Laos - Laos maps out plans to preserve culture

The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos opened a nationwide meeting yesterday in Vientiane to map out a plan for this year and plan towards 2015.

Minister Bosengkham Vongdara opened the two-day meeting at the National Culture Hall, during which the performance of the ministry over the past five years will also be reviewed.

Bosengkham told the 184 participants to collectively explore issues relatd to information, culture and tourism, and assess their past work in order to improve the performance of the ministry.

He urged the participants to make a decisive effort to introduce changes in the MICT sectors and accomplish more in terms of implementing the Party's guidelines on information delivery and cultural affairs.

The minister touched upon the important role that information and culture play in creating a civilised society.

“Information, culture and tourism are closely bound up in social and cultural development. They form the basis of a civilised society, and are a factor in determining the existence and growth of society and our nation,” he said.

Growth in this field will enable Laos to catch up with other nations and integrate with the progressive wave in the evolution of global development, he added.

Shortly after the opening of the meeting, Deputy Minister Buangeun Xaphouvong delivered the draft five-year plan (2011-2015) identifying targets to pursue in each area.

In the information sector, the ministry will continue the process of converting from analogue to digital transmission by 2015. Some 960,000 million kip (US$120 million) is required to realise the ambition.

Officials will also strive to continue expanding radio coverage from the current 90 per cent to more than 95 per cent of the nation's territory. Meanwhile they want to increase national television coverage from the current 70 per cent to 80 per cent.

The draft plan identifies six priority projects to achieve the abovementioned goals, which will cost an estimated 1,289,750 million kip ($161 million).

In regards to culture, nine projects worth 424,415 million kip ($53 million) will be put in place to develop the sector including activities to preserve national culture and promote Lao cultural trends along with other initiatives.

In the tourism sector, the ministry is targeting 3.5 million tourist arrivals by 2015, up from the current 2.7 million. This would generate around US$500 million, up from current revenue of almost US$400 million.

Some 1,261 billion kip ($157 million) is required to finance the implementation of seven main projects to develop the tourism sector including strengthening administrative structures both at the central and local level, and developing tourism related infrastructure.

Mr Buangeun also highlighted the progress that officials have made in developing the sector.

He said there are currently more than 90 newspapers and magazines, an increase of 20 since 2005. Eight more radio stations are operational, bringing the total to 43 stations nationwide.

There are 32 television stations across the country with signals reaching about 70 per cent of the nation. In addition, there is one Vietnamese television channel and two Chinese television channels.

There has been important progress in the cultural realm as well. At the end of 2011, 362,373 families or just over 30 per cent of all families in Laos had been recognised as cultural families.

Some 1,798 villages in Laos have been designated as cultural villages, just over 17 per cent of the nation's total.

Yesterday's meeting was also attended by the former Minister of Information and Culture Mounkeo Oraboun, former President of the Lao National Tourism Administration Somphong Mongkhonvilay, provincial deputy governors, deputy ministers, and other former leaders of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

News Desk

Vientiane Times

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