Vientiane - Japan has granted Laos 1.9 billion yen (23.4 million dollars) in aid to finance the expansion of Vientiane's airport in preparation for an Asia-Europe summit next year, news reports said Thursday.
The grant assistance for the Wattay International Airport expansion project was signed Tuesday in Tokyo by Lao Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and his Japanese counterpart Takeaki Matsumoto, the Vientiane Times reported.
'The government and people of Japan strongly hope that the Lao government will succeed in hosting the 9th ASEM Summit to be held in Vientiane in 2012 by utilising the upgraded airport,' the government mouthpiece quoted the Japanese embassy to Laos as saying in a statement.
It was agreed at the 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Brussels in 2010, that Vientiane would be the next host of the summit, which occurs once every two years, alternately in Asian and European capitals.
Hosting the summit of 48 leaders, scheduled for November 4-6, poses major infrastructural and logistical challenges for Laos, one of the world's poorest countries.
To handle the surge in air traffic, Laos will need to upgrade Wattay Airport by extending the runway by 260 metres and adding parking bays to accommodate at least 35 Boeing 747s.
Currently, Wattay can park only four of the large jets.
ASEM, a leaders' forum that was launched in Bangkok in 1996, now includes all 27 members of the European Union, the 10 countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with Australia, China, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia and the heads of the secretariats of the ASEAN and the EU.
Its all start from Vietnam mass 5000 men into east of Laos and declared few mouths later Thailad see the opportunity to take the land when France colonized back so They mass 6000 men to Vientinne and take over the city in a day. Burma the military junta or a war hunger want to join in a meal too so they mass 6500 men to North West of Laos and take over land immedietly. China which see that if Vietnam take over laos and will get stronger, China mass 10000 men to North of Laos to hold position and take over stuff. Laos try to call for help from other countries but thier phone signal and internet are cut by the China even The UN dont even know this conflict. Right now 4 powerful countries of East Asia have all enter into Laos will this conflict go longer between them or they will make a deal for what they have right now wait and see it urself in next 3 YEARS.
This is just a prediction from one paragraph of Nostradamus say "Papaya Salad share to four hands. Sticky Rice homeland never exist."