United Nations Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon made an official visit to the Lao PDR on April 10th and 11th, the first by any Secretary-General in nearly a quarter of a century.
Speaking at the newly-completed UN House in Vientiane, Mr Ban Ki-moon said that he is optimistic that the Lao PDR will meet its national development goals - to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by its target date of 2020. Mr Ban Ki-moon said the government was to be congratulated for its commitment to achieving the MDGs, and the steady progress it had made in improving health, education and living standards. However he also stressed the scale of the challenges still to be addressed.(Read the Secretary-General's speech in full)
The Secretary-General, along with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Dr Thongloun Sisoulith and UN Resident Coordinator Ms Sonam Yangchen Rana, addressed an audience of government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, development partners and UN staff at the inauguration of the UN House, where the mid-term Millennium Development Goals Progress Report was launched.
He noted that the building, which provides space for nine UN agencies and was funded by the Government, “embodies the long history of cooperation and trust between the Lao Government and the United Nations — a relationship nurtured over more than half a century.”
Later, UN staff from all agencies working in Lao PDR participated in a Staff Forum held in the courtyard of the new building.
The Secretary-General also met H.E. Choummaly Sayasone, President of the Lao PDR, and other government leaders, Heads of UN Agencies from the UN Country Team and development partners, and visited a Youth Centre before his departure.
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