Written by Wang Gongqing / Translated by Xu Zhiliang

Laos： Making Every Effort to Serve as the Rotating Chair of ASEAN to Implement the Shared Vision （ASEAN 2025）--An exclusive interview with H.E. Mrs. Vandy Bouthasavong，Ambassador of Lao PDR to the P.R.C.

Written by Wang Gongqing / Translated by Xu Zhiliang

“Laos and China are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers and people of the two countries have co-existed in peace and harmony since ancient times.” During the interview with China-ASEAN Panorama Magazine, H.E. Mrs. Vandy Bouthasavong, the Ambassador of Lao PDR to China, spoke happily.

Friendly relations and fruitful cooperation

We all know that this year 2016 marks the 55thanniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Laos and China, which is a significant event in the history of the bilateral relationship of the two countries. “To commemorate the event, the two sides have jointly celebrated this important occasion to refl ect the friendly relations and fruitful cooperation between Laos and China that have been gradually widened and deepened in all aspects, bringing tangible and mutual benefits to the people of our two nations,” said Mrs. Vandy Bouthasavong.

She further outlined the current economic and cooperation between the two sides, and introduced the future development directions of Laos and China. “As for Laos, especially many provinces in the northern part of the country, has given importance to promoting and developing economic and trade relations and cooperation with China. The bilateral trade and investment between Laos and China have increased remarkably. In 2015 bilateral trade volume reached US$ 2.78 billion and Chinese investment reached US$ 6.7 billion, with a total of 760 projects, making China the largest foreign investor in Laos. However, I have noted that the trade between Laos and China has been yet unstable. Therefore, both sides have to work closely to find all good means to increase the trade volume between Laos and China, especially between the northern provinces of Laos and the Yunnan Province of China.”

She added that, “The parties and governments of Laos and China have agreed and given strong commitment to further enhancing the bilateral relations and cooperation between our two countries in all aspects. The successful launch of Lao Sat-1 satellite and the commencement of the railway project linking China and Laos with other countries in the region are the most remarkable cooperative projects between Laos and China, refl ecting an excellent and fruitful cooperation of our two parties and governments based on mutual interests. And tangible benefi ts have been brought to people of both Laos and China, thus contributing to Laos national development tasks.”

However, in the past years, more and more Chinese enterprises have begun to invest in Lao PDR, of which some enterprises have made marked progress, but some gained unsatisfactory results. “At present, the number of Chinese companies running business in Laos has been increased significantly. Many of them have been operating business with greater success in the fields of hydropower projects, mining projects, agriculture, service and others, making China the biggest foreign investor in Laos. Nevertheless, there are still some companies that do not pay strictly enough attention to environmental issues while doing business, and this has caused environmental problems and has damaged people’s livelihood,” said Mrs. Vandy.

Given this, she also gave the most valuable suggestions for Chinese enterprises to invest in Laos. “Therefore, we request those companies to pay more attention to the environmental problems and respect the regulations and laws while doing business in Laos. In addition, the companies should also give attention to Laos’s capacity building and poverty eradication tasks. ”

As ASEAN Chairmanship: Making elaborate preparations

This year marks the 25thanniversary of the establishment of ASEAN-China dialogue relations. Mrs. Bouthasavong said, “Since the establishment of the dialogue relations in 1991 (Full Dialogue Partner in 1996), ASEAN-China Cooperation has been gradually widened and deepened in political and security, economy and sociocultural areas, thus making China become the first dialogue partner of ASEAN to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in 2003 and become the fi rst strategic partner of ASEAN in the same year; the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) in 2010. China is ASEAN’s largest trading partner, and the first export destination for ASEAN, while ASEAN is China’s third largest trading partner, and the bilateral trade reached US$ 472.2 billion in 2015. In terms of connectivity between ASEAN and China, the two sides have developed and constructed many infrastructure projects such as roads, railways and airports in the region to support and facilitate economic and trade cooperation between ASEAN and China, thus contributing to narrowing down the development gap between ASEAN member states and between ASEAN and other countries.”

In the meantime, Laos acts as the Chair of ASEAN for 2016. “In 2016 Laos assumes ASEAN Chairmanship for the second time and this year is significant and meaningful since it is the fi rst year of ASEAN becoming a community and embarking on the implementation of its Vision 2025. This is why Lao PDR, as Chair of ASEAN, introduced the theme ‘Turning Vision into Reality for a Dynamic ASEAN Community’. Lao PDR has identifi ed and introduced eight priorities under our chairmanship.” Mrs. Bouthasavong explained them in detail, “Implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025; Narrowing the Development Gap; Trade Facilitation; Small and Medium Enterprises Development; Tourism Development; Connectivity; Transformation from Informal Employment to Formal Employment towards Decent Work Promotion in ASEAN; and Reinforcing Cultural Cooperation in ASEAN are included.”

Mrs. Bouthasavong also introduced that, throughout the year of ASEAN Chairmanship, Laos would host many important meetings across the three community pillars in Laos, particularly on the economic pillar, including eight action lines: 1) ASEAN Trade Facilitation Agreement; 2) ASEAN Regulatory Framework for Food Safety; 3) ASEAN Framework on Financial Inclusion; 4) Framework on the Establishment of Enabling Environment for SME Establishment and Operation (in the form of work plan); 5) Vientiane Declaration on Sustainable Tourism Development; 6) ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Awards; 7) Framework or Guidelines for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Development & Collaboration; 8) Master Plan for CLMV Development.

The Lao-Sat-1 satellite successfully launched by China