EXPLORING THE COUNTRY OF LAOS

by

Alcause, Amber Uelui A.

Politics & Governance in SE ASIA

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science 3 (L38 PSM7A)
September 28,2024
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTODUCTION/HISTORY
II. BODY
a) EDUCATION
b) HEALTH
c) LABOR & SOCIAL WELFARE
d) INDUSTRY AND HANDICRAFT
e) SERVICES
f) PEACE & STABILITY
g) ECONOMIC INFRASTRACTURE
III. POLICY REFORMS
IV. GOVERNANCE
V. EXECUTIVE
VI. LEGISLATURE
VII. JUDICIARY
VIII. THE CONSTITUTION
IX. CONCLUSION
X. SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
The Lao PDR is a small landlocked country bordered by Vietnam, Cambodia,
Thailand, Myanmar and China. Two-thirds of the country is made up of rugged
mountains and plateaus ranging from 200 to 2800 meters, thus making land
communications between provinces and between towns in the same province
difficult. The country is endowed with rich natural resources, although not yet
exploited, the plateaus with temperate climate provide grasslands propitious to
cattle rearing and to Mediterranean fruits growing and, with its geographic situation,
it can also become the transit route for the South-East Asian region. The Mekong
River runs through the entire length of the country and forms the border with
Myanmar and Thailand; it provides fertile plains for agriculture and serves also as a
major way of transportation and trade with other provincial capitals and with
riparian neighbouring countries. Forests cover nearly half of the Lao PDR (about 47
percent of the total land area). They are a vital economic resource, provide essential
contributions to the consumption and income of the rural poor and conserve bio-
diversity and soil and water values. The rural population – eighty percent of the Lao
population – relies heavily on the forest for food, fuel, fiber and shelter. Despite the
importance of the resources, deforestation and land degradation are becoming a
serious concern to sustainable use of the country’s natural resources (land, water
and forests). Deforestation is caused mainly by the practice of shifting cultivation,
expansion of agricultural land and unsound logging practices. About 10 percent of
the country’s land area is arable land but this area is, to a significant extent,
contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) which is a serious cause of concern
and a major obstacle for developing rural infrastructure and agriculture. The country
has a population of about 5.2 million inhabitants1 , made up of three main ethnic
groups, with different development level, and scattered over an

area of 236,800 square kilometers, most of whom, particularly those living in

remote areas, still operate in a non-monetized economy. Its scarce population
density – about 21 people per square kilometer – and the lack of access for remote
villages to towns and to main roads, inhibit the expansion of domestic markets.
Despite its abundant natural resources and efforts made by the Government with
the economic reforms during the last decade, the Lao PDR remains poor. According
to the recent Lao Expenditure and Consumption Survey (1997-98), about 39 per
cent of Lao population still live below the established poverty line. Educational and
health standard are lower than in most developing countries; there is a severe
shortage of trained personnel and the physical and socio-economic infrastructure is
inadequate. There are also severe budget and trade deficits; external debt burden
and aid-dependency are increasing. Nevertheless, the Lao PDR has the advantage
of enjoying a socio-political stability. It is against this backdrop that the country is
preparing to enter the New Millenium.
Education
In the Education Sector, schools and various educational institutions have been
expanded; private education has been promoted and efforts have been made for
expanding schools to remote areas, and teacher’s training has been improved and
reorganized in all systems. Adult education and basic vocational training for
mountainous people have been also promoted with due attention. Illiteracy has
been declining and the literacy rate in the target groups of 15-40 year-old increased
to from 70.8 percent in 1996 to 84 percent in 1999. Between 19and 1997, the
number of students completing primary education has doubled, while net primary
enrollment rates increased from 64 percent to 77 percent 4 . Higher Education has
been developed with the establishment of the National University in 1996, unifying
high level educational Institutes. The Government has paid attention to the
implementation of the policy on “ Basic education for all ”. Decree on compulsory
primary education and Law on Compulsory Primary Education and Law on Education
have been enacted in 1996 and 2000 respectively.

