Vientiane Times DPA Bangkok (dpa) - Laos's ruling communist party leadership will present a new five-year economic plan (2001-2005) at the upcoming 7th Party Congress in Vientiane, radio reports said Sunday. Chaisomparn Proviharn, economics minister to the prime minister's office, said economic topics would dominate the congress expected to be held sometime this month. Chaisomparn said the communist party had already made progress in achieving economic goals in the land-locked country, according to a Lao National Radio broadcast monitored in Bangkok. He noted that in 1990 the per capita income in Laos was 211 dollars per year, whereas by 2000 it had reached 350 dollars. Laos has also achieved near self-sufficiency in its rice production, which was close to 2.2 million tons last year, said the minister. Still deemed one of the world's poorest nations, Laos has made slow progress in bringing literacy and basic health care to its 5 million people. The country opted for one-party communist rule in December 1975. Like the rest of then-communist Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam), Laos embarked on a host of market-oriented, economic reforms in 1989 after the collapse of its major financial supporter, the Soviet Union. Copyright (c) 2001, dpa **** Lao communists gather for key congress 03/05/2001 Agence France-Presse (Copyright 2001) VIENTIANE, March 5 (AFP) - Lao officals gathered here amid tight security Monday for a congress of the ruling communist party that is expected to usher in major changes in the leadership and strengthen the growing influence of neighbouring China. Communist hammer and sickle flags and banners welcoming the delegates have gone up across the city over the past week and flew from virtually every available lamp post. Armed security men were on patrol across the city as the authorities took no chances with a mystery bombing campaign which has rocked the normally sleepy country over the past 12 months, killing at least one person and wounding more than 50. Even Western diplomats have not been immune from the resulting security clampdown. One told of having a rifle pointed in his face when he attempted to drive across one of the capital's main squares. The congress, which sources said would last for ten days, had been widely expected to be held later in the month to coincide with a similar party congress in neighbouring Vietnam, long Laos's main ideological and security ally. But President Khamtay Siphandone, the architect of Laos's quickening opening to China, brought it forward at short notice. A raft of changes in the leadership are set to be approved by the congress which are expected to strengthen the hand of Khamtay's pro- China faction at the expense of Prime Minister Sisavath Keobounphanh, seen as closer to Vietnam. Beijing has poured economic aid into impoverished Laos in recent years in a diplomatic offensive which led to a first ever state visit by President Jiang Zemin last November. When Chinese Defence Minister Chi Haotian visited the Lao capital last month, his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Van Tra rushed here just a few days later. Khamtay is finally set to step down from the presidency but is not expected to lose any of his influence, a top Lao official told AFP, asking not to be named. The ailing president is expected to retain his position as chairman of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party and to see many of his supporters take key positions within the regime. Sisavath on the other hand is expected to lose both the premiership and much of his influence in government. He is likely to be named chairman of the Lao Front for National Reconstruction, an umbrella body which supervises the official trade unions, women's groups and other civic organizations. Analysts say the marginalising of the prime minister, who retains considerable influence among Laos's largely Vietnamese-trained armed forces, could stoke up problems for the regime in the future. "If Sisavath feels himself sidelined and retains his longstanding following in the armed forces, the possibility of a coup d'etat cannot be entirely ruled out," one Western diplomat told AFP. The front-runner to take over the presidency is National Assembly speaker Samane Vignaket, an ethnic Vietnamese who is nonetheless regarded as sympathetic to Laos's opening to China. The premiership is expected to go to Osakanh Thammatheva, a former minister seen as a staunch supporter of Khamtay. Another leading Khamtay supporter, Finance Minister Bounyang Vanangchith, is expected to take the reins at the interior ministry in the face of the bombing campaign. Defence Minister Choummaly Sayasone, who recently suffered a stroke, is expected to retain his post. Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, who is highly regarded by Western diplomats here, is expected to be promoted to head a new superministry embracing state planning, foreign investment and rural development. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
