Laos makes strides towards poverty alleviation
Laos is pursuing its drive to reduce the poverty rate below 10 percent by 2020, while also attempting to meet outstanding Millennium Development Goals. Head of the Central Committee on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, Mr. Thongvanh Vilayheuang, highlighted various aspects of the government’s five-year development plan at a lecture on October 20 at the Party Central Committee’s Propaganda and Training Board. The lecture was given to mark International Day and National Week for Poverty Eradication, which runs from October 17 to 24. The Resolution adopted by the 10th Party Congress this year targets a poverty rate of not more than 10 percent by 2020, while the proportion of families living in poverty should not exceed 5 percent of the total, Mr. Thongvanh said. He highlighted the achievements made in the implementation of the programme over the past five years, saying that Laos now has more than 1.1 million families, of which 76,600 families or about 6.5 percent are living in poverty.
