Minister to the President's Office Soubanh Srithirat, receiving medal from Vice President Boungnang Vorachit

Mr. Soubanh Srithirath, President of the Lao National Committee for Drug Control and Supervision, visited Washington D.C. last week to discuss drug issues and counter-narcotics cooperation between the two countries.

In an exclusive interview with VOA by telephone from New York, Mr. Soubanh said his visit, which was not the first time, was an indication of a great improvement in US-Laos cooperation in the efforts to fight illicit drugs and combat drug trafficking.

Laos, which had been one of the world’s opium poppy grower, declared itself opium-free in 2006. That, the head of the Lao National Committee on Drug Control and Supervision said, was his country's great contribution to the international community's effort to rid the world of all kinds of illicit and dangerous drugs by 2018. Mr. Soubanh said every where he went U.S. officials congratulated him on his country’s success and asked how was it that Laos succeeded while no other country could. 

Mr. Soubanh said there were three major contributing factors. First and foremost was his government's unanimous decision and commitment, from the top down to the bottom level, to completely eradicate opium poppy cultivation between 2000 to 2006. Mr. Soubanh said once the decision was made, his government then formulated a strategy as to how to achieve this goal and adopted measures to implement. He added that central to this is the understanding by all people concerned of the danger and the unlawfulness of opium poppy cultivation. So seminars and workshops were held to educate them; and crop substitution projects were carried out. At the same time, as incentives, the government had to implement many development projects in the areas where opium poppy were grown. Mr. Soubanh said roads had to be built so that the former opium poppy farmers can take their cash crops to markets, and schools had to be built so that their children can get education.

The third contributing factor, said Laos' drug czar, was international aid, without which his country would not have been successful in its efforts to eradicate opium poppy cultivation. And he thanked the U.S. government for its cooperation and assistance.

A Lao company, Khamphay Sana Constructions, has been licenced to build a shopping mall in the capital city of Vientiane to provide a comprehensive round-the-clock service, complete with stores and a food court, a public park, and a 200-car parking lot.

The new shopping center is to be built on a 17,170 square-meter lot, streching 750 meter-long from Khua Luang intersection to Saylom circle.

Khamphay Sana Constructions, who is granted a 40-year concession, will spend an initial investment of 25 billion kips to clear the land and build the parking lot.

The whole project is to be completed in two years to accommodate the large number of tourists that is expected to visit the capital for the 25th SEA Games which Laos will host in December 2009. It is also part of the Vientiane administration's efforts to spruce up the city for the celebrations of its 450th anniversary in 2010,

In another development, Sevanh-Seno Economic Zone officials say that so for more than 200 foreign companies have expressed interested in investing in zone, with three companies - all from China - having officially registered and announced their investment plans with an aggregate capital of over seven million dollars.

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The Asian Development Bank or ADB reports that more than 1.5 billion people in Asia still live in dire poverty, including two out of three people in Laos. The ADB classifies abject poverty as having an average income of under two U.S. dollars per day.

The Manila-based institution says between 2001-2007 it spent over one billon dollars on development projects in poor and underdeveloped countries in Asia with the aim to reduce poverty in the region, building over 38,000 schools, over 6,700 health centers and more than 42,999 kilometers of roads, providing clean waters to more than one million people and electricity to more than 820,000 households. But it says the gap in economic development in urban and rural areas of developed and underdeveloped nations in the region has made poor people in underdeveloped countries poorer because they are not able to fight for available economic resources.

The ADB says of the nearly 6 million people in Laos, two out of three live in abject poverty, living on less than two dollars a day.

A joint survey by the Lao government and the World Bank on the living

conditions of Lao people for the past five years designates 72 towns across the country as very poor, with 47 targeted as top priorities for poverty reduction efforts. Thus the government set up a Poverty Reduction Fund with the help of the World Bank and ADB.

Lao officials say, between 2002 and 2007, they were able to lift 1894 villages in 21 districts in Huaphanh, Xiengkhouang, Savannakhet, Salavan, and Champassack provinces out of poverty.

Laos' long-term goal is to eradicate poverty and lift itself out of the underdeveloped country status by 2020.

Lao authorities said they now have the bird flu outbreak in Nam Ma village in Luang Namtha province under control, but another outbreak has struck in Baan Thong Mai, only three kilometers from Muang Sing.

The newly affected village is also adjacent to another urban area, Muang Long, which is close to the borders with Burma and China. Officials said they have destroyed over 3,000 chickens in the Thong Mai area, but efforts to contain the outbreak is hampered by villagers who do not understand the severity of the situation and hide their poultry because they did not want to lose them.

The close proximity to urban areas has prompted assistance from foreign organizations and countries including the World Health Organization, the U.S. Embassy, and China who provided spray equipments, said a provincial official.

In mid-February, bird flu struck Baan Nam Ma area, where more than 300 chickens suddenly died, and dead bird specimens testing positive for the deadly virus strain H5N1. The outbreak was brought under control after officials destroyed all poultry within a one kilometer radius and banned all poultry transfer into and out of the area. Authorities have paid out some 24 million kips to affected villagers, amounting to about 60% of the total damage cost.

Opium addictLao authorities say there were 5,000 more opium addicts in 2007 than 2006, contributing to the re-emergence of poppy cultivation in some areas of the country that were declared opium-free two years ago.

Official statistics show there were 12,860 opium addicts last year as compared to 7,706 in 2006, and most of the new addicts were those who had quit and been rehabilitated. Authorities say former poppy farmers in many highland areas previously declared opium-free have returned to their old occupation because assistance and development programs designed to help teach them farm alternative crops have not reached their areas due to budget constraints. UNODC figures reveal there were more than 1,500 hectares of new opium farming areas in 2007.

Lao officials also acknowledge a rise in usage of yah baah or methamphetamines as well as other drugs, adding that a major contributing factor is Laos being a transit point for drugs smuggled out of the Golden Triangle, the area where Laos', Thailand's and Burma's borders meet.