The United States-Lao PDR Relationship

Secretary Blinken will travel to Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) on July 27 to participate in the United States-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference, the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the 31st ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).  While in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), the Secretary also will co-chair the Third Mekong-U.S. Partnership Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.  The Secretary will meet with Lao PDR Prime Minister Siphandone and Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Saleumxay, with whom he will discuss ongoing efforts in our Comprehensive Partnership with Laos and will congratulate Laos on a productive and successful year as ASEAN chair.  The United States supports the Lao PDR’s ASEAN chair year theme of Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience.

The United States and the Lao PDR continue to broaden bilateral cooperation on a range of issues including health, child nutrition, education, environmental protection, trade liberalization, legal reform, counter-narcotics, law enforcement cooperation, humanitarian assistance, and English language training.  The Secretary’s visit and meetings with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will serve to deepen our bilateral relationship and expand opportunities for U.S.-Lao PDR engagement.

The United States and Lao PDR: Expanding People-to-People Ties, War Legacies Recovery, Development Assistance, and Law Enforcement and Justice Sector Cooperation

People-to-People Ties:

• The strong bonds between the people of the United States and the people of the Lao PDR lie at the heart of the bilateral relationship.  A range of educational and cultural programs that span nearly seven decades have enhanced our people-to-people ties.  The current American Center in Vientiane continues to serve as a focal point of our cultural and educational exchanges, offering over 730 free programs to Lao youth and attracted approximately 15,000 visitors in 2023. Most recently, two English class offerings received almost 3,000 applicants for just 44 seats.
• Our education exchange programs continue to grow across all age-groups and fields.  Undergraduate scholarships for Lao PDR students have quadrupled since 2021.  Fulbright master’s degree scholarships have doubled, and Fulbright Visiting Scholars have tripled in 2024.  Lao PDR participants in YSEALI (Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative) study programs in the United States have almost doubled from 2023 to 2024.
• Since its inception in 2001, the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) has provided in Laos over $1.5 million to support the preservation of archeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous language and crafts.  AFCP’s assistance in preserving historic Lao sites like Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang, a World Heritage site, has helped support the 2024 Visit Laos Year, a Lao PDR priority.
• Visitors from the United States support Lao PDR’s “Visit Laos Year” tourism goals and seek economic opportunities that benefit both countries.  The United States maintained its fifth-place position as a source of tourists visiting Laos in 2023.  With 62,660 U.S. citizen visitors, the 2023 numbers were the highest on record.

War Legacies:

• Since 1993, the United States has provided more than $391 million to address the legacy of the Indochina Wars by locating and destroying unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Lao PDR. This life-saving work to locate and destroy UXO is making more land safe for agriculture, infrastructure, and tourism, and driving critical economic development across Laos.
• The United States’ UXO program in Lao PDR has expanded significantly, tripling United States-funded UXO teams from 70 in 2020 to 210 UXO teams in 2024. Over the past year, this includes training, equipping, and deploying 40 additional clearance teams and expanding into two additional provinces.
• In FY 2023, the United States funded UXO clearance of 41,150,467 square meters of land (10,169 acres), destroyed over 51,100 explosive hazards, educated over 151,000 Lao PDR citizens about the risk of explosive hazards, and provided medical assistance to 29 citizens who were victims of UXO accidents.
• The United States has been a strong partner with the Lao PDR in improving the health and well-being of persons with disabilities, regardless of cause. The USAID Okard project was just extended for a second five-year period for a total of $30 million.  Okard (Lao for “opportunity”) will promote disability inclusive development through social protection, rehabilitation, and economic opportunities while fostering collaboration between the Lao government and civil society organizations.

Development Assistance:

