Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with H.E. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

The Secretary-General met with H.E. Mr. Thongsing Thammavong, the Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), on the margins of the Seventh Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-United Nations Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

The Secretary-General commended Mr. Thammavong for the Government’s commitment to graduate from the UN list of Least Developed Countries (LDC) by 2020. They discussed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the need for effective ways to implement the goals internationally and nationally.  

The Secretary-General congratulated Lao PDR’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2016 and underscored the need strengthened partnership between the two organizations. He kindly accepted the invitation to participate in the ASEAN Summit in Lao PDR in 2016.

The leaders also discussed climate change, ahead of the climate change conference in Paris (COP21).

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 22 November 2015