US-Laos Cooperation
In 1995 Laos will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with the United States. Unlike Cambodia and Laos these relations were not severed after the end of the war, though they were severely curtailed. The relationship and the cooperation between the two countries have been gradually strengthening over the past decade. Laos cooperates with the U.S in major projects including the recovering remains of Americans Missing in Actions (MIAs), anti-terrorism and counter-narcotics. Simultaneously, U.S. Government, International Organizations, and NGOs have also been working in Laos supporting a number of projects. These projects aim at promoting the livelihoods of the people of Laos as well as fostering respect for human rights. While maintaining cooperation with government counterparts on different projects, these development organizations focus heavily on the local and grassroots level, promoting decentralization and capacity building of human resources.
The U.S Embassy in Laos not only supports socio-economic development in Laos but also aims at fostering the understanding between the multi-ethnic Lao in the U.S and the people in the Lao PDR. The cooperation includes the exchange visits of the people of the two countries including multi-ethnic Lao Americans. Moreover, the U.S embassy also supports other major social and economic development programs, mostly in northern of Laos, dealing with the narcotics eliminations, building human resources through scholarship programs, and increasing the incomes generation through community and private development.
One major project of the US government in Laos is the removal of unexplored ordinance, which are still scattered from northern to southern provinces of Laos. UXO has become a significant barrier for the people, particularly in rural areas, in generating incomes through agricultural activities but also threatening people’s lives. Laos still needs more support to educate people on UXO awareness, while at the same time needs support to clear more then 2.5 million tons of ordnance left over from the Vietnam War.
The U.S. and Laos have exchanged bilateral trade for a period of time. However, the rate of trade exchange began to decline after 2001. This comprises both a decrease in investment of US business in Laos and Lao exportation to the US. The lack of Normal Trade Relation status with the US resulted in a decline of Laos’ exports to the U.S $21 million to $3.9 million in 2001. At the same time US investment dropped from 2nd to 7th rank below that of countries such as Japan, Holland, and Australia. With the enactment of NTR by the government of the US, Laos has also been preparing to encourage more domestic and foreign investment. The process includes reforms of many investment policies and different institutions in charge of trade and investment. Multi-ethnic Lao-Americans will play an important role to increase the cooperation and investment in Laos.
