thongloun Sisoulith addressed the committee, asking them to focus on several key tasks to overcome the current economic situation in Laos.

During the meeting which was chaired by the President, party members unanimously agreed to maintain unity and tackle the current economic situation for the socio-economic development of the country.

The committee also agreed to help Laos increase its production strength and become less reliant on imports, and develop policies to further promote exemptions for production-related businesses. 

One of the main topics discussed during the session was the need to prevent budget leaks and reduce expenditures to prioritize savings.

Furthermore, President Thongloun and the committee agreed to focus on developing the tourism sector as the country prepares to declare 2024 as the year of tourism and also chair the ASEAN 2024 Summit. Lao Leaders are focused on increasing bilateral cooperation with ASEAN and other countries as well.

According to Target Magazine, the government is also keen on bridging the gap between the Lao diaspora settled abroad and their homeland to increase their contribution to the development of the nation.

Laos previously chaired ASEAN in 2004-2005 and 2016, and also hosted the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2004 and 2013, which successfully publicized the country’s many tourist attractions. 

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2023/06/15/lao-govt-look-manufacturing-tourism-industries-to-help-overcome-economic-turmoil/

Mr.Thongloun Sisoulith, the President of Laos, has selected members of a new National Committee to implement the Digital Transformation plan for economic and social development in the country.

The committee was created after the government of Laos expressed its interest in Blockchain 4.0 Development for Digital Economy Development in May.

Around 22 senior government officials are part of the committee, including Prime Minister Mr. Sonexay Siphandone, who will be the president of the committee, and there will be three deputy presidents namely Lieutenant General Vilay Lakhamfong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Security, Mr. Saleumxay Kommasith, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Communications and Technology Mr. Boviengkham Vongdara.

The new committee will set guidelines, strategies, policies, and mechanisms to guide and implement the transformation of the digital economy at central and local government levels.

In addition, it will monitor the implementation of the National Digital Economic Development Vision for 2021-2040, the National Digital Economic Development Strategy for 2021-2030, and the National Digital Economic Development Plan for 2021-2025.

Laos ranks ninth out of the ten ASEAN countries in terms of digital access, affordability, and quality of internet services, according to a UNDP report in 2022.

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2023/06/08/lao-president-appoints-new-committee-for-countrys-digital-transformation/

Hundreds of thousands of Laotian refugees who escaped the Secret War settled in major Western countries such as the US, France, and Canada, through a resettlement program to ensure their safety and survival. However, it is not widely known that many more countries took part in these resettlement programs. Today, we will take a look at one such community, where a substantial number of Laotians have made their home in the far northeast region of Posadas, Argentina.

Mr. Pong Bounchanavong attended the video call interview wearing a sleeveless Beerlao shirt that he bought when visiting Laos years ago; although Beerlao is extremely rare in Argentina (or perhaps because it is so rare), he proudly displays the iconic Lao national beer insignia often in his day-to-day life. He introduced his wife Ms. Somboun Hamsouvan who has been in Argentina for nearly 50 years and runs a garment business and shop in the city of Posadas. 

“We moved here in 1975 after fleeing from the war into a UN resettlement program for Lao people. My father selected Argentina although he did not know the place and did not have many choices, but needed to get out of the resettlement camp as soon as possible due to the crowding and difficulties,” Mr. Pong Bounchanavong says, before hurrying out of the frame momentarily to greet customers in his shop with a flurry of fluent Spanish. 

Unfortunately, upon arrival in Argentina, Laotian refugees were separated from each other, with some families living far apart in rural areas of the country and not quite maintaining contact with their relatives who had also migrated to the same country. This caused fragmentation and disintegration within the community, and many families had to go undertake great efforts to keep their language and culture alive so far from home.

“My family was assigned to a room with walls that separated us from others and we awaited legal documents to reside there for a month. My parents were taught Spanish, but due to the constraints of time and relocation, they were unable to communicate in the language fully. Some families were sent to work on the border near Bolivia, picking oranges, limes, and pomelos,” Ms. Somboun says, struggling to pronounce the names of the fruits in Lao. Her speech is peppered with sudden interjections of Spanish–a testament to the difficulties of keeping Lao language fluency so far from home, especially before the era of internet media brought the world closer.

Many younger Laotian-Argentinians also find it difficult to uphold their linguistic heritage and cultural awareness, given that Spanish is so prevalent within the Lao population in Argentina, and adapting to traditional practices can also pose difficulties for some.

“Some of the young Lao people in Argentina feel unfamiliar when they wear traditional Lao outfits… Women don’t want to wear the Sinh anymore because they feel uncomfortable walking in it,” says Ms. Somboun.

Culturally, the Lao community desired a way to maintain customs and traditions and the way of Buddhism that they had left as they relocated to a new country. 

