Laos

Asean Summit

Remarks of President Obama to the People of Laos

Full Text /Video

Lao National Cultural Hall
Vientiane, Laos / 2:04 P.M. ICT / September 06, 2016

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Sabaidii!  Sabaidee bor?

AUDIENCE:  Sabaidii. 

To the government and the people of Laos, thank you so much for the kind welcome that you’ve extended to me and my delegation.  I am very honored to be the first American president to visit Laos.  (Applause.)  Thank you.

I am told that this hall is where you come together for the national singing contest.  And I know that you celebrate your musical traditions, including kap lam.  But I’m not going to sing today, so you should not worry.  As you host leaders from across Southeast Asia and beyond, I do want to thank Laos for your leadership as this year’s chair of ASEAN. 

Today, the eyes of the world are on Laos.  And I know that that may be a little unusual, because Laos is a small nation next to larger neighbors and, as a result, too often, the richness of your culture has not been fully appreciated.  And that’s why, as part of my visit, I’m grateful for the opportunity to know Laos better, and to help share your story with the world…    

Remarks by President Obama at YSEALI Town Hall

Souphanouvong University
Luang Prabang, Laos / 1:49 P.M. ICT / September 07, 2016

Full Text /Video

Lao National Cultural Hall
Vientiane, Laos / 2:04 P.M. ICT / September 06, 2016

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you!  (Applause.)  Thank you so much! Sabaidii!

AUDIENCE:  Sabaidii!

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, it is such a pleasure to be here.  Can everybody please give Om a big round of applause for that great introduction?  (Applause.) 

So it is wonderful to be in Luang Prabang.  I’ve always wanted to visit.  It is said that this is where the Buddha smiled when he rested during his travels.  And I can see why -- because it is beautiful and relaxed.  I’ve just come from seeing Wat Xieng Thong.  Did I say that right?  Sort of.  And it was beautiful.  And the entire area is spectacular.  I want to thank everyone at Souphanouvong for hosting me here today.  And I want to thank the people of Laos.  I’ve been deeply touched by the hospitality you’ve shown me. 

This is my 11th visit to Asia as President of the United States, but it's my first visit to Laos.  And in fact, I’m the first United States President ever to come here.  And with the kindness that you’ve shown me, I’m sure I will not be the last.  Other Presidents will want to come as well.  And I promise you I will come back when I'm no longer President.  (Applause.)  And the good thing about when I come back and I'm not President I won't have so much security.  (Laughter.)  And I can sit and relax and have some food, and I won't be so busy...           

Obama Encourages Young Southeast Asian Leaders at Town-Hall Meeting in Laos

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised young Southeast Asian leaders participating in an American government education program during a town-hall meeting in Laos and introduced three new initiatives to benefit youth in the region.

Obama met with about 400 young people, including more than 100 from Laos, who are involved in the U.S. government’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) program.

Founded in December 2013, the program aims to build the leadership abilities of youth in Southeast Asia, strengthen ties between the U.S. and the region, and promote cross-border cooperation to solve regional and global issues through educational and cultural exchanges, hands-on training, regional exchanges, and seed funding...   

 Obama Explains Why America Is Great

Speaking to a group of young people in Laos, US President Barack Obama explains why America is such great country and admits that not everyone back home would agree with him.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam then joined on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN...
ASEAN Has A Role In Global Peace and Security
At the recently concluded Asean Summits in Lao PDR, the deliberations and decisions - particularly of the East Asia Summit (EAS) attended by 18 countries namely the...

ASEAN SUMMIT IN LAOS

Asean Summit begins in Laos - Nation | The Star Online

VIENTIANE: Asean leaders started their Summit here Tuesday, eager to ... The event was opened by Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith.

ASEAN Summit 2016 opens in Laos - CNN Philippines

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The 28th and 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summits begin in Vientiane, Laos, ...

Duterte's first day at the ASEAN Summit in Laos | News | GMA News ...

President Rodrigo Duterte is on his first foreign trip as head of state to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in ...

Duterte's speech at Asean summit in Laos - YouTube

President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech during the Asean summit in Laos on Sept. 6. Video from RTVM.

VIENTIANE: Asean leaders started their Summit here Tuesday, eager to show to the world that despite challenges that could derail their unity, they remained united. 

The event was opened by Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith. 

Among those present at the opening ceremony were Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and first time attendees Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Aung Sang Suu Kyi who is representing the Myanmar President. 

Asean unity came into question over the issue of the South China Sea, claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam - and with members like Laos and Cambodia being seen as pro China. 

The world media is also closely watching Duterte's conduct throughout the summit as he had made controversial remarks on US President Barack Obama and made threats against the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. 

This is the first year the leaders met after the establishment of the Asean Community, launched in Kuala Lumpur last year. 

The 10 Asean leaders will also hold separate summits with Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang where the 25th Asean-China relations will be commemorated.

Laos Agriculture, Information about Agriculture in Laos

Tree farming is another important part of Lao agricultural life. About 23 percent of such farms have mango trees, 17 percent coconut trees, 17 percent banana...

