AIPA NEWS BULLETIN SECOND QUARTERLY                                                                     JANUARY - MARCH 2008

Laos hosts Asia-Pacific Seminar on Sustainable Development

 

            The National Assembly of the Lao PDR hosted the Asia-Pacific Seminar on Sustainable Development on 26-28 November in the capital, Vientiane, supported by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNDP. Delegations from more than 10 countries attended the event.

The seminar focused on four topics as follows: what is sustainable development and natural resources management; challenges of sustainable development and natural resources management; addressing challenges to sustainable development and natural resources management and way forward sustainable development and natural resources management in the Asia and Pacific region.

Addressing the seminar, Dr. Xaysomphone Phomvihane, President of the Lao National Assembly, said  at the turn of this millennium, in November 2000, the Lao Government identified the main economic sectors, cross-sector priorities and national programmes vital to sustainable growth and poverty eradication and laid them out in a National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) as follows: Main sectors were identified as agriculture & forestry, education, health, and transport; Supporting sectors included trade, tourism, manufacturing and energy; Cross-sector priorities included environment, gender, population and capacity building; Poverty-related national priority programmes included drug control, UXO decontamination and HIV/AIDS.

A top priority for the State of the Lao PDR is to modernize the agriculture and forestry sector in a manner that fully meets sustainable practices and that achieves food security and better livelihood for all Lao people. The goal of poverty eradication and graduation from LDC status by 2020 depends on a more productive agriculture and forestry sector. Farming defines the character of the country, and working the soil and rising of livestock and fishery are second-nature to the Lao multi-ethnic population. It is a character that the Government is committed to protecting. In addition to strengthening the quantity and quality of agricultural output, this requires management of the Lao PDR’s forests in a manner that both conserves this essential resource and encourages sustainable forestry practices.

In terms of developing sustainable access to energy, concurrently with large and medium-sized hydropower projects, attention is also being paid to small-size power plants supplying electricity to remote rural areas. The aim is to ensure that 70 per cent of households nationwide have electricity by 2010.

      The Lao National Assembly has ratified the Convention on Biodiversity and the Kyoto Protocol to the International Framework Convention on Climate Change, and adopted a number of laws concerning water resources, forestry and environmental protection, he said.

      The Asia-Pacific Seminar on Sustainable Development identified problems as follows: General public and decision makers are not very aware of environment issues; Financial resources are very important factors in sustainable development. While developing countries need to achieve economic growth, the policies/methods are energy-intensive and highly polluting. At the same time, policies and laws need to be put in place to conserve the environment, involving heavy investments that countries can ill-afford; inadequate regional/global cooperation to fully implement sustainable development. The world is like a family and environmental issues should not be confined to the country level since it transcends borders. Big countries seem sometimes less inclined to protect resources than smaller countries; Inadequate capacity at sub-national and community levels to combat poverty and protect the environment; And the use of second hand (un-updated) technologies and the lack of scientific, technical and technological knowledge lead to mismanagement of natural resources and environmental degradations.

New laws adopted to accelerate ASEAN integration

            The 4th ordinary session of the National Assembly of the Lao PDR (sixth legislature), which was held on 5 November 2007 - 26 December 2007, considered and adopted an amended Law on Forests and seven new laws, namely: Law on Aquatics and Wildlife, Law on Intellectual Property, Law on Fire Prevention, Law on Standardization, Law on Drug Narcotics, Law on Sports and Law on Trade Unions.

           The adoption of these laws is a part of efforts in building the rule of law in the Lao PDR and accelerating ASEAN integration. The above-mentioned laws aim at helping the priority sectors, which have been identified to be fully integrated by 2010 by Vientiane Action Programme, to be integrated as the set target.

            The Law on Standardization, for instance, is based on international conventions and lessons of foreign countries, particularly the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), which determines transparency in the determination and standardization, technical regulations and approval and adoption of quality and so on. Moreover, it is based on ISO/IEC Guidance and action plans, which are relevant to the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ), and realities of the Lao PDR. The aim is to promote production, import and export of products, goods and services to be of quality recognized by the region and the world. 

The Lao PDR has attempted to widen cooperation with foreign countries, becoming party to international economic and trade conventions such as the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and International Standardisation Organisation. Presently, the Lao PDR is preparing for entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), particularly creating favourable conditions and minimizing steps to the rule, which are obstacles to the trade.

To ensure the quality of products, goods, business operation and services to be competitive locally and internationally, there is a need to improve the technical base, particularly rules, human resources and other facilities. The aim is to create factors for managing socio-economic and trade cooperation with foreign countries. Therefore, the National Assembly of the Lao PDR planned to consider and adopt 11 new laws and eight amended laws in 2008.

 These laws are the Law on Mass Media, Law on Handicraft and Veterinary Law, Law on State Investment Management, Law on National Treasury, Law on Plant Protection, Law on Measurement, Law on Water Supply, Bar Law, Law on Printing and Distribution and Law on the Lao Front for National Construction. Amended laws will be adopted in this year are Law on Judgment Enforcement and Family Law, Law on Promotion of Domestic and Foreign Investment, Law on Heritage and Basis of Inheritage, Law on Contract, Law on Mining, Law on Electricity and Law on Customs. To date, the National Assembly of the Lao PDR has adopted over 70 laws.

 

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