As global development aid is being squeezed drastically, small, underdeveloped countries like Laos will have to face problems of poverty, climate change and economic dependence on their own.
Surrounded by five neighbors — Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and China — Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Most of its 7.7 million people are Buddhists. Historically a monarchy, Laos is now a one-party state, governed by the communist Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.
A member of the UN since 1955, Laos is chair of the group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and a member of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). With an annual gross national income of $2,503 in 2024, Laos is expected to graduate from the LDC league in November 2026, according to UN data.
Anouparb Vongnorkeo is Laos’s outgoing UN envoy. He discussed his country’s membership in the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the 2023-25 term and other development topics with PassBlue. The ambassador was born in 1973, just two years before the country’s civil war ended. He assumed his role in January 2020, and his five-year term in New York ends in April.
Laos was a French protectorate until 1953 in what was then called Indochina. During the Vietnam War, the United States dropped two million tons of bombs on Laos, more than all the bombs dropped during WWII combined. Laos’s population had just two million people then, making it the most heavily bombed country in history. The soil became heavily contaminated, and the unexploded ordnance (UXO) turned the country into a danger zone, limiting access to fertile land and disrupting livelihoods.
An international effort is underway in rural areas of Laos, where 80 percent of the population lives, to remove the bombs. But the sudden halt of funding from USAID is likely to have ramifications on Laos and Cambodia, where ordnance from the Vietnam War is also a danger.
“Some NGOs have already laid off their workers and put the current activities on hold,” said Vongnorkeo. “Every year we have more people, especially children, who are victims of unexploded bombs. We do hope that the US government will reconsider their decision to suspend funding.”
PassBlue interviewed Ambassador Vongnorkeo at the Laos mission to the UN on March 6. The conversation topics range from the country’s status in the UN system to geopolitics in Southeast Asia as well as the recently curtailed work on de-mining in the Laotian countryside and China’s investments in the nation. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. — ILGIN YORULMAZ
PB: Let’s talk about your country’s first membership in ECOSOC, from 2023 to 2025. Development versus sustainability is an unfair challenge for LLDCs, LDCs and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). On the one hand, they are trying to develop, but on the other hand, there are competing issues, such as climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. How can least-developed countries progress while keeping up with the SDGs?
AV: We are categorized as “countries in special situations,” meaning having unique developmental issues due to the geographical settings and economic challenges [requiring] special treatment and consideration in the sustainable development agenda. Being a member of ECOSOC gives us direct access to the key decision-making bodies and ability to speak directly with members of ECOSOC on behalf of these three vulnerable groups of countries [LLDCs, LDCs, SIDS] to increase international support and assistance. The UN and ECOSOC are the right platforms, because they discuss development issues and make recommendations to the General Assembly to adopt a program of action tailored to the needs of these countries.
We are currently facing a huge financial challenge [in Laos] as official development assistance [ODA] is decreasing. Top priority for us is to mobilize funding from different sources. Apart from governments, we are looking at the private sector and cooperation among developing countries. I mean not only the north-south, meaning between developing countries and developed countries, but also the south-south cooperation between developing countries themselves is important. There are small countries with successful implementation of national development plans, which everyone can learn from.
PB: Two problems that are always mentioned by such vulnerable countries are poverty eradication and climate change. In terms of wiping out poverty, what has Laos achieved in the last 20 years?
AV: We have a double challenge to face and a new crisis from climate change, such as sea-level rise and natural disasters happening more frequently, which especially small island developing states are facing. Climate change has a significant impact on the implementation of our development goals. For example, in Laos in the past two years we have had flash floods and sometimes long months of drought compared with 20-30 years ago. Even the mountainous areas are affected. But we have to bear in mind that the external assistance has never been sufficient in the past and now the need is greater.
A remarkable result in our poverty eradication is that we have been recommended for graduation from the least-developed country category together with Bangladesh and Nepal for 2026. We have so far passed the thresholds such as the human development index, the ability to improve the well-being of people throughout the country and readiness for external shocks.
PB: Your country took over the rotating leadership of ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] in 2024 amid the continuing Myanmar crisis, which has displaced more than three million people, including one million ethnic Rohingya who moved to camps in Bangladesh with no prospects of returning home. Since the Myanmar army ousted a democratically elected government in 2021, fighting has continued with pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic rebels. ASEAN drew up a five-point plan that Myanmar accepted in April 2021 but has failed to carry out. Laos says it will always have constructive engagement with and advocate for Myanmar’s participation. Where do you see the crisis going and what is the best strategy for dealing with it?
AV: We understand the complexity of the crisis and the historical dynamism that Myanmar has encountered in the past several years. This crisis is not only affecting Myanmar people, but also Asia as a whole. Myanmar is an integral part of our ASEAN family. During our chairmanship of the ASEAN 2024 Summit in our capital, Vientiane, in October last year, our prime minister appointed a former Laos ambassador to the UN, Alounkeo Kittikhoun, as a special envoy of the ASEAN chair on Myanmar. Ambassador Kittikhoun urged constructive engagement in a dialogue with Myanmar rather than isolation.