Farmers in Laos

Most of the provinces that are deficit in rice are surplus maize producers. Other important economic crops include coffee, sugarcane, cassava, sweet potato and industrial tree crops (such as rubber, eucalyptus and acacia). Lao PDR is a country rich in biodiversity….

Laos farmers struggle witherratic weather

Hit hard by hot and dry weather, farmers near Laos’s capital are looking for new ways to adapt to climate change and protect their cash crops as the temperature in recent months rose above 40 degrees Celsius.

Khamphou Phanthaboun, the chief of an organic vegetable growers’ group in Nontae, a village in Xaythany District near Vientiane, said his vegetables are dying in the unseasonable heat.

“The bore well is dry so there is not enough water [for] the vegetables,” he said.

Weather experts say that irregular weather patterns since 2007 have caused the monsoon season in Laos, typically first seen in mid-May, to come as early as March or as late as June. This year, it came in early May after drought-like conditions left central and southern parts of the country parched.

A recent US Agency for International Development funded study on climate change in the lower Mekong Basin (including parts of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) identified climate change “hotspots” where conditions will become unsuitable for crops currently grown there. Two Lao provinces (Khammouan in the country’s centre and Champasak in the south) are both projected to lose crop yields…

Capital: Vientiane.

Official language: Lao.

Area: 236,800 km'. Greatest distances— northwest-southeast,

1,046 km; northeast-southwest, 510 km.

Population: Estimated 1996population— 5,015,000; density, 21 people per km^!; distribution, 78 per cent rural, 22 per cent urban. 1985census— 3,584,803. Estimated2001 population— 5,732,000.

Chief products: Benzoin, cardamom, cattle, cinchona, citrus fruit, coffee, cotton, leather goods, maize, opium, pottery, rice, silk, silverwork, tea, teak, tin, tobacco.

Flag: The flag has a red horizontal stripe at the top and the bot­tom, and a blue horizontal stripe in the centre. A white circle appears in the centre of the flag. The red symbolizes the blood and soul of the Laotian people. The blue stands for prosperity. The white circle represents the promise of a bright future. Adopted in 1975. See Flag (picture: Flags of Asia and the Pacific).

National anthem: Pheng Sat" ( National Music").

Money: Currency unit— kip. One kip = 100 at.

Laotian women often wear colourful homespun skirts. Most Laotians live in rural villages and make their living by farming.

Farmers in Laos live mainly in fertile river valleys. Rice is the chief crop. Coffee, maize, and cotton are also grown In addition, most farm families have vegetable gardens.

Laos is a country in Southeast Asia. It is a tropical land of mountains and thick forests drenched by heavy rains. Laos has rich soil and valuable mineral deposits, but its economy has never been developed. The country's offi­cial name is the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Vien­tiane is its capital and largest city.

France ruled Laos as part of French Indochina for more than 50 years. In 1954, an international agreement recognized Laos as an independent, neutral nation. But civil war broke out in 1960 between Laotian government troops and the Communist-led Pathet Lao (Lao Country) forces. Another international agreement in 1962 failed to settle the differences, and fighting continued through­out the 1960's and early 1970's. In 1975, the Pathet Lao won the war and took control of Laos.

Government. Laos was a constitutional monarchy before the Pathet Lao victory in 1975. A king was offi­cially the head of state, but he actually had little power.

A coalition government made up of Communists and non-Communists ruled the country.

The Pathet Lao abolished the coalition government and the monarchy after they gained control of Laos.

They set up a Communist government. In August 1991, Laos adopted its first constitution since the Communist takeover. Under the constitution, the government is headed by a president. The president appoints a prime minister and a cabinet to help carry out the functions of the government. A lawmaking body called the National Assembly elects the President to a five-year term. The National Assembly has 85 members, elected by the peo­ple. Members serve five-year terms.

People. The people of Laos belong to two language groups, the Sino-Tibetan from China, and the Mon- Khmer from southern Asia. The Sino-Tibetan language group includes the Lao, Hmong (also called Med], and Tai peoples. The Mon-Khmer group includes the Kha

peoples. Laos' official language, Lao, is similar to the lan­guage of Thailand.

The Lao, who make up about half of the population, are the political and social leaders. The Kha, the original inhabitants of Laos, have traditionally been treated as lit­tle more than slaves by the Lao. The Pathet Lao have worked to improve the status of the Kha since they took over Laos. Most of the Tai live in northern valleys. The Hmong live on the mountain slopes. They produce most of Laos' opium, an illegal but profitable export.

Almost all the people of Laos are farmers. Most of them grow rice along the Mekong River and its tribu­taries. Laotians who live in the highlands grow maize, cotton, rice, and tobacco. The people live in houses perched on wooden posts 2 to 2.5 metres above ground. The houses have covered porches, bamboo floors and walls, and thatched roofs.

Most Laotian village dwellers are poor. Their lives are a continual round of planting and harvesting crops. Al­most half of the people 15 years of age or older can read and write. Many villages do not have schools. Most Laotians are Buddhists, and much of the country's social life centres on Buddhist festivals and holidays.

