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1 1 (December 2, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goverml0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con r S ~Pfl I Irfi ingi Ie~ Na R ~sear h ;S nate tiSi Updated December 2, 2024 Laos The Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR or Laos) is one of Asia's poorest nations, and an authoritarian state, led by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). Political participation is heavily limited. The LPRP selected all candidates in the most recent National Assembly elections, in 2021. Since a 1986 economic opening, Laos has implemented market-based economic reforms, and in 2013, joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Laos depends on foreign investment-much of it from the People's Republic of China (PRC or China)-for its infrastructure development. This reliance, as well as rapidly expanding trade with China, has made Laos one of the Southeast Asian nations with the closest ties to Beijing. Observers express concern that Laos' borrowing has raised its public debt to dangerous levels. According to an April 2024 World Bank report, Laos' total public and publicly guaranteed debt reached 110% of GDP in 2023. Successive U.S. administrations and the U.S. Congress have expressed concern about China's use of loans and other investments to influence or coerce foreign governments, and Congress has enacted legislation to empower the U.S. government to counter such influence. Laos is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and served as the group's 2024 chair. Laos is also a partner in the U.S.-Mekong Partnership (formerly called the Lower Mekong Initiative), a sub- regional foreign assistance effort launched by the U.S. State Department in 2009, under which the United States provides assistance to nations that rely on the Mekong River for economic development. U.S.-Laos Reatons From 1961 to 1973, U.S. forces covertly supported Laos's royalist government in its civil war with communist insurgents backed by North Vietnam. The U.S. government also recruited Lao citizens, particularly from the Hmong hilltribe, to aid in the fight. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, tens of thousands fled to refugee camps in Thailand. Congress responded by passing legislation, including the Refugee Act of 1979 (P.L. 96-212), to allow the resettlement of refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2023, over 363,000 Hmong live in the United States. The United States did not sever diplomatic relations with Laos, as it did with Cambodia and Vietnam, when communist parties in the three countries took power in 1975, although it did downgrade U.S. representation in Vientiane. Full diplomatic ties were restored in 1992. In 2016, when Laos last served as ASEAN's chair and host of key regional meetings, President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Laos, and later formed the U.S.- Lao P.D.R. Comprehensive Partnership. U.S. assistance to Laos has expanded under the partnership. USAID's annual budget has increased from approximately $7 million in FY2016 to over $48 million in FY2024, supporting programs in health, education, economic growth, energy, environment, and governance. U.S. engagement in Laos has focused on addressing Vietnam War legacy issues such as unexploded ordnance (UXO) and helping Laos develop the legal and regulatory frameworks it needs to participate in global and regional trade agreements and integrate economically into ASEAN. In 2004, Congress extended nondiscriminatory treatment to the products of Laos. In 2023, goods trade between Laos and the United States was valued at $351.7 million, with Lao goods exports to the United States totaling $305.4 million, dominated by light industrial items and footwear. U.S. goods exports to Laos amounted to $46.3 million. Source: CIA World Factbook 2024. U.S. and Lao officials meet regularly through ASEAN diplomatic channels as well as the U.S.-Mekong Partnership, which aims to promote cooperation and development among member countries in economic integration, education, energy, the environment, food security, health, water, and women's empowerment. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Laos twice in 2024, most recently in October to attend the regional East Asia Summit and the U.S.-ASEAN Leaders Meeting. The meeting took place against the backdrop of conflict in neighboring Burma, tensions around disputes in the South China Sea, and ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza. East Asia Summit leaders did not issue a communique after the meeting, reportedly due to objections from China and Russia over a proposed South China Sea clause. The U.S. government has noted progress and cooperation in several areas of the bilateral relationship. In 2009, the United States and Laos exchanged defense attach6s for the

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