2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting
Statement by Australia
delivered 25 November 2016
On behalf of the Government of Australia, I would like to begin by congratulating the Government of Laos on successfully hosting ASEAN and its related meetings this year. We were very happy to have the opportunity for our relevant ministers and Prime Minister to visit Laos to participate in these meetings, and we look forward reciprocating the invitation to the Prime Minister of Laos to visit Australia on the occasion of the Special ASEAN-Australia Summit to be held in early 2018.
This will provide another opportunity to further strengthen the bilateral relationship between Laos and Australia, which will celebrate 65 years of unbroken diplomatic relations next year.
Australia welcomes the new Lao government elected early this year and we would like to congratulate the public commitments by the Prime Minister on reform and anti-corruption. As a longstanding development partner, Australia remains committed to helping through our aid program, especially on public financial management reform, business climate reform including the mining sector, and on education reform.
We encourage Laos to continue the trade reform and private sector development agenda it started when it joined the WTO in 2013. The Government of Laos plans for private sector investment to drive development over the next NSEDP period, accounting for around 50 per cent of the planned capital investment required over the next four years. There has been progress this year, including the establishment of the Non-Tariff Measures Working Group to reduce the considerable number of barriers inhibiting greater trade and integration.
But more work needs to be done to improve the business environment by streamlining and standardised regulations and reducing the level of informality. The Lao PDR’s rank on the World Bank’s ease of doing business moved to 139 in the Doing Business 2017 report, compared to 136 the year before. The Lao Business Forum to be held early next year presents an opportunity for the government to demonstrate that it is serious about enabling greater foreign direct investment.
Australian businesses have a proud history of contributing to the socio-economic development of Laos, including through quality investments in the mining sector. Two Australian-managed mines in Xaisomboun (PhuBia) and Savanakhet (MMG Sepon) are examples of how quality Foreign Direct Investment can promote high standards across an industry and significantly contribute to government revenues. These two companies contributed between 18 and 23 per cent of government revenue from 2010 to 2014 – and almost all mining revenue – providing the Government of Laos the fiscal space to implement the NSEDP and achieve development targets. Given ongoing revenue shortfalls and a growing public debt, we encourage the Lao Government to use the current update of the mining law to provide a simpler, clearer and more transparent process for exploration and mining licences and ensure security of tenure for investors. We urge the government to also apply a “use it or lose it” policy to existing prospecting and exploration contracts, to achieve much-needed consolidation of licences and free up land for quality companies. Australia has experience in sustainably managing natural resources, and we are happy to share our lessons and experiences with the Government of Laos.
We welcome the Vientiane Declaration Country Action Plan (VDCAP) to be endorsed today, as a mechanism to focus support and track progress against the commitments jointly agreed last year at the High Level Round Table Meeting. The importance of engaging with the private sector is aptly reflected in the VDCAP in the eighth principle of “business as a development partner”. High quality international non‑government organisations and non-profit associations offer expertise, resources and reach that many development partners by themselves cannot afford. This is also reflected in the Vientiane Declaration on Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation under the third principle of “inclusive partnership for development results”.
We welcome the active participation of representatives of both the private sector and civil society in the Round Table process. If the Government of Laos is to achieve the objectives contained in the 8th NSEDP and graduate from Least Developed Country status, it will need the support from all forms of partnerships. Since the last Round Table Meeting, there has been progress in facilitating greater cooperation and discussion, particularly between international NGOs and the Government of Laos - including through regular quarterly meetings and a commitment to review and approve new MOUs with iNGOs within 75 days.
We welcome greater clarity provided today on the operating environment for iNGOs and local NPAs who would like to work together. As the Vientiane Declaration agreed last year states, these partners make an important contribution to policy discussions, generate valuable insights, provide innovative resourcing, and often reach out and deliver services to the most impoverished citizens. We welcome the update from the Government of Laos on the revision of the Decree on ODA Management 75 and Decree 115 on NPAs. Australia is happy to support an open consultation process and analysis to assist the government to update the regulations. We see it as important that both these decrees, as well as the VDCAP, are jointly considered, given their inter-linkages.
As co-chair of the Education Sector Working Group, together with the EU, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the Prime Minister for his recent comments made in the National Assembly that all teachers should be paid their salaries on a timely and regular basis. It is important also that teachers are allocated in an efficient manner to ensure remote and rural communities (where educational outcomes are lowest) are adequately covered. Sufficient budget needs to be available not only to fund teachers’ salaries, but also to fund better teacher training, materials and support for students, operations and maintenance, and deliver the national school feeding program. As a strong partner in basic education, Australia supports the government to make all efforts to meet the target of allocating 18 per cent of the budget to education, as per the Education Law passed last year.
Quality education plays a vital role in economic development and poverty reduction – evidence shows the likelihood of a poor household in Laos moving out of poverty with post-primary education is twice as great compared to a similar household without anyone with formal education.
Finally, would like to acknowledge that today (25 November) is the UN designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In Australia, and other countries, it is also known as White Ribbon Day, which is followed by 16 days of activism intended to raise awareness about the prevalence of male violence against women. The focus of the campaign is on men taking action and speaking out to end violence against women.
Violence against women is unacceptable, anywhere, anytime. In the Lao PDR, just over 30 per cent of women have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence in their lifetime – and similar numbers are reported in Australia, as in the rest of the world. Violence against women is a consequence of discrimination against women; it impacts on poverty reduction and many areas of socio-economic development. But it is not inevitable - prevention is possible and essential. I encourage my fellow participates here today and the Government of Laos to stand up and support action to end all forms of violence against women.