“In the past the Lao community used to try to practice Christianity like Argentinians, however, some of the older generations wished to preserve their Lao identity and Buddhist practices in their daily lives. Some spoke of wanting to die in a Lao Buddhist way,” says the President of Templo Budista Laos, Ms. Crystal Bounxayavong.

Laotian immigrants in Argentina built the first and only Lao Buddhist temple in the late 1970s in Posadas, Misiones Province, where Laotians could socialize and reconnect with their missing relations, re-building connections between the culture and the people where gatherings and religious ceremonies are often organized. 

“I feel very blessed to have managed to bring the monks from Laos to Argentina to help reconnect us with our traditions,” she says. 

Most Lao-Argentinians chose to settle and live in the north of Argentina, near Posadas, where the climate is similar to that of their home country, even though the two counties are quite distant geographically. 

“Lao people cultivate bamboo and papaya as the hot and humid weather conditions are perfect for their cultivation. Also, some products here, like rice, are very inexpensive,” say Mr. Pong and his wife. 

The Laotian community in Argentina combines their traditional cuisine with local Argentinian dishes, taking advantage of the country’s reputation for producing high-quality meat. Argentinian cuisine, characterized by its well-prepared cuts of pork and beef, goes hand in hand with the delectable flavors of Laotian cuisine.

“It’s a must for Lao people here to have papaya salad and bamboo soup with some Argentinian grilled beef or ribs. When we share our food with the Argentinians at the temple, they like to knead the rice into a ball shape like Lao people,” he says. 

With the soaring rate of inflation plaguing Argentina currently, many Laotians struggle to make a living, but their inherent skills, heritage, and traditional ways of living in harmony with nature provide relief. 

“The inflation in Argentina is quite challenging as it increases every week, but fortunately, the government assists children and the elderly during such tough times. The cost of living in Argentina is high, but it is still livable for now,” says Mr. Pong’s wife. 

Despite a separation from their homeland and the hardships of restarting life in a new foreign country several decades ago, this group of Laotian-Argentinians highlighted their commitment to preserve their cultural identities so that they would be recognized as Laotians no matter where they are. 

“We don’t want to travel anywhere other than our own home country. We get emotional when we see Lao traditions being celebrated on social media, but now, since we reside in Argentina, we try and keep our culture alive here as much as we can.” the Laotian-Argentine couple says. 

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2023/06/07/lao-argentinians-proudly-upkeep-their-identities-in-south-america/

Air Asia will resume three weekly flights from Vientiane Capital to Kuala Lumpur in August to boost more tourism between the two countries.

The announcement came from Ms. Zalina Ahmad, the Deputy Director of Tourism of Malaysia’s International Promotion Division for Southeast Asia at the Malaysia Tourism Roadshow on Wednesday.

According to Ms. Ahmad, the three weekly flights will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting on 4 August.

Ms. Ahmad mentioned at the event that Lao tourists can still visit Malaysia before August by flying on Scoot Air from Vientiane to Singapore and then entering Malaysia at the Johor Bahru border crossing, or by flying on AirAsia and Thai Airways via Bangkok and then taking a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Mr. Edi Irwan Mahmud, Malaysian Ambassador to Laos, who also attended the event, remarked that Malaysia is committed to developing strong commercial connections with  travel agents to cater to Lao people’s needs.

He added that Malaysia is keen to attract more Lao tourists to visit the country and hopes that these efforts will encourage business partners to promote Malaysia as a top destination for vacations. He also hopes to see tourism companies in Laos create new travel itineraries for their customers going to Malaysia.

According to Lao Youth Radio, Tourism Malaysia plans to work closely with Lao tourism operators in order to achieve its goal of attracting 16.1 million international tourists this year, earning RM 49.2 billion (USD 9.27 billion) in revenue.

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2023/05/26/air-asia-to-restart-weekly-flights-from-vientiane-to-kuala-lumpur-in-august/

One hundred top performing fifth graders from primary schools in Laos are currently on a visit to China to celebrate International Children’s Day.

The students, accompanied by 25 teachers, departed on Tuesday to participate in the sixth International Children’s Day celebrations being hosted by China.

Mr. Sisamouth Saenbountalath, the leader of the student delegation, said that the participating students are all fifth-graders from public and private primary schools throughout Laos who excelled at the national level in Lao language literature, mathematics, and science.

The celebration tour will last a total of 16 days (from 23 May to 7 June) and will include stops in several Chinese provinces.

The primary school students will travel to the provinces of Kunming, Beijing, Xi’an, and Fuzhou. In these provinces, students have the opportunity to visit notable institutions for cultural exchange, such as Tiger Hill Elementary School, Xinhua University, Beijing Bayi Elementary School, etc.

The primary purpose of the trip is to allow students to share their knowledge, ideas, and also interact and learn from an international community of students they meet in China.

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2023/05/25/100-primary-school-students-visit-china-to-celebrate-international-childrens-day/