The government meeting held on July 23-24 in Vientiane has discussed four fundamental issues for the nation, including a report on Laos' preparations to receive World Trade Organisation membership at the end of this year.
The government meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and attended by other cabinet members, and consensus was reached on all four issues discussed.
The country's preparations to join the WTO are in the final stages of negotiation and the country's WTO membership is expected to be confirmed before the 9th ASEM Summit in November.
Since 1997, Laos has answered 1,300 questions asked by WTO member states, and accomplished bilateral negotiations with nine WTO member countries regarding the determination of tariff ceilings and the opening of the services sector to foreign investment.
Laos also formulated and amended legislation related to trade, aiming to harmonise with the principles and requirements of WTO membership.
The second issue approved by the government was a report regarding the management of civil servants for 2011-2012 and plans to recruit new civil servants for 2012-13.
The aim was to respond to socio-economic development needs in Vientiane and the provinces, particularly in regards to launching pilot projects under a policy to build the provinces as strategic units, the districts as strong units in all regards, and the villages as development units.
The government will allocate more than 90 billion kip (US$11.25 million) to launch the pilot projects in 51 districts nationwide in 2012-13, including 22 focus districts for rural development and poverty reduction.
The third issue discussed by the government was the amendment of the Law on Criminal Procedure (article 146 regarding amphetamines), which was approved. The move is aimed to enable authorities to deal with drug issues more effectively and save Lao children from falling victim to the deadly drugs.
The fourth issue approved by the government was the draft strategy and action plan regarding road safety for 2011-2020, aiming to minimise road accidents in Laos, reducing the number of fatalities, injuries and losses of property of Lao people.
Prime Minister Thongsing urged all relevant sectors to focus on several other issues in the near future.
The first one is to inspect and review lessons learned from the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Laos-Vietnam diplomatic ties and the 35th anniversary of the Laos-Vietnam Friendship and Co operation Treaty.
The second one is to maintain public security and social order, and work to address social problems. The third is to push forward wet-season production to ensure sufficient food supplies in the country, while preparing to deal with disasters, including flooding.
The Prime Minister urged all relevant sectors to enhance their efforts to prepare for the 9th ASEM Summit to be held in November, by concentrating on addressing all shortcomings occurring in the preparation process.
The main aim was to create confidence among the foreign delegations coming to the event and ensure a great national achievement by successfully hosting the summit.
