From 14 October, Lao designers and businesses will be able to protect the look of their products in multiple countries through a single application submitted to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), instead of filing separate applications in every country where they want protection.

The change works both ways. Foreign companies using WIPO’s Hague System will also be able to include Laos in the same application, making it easier to protect their product designs when doing business in the country.

Laos formally joined the system on 14 July by signing the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement. Once it takes effect in October, Laos will become the 79th member of the treaty, extending the Hague System’s reach to 102 countries.

What Does This Actually Protect?

The Hague System protects industrial designs; what a product looks like.

That could be the shape of a bottle, the pattern on a textile, the design of a chair, the packaging of a product, or even the appearance of a phone case.

Until now, a Lao company that wanted to protect the design of one product in several countries usually had to submit separate applications under different legal systems and often in different languages.

The Hague System simplifies that process. Businesses can file one application through WIPO, pay one set of fees, and request protection in multiple countries at the same time. A single application can even cover up to 100 designs within the same product category. 

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For Lao businesses, especially those exporting handicrafts, furniture, textiles, consumer goods, and other design-based products, the new system could reduce both costs and paperwork when protecting their designs overseas.

It could also make Laos more attractive to foreign investors and manufacturers by giving them a simpler way to secure design rights when entering the Lao market.

Part of Wider Intellectual Property Reforms

Joining the Hague System is only one part of Laos’ broader effort to modernize its intellectual property laws.

In late 2025, the government introduced a new Patent and Petty Patent Decision that updated several procedures without overhauling the entire patent system.

One of the biggest changes was that foreign applicants without a registered address in Laos must work through authorized local intellectual property agents when filing patent applications. The rules also brought the patent system into the digital age by recognising inventions that have already been disclosed in both printed publications and online sources when deciding whether an invention is genuinely new.

The reforms also allows anyone to ask the Department of Intellectual Property to carry out a patent search to check whether an invention has already been registered.

Laos has steadily expanded its participation in international intellectual property agreements over the past three decades. It joined WIPO in 1995, became a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2006, joined the Madrid System for international trademark registration in 2015, and acceded to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on geographical indications in 2020.

By joining the Hague System, Laos has added another international tool that makes it easier for businesses to protect their ideas and designs while strengthening the country’s legal framework for trade, investment, and innovation. 

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2026/07/15/laos-opens-new-route-for-businesses-to-protect-product-designs-abroad/

Born into one of Laos’ most powerful royal families, former President Souphanouvong could have lived a life of comfort under French colonial rule. Instead, he became the key figure of the country’s communist revolution from the late 50s and, eventually, its first president in 1975.

Laos marked the 117th anniversary of his birth on 13 July, with President Thongloun Sisoulith laying flowers at his statue in Luang Prabang and officials paying tribute nationwide. Yet, the ceremony is the latest reminder of how a French-trained engineer became the “Red Prince” who helped end one of Southeast Asia’s last monarchies. 

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Born a Prince, Raised Apart

Souphanouvong was born 13 July 1909, at the Sisouvanna Palace in Xieng Dong, Luang Prabang, one of the sons of Prince Bounkhong, the last viceroy of Luang Prabang. But his position within the royal family was always unusual. Unlike his half-brothers Souvanna Phouma and Phetsarath Ratanavongsa, whose mothers held royal status, Souphanouvong’s mother, Mom Kham Ouane, was a commoner.

This marked the beginning of one of the biggest political rivalries in modern Lao history. Souphanouvong became one of the “Three Princes,” alongside Souvanna Phouma and Prince Boun Oum of Champasak.

Each represented a different political path, reflecting the old divisions that remained after the Lan Xang Kingdom broke apart into the kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak in the early 1700s. Boun Oum stood with the royalists, Souvanna Phouma tried to keep Laos neutral, while Souphanouvong became the leader of the armed revolutionary movement.

An Engineer Radicalized by Empire

Nothing in Souphanouvong’s early life suggested he would become a revolutionary leader. He first studied at the Lycée Albert Sarraut in Hanoi before going to Paris to study civil engineering at the École nationale des ponts et chaussées. After graduating in 1937, he returned to French Indochina and spent nearly ten years building roads and bridges in central Vietnam and Laos, including the Xe Bang Hiang Bridge in Savannakhet Province. 

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According to Lao historical accounts, it was this work that changed his outlook. As he traveled across then-French Indochina and worked within the colonial administration, he saw firsthand how local people were treated under the colonial rule.

Those experiences are widely believed to have influenced his decision to leave engineering behind and join the struggle against the colonizers. By 1945, as Japan’s occupation came to an end and France sought to regain control of Indochina, Souphanouvong had joined the Pathetlao movement, the communist-aligned resistance group that he helped establish and lead.

Thirty Years Underground and in Exile

What followed was three decades of clandestine run.

Souphanouvong spent much of the next thirty years fighting a war fought on multiple fronts at once: against French colonial forces, then against the U.S.-backed Royal Lao Government, often in coordination with North Vietnamese forces during the wider Indochina wars.

His own half-brother, Souvanna Phouma, would serve repeatedly as prime minister of the government Souphanouvong’s movement was trying to overthrow. 

History

The Pathetlao’s fortunes shifted permanently in 1975, as communist forces swept through Vietnam and Cambodia. Laos followed the same trajectory. The monarchy fell, and on 2 December 1975, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) was proclaimed. Souphanouvong became the new republic’s first president.

He held the office in an active capacity from December 1975 until October 1986, when declining health forced him to step back.

Rather than formally resign, Souphanouvong retained the presidential title for another five years while Phoumi Vongvichit governed as acting president in his place. That arrangement that lasted until August 1991, when Kaysone Phomvihane, the country’s first prime minister, was installed as the officially elected second president under a new constitution.

Souphanouvong died in Vientiane on 9 January 1995, of heart disease, at age 85. The government declared five days of national mourning.

Today the country celebrate his birth anniversary with ceremonies, floral tributes, and official commemorations honoring his role in the revolutionary struggle and the founding of the Lao PDR. 

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source: https://laotiantimes.com/2026/07/13/the-red-prince-how-souphanouvong-traded-royal-privilege-for-revolution/

Laos earned more than USD 1 billion from agriculture and forestry exports in the first half of 2026, reaching about 53 percent of the government’s full-year target of USD 1.9 billion, according to official figures. 

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Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone reported the figure at the First Extraordinary Session of the 10th National Assembly, running from 6 until 10 July in Vientiane.

Crops brought in the largest share, earning USD 752 million, followed by timber, rubber, and other forest products at USD 158.64 million. Livestock exports grew more slowly, totaling USD 98.67 million. 

During his speech, Sonexay said the sector grew 4.3 percent in the first half of the year, accounting for 17.4 percent of the country’s overall economic growth.

Laos has also been opening new markets for its farm goods. 

As of June, the country had secured approval to export 84 agricultural and livestock product lines to China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, giving Lao farmers and exporters more places to sell their goods.

That momentum showed up in a series of new trade deals. In June, Laos and South Korea signed agreements worth more than USD 1.1 million to launch a pilot project exporting Lao-grown chili peppers and cabbage to the Korean market, along with a second deal to bring Korean tissue culture technology to Lao farms. 

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Laos also strengthened trade ties with Cambodia, launching new export and transit rules on 22 June that let Cambodian crops such as durian, longan, banana, mango, rice, and cassava pass through Laos on their way to China. Under the same agreement, Laos will export rice, coffee, blueberries, pumpkin, cabbage, and tamarind directly to Cambodia.

Officials said the government is relying on new tools like the Lao Agrolink digital platform, launched in late May, to make agricultural trade faster and easier for businesses by cutting paperwork and improving oversight of the supply chain.

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2026/07/08/laos-agricultural-forestry-exports-top-usd-1-billion-in-first-half-of-2026/

Expanding the railway to southern Laos, rolling out a new school system, reducing poverty, and improving roads and water supply were among the key issues discussed during the First Ordinary Session of the 10th National Assembly this week. 

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Lawmakers questioned ministers on infrastructure, education, rural development, and environmental protection as the government outlined its priorities for the remainder of 2026.

One of the main proposals came from Champasak lawmaker Alounxay Sounnalath, who urged the government to extend the railway network to southern Laos.

Speaking during the Assembly session, he said expanding the railway would improve transport, support trade and production, and help boost economic growth in the region.

He also called for clearer import management policies, better coordination between central and local authorities, and a fair distribution of the government’s proposed 2,500 new civil service positions, with priority given to healthcare workers and long-serving volunteer teachers.

Roads and Water Supply

The call for railway expansion came as the government outlined broader plans to strengthen the country’s transport infrastructure. 

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Minister of Public Works and Transport Leklai Sivilay said the government will continue upgrading national highways, provincial roads, district roads, and village access roads to improve transport, reduce accidents, and support trade and tourism.

He said priority will be given to projects that already have funding or signed contracts, while additional financing will come from road maintenance funds, state investment, official development assistance (ODA), and public-private partnerships.

The government also plans to expand community water supply systems, improve urban planning, reduce flooding, and strengthen waste management.

According to Leklai, ministries will also work together to improve road access to tourist attractions and agricultural production areas.

New School System From 2028

Beyond infrastructure, lawmakers also heard updates on reforms in the education sector. 

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Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone confirmed that Laos will begin introducing its new 6+3+3 education system, starting with Grade 6 in the 2028–2029 academic year.

The reform will extend primary school from five years to six years, reduce lower secondary education from four years to three, and keep upper secondary education at three years.

The government is also revising the curriculum for all 12 grades, developing new textbooks and teachers’ guides, restructuring teacher training institutions into a national teacher training university, and preparing to establish the Lao-Vietnam Friendship University and the Lao-Russia Friendship School.

Sonexay said the government will continue addressing teacher shortages and expanding opportunities for volunteer teachers to become civil servants.

Poverty Reduction

The government’s social development agenda also featured prominently during the session.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Santiphab Phomvihane said the government is preparing a new national agenda on rural development and poverty reduction.

The plan aims to lift more than 100,000 families out of poverty by 2030, reducing the national poverty rate from 14.78 percent to a single-digit figure.

The government also plans to remove more than 1,000 villages and 25 districts from the national poverty list while creating four to five model villages in each province.

Santiphab said the strategy focuses on creating stable jobs and incomes, improving infrastructure, expanding access to education, healthcare, and clean water, allocating land, and attracting more domestic and foreign investment into rural development. 

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He said Laos currently has 189,792 poor families, 2,173 poor villages, and 66 poor districts.

Forest Restoration

Environmental protection was another issue raised by lawmakers during the debate.

Members of the National Assembly questioned the government about the continued loss of forest cover linked to mining, hydropower, agriculture, and other development projects.

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Linkham Douangsavanh said forests currently cover 62.56 percent of Laos, and the government aims to increase that figure to 65 percent by 2030.

To reach the target, authorities plan to restore 520,000 hectares of natural forest, plant 200,000 hectares of industrial trees, and continue surveying and allocating forest land while strengthening reforestation efforts funded by development projects.

source: https://laotiantimes.com/2026/07/09/railway-expansion-education-reform-among-key-issues-at-national-assembly/