A follow-on from Jonathan Cornford’s earlier posts …
At a function held for Australia Day in Vientiane in late January, the Australian ambassador, with a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in attendance, talked of long-term Australian support for development in Laos, and singled out increased investment in mining for praise, and possibly in the future, assistance in financial management. Interestingly there was no comparable mention of poverty alleviation in these plans for future “development assistance.”
[Sarinda Singh is a PhD student at the ANU working on various aspects of natural resource management in Laos.]
0 responses so far ↓
Add your comment in the form below.
Leave a Comment
Please note: New Mandala encourages vigorous debate. However, for the moment we will only be publishing high-quality comments that make original contributions to discussion. There will, of course, still be space for pithy, humorous, eccentric and cheeky input. Short and sweet will usually trump long and involved. Repetitive ranting, unimaginative point-scoring and idle abuse will not be entertained. Comments which carry a real name are also more likely to be approved. Thank you for your ongoing interest and contributions.