Until 1953, Lao PDR was a French colony. Following a successful overthrow of the country’s monarchy in the mid-seventies by communist forces, Lao PDR then spent years in isolation. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this small landlocked nation soon began opening its doors to the rest of the world.
Following Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s surprise victory in Malaysia’s 14th general election on 9 May, which was widely seen as a step forward for democracy, analysts and heads of government worldwide are now turning their eyes to the rest of the region in anticipation of similar political reversals.Mahathir Mohamad, who led a coalition of opposition parties dubbed the Alliance of Hope (Pakatan Harapan) to victory against the incumbent National Front (Barisan Nasional) party, based a l
Cambodia and Lao PDR have agreed to work together to resolve pending border demarcation disagreements between the two nations. The foreign ministers of both countries have agreed to have their respective border committees meet more often to settle the matter.
Last month, the United Nations Committee for Development Policy announced that Lao PDR had fulfilled the criteria to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status for the first time. The Indochinese nation’s per capita Gross National Income (GNI) of US$ 1,996 exceeded the graduation threshold of US$ 1,230 or above. Besides that, Lao PDR scored 72.8, more than the 66 or above rating on the Human Assets Index.
