On Jul 11, Vice President of the National Assembly Sommad Pholsena held a press conference on the consideration of a draft 10-year strategy on mineral development (2021-2030) and vision 2035 by members of the National Assembly who are attending its ongoing 5th Ordinary Session.
“The mineral development strategy (2021-2030) and vision 2035 are crucial. Therefore, the defining of its contents must ensure the management and use of mineral resources are sustainable, effective and bring optimal benefits to the nation,” said NA Vice President Sommad Pholsena.
Members of the National Assembly have asked the government to attach greater attention to the management and monitoring of mining activities and conduct assessment on their environment and social impacts as well as to the development of human resources for the mining industry.
They suggest the government to hold at least 50% of shares in mining projects and require that the mineral development strategy and vision prioritise categorizing high-value and rare minerals, demarcating mineral protection and reservation areas so that they can be mined in the future.
They asked the government to allocate funding for a geological-mineral mapping survey as the findings of which can be used to identify economic effectiveness of mining projects and mineral protection areas.
“We should come up with ways to reprocess the minerals we mine so that we don’t need to mine new minerals as a result they can be mined in the future. As for the management, mining and processing of strategic minerals, minerals need to be processed after they are mined and environment impacts must be prevented,” said Mr. Sommad Pholsena.
Although the government has attached attention to addressing many issues, it still continues to face many challenges including lack of mining knowhow and technology, especially machinery, modern technology as a result foreign companies tend to be authorized to mine the natural resources.
Source: Lao News Agency
