[BY PERMISSION OF THE CHAIRMAN:]

Vientiane, Lao PDR
April 21, 2003

I have been working professionally in agricultural and rural development and living in the Lao PDR for over 13 years now. As a fluent speaker of the Lao language and having worked in 13 of the nation’s 17 provinces, I feel that I have some knowledge concerning the country and its current situation.

I am quite concerned about the debates within the US about NTR for the Lao PDR. I feel that information given to the Congress in the past has sometimes been skewed by the narrow interests presented by a small group of Lao-Americans, especially a minority group of ethnically Hmong. Thus, this statement is to present another side, which I feel is more realistic, even for the ethnically Hmong living in the Lao PDR.

As you know, the Lao PDR has been progressively more integrated into markets since the establishment of the New Economic Mechanism (NEM) in 1986. As with many changes here this NEM really never started to have an impact until about 1990. While market institutions and mechanisms are still in their fledgling stages they are beginning to work with the assistance of various donors. So the country is not only no longer considered as a non-market economy as when the Trade Act was passed in January 1975, but it’s well on it’s way into entering into the community of nations as a partner. It joined Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997 and is working on meeting the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) requirements by 2008. This should be a great boost to the nation’s economic development.

As a less developed country in still in its early stages of development, the nascent markets for agriculture, forestry and small- and medium scale industry are important dimension of the economic development of the country. However, it is also important and urgent that Laos also have trade good trade relations with larger countries such as the US and the EU countries. Of course, it helps tremendously to have access to markets at favorable tariffs.

The country has a number of products already which could benefit from NTR with the US. There is a burgeoning garment industry; considerable non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for the health foods and products niche markets; timber products, eg, furniture, sawn wood, etc; and coffee. There is yet an unreached potential for numerous agricultural products, such as, fruits and vegetables, various meat products, domesticated NTFPs, eg, cardamon, eaglewood oil, etc. The Lao have tremendous skills in intricate silk and cotton weaving, which could be readily transferred to various types of complicated assembly work in the electronics and communications industries.

Of course, there is still much to be accomplished in the commercialization of agriculture and in the appropriate industrialization of the country. But a necessary condition for economic development will be the opening of markets for its products. NTR with the US should provide a substantial boost to the nation’s growth and development. Both the Government of the Lao PDR (GOL) and the general population are ready for such an improvement in US-Lao relations.

Actually the GOL’s relationship with the Hmong community has steadily improved in the past decade. This can be attested by the recent visit of Dr Vang Dao of the University of Minnesota, a prominent Hmong leader within the US. I have personally worked with many fine Hmong people in villages and in the GOL, and there is very little tension between them and the Government for which there is some misinformation in the US by only a few of the more vocal members of the Hmong community.

Charles Alton, Ph. D.