The special circumstances in Myanmar are that firstly, different ethnic groups have their own militaries, which presents a unique challenge. Secondly, [Kittikhoun] needed to see the situation himself and meet with them to listen to their opinions. He was allowed access several times to different political groups, including those who made a ceasefire with the military government and those who did not.
In ASEAN, we have the troika mechanism, meaning the previous chair works with the current and the future chairs so there is continuity. Our chairmanship in 2024 was followed by Malaysia this year. So we invited them and the Myanmar foreign ministry decided to attend for the first time. [Myanmar sent a foreign ministry official to the Laos 2024 summit for the first time in three years. It was previously barred from the 2023 summit in Indonesia, and its rotating leadership, which is in 2026, was handed to the Philippines instead]
PB: What is the next step for the UN to deal with Myanmar’s continuing crisis?
AV: Our special envoy came to New York twice. All the progress was shared with the Security Council, the first time in February 2024 and second time in late November. He will hand over his task to the next ASEAN chairmanship envoy in the rotation. Of course, it’s a very complex, ongoing issue that can’t be solved in one or two years. Last year, the UN secretary-general appointed his special envoy, Julie Bishop, a former foreign minister of Australia. The two envoys [Bishop and the ASEAN envoy] work closely and share information, discussing proper ways to engage with all parties.
PB: Please help me understand: You said Laos is actually the most heavily bombed country per capita, but can you tell us more about the US bombardment of Laos in the 1960s and the ’70s, when more bombs were dropped on the country than on Germany and Japan combined in World War II.
AV: We suffered a lot in the Vietnam War, especially between 1964 to 1973. There was also what we called a “secret war.” A lot of people knew about the Vietnam War but did not know neighboring countries were also affected by it. The [American] pilots were fighting in Vietnamese airspace but it was dangerous for them to be in the area for a long time. They were also not allowed to return to their bases in Thailand and land with bombs onboard. So they had to empty all the [remaining] bombs on Laos.
The unexploded bombs contaminated almost every province in Laos and have hampered our development efforts, making the construction of schools, hospitals and basic road access very expensive and dangerous. It interrupts people’s access to their land and to develop their villages. Perhaps our categorization of LDC is to a large extent due to this obstruction caused by unexploded ordnance that spread across the country.
There is also an important organization called Legacies of War run by the young American-Laotian people to advocate not only for funding, but to also increase awareness of the negative consequences of the US Army operations during the Vietnam War. [In 2016, Barack Obama became the first US president to visit Laos and address the “moral obligation” of the US to help Laos heal]
Cleaning up the explosive remnants of wars is costly and requires external assistance. We have never produced these kinds of weapons, so dealing with them is a huge challenge for us in terms of financial capacity and technical expertise.
PB: The US has provided some assistance since 1995 in clearing these explosive remnants in Laos. Vietnam has also received funding. But now the funding is in jeopardy after the stop-work order for US foreign assistance programming that suspends US-funded mine clearance programs and a broad range of other international assistance.
AV: Three countries — Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos — lobby together to help advocate on the impact of unexploded ordnance and mines, but the country that suffered the most is Laos because of the heavy contamination. The US has provided in total close to $400 million in funding, which has been used to clear unexploded bombs by over 200 clearance teams, many of whom are international NGOs. The recent announcement by the US government to suspend funding will, of course, have a major impact on the UXO clearance in the country and major consequences on the ground. Some NGOs have already laid off their workers and put the current activities on hold. Every year we have more people, especially children, who are victims of unexploded bombs. We do hope that the US government will reconsider their decision to suspend funding.
On a personal note, I would say we feel grateful to the previous administrations for their support for this UXO clearance program, which has had bipartisan support. I believe the current administration will consider the consequences very seriously.
PB: You mentioned China earlier. We know that it’s investing a lot in Laos, including nearly $1 billion in 2023, and China is presumed to have overtaken Thailand as Laos’s top investor and trading partner in 2024. France, Vietnam and Japan are other major investors.
AV: As our close neighbor, China is the top foreign investor in our country, especially in infrastructure and energy. One example is the construction of the railway system between [Kunming, capital of Yunnan in China, and Vientiane, capital of Laos], and the high-speed train service, which has been operational since 2023. It made a significant impact on improving transport of goods and people not only between China and Laos, but also helps to achieve the ultimate goal of transforming Laos from being a landlocked country into a land-linked country, serving as an infrastructure and transportation hub in the subregion in Southeast Asia. The second phase would be connecting Laos with Thailand, down to Malaysia and Singapore. Without the investment, expertise and technology from China, we would not have been able to achieve that project.
We welcome your comments on this article. What are your thoughts on Laos's work on de-mining and poverty?
Ilgin Yorulmaz has reported from Turkey, India, Nepal, Philippines, China and Japan for BBC World Service, Huffington Post, Vice, The Guardian, PassBlue, Vogue, Condé Nast Traveller UK, Voices and Maison Française. She has an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In addition, she has an M.A. in international relations and economics from the International University of Japan in Niigata and a B.A. in business administration from Bogazici University in Istanbul. Yorulmaz speaks Turkish, Japanese, French and English.