Land. Laos lies in the Mekong Basin, between the Mekong River and the Annamite Range, a chain of mountains. Rugged plateaus and mountains in the north and along the eastern border range from 150 to 1,200 metres high. Mount Bia (2,817 metres) in central Laos is the highest point in the country.

The most productive farmland is the fertile lowland beside the Mekong and its tributaries. Laos has rich gold, gypsum, lead, silver, tin, and zinc deposits. Its for­ests have teak and other valuable woods.

From May to September, monsoons from the south­west bring up to 25 centimetres of rain a month. Temp­eratures average about 28 °C during that period. From November to March, rainfall averages less than 2.5 centimetres a month, and temperatures average 21 °G Economy. Laos has an underdeveloped economy. Its mineral resources have not been developed, and the country has few manufacturing industries. Agriculture is the chief economic activity. But old-fashioned farming equipment and methods hold down the country's agri­cultural output. Rice is the chief product of Laos. Other farm products include coffee, maize, cotton, tobacco, and livestock. Some Laotians grow and export opium.

The Mekong River and its tributaries are the chief means of transportation in Laos. Most roads are pass­able only in the dry season. In many areas aeroplanes are the only means of moving supplies. Laos has no rail­ways, but a railway line links Nong Khai—across the Me­kong River from Vientiane—with Bangkok, Thailand.

Flistory. Ancestors of the Lao and Tai probably moved into Laos in the A.D. 800's. They set up small states ruled by princes. In 1353, the ruler of Muong Swa (now Louangphrabang) united most of what is now Laos in the kingdom of Lan Xang (land of a million elephants). About 1700, three separate kingdoms—Louangphra­bang, Vientiane, and Champasak—were formed. In the late 1800's, France made Laos a protectorate and ruled it as part of Indochina. See Indochina.

A Free Laos committee, headed by brother princes Phetsarat, Souvanna Phouma, and Souphanouvong, ne­gotiated Laos's first constitution in 1947 with France. In­dependence within the French Union came in 1949. The princes then split into rival factions, and Souphanou­vong moved to northeastern Laos. There he made con­tact with Flo Chi Minh, the North Vietnamese Commu­nist leader, and set up the Communist-inspired Pathet Lao movement.

Flo Chi Minh's forces defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam in 1954. A peace conference at Ge­neva, Switzerland, then established Laos as a neutral country, a "buffer" between Communist North Vietnam and non-Communist Thailand (see Geneva Accords). Laos became a member of the United Nations in 1955. A series of governments ruled Laos from 1954 to 1960.

In 1960, Captain Kong Le, a Laotian army officer, over­threw the pro-Western government and demanded a neutralist government. Civil war soon broke out. Kong Le and the Pathet Lao seized control of most of northern Laos before a cease-fire was declared in 1961.

But fighting continued, and in 1962, a 14-nation con­ference at Geneva set up a coalition government in Laos. Prince Souvanna Phouma, a neutralist, became prime minister. Prince Boun Oum, an anti-Communist, and Prince Souphanouvong, a Communist, were made cabi­net ministers. The agreement ordered foreign troops out of Laos and guaranteed Laos's neutrality under the supervision of an International Control Commission.

In 1963, Souphanouvong withdrew from the govern­ment. Fighting broke out again between the Pathet Lao and government forces. The Pathet Lao received support from Chinese and Soviet military advisers and thou­sands of North Vietnamese troops. The Laotian govern­ment was backed by troops from Thailand and South Vietnam, and military advisers from the United States. By 1970, Souvanna Phouma's government troops controlled only western Laos. Pathet Lao forces, led by Souphanou­vong, held eastern Laos.

During the Vietnam War, North Vietnam used the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia to move troops and supplies into South Vietnam. United States planes bombed the trail and other areas in Laos. In 1971, South Vietnamese troops, supported by United States bomb­ers and helicopters, entered Laos to attack Communist supply routes. However, Communist forces drove them out. 

In 1973, the Laotian government and the Pathet Lao agreed to a cease-fire and to the formation of a coalition government. A new government was set up in 1974, with Souvanna Phouma as prime minister and Sou­phanouvong as head of an advisory body. In 1975, pro- Communist demonstrations occurred, and many non- Communist government officials resigned and were re­placed by Communists. The government came under Communist rule. At the same time, the Pathet Lao took over large amounts of land.

The Vietnam War ended in April 1975, when South Vietnam fell to the Communists. Communists also won control of Cambodia that month. Later in the year, the king gave up his throne and the Pathet Lao took over Laos. The country became a Communist state. Since the Communist take-over, thousands of Laotians have fled the country. Since shortly after the take-over, about 50,000 Vietnamese troops have been stationed in Laos. The Vietnamese have much influence over the Laotian government. Souphanouvong held the largely honorary post of president in the Communist government from 1975 until he retired in 1986. See also Louangphrabang; Vientiane; Southeast Asia; Colombo Plan; Mekong River; Vietnam War, and ASEAN.