Health
The country’s state of health services is poor. Infant under-1 and under-5 mortality
rates (82 and 106 per thousand live births respectively) and maternal mortality rate
(530 per 100,000 live births), are high. Malaria ranks as the most serious public
health hazard, with an estimated 1.4 million cases of incidence in this field and
14,000 deaths annually. Some modest progress has been achieved. Primary health
care awareness and practices have been widely disseminated among the population
with 730 free clinics in the whole country; prevention and cure have progressively
improved in quality. The immunization network, in the framework of the Expanded
Programme on Immunization (EPI), launched in 1982, has been set up throughout
the country; in 1999, 56 percent of the children have been immunized against
diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles and tuberculosis; and polio has been
eradicated. A network for mother and child health care, with birth spacing, nutrition
and health education, has been established and expanded to the grassroots level.
Most of the provincial capitals have water supply systems. Safe drinking water has
been provided for 58.4 percent of the population. Training facilities for development
of medical staff have also been expanded.
Labor and Social Welfare
The new Labour Law has been amended, thus ensuring gradually the regularisation
of employment, and restricting disorganised import of foreign labour force. At the
same time, vocational training centres have been improved, in 2000 the first
vocational training centres for the North has been established in Oudomxay
province, and an employment service unit has been established to assist graduates
to find jobs. Pension, social security and welfare have been improved and expanded
to private enterprises by the Prime Minister Decree no. 207/PM, of 23.12.1999.
Within the framework of Social Welfare, attention has been paid also on the
repatriation and reintegration of Lao refugees. See Box at page 23.

Industry and Handicraft

In 1990, the industrial sector accounted for around 16.6 percent of GDP (having
increased from 11.2 percent in 1988). With the 1986 economic reform, both
domestic and foreign investors have invested substantially in industrial activities,
namely in the field of power, mining, small and medium scale processing industries.
The dominant area for development in the sector is hydropower. Several large and
medium scale hydropower dams in central and southern Laos have been completed,
resulting in a total electricity generation capacity of 627-Megawatt (MW). Several
other small-scale hydropower dams have also been constructed in some northern
and southern provinces. Now, about 35 percent of the population have access to
electricityProcessing and small scale industry of various types such as cement plant,
wood processing plants, furniture processing plants, construction materials,
garments factories, rice mills, biological fertiliser plants, wood oil extraction plants
(for perfume) and cigarettes factories, have developed rapidly in the main urban
areas of different regions. On the whole, industry contributed to nearly 22.0 percent
of GDP in 1999. Manufacturing contributed 75 percent of industrial output,
construction 16 percent, mining and electricity 8 percent6 . Handicraft has also
been developed and grouped together to facilitate business deals. With a view to
promoting Lao Handicraft products, the Lao Silk Fabric Fair was organised in
Vientiane in 1999. Overall, manufacturing is still characterised by small-scale
business, processing and assembly plants predominantly concentrated in and
around Vientiane. The significance of the 'new' export-oriented sub-sectors is still
very limited compared with other countries in the Region. For this reason,
employment in the formal, monetised manufacturing sector (small, medium-sized
and large enterprises) accounts for less than 5 per cent of total employment.
Efficiency and international competitive capabilities vary strongly amongst different
manufacturing sub-sectors and different enterprises. There are a number of
constraints, common to all enterprises, such as a small domestic market, lack of
availability of raw materials within the country, lack of appropriate financing
facilities, high transportation costs both within the country and for exports,
insufficient training facilities and lack of business support services. Cumbersome
import and export procedures as well as scarce foreign exchange add to the
problems faced by the manufacturing sector. There are, however, a number of
opportunities, which will have to be exploited, such as the fact that the Lao PDR is
part of a huge regional market, the opening up of new markets thanks to the
normalisation of trade relations with some countries outside the Region, the
considerable scope for improving both the quality and the quantity of the domestic
raw material base for different kinds of manufacture and the possibilities of niche
markets and niche products.

