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Headlines:
One Party, 175 Seats, No Surprises
Critic Vanishes, Body Appears, Government Shrugs
Inflation Runs Hot (Again)
Plans Stacked Three Decades Deep
Joint Committee, Closer Grip
Rubber Bosses Face the Paperwork
Australia Bankrolls Greener Red Tape
Solar Farms, Foreign Cash
Thinner Harvests, Pricier Rice
Buried War Still Blowing Up Lives
One Party, 175 Seats, No Surprises
The National Election Committee has officially named 175 people to its 10th National Assembly after the February 22 vote that was run in 18 constituencies. The new lawmakers are going to be taking on legislative work, policymaking, and oversight of the normal issues of government as Vientiane continues to get ready to move past its “least-developed country” status later this year. The graduation will be the beginning of a four-year transition window during which preferential international support will continue while the government tries to get its house in order, in line with the Politburo's push for self-reliance.
Read more: Gazette NGR (election mechanics), VietnamPlus (2026 graduation timeline)
Critic Vanishes, Body Appears, Government Shrugs
Sisay Luangmonda, 32, was arrested by soldiers outside Vientiane on Valentines Day and taken to Phonthan Prison, according to the Manushya Foundation. Six days later, his body turned up on a roadside in Hadxayfong district beside an abandoned motorbike. His brother confirmed the death and shared a funeral notice. That same day, the head of Houay Teuy village shared a letter dismissing the whole story, saying it was "entirely without merit and completely false." Sisay, who went by the pen name “Bao Mor Khaen” online, had posted criticism of ruling party corruption and previously had received death threats. After his arrest, authorities gave no information to his family. There was no forensic examination, and no investigation was announced . The pattern feels familiar. In 2012, activist Sombath Somphone disappeared from police custody, in 2023 Anousa Luangsuphom was shot, and in 2024 Saysomphone Chilikham vanished. None of those cases has been resolved either.
Read more: Human Rights Watch, UCA News (official denial letter)
Inflation Runs Hot (Again)
Inflation is on the rise once again. Prices were up 6.2 percent in February, which is higher than 5.1 percent in January, and appears to be the end of a very brief cooling period. The Consumer Price Index hit 258.7; housing and energy costs did most of the damage. Construction materials and utilities rose by nearly a quarter year-on-year; the big drivers there were expensive steel, plywood, and rising labor costs. Gold prices sent the “miscellaneous” category up 37%. Health care and medicine rose 13 percent. Month-on-month, prices were up 0.7 percent in February after easing 0.2 percent through January.
Read more: Laotian Times
Plans Stacked Three Decades Deep
The government released its 10th National Socio-Economic Development Plan which sets a target of 6% annual GDP growth through 2030, up from the 4.24% pace that’s been seen over the past five years, as well as a ten-year strategy that runs through 2035 AND a vision that extends to 2055. The plan comes alongside the previously mentioned LDC graduation later this year. PM Sonexay Siphandone has been emphasizing the value of self reliance, and wants to see agriculture and energy driving growth. The cabinet also gave the go-ahead for draft laws in support of investment promotion, public-private partnerships, and industrial processing zones, by asking ministries to refine them. The plan demands better internet coverage and the (continued?) transformation of Laos into a transit corridor for regional trade.
Read more: Travel and Tour World (GDP target), Travel and Tour World (2055 vision)
Joint Committee, Closer Grip
The Laos-China Cooperation Committee met on February 27 to double down on its oversight of some of their biggest shared infrastructure and energy projects. Officials took another look at the Xay-Boten expressway extension, the Huayxay-Boten Expressway, the Nam Ou hydropower cascade, and clean energy transmission lines that run through five northern provinces. Unfortunately, they found that ministries and project operators weren't always exactly sharing information as well as they should be. The committee's mandate has now expanded to the promotion and management of Chinese business investments more broadly, with both sides choosing a slate of priority projects for a fourth batch of capacity cooperation. A government-enterprise meeting later this year is expected to keep track of progress and identify new investment opportunities, including short-term training programs in China to build out expertise for managing the development pipeline.
Read more: Laotian Times
Rubber Bosses Face the Paperwork
About 300,000 hectares of rubber plantations (almost half of them run by foreigners) have been given their first clear rulebook. A decree handed down in late February sets compliance rules on rubber operations, targeting the Chinese and Vietnamese firms that currently dominate the sector. The new framework mandates registration, and certification, as well as lays out a ban on land clearance in protected areas. The rules are being backed by a monitoring system to keep track of production and trade, and they are coming as rubber expansion has chewed through forests and left smallholders subject to volatile price swings.
Read more: Laotian Times
Australia Bankrolls Greener Red Tape
The Department of Environment, in its work together with The Asia Foundation, has set out its plan to tighten up environmental and social impact reviews for power plants and mines. The program, funded by Australia through the Mekong-Australia Partnership (which we covered in last week’s Mekong Memo Laos), provides training for national and provincial officials to spot risks earlier and monitor projects more carefully. Officials are expected to visit Vietnam so that they can study best practices and figure out best-in class/ sector-specific guidelines.
Read more: Laotian Times (vice minister quote), Travel and Tour World (2022-2023 backstory)
Solar Farms, Foreign Cash
Two solar deals in two weeks seem to indicate that Vientiane is looking to make a shift away from hydropower. A Thai firm signed a deal to study the feasibility of a 100MW solar farm in Bolikhamxay Province. That deal would cover 140 hectares in Nam Ngiep village and follows a similar 100MW agreement with a South Korean company two weeks earlier for Oudomxay Province. Construction of that projected is expected to begin sometime next year. Both deals will help get Laos closer to its 2030 target of 11 percent renewables in the energy mix. Vientiane switched on a 1,000MW solar facility in mid-December 2025, the largest in the country, and the Vice Minister of Industry and Commerce is now saying he expects to get to a 30 percent renewable share by decade's end.
Read more: Laotian Times (Thai solar specifics), Laotian Times (UK partnership dialogue)
Thinner Harvests, Pricier Rice
Erratic rains have disrupted planting in the northern provinces as floods from tropical storms hit Sayaboury, Luang Prabang, Houaphanh, Xiengkhouang, and Vientiane provinces. As a result, this year the paddy harvest is down to about 3.6 million tonnes, a figure slightly below the five-year average. The mostly rainfed wet season crop accounts for about 90 percent of annual output. Maize exports are expected at 120,000 tonnes for the 2025/26 marketing year, also well below average, partly because farmers have converted land to coffee, bananas, and vegetables. Domestic rice prices held mostly steady through December, but are higher than they have been traditionally, after steep increases in 2023 and 2024 that came as a result of higher production and transport costs.
Read more: The Star, The Star, ReliefWeb (production figures)
Buried War Still Blowing Up Lives
Fifty years after the last American bombs fell, the ordnance they left behind is still managing to find new victims. A UNICEF study that investigated UXO accidents between 2020 and 2024 investigated and documented the behavioral, environmental, and socioeconomic risk factors that lead to the explosions, and what happens afterwards to survivors, their families, and their communities. Rural populations and children are still the most exposed. The UNICEF research is intended to improve risk education and victim support. It’s a sad deal that it is still necessary all these years later as millions of bomblets still litter the countryside, most having no set timeline for clearance.
Read more: UNICEF
That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.
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