The government’s monthly meeting was held on Apr 26-27 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh.
The meeting also saw the presence of Deputy Prime Ministers, members of the government and representatives of line ministries.
The meeting approved a report on the implementation of the Socio-economic Development Plan and State Investment Plan for 2021, and draft amendments to the national water supply price policy.
The government asked the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to work with relevant sectors to adjust the policy according to the recommendations of government members to ensure it is in line with the guidance and policy of the Party and government, and the state enterprise and other waterworks companies are financially self-reliant.
The cabinet members approved a draft decree on Sports and Gymnastic Fund and a draft five-year plan on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development 2021-2025 and agreed in principle on the increasing of the minimum wage.
They called on the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to discuss the issue with relevant public agencies and business community, especially labour-intensive companies.
After being briefed about preparation for the Lao PDR’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2024, the government members asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with relevant sectors to make comprehensive preparation according to lessons learned when Laos previously hosted the ASEAN Summit and those learned in neighbouring countries.
Relevant sectors were asked to continue to implement the Socio-economic Development Plan and State Budget Plan 2022 along with the two national agendas – addressing economic and financial difficulties, and addressing drug issues – with a focus placed on the collection of public revenues, exploring new sources of revenues and modernizing revenue collection, especially at international border gates across the country.
They were instructed to urge companies to immediately conduct as a pilot project the mining of iron ores and export them to overseas markets so that more revenues can be collected.
They were required to continue to reform the Electricite du Lao, Lao Airlines, Lao Development Lottery State Enterprise and other state enterprises according to the resolution adopted by the government in last October to ensure they can yield more revenues.
They were also asked to improve investment environment to attract more foreign investors into the country, and to implement in timely manner major investment projects especially those on highway construction, and special economic zones.
The government called on relevant authorities to devise regulatory measures to stabilize exchange rates, address rising oil prices thus mitigating impacts on goods prices and inflation, and immediately ease immigration procedure in preparation for reopening the country to visitors.
Source: Lao News Agency