Services

In the field of trade, efforts have been made to improve and expand the domestic
market, which is constrained by limited purchasing power and the absence of
adequate transportation infrastructure. Construction in recent years of new roads,
especially rural roads, has facilitated the expansion of the wholesale and retail
distribution network to the rural areas. External trade has also developed along
various directions and forms. The Lao banking system has been restructured. A
programme to bring the State – owned Commercial Banks (SOCB) to international
standards have been underway for several years, but generally, the Commercial
Banks are still weak. The public finances have been streamlined since 1988. The
general budget was unified in 1992, the tax system has undergone substantial
innovation, the expenditures control system has been centralised and discipline on
expenditure has been enhanced. The National Assembly adopted the New Tax Law
on 14 October 1995, and further minor adjustments were made to the tax system in
1998. The tax base has widened. In 1997 / 98, revenue fell below expectations. But
the increased revenues anticipated from the new system have not been fully
realised. The main reason is that it took longer than anticipated to get the
administrative machinery for the new system to be operational. As a result, the
fiscal deficit in 1997 / 98 increased to 22 percent of GDP. The tourism sector has
been developed further through the establishment of nature and cultural tourism
sites in different areas, Tourism routes and tourism cycle linked between provinces
have been developed. Attractive tourism packages are designed so that tourists can
halt in Laos for a few days on their ways to visit other neighbouring countries and
regulations to facilitate entries to the country for tourists have been eased. The Lao
Tourism Year has been inaugurated in November 1999. In 1999, the number of
tourists visiting Laos – including border tourists – has reached 500,000 persons

Peace and social stability

Generally speaking the country enjoyed relative peace and socio-political stability
during the last decade. Thanks to the government’s prudent policy, the Lao multi-
ethnic people are living together in peaceful co-existence, unity and solidarity. What
is more, the Lao PDR is enjoying good relationship and co-operation with all its
immediate neighbours, which has contributed to the country’s socio-economic
development and, thus improved material and cultural living conditions of the
population, increased their confidence in the Government policy and strengthened
political stability and social cohesion.

Economic infrastructure

A substantial share of public investment has been directed to improving the

physical economic infrastructure such as the communication network. This has
contributed to progressive reduction in the isolation of rural areas and expansion of
domestic market. But, in some cases, public investments have been carried out
without serious feasibility study, causing delay for several road construction
projects; construction technique did not meet required norms or standard; road
utilisation, management, maintenance and repair are still very weak; there was no
strict control of the works by the relevant authority.

Policy reforms
With the NEM, the government has demonstrated its commitment to the reform
programme, which has brought about a successful reorientation of the economy.
Nevertheless, this success remained vulnerable. The State apparatus has not
functioned with sufficient effectiveness and confusion between administrative
management and business management still occurs. Institutional strengthening fails
to keep up with the socio economic changes. The roles and responsibilities of each
level of functionaries are unclear, rules, regulations and laws have not been strictly
applied, and working methods remain weak. These issues require a deep
examination and solution during the coming years.

Governance.

The Lao government is convinced that public administration reform and improved
governance are part of the environment indispensable for the implementation of the
NEM, the structural transformation of the national economy, capacity building and
people– centered sustainable development. It is also a prerequisite for a fully
functioning market economy. In particular, public administration reform and
improved governance must be seen Laos is a communist state with the president as
the head of state and the prime minister as the head of government. The one party
socialist state gained independence from the French in 1949. The country was
established as a communist People’s Republic in 1975 after the abrogation of the
1957 constitution. Under the 1957 constitution, Laos existed as a constitutional
monarchy. The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party is the only legally recognized
political party in Laos, whose powers in the government are not stated in the
constitution. The ruling party exercises unlimited executive power over the country
and makes most of the decisions unopposed. The government also receives support
from the Vietnam’s People’s Army and the Lao People’s Army.

