Leaders: Chief of State—Acting President PHOUMI VONGVICHIT (since 29 October 1986);
Head of Government—Chairman of the Council of Ministers General
KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN (since 2 December 1975)
Political parties and leaders: Lao People's Revolutionary Party
(LPRP), Kaysone Phomvihan, party chairman; includes Lao Patriotic
Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist Forces; other
parties moribund
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Supreme People's Assembly—last held on 26 March 1989 (next to be held NA); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(79 total) number of seats by party NA
Other political or pressure groups: non-Communist political groups moribund; most leaders have fled the country
Member of: ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD,
ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, Mekong Committee, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: First Secretary, Charge d'Affaires ad interim
DONE SOMVORACHIT; Chancery at 2222 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 332-6416 or 6417;
US—Charge d'Affaires Charles B. SALMON; Embassy at Rue
Bartholonie, Vientiane (mailing address is B. P. 114, Vientiane, or
Box V, APO San Francisco 96346); telephone 2220, 2357, 2384
Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band
- Economy Overview: One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a Communist centrally planned economy with government ownership and control of productive enterprises of any size. Recently, however, the government has been decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise. Laos is a landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, that is, it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited external and internal telecommunications, and electricity available in only a limited area. Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation, accounting for over 60% of GDP and providing about 85-90% of total employment. The predominant crop is rice. For the foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend for its survival on foreign aid—from CEMA, IMF, and other international sources.