Members of the National Assembly and the People’s Provincial Assemblies have learnt more about economic issues so they can better support and monitor work being undertaken by the government.
A seminar on “Strengthening Capacity” took place yesterday in Vientiane and was co-chaired by the Chairman of the Economics, Technology and Environment Committee, Mr Bounpone Sisoulath, and the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia Executive Director, Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura.
The main objectives of the seminar were for assembly members to better understand how to carry out government plans such as Vision 2030, the 10-Year National Socio- Economic Development Strategies 2016-2025 and the eighth 5-Year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) for 2016- 2020 as well as monitoring the implementation of the National Strategy and the 5-Year Plan, and in particular monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Assembly members also learnt about the targets of the 8th NSEDP and other poverty reduction strategies, to be able to better monitor and provide comments on various projects, and to report and exchange lessons learned with the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr Bounpone Sisoulath said this was the first time that members of the National Assembly and Provincial People’s Assemblies in some constituencies along with technical officials in economic, planning and financial sectors had taken part in such a meeting.
Participants also heard the results of research on Laos presented by domestic and overseas economic experts.
Director General of the National Economic Research Institute, Dr Leeber Leebouapao, gave a presentation on the Vision 2030, the 10-Year National Socio-Economic Development Strategies (2016-2025), and the 8th NSEDP (2016-2020).
Deputy Director General of the National Research Institute for Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mr Xaysomphet Norasingh, gave a presentation on strategies for industry development, international trade and trade management.
An overview of immediate policies and the simulation of major development strategies that refer to Laos at the Crossroads: Industrial Development Strategies (2016-2030) was presented by a Research Fellow at IDE-JETRO, Mr Souknilanh Keola.
An economist at the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia, Mr Masahito Ambashi, also gave a presentation on the development of industrial states.
Source: Vientiane Times
