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Headlines:
Debt Miracle Gets a Reality Check
Civil Servants to Get 20% Raise
Assembly Maps the Coming Five Years
Party Prepares Generational Shift
Vietnam Trade Target Doubles
Labour Ministers Meet, Talk Border Schools
Highway Toll System Debuts
Diplomatic Circuit: KP, AE, SG
Debt Miracle Gets a Reality Check
PM Sonexay Siphandone claims public debt dropped from 112% to 88% of GDP while the country was able to engineer a 1% deficit into a 1.4% surplus worth $846 million. National revenue is now at 18.65% of GDP, ahead of the five-year target, and full year, 2025 growth is expected to come in at just below 5%. The government is saying that credit for improvements to the national ledger are due to “improved credibility” (thanks to debt (re)negotiations) and restrictions on “ineffective” borrowing. These phrases are bureaucratic speak for finally saying “no” to bad loans. Of course, Laos is not out of the woods just yet - inflation, extreme weather, and more global volatility are all still threats to the recovery narrative.
Read more: Laotian Times (Debt Reduction), The Star (Growth Forecast), VietnamPlus (Sector Performance)
Civil Servants to Get 20% Raise
Parliament has approved an increase in minimum salaries from $115 to $138 every month starting in January for civil servants, soldiers, police, and teachers. The adjustment will go some way to shoring up incomes against the inflation that’s been eating into purchasing power. VP Sommard Pholsena signed off on the deal during the 10th Legislative Session.
Read more: Laotian Times
Assembly Maps the Coming Five Years
The National Assembly’s 10th session is running through November 21, and legislators are hard at work reviewing the previous five-year plan while figuring out how to set their 2026-2030 targets. Topics under examination include state budgets, monetary plans, drug control efforts, and oversight body performance. The session will set forth the country’s development trajectory through this decade’s end, which is ambitious timing, considering that a leadership transition is in the wings (next story).
Read more: The Star (Session Overview), Xinhua (Legislative Process)
Party Prepares Generational Shift
The Revolutionary Party’s 12th National Congress, coming early next year, is going to bring with it a leadership transition backed by constitutional amendments and government restructuring. Last March’s constitutional changes gave local mandarins more power while ostensibly improving anti-corruption measures. Planning and Finance ministries were merged into a single unit for “better economic management,” and effectively consolidated power in advance of the handover. A fork is in the road, and it isn’t clear if the near-term is going to see revolutionary veterans hanging on with technocrats serving as their advisors, or a complete transition to younger technocrats taking the wheel for themselves.
Read more: East Asia Forum
Vietnam Trade Target Doubles
Commerce ministries of Laos and Vietnam have set a $5 billion annual trade target. For reference, they’ve done just over $2 billion so far this year. Vietnam currently sits in third place as Lao trading partner behind China and Thailand. The biggest exports are chemicals, diesel, rubber, electrical equipment, and wood pulp. At last look, Thailand trade totaled $4.64 billion in exports and $2.99 billion in imports, with that market dominated by refined petroleum, sugar, cars, electricity, and cassava.
Read more: The Star (Vietnam Trade), OEC (Thailand Trade)
Labour Ministers Meet, Talk Border Schools
Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh played host to Lao Labour Minister Phosay Sayasone in Hanoi this week. The talks covered legislation, labour policy, social insurance, and human resource development. Vietnam says that it is setting up inter-level boarding schools in border areas and is looking for Lao cooperation in the venture.
Read more: Voice of Vietnam
Highway Toll System Debuts
Provincial authorities signed a deal with the Saisettha Construction consortium to rehabilitate 38km of National Road 13 South from Tha Khaek to Se Bang Fai. The agreement calls for 3 years of construction followed by 7 years of maintenance, with performance-based contracts tying payments to road quality and toll revenue. Feasibility studies have started for a Boten-Nateuy expressway.
Read more: Laotian Times
Diplomatic Circuit: KP, AE, SG
Foreign Minister Thongloun arrived in Pyongyang yesterday, the first Minister to pay a visit since President Sisoulith’s October trip. The UAE started talks on cooperation and investment protection with Deputy PM Saleumxay. Singapore met to discuss human capital.
Read more: Chosun (North Korea), UAE Ministry (UAE), Indiplomacy (Singapore)
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading.
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