Bouasone makes first Prime Ministerial address

A handover ceremony between the new and outgoing Prime Ministers and their cabinets was held on Wednesday at the Prime Minister’s Office.

The new cabinet was approved by the preliminary session of the 6 th Legislature of the National Assembly and comprises 28 members. The Head of the Cabinet is new Prime Minister Mr Bouasone Bouphavanh, with four deputy prime ministers, and 23 ministers of various ministries and equivalent organisations.

New government cabinet poses in front of the Prime Minister’s office. --Photo Khamphanh

The government structure now consists of 13 ministries and three equivalent organisations, and the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts have merged to form the new ministry of Industry and Commerce. A new Ministry of Energy and Mining has also been established.

During the ceremony, the outgoing Prime Minister Mr Bounnhang Vorachit, who takes up the position of Vice President of the Lao PDR, briefed the new cabinet on the positive aspects and experiences of governing the country through his old cabinet.

He said that during the past five years, his cabinet had actively implemented the resolution of the 7th Party Congress and the 5th socio-economic development plan, which saw considerable achievements and maintained security and political stability.

The country’s socio-economic development had also seen sustainable growth, living conditions had improved day by day, and overseas cooperation had been widely expanded to enhance the role of the Lao PDR in both the regional and international arenas.

However, along with these considerable achievements, there were some shortcomings that Mr Bounnhang asked the new cabinet to resolve.

He urged the new government to pay more attention to translating the resolution of the 8 th Party Congress into reality, because in the past the practical translation of some issues had been delayed. In addition, the implementation must follow the guidelines of the Party.

National defence and security objectives needed to be achieved in order to ensure the stability and security of the country.

Mr Bounnhang mentioned the need to improve and create strong internal unity, aiming to prevent an orange revolution and a subsequent regime change by hostile forces, along with the need to solve the problems of negative phenomena in government organisations.

He also urged the new government to explore the latent potential of the country’s natural resources in order to develop Laos as the battery of ASEAN and a transit link for the region.

He advised the promotion of business potential and the provision of services in all sectors of the economy, starting at the family level, in order to boost productivity for greater trade.

In addition, he suggested solving the problem of a lack of funds by ex ploring avenues and raising more funds in order to increase development and apply funds to crucial issues and carefully evaluate their effectiveness. This would help to solve the problems inherent in the existing complicated administrative system by creating new management mechanisms and rules to be transparent.

On behalf his new cabinet, Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh presented the government’s next five-year action plan for 2006-2010.

He said that the scope of the duties of his cabinet extends to implementing the resolution of the 8th Party Congress and the 6th five-year socio-economic development plan, which consists of 11 major action plans and 111 focal projects adopted by the government.

Mr Bouasone said that the government will create favourable conditions to enhance economic growth at 7.5 percent per year, with the aim of addressing the issue of slash and burn cultivation and reducing poverty by 2010. The government is also aiming for an increase in per capita income to US$800 on average.

In order to achieve this goal, the government will adhere to the guidelines and goals of the Party, as well as implementing the constitution and laws of the National Assembly and state.

The government will supervise and direct the activities of ministries, equivalent organisations and other organisations under its leadership by focusing on the benefits for the state and the people.

It will enhance business units for investors and businesspeople, both domestic and foreign, including the contributions of Lao expatriates to the development and construction process of the country under the regulations, laws and policies of the Lao PDR.

The government will also continue to improve and restore its structure, making its methods of job performance and administrative mechanisms more efficient and addressing corruption issues by building a more transparent administrative system to better serve the people.

Further foreign affairs policies will be implemented to ensure peace, democracy, friendship and cooperation in the international arena, particularly in increasing traditional comprehensive relationships of friendship with strategic friendly countries.

The government will also forge stronger links among ASEAN member countries, with the aim of establishing peace, security and cooperation throughout the region.

Party Secretary General and new President of Laos Mr Choummaly Sayasone also addressed the new cabinet at the preliminary session of the government’s members. He gave some of his opinions to the session on implementing the Party’s guidelines and realising the resolution of the 8 th Party Congress.

Mr Choummaly said that in the past 30 years, Laos has experienced security, stability and development. The living standards of people have seen discernable improvements, and the role of the country on the international stage through cooperation with friendly countries and international organisations has expanded.

This has been a great victory due to the outstanding work of the leadership of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party in upholding the direction of the Party. It is also an indication of the capacity of the Party’s leadership, in implementing the two strategic tasks and renovation missions of the Party.

Mr Choummaly said there were still problems in Lao society which are yet to be resolved. These problems include bureaucratic red tape, and corruption. There was still a lack of accountability which was slowing down the development process, a phenomenon which had expanded throughout the country and needed to be addressed.

“We will pay more attention to solving these problems in relation to encouraging the implementation of the resolution of the 8 th Party Congress,” he said.

The new government will focus on the development of the economy, with an emphasis on agriculture and forestry, processing, electricity, transport services, tourism and mining.

In addition, it will expand the education and cultural sectors by focusing on human resource development.

Mr Choummaly suggested that the new government pay more attention to encouraging and translating the guidelines and policies of the Party. He also advised all sectors to pay more attention to helping local authorities create new development plans.

In addition, he advised the new government to develop mechanisms to maintain responsibilities, particularly a major government-approved action plan.