• U.S. development cooperation has expanded significantly since the U.S.-Laos Comprehensive Partnership began in 2016. USAID’s annual budget has increased from approximately $7 million in 2016 to over $48 million this year, supporting programs in health, education, economic growth, energy, environment, and governance.
• In the health sector, USAID has worked with the Ministry of Health to start up and expand support for Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, disability, and health security programs.
• USAID support through UNICEF led to the creation of a Primary Health Care law, while funding to the WHO enabled the installation of oxygen piping in Savannakhet hospital as well as digitized vaccination tracking as part of our continued support to strengthen post-Covid health sector service delivery.
• USAID provided support for HIV self-testing through a local pharmacy distribution pilot. USAID also collaborated with the Thailand International Cooperation Agency to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in health facilities and to provide joint malaria prevention training.
• USAID helped the Government of Lao PDR simplify business regulations and improve transparency, cutting costs for applicants by reducing the timeline to obtain a Business Registration Certificate by 97 percent, from 173 to 5 days.  It also enhanced Laos’ trade potential by shortening the border clearance process for import/export by over 50 percent, from 9.4 hours to 4.8 hours.
• USAID provided $3.4 million in cost-share grants to over 400 micro and small enterprises that improved productivity and Lao’s overall competitiveness in the region, resulting in a 50 percent increase in sales growth of USAID-supported firms compared to non-supported firms of similar size in similar sectors.
• In the energy sector, USAID partners with the World Bank to support state-owned enterprise reform, including Électricité du Laos (EdL), and with the Asian Development Bank to launch a new Frontier investment fund for renewable energy projects.  USAID contributes to the Japan-U.S. Mekong Power Partnership to support the integration of wind and solar energy. Leveraging expertise from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USAID supports the implementation of Lao PDR’s EV policy, and recently promoted the efficiency of EdL with nearly $1 million of hardware and software upgrades.
• The Lao education system was significantly impacted by the pandemic, and student enrollment remains reduced due to economic challenges faced by families.  USAID is working to promote primary and secondary education to ensure that Lao youth have access to the knowledge and skills needed to support Laos’s economic growth. With USAID support, millions of textbooks and storybooks are now enriching the educational experience of children across the country, preventing school dropouts, and preparing the next generation for future success.
• USAID partnered with the National University of Laos (NUOL) and regional universities in Laos to help them to strengthen their capacity.  The NUOL Faculty of Economic and Business Management was accredited this year to join the ASEAN University Network.  USAID intends to expand higher education programming, including scholarships to students and teachers to pursue degrees and professional certification in Laos and abroad.
• USAID is promoting good governance in Laos, including funding to UNDP to partner with the Lao government to build a stronger national development planning and financing system, including improvements to the National Socio-Economic Development Plan process and the National Round Table process.
• USAID is partnering with the National Assembly to strengthen the capacity of parliamentary bodies at the national and provincial levels. The project is gearing up to provide ICT equipment and technical assistance so representatives can effectively carry out their important duties and reach constituents in rural communities.
• With the Asia Foundation, USAID supported the Ministry of Justice to expand legal services to communities and triple the number of legal aid offices across the country. The USAID Legal Aid Support project has provided over 70 scholarships to students, who are pursuing a law career at the National Institute of Justice.
• Funding for Countering Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) is supporting the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Lao Women’s Union, and local organizations to provide support to over 900 victims of trafficking and at-risk populations with protection services and economic resilience opportunities.
• Since 2011 USAID, in partnership with WHO and other development partners, has supported the Lao government to map the extent of lymphatic filariasis and run large-scale treatment programs.  After years of treatment with safe, effective medicines and close monitoring to assess its spread, in October 2023, WHO declared this disease was no longer a public health concern in Laos.
• Through the Japan-U.S.-Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP), the United States is providing assistance to Laos supporting clean energy deployment, regional power trade and electrical interconnectivity, and increasing Laos grid operators and energy regulators on cross-border power trade to increase regional interconnectivity and trade on existing transmission infrastructure.  To date, JUMPP has delivered more than 80 technical cooperation projects across three pillars: national and regional electricity market development and investment, clean energy deployment, and regional power trade.

Law Enforcement and Justice Sector Cooperation:

• Since 1989, the United States has supported Lao PDR to reduce opium poppy cultivation from 42,000 hectares to 5,000 hectares as of 2023, an 88% reduction.
• U.S. support for alternative crop development programs in Huaphanh province, teaching former opium farmers to grow coffee, was so successful that in 2023, we expanded our support to Phongsaly province as well.
• In recent years our counter narcotics cooperation has expanded to help Lao law enforcement address the growing volumes of synthetic drugs trafficked through the country to its neighbors in the region and beyond.
• Capacity building efforts have focused on tightening border security in high intensity traffic areas.  These efforts have been facilitated by a strong partnership with the Lao Customs Department and have also included relevant police officers under the Ministry of Public Security.
• At the same time, we are supporting the modernization of drug treatment in the Lao PDR with the introduction and expansion of evidence-based treatment methodologies.
• Support has expanded from drug demand reduction to wider engagement on transnational organized crime, including targeted focus on building the technical skills needed to address the proliferation of online scam operations which exploit tens of thousands of people in forced labor and sex trafficking, and which defraud individuals around the world, including in the United States, of billions of dollars annually.
• Assistance also supports building Lao capability against money laundering, which hardens Laos against becoming a hub for illicit financial flows while also assisting the country respond effectively to recommendations from the Financial Action Task Forces Mutual Evaluation.
• While expanding support in these areas, the United States has built new relationships with the prosecution service and judiciary in the Lao PDR that has facilitated deeper cooperation in the justice sector.
• Other justice sector cooperation includes support for the empowerment of lawyers in the country through the strengthening of the Lao Bar Association, efforts that have already contributed to an increase in the overall number of lawyers in the country and for concrete actions to address gender inequities in the profession.