Laos, 2010

At the outset, I would like

to extend my sincere congratulations to His Excellency

Mr. Joseph Deiss on his election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. I am fully

confident that with his vast experience he will be able

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to lead this session to great success. May I also

commend His Excellency Mr. Ali Abdulssalam Treki,

President of the Assembly at its sixty-fourth session,

for his effective leadership. I would also like to

applaud Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his

leadership in fulfilling effectively the various duties

and tasks mandated to address the current emerging

challenges and constraints.

The global state of affairs today has undergone

rapid change and become more complex, offering both

opportunities and challenges. Global and regional

peace and security are threatened by conflicts and

armed confrontation. Severe and unprecedented natural

disasters have become a regular phenomenon that we

have to live with. The tragedies caused by natural

catastrophes, such as in Haiti, China, Pakistan and

elsewhere, have intensified and are coupled with the

economic crisis that we are already facing.

No one can deny that those calamities and

challenges are mostly the result of our own human

action. National challenges have gone beyond national

boundaries and become matters of international

concern, matters that a single country or even a group

of countries cannot overcome alone. Therefore it is the

full responsibility of the international community as a

whole to tackle them.

Against that backdrop, it is time for us to fully

realize all the promises and commitments that we have

made. The United Nations reform process, which has

been pending through past decades, should continue in

a more concrete manner with a view to ensuring mutual

benefits for all Member States. The reform should also

seek to ensure a relevant and effective role for the

United Nations as the only universal body addressing

global challenges. To achieve those objectives, it is

critical that all Member States enhance cooperation in

a sincere and trustworthy manner and avoid taking

advantage of one another.

Peace and stability are still threatened by

weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear

weapons. The results of the Review Conference of the

Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons held in May this year did not by any

means meet our expectations in addressing the non-

proliferation of nuclear weapons and making our world

free of nuclear weapons. Consensus is far from being

reached due to manifest suspicion and distrust.

Therefore it is time to build trust and confidence in

order to create an enabling international environment

for a nuclear-free world.

The use and proliferation of weapons of all forms

undoubtedly have a long-term impact on the lives of

people and impede national socio-economic

development efforts. The Lao People’s Democratic

Republic is still badly suffering the consequences of

wars that ended several decades ago.

The legacies of the Indochina war include a huge

amount of remnants and unexploded ordnance, which

have continued to kill and injure innocent people. That

is a major obstacle to the possibility of an ordinary

daily life for the Lao people. Over 30 per cent of Lao

soil is heavily contaminated by unexploded ordnance,

and that is a major constraint and challenge in the

country’s efforts to achieve its national socio-economic

objectives and to attain the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs).

The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which

entered into force on 1 August 2010, is a result of the

close cooperation and shared commitment of the

international community to put an end to the serious

impact of cluster bombs and to thus free people from

that danger. As the country most affected by

unexploded ordnance, especially cluster munitions, it is

a great source of pride for the Lao People’s Democratic

Republic to have played an active part in the Oslo

process, which led to the adoption of this Convention.

We will continue to cooperate closely with the

international community to ensure that it is fully

implemented.

In that context, it is a great honour for the Lao

People’s Democratic Republic to host the First Meeting

of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster

Munitions in Vientiane from 8 to 12 November 2010.

That event that will be an important milestone for the

Oslo process and provide an opportunity for the

international community to reaffirm its strong

determination to address the challenges caused by

cluster munitions. The First Meeting of States Parties

will offer us an excellent occasion to chart a clear

vision and adopt appropriate mechanisms to ensure the

effective implementation of the Convention. On that

note, once again I would like to extend my

Government’s cordial invitation to all United Nations

Member States, international organizations and

non-governmental organizations to participate and play

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an active part in the discussions and ensure the

successful outcome of the Meeting.

Regional peace and security remain critical for

ensuring global peace. We share a common concern

over the situation in the Middle East, which has caused

great suffering and immense loss of lives and property

in the region, especially for the Palestinian people. It is

my fervent hope that the resumption of peace talks

between Israel and Palestine, with the participation of

the United States, will lead to a solution and the

realization of the vision of two States, Israel and

Palestine, living side by side in peace and security and

within internationally recognized borders, as stipulated

in the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

The Republic of Cuba is a sovereign and

politically stable State that has enjoyed peace and

security for several decades. Nevertheless, for over

half of a century, the people of Cuba have been

affected by the economic, trade and financial embargo

imposed on them by the United States. Indeed, such an

embargo constitutes a clear violation of the United

Nations Charter and international law. Therefore, in

order to respond to the legitimate interests of the two

countries and peoples — Cuba and the United States —

the embargo should now be lifted.

The cooperation among South-East Asian

countries has been steadily expanding. The Association

of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has set the

objective for 2015 of building our community with

three pillars, namely, the ASEAN Political-Security

Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. To attain that

objective, ASEAN has laid an important socio-

economic foundation, including the Free Trade Area

among ASEAN countries as well as Free Trade Areas

between ASEAN and China, ASEAN and the Republic

of Korea, ASEAN and Japan, and ASEAN and

Australia-New Zealand.

Furthermore, the ASEAN Master Plan on

connectivity will be adopted at the Seventeenth

ASEAN Summit, to be held in Hanoi in October 2010

to support the ASEAN Free Trade Area. The successful

cooperation within ASEAN has contributed to the

effort to narrow the development gap within ASEAN as

well as between ASEAN and other countries. It also

helps the ASEAN countries attain the MDGs.

While the world is facing a financial and

economic crisis, coupled with various natural

calamities, the most impacted are the least developed

countries (LDCs), the poor and the vulnerable in the

society. The international community’s main objective

in attaining the MDGs is to ensure that the lives of the

poor and disadvantaged are improved and that the

number of LDCs is reduced. That would demonstrate

that we can achieve the MDGs.

In that context, the ten-year review of the

implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action

for LDCs, to be held in 2011, is crucial. We will assess

whether the seven commitments that we endorsed

together in 2001 have been fulfilled. In that

connection, I commend the Secretary-General for

setting up a group of eminent persons on least

developed countries to advise on support for LDCs.

The year 2010 is of great significance for the Lao

People’s Democratic Republic. Our country has

completed the implementation of the Sixth Five Year

Socio-Economic Development Plan and has already

started the preparation for the Seventh Plan, for 2011-

2015. Over the past years, our socio-economic

development has been steadily progressing. The

economy has grown at an average rate of seven per

cent annually, poverty has continuously declined, and

the living standard of the multi-ethnic Lao people has

gradually improved. All that success has been due to

the right policy and the timely measures undertaken by

the Government. The decisive factor in creating an

enabling environment for socio-economic development

in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is political

stability and social order that our nation has enjoyed

over the past three decades.

Nevertheless, to a certain extent, the Lao People’s

Democratic Republic remains challenged by the global

financial and economic crisis, and that is contributing

to the decline of our economic growth. Against that

backdrop, the Government has adopted immediate

measures that have helped to alleviate the impact of the

crisis.

However, due to the uncertainty of the state of

today’s global economy, like other developing

countries, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is

still vulnerable, and thus requires the assistance and

support of the international community in addressing

the impact of the crisis over the long term. Such

assistance will help the country overcome any future

problem resulting from the current crisis, enable us to

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achieve the MDGs and, ultimately, leave the status of

least developed country by 2020.

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic reiterates

once again its firm commitment and willingness to

work closely with the international community to build

a peaceful world under a just and more democratic new

order, based on cooperation with all countries, in

tackling the various global challenges facing us. I am

convinced that only through genuine partnership will

we be able to ensure that the world is secure, peaceful

and prosperous.