Four ministries merged in major restructuring

Four key ministries have been merged with other departments in a major restructuring exercise to reduce the total from 17 to 13 ministries, underscoring the government’s efforts to downsize in order to streamline performance.
The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee adopted a resolution announcing the merger.
The move merged the Ministry of Planning and Investment with the Ministry of Finance, which retains its name. The Ministry of Energy and Mines was merged with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which too will retain its name. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which is now known as the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. 
The Ministry of Home Affairs was merged with and place under the Party Central Committee’s Personnel and Organisation Committee, while the topics of governance, mapping and religion regulation affairs, among others, which were previously under the Ministry of Home Affairs, were transferred to the Prime Minister’s Office and other ministries whose duties are aligned. 
Media affairs (information sector) was transferred to be overseen by the Party Central Committee’s Propaganda and Training Board. Thus, the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism has become the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.  

Following the change, the current ministries are: 

1. Ministry of Agriculture and Environment
2. Ministry of Industry and Commerce
3. Ministry of Education and Sports
4. Ministry of Finance
5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
6. Ministry of Culture and Tourism
7. Ministry of Justice
8. Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
9. Ministry of National Defence
10. Ministry of Public Works and Transport
11. Ministry of Public Security
12. Ministry of Health
13. Ministry of Technology and Communications

Three other ministerial-equivalent bodies remained unchanged. They are the Prime Minister’s Office, State Inspection Authority, and the Bank of the Lao PDR.
The National Assembly (NA)’s 9th legislature announced last week that its second four-day extraordinary session will be convened on Monday (March 17) to debate and approve the government’s organisational structure. 
The structural change comes at a time when the current top leadership of the Party and state is about to conclude its five-year tenure (2021-2025), with the election of the new leadership scheduled for next year. 
The Party Central Committee has also asked the NA’s Standing Committee to study the possibility of cutting committees for the parliament’s next tenure (2026-2030) from current nine to five committees.
The resolution called on provincial and district authorities to merge departments and downsize their administrative structure in line with their line ministries.
The Party Central Committee said the merger was done in line with the Party’s guideline to streamline mechanisms for effective and strengthened performance of state affairs.
Amid the major change in the central and local administrative structure, Laos is amending its Constitution and other fundamental laws to regulate state affairs.    
The NA’s extraordinary session next week will also debate and approve amendments to the Constitution