Executive
The executive of Laos consists of the president, the prime minister, four deputy
prime ministers and the council of ministers, making 28 members. The president is
the head of the executive with the responsibility of appointing the prime minister
and the council of ministers. The appointees have to be approved by the National
Assembly. Members of the executive are eligible for a five-year term. The president
is also a member of the Politburo of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, an all-
powerful organization that makes most of the key government decisions along with
the Central Committee.

Legislature

The National Assembly of Laos is a unicameral body consisting of 149 members

(among them five independent candidates) who are elected for a five-year term.
The National Assembly has six committees through which it performs its duties.
These committees include the Law Committee, the Economy, Planning and Finance
Committee, the Cultural and Social Committee, the Ethnic Affairs Committee, the
National Defense and Security Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Most
of the legislation made by the assembly is under complete influence from the
executive branch.

Judiciary

Laos has a legal system similar to the civil law system of France. The People’s
Supreme Court is the highest legal organ made up of the court president, vice
president, and chamber judges. The court consists of administrative, civil,
commercial, family, juvenile, and criminal sections. The national assembly appoints
the court president and vice president upon recommendation by the president.
Smaller courts in Laos include the appellate courts, provincial, municipal, district,
and military courts. The president and vice-president of the People’s Supreme Court
serve for five years. While the judiciary is an independent branch, executive
members have a lot of influence in the cases leading to mass violations of human
rights.
The Constitution

The current constitution was promulgated and adopted in 1991 after 16 years of the
country operating without a constitution. A constitution is the official law of the
country that defines the responsibilities of the government and citizens, and
provides for the rights and freedoms of the citizenry. The Constitution established a
unicameral parliament. The constitution was first amended in 2003 and later in
2015. Although the Constitution recognizes the rights of both minority and majority
ethnic groups, most of the minorities bend to the demands of the majority and the
ruling party. The Hmong are the hardest hit especially due to their participation in
rebellion against the government. The absolute executive power of the government
leads to constant violation of the constitution.

Conclusion

In the next five years, the Government of the Lao PDR will keep focusing on the
construction of economic infrastructures and on the social sector development,
including human resources development, in order to translate into action its
commitment to improve the quality and the structure of investment in respect of
the above mentioned priorities. It will be striving for sustainable development and
poverty reduction; fighting the economic crisis; and promoting food crops cultivation
and commercial production, as well as rural development. Furthermore, public
investments will be closely monitored and kept within the absorptive capacity of the
country; all stakeholders will have to co-ordinate their activities in a more balanced
and integrated manner. That means that, in the future, only projects approved by
the National Assembly will be considered for funding; in other words, there will be
no projects undertaken outside the PIP, neither at the central nor at the provincial
level. The Government will also work towards re-balancing between current and
capital expenditures, including at the provincial level, ensuring that the various
agencies related to the budgetary process co-ordinate much more the current and
capital components, so as to ensure a proper ratio for each expenditure category.
The purpose is to avoid the risk of deteriorating assets due to insufficient
maintenance, or of compromising their usefulness by insufficient operational
resources. In this regard, the Lao Government would like to encourage donor
agencies to consider complementing their assistance to public investment with
follow-up programmes of maintenance and services (e.g. the training of teachers in
new schools). For its part, the Government will endeavour strengthening its own
capacity to improve its partnership with the donor community. The purpose of the
Round-Table Process, launched in January 2000, - a long-term in-depth policy
and strategy dialogue process - is to achieve, in an optimal way and based on a
mutual understanding, an efficient co-ordination between the national development
priorities and the need for adequate resource mobilisation to implementthem.The
Government of the Lao PDR is convinced that the strengthening of the partnership
in development will realise the long-term benefits expected and which will
contribute significantly to the Government’s goal of exiting once and for all the Lao
PDR from the status of a Least Developed Countries by 2020.

SUMMARY
It is a one-party state and the general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary
Party holds ultimate power and authority over state and government. A French
colony until the 1953, the power struggle which ensued between royalists and the
communist group Pathet Lao also saw the country caught up in the Vietnam War.
The current constitution was promulgated and adopted in 1991 after 16 years of the
country operating without a constitution. A constitution is the official law of the
country that defines the responsibilities of the government and citizens, and
provides for the rights and freedoms of the citizenry. The Constitution established a
unicameral parliament. The constitution was first amended in 2003 and later in
2015. Although the Constitution recognizes the rights of both minority and majority
ethnic groups, most of the minorities bend to the demands of the majority and the
ruling party. The Hmong are the hardest hit especially due to their participation in
rebellion against the government. The absolute executive power of the government
leads to constant violation of the constitution. Chief of State: President Thongloun
SisoulithHead of Government: Prime Minister Sonexay SiphandoneThere are 11
members of Politburo and 55 member of Central Committee.Important government
decisions are vetted by the Politburo The executive of Laos consists of the president,
the prime minister, four deputy prime ministers and the council of ministers, making
28 members. The president is the head of the executive with the responsibility of
appointing the prime minister and the council of ministers. The appointees have to
be approved by the National Assembly. Members of the executive are eligible for a
five-year term. The president is also a member of the Politburo of the Lao People’s
Revolutionary Party, an all-powerful organization that makes most of the key
government decisions along with the Central Committee. The National Assembly of
Laos is a unicameral body consisting of 149 members (among them five
independent candidates) who are elected for a five-year term. The National
Assembly has six committees through which it performs its duties. These
committees include the Law Committee, the Economy, Planning and Finance
Committee, the Cultural and Social Committee, the Ethnic Affairs Committee, the
National Defense and Security Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Most
of the legislation made by the assembly is under complete influence from the
executive branch. Laos has a legal system similar to the civil law system of France.
The People’s Supreme Court is the highest legal organ made up of the court
president, vice president, and chamber judges. The court consists of administrative,
civil, commercial, family, juvenile, and criminal sections. The national assembly
appoints the court president and vice president upon recommendation by the
president. Smaller courts in Laos include the appellate courts, provincial, municipal,
district, and military courts. The president and vice-president of the People’s
Supreme Court serve for five years. While the judiciary is an independent branch,
executive members have a lot of influence in the cases leading to mass violations of
human rights.

CHALLENGES
Yet Laos’ assumption of the ASEAN chairmanship also poses its share of challenges.
Ahead of the official handover of the position from Malaysia to Laos late last year,
some argued that Laos’ key challenge in this round of meetings as well as the one in
September would be simply managing the logistics inherent in the task. Though
Vientiane has chaired ASEAN before, unlike Myanmar when it assumed this
responsibility back in 2014, the magnitude of the challenge this time is much
greater than it was in 2004. For instance, there are more than twice the number of
meetings than there were back then. But it is also true that Vientiane has chaired
other meetings more recently, including the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in
2012. Furthermore, seasoned ASEAN observers know that capacity-building efforts
have been underway by Southeast Asian states as well as other actors to assist
Laos with its chairmanship.
What could be more troubling is Laos’ challenge of managing major powers within
ASEAN. To be clear, this problem is not unique to Laos. Though ASEAN’s rising role
in the shaping of the regional architecture in recent years – including the rise of the
East Asia Summit back in 2005 – has led to an intensifying involvement of major
powers, it has also made the liabilities of its institutional features more visible and
threatened the grouping’s much-prized centrality. In recent years, that has
manifested itself most clearly in the grouping’s struggle to reach consensus on the
South China Sea issue, which infamously led to its unprecedented failure to issue a
joint communique under Cambodia’s chairmanship in 2012 (See: “ASEAN’s Soul
Searching After Phnom Penh“).
That said, given tiny, landlocked Laos’ lack of interest in the South China Sea issue
and its significant investment in its relationship with neighboring China, the fear
among most of Vientiane’s Southeast Asian brethren as well as other concerned
actors about a repeat of Phnom Penh is understandable. Lao officials, for their part,
insist that in spite of its constraints, Laos has tried its best to ensure that the South
China Sea issue does get the attention it deserves, as it did in its chairman’s
statement following the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in February. But it is also
true that consensus has been progressively harder to achieve in 2016, as evidenced
by ASEAN’s failure to adopt an uncharacteristically strong statement in Kunming last
month following last-minute reticence by Cambodia and Laos, as I wrote extensively
for The Diplomat and elsewhere (See: “What Really Happened at the Special ASEAN-
China Kunming Meeting“). The role that Chinese pressure played in that episode,
along with Beijing’s additional sensitivity to any statement with reference to the
South China Sea following the ruling, has heightened anxieties.
Indeed, going into the AMM, there are already clear signs of Beijing’s hand in trying
to prevent the issuing of a separate statement by ASEAN on the ruling or even a
joint communique with strong language on the South China Sea, despite the fact
that the latter (and, arguably, even the former, as I have argued) would constitute
par for the course for the grouping rather than something headline-worthy (See:
“ASEAN Should Be Ready With Statement on South China Sea Arbitration“). China
has also once again been touting the fact that several countries including Laos
support its position on the ruling, a fact that Lao officials have subsequently denied.
Suffice to say, any Phnom Penh-like breakdown of ASEAN consensus on the South
China Sea would be a huge blemish on Laos’ chairmanship.
While much of the media attention will likely be on the international front in
Vientiane this week, there could also be some scrutiny on the domestic front in Laos
for the remainder of its chairmanship. Human rights continue to be an issue, with
the case of the disappeared Sombath Somphone proving a rallying cry for activists
as well as a point of concern for Western as well as some Asian governments to
varying degrees. Those domestic concerns spilled over into the regional domain as
well even before Laos assumed the chairmanship, with reports emerging as early as
October 2015 that the country would not host the regular meeting of Southeast
Asian civil society organizations on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit this year. For
the first time in ASEAN’s history, groups will meet not in the host country but in East
Timor – which, somewhat ironically, is not yet even a member of ASEAN. Though
Lao officials continue to cite many technical and procedural reasons for why this
ended up being the case, it is also true that they have hardly bent over backwards
to prevent that outcome and are far from displeased by it.
Another area of focus is Laos’ role with respect to the management of the Mekong –
one of the world’s largest and longest rivers which flows through China and
mainland Southeast Asia – which is increasingly in peril in part due to a string of
hydropower projects by riparian states. Though other countries are complicit too –
most notably Beijing upstream – Laos has placed a significant emphasis on
hydropower as it seeks to become the “battery” of Asia. But some of Vientiane’s
projects, most notably the Xayaburi Dam in northern Laos and the Don Sahong dam
in Champasak province near the Lao-Cambodia border, have come under scrutiny
for their negative impacts. When then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton visited Laos
back in 2012, she gave the country an earful on this issue. In response to a question
from The Diplomat, Ben Rhodes, one of Obama’s closest advisers, did say last week
at an event at the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council that the United States would look to
address the Mekong as part of its conversations with Laos, though he did not specify
exactly what Washington would look to say.

REFERENCES
Unctad
Home (unctad.org)
https://unctad.org
WorldAtlas
World Map / World Atlas / Atlas of the World Including Geography Facts and Flags -
WorldAtlas.com
CONSTITUE
Lao People's Democratic Republic 1991 (rev. 2015) Constitution - Constitute
(constituteproject.org)
FACT AND DETAILS
GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION AND POLITICS IN LAOS | Facts and Details
THE DIPLOMAT
Laos in the ASEAN Spotlight: Opportunities and Challenges – The Diplomat