Malaysia to provide economic aid for Laos
Malaysiakini
Nov 10, 2006

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today said Malaysia will provide assistance to develop communist Laos through investments and human resource development.

Abdullah said Malaysia and Laos, both part of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) could work together to attract more investment and trade into the land-locked, impoverished state.

"They are doing well at the moment, 7.3 percent GDP, it is a high growth but they are starting from quite a low base and hence there are a lot of things that needs to be done," he told reporters.

Abdullah earlier held a bilateral meeting with his Laotian counterpart, Bouasone Bouphavanh, who is on a three-day visit to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation.
"The emphasis has been on what we can do to help Laos. Human capital development is a very important subject, it was very high on our agenda," he said.

"I think it is certainly in pursuance of the policy of Asean that we must help members of Asean which at the moment have not come up to the level of development of many older Asean members," he added.

A seminar in KL

Abdullah said it was Malaysia's intention and Asean policy to help in the capacity-building of member states and welcome Laotian students to study in Malaysia.

"They have asked for assistance and we will consider their request and we will be identifying a number of universities that we believe can admit Laotian students," he said.

Abdullah said Laos will soon organise a seminar in Kuala Lumpur to attract foreign investment and trade from Malaysia to its shores.

In 2004, bilateral trade between Malaysia and Laos stood at US$2.7 million, a 9.8 percent rise from 2003, data from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's website said.