RC remarks at Meet the press-RTIM2025

Ladies and gentlemen of the press –

Thank you for joining us this afternoon.

In three weeks, Lao PDR will host the 2025 Round Table Meeting. The annual even is a special moment in the calendar.

It is a unique platform that brings together the national and sub-national Government, the National Assembly, development partners, the private sector, NGOs, and civil society to foster inclusive dialogue to maximize the effectiveness of all of our development efforts.

It is key mechanism to set collaborative priorities and align efforts with the national development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Our 2025 Round Table will be a High-Level Meeting. High-level meetings are held every five years, coinciding with the end of the current five-year national development plan.

This year’s meeting is an especially pivotal moment as we conclude the 9th National Socio-Economic Development Plan, finalize the 10th Plan, and prepare for Lao PDR’s graduation from LDC status in 2026.

The 10th NSEDP has gone through a comprehensive formulation process, with the fifth draft presented earlier this month. The vision of the 10th Plan is a resilient, self-reliant and sustainable Lao PDR, and this ambition is backed by two companion documents – the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, and the Financing Strategy.

The M&E Framework for the 10th Plan will strengthen the use of results-based measurement, but it will also promote access to information and transparency of national development process. An M&E dashboard to monitor NSEDP progress is being designed in that regard. 

The Financing Strategy is meant to ensure that the 10th Plan priorities are well resourced and costed. Preliminary estimates suggest that the financing gap for the 10th NSEDP ranges between 8-11 billion US Dollars. Against this backdrop, the Financing Strategy aims to secure a broader mix of financing, including public and private, domestic and international.

The 10th Plan will begin the year Lao PDR is set to graduate from Least Developed Country status. Efforts are in progress to align the new NSEDP with the Government’s Smooth Transition Strategy for LDC graduation.

Finally, the 3rd Vientiane Declaration is slated for endorsement during the Round Table Meeting on 19 November. It aims to enhance cooperation between the Government of Lao PDR and its development partners to support sustainable development and inclusive growth. It emphasizes mobilizing domestic resources, foreign investment, knowledge and technology transfer, and involving the private sector and civil society as partners in development. The new Declaration will reflect a shared commitment to strengthen development cooperation for better development outcomes in Lao PDR for the next decade.

Dear members of the press corps –

The upcoming High-Level Round Table Meeting will be more forward-looking, focused on opportunities and solutions for investing in development. 

Together with the Ministry of Finance, we held a pre-consultation event last week to begin to tackle those opportunities for investing in growth, jobs, youth and digital transformation, while maintaining the overall themes of economic growth, human capital, and climate resilience. The pre-consultation was successful in learning from the LDC graduation experiences of the Maldives and Bhutan. The interactive dialogue also gave a platform for members of the private sector and academia.

Building on these deliberations and the iterative discussions around the 10th NSEDP, a clear vision of development priorities for the future is emerging.

Bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders under an inclusive development platform, the Round Table Meeting places the most pressing development issues facing Lao PDR in clear focus, and creates a space for us to jointly identify ways forward.

Ladies and gentlemen –

In a year of many milestone moments, the upcoming High-Level Meeting stands out as a distinct opportunity.

It is our hope that the deliberations on 19 November help cement a consensus across all stakeholders on practical actions and solutions to unlock further progress – and to align resources to those priorities.

The United Nations is proud to support this nationally-led effort. We look forward to engaging with all stakeholders at the meeting, as we collaboratively work towards a resilient and sustainable future for all in Lao PDR. 

Thank you, and I am happy to take any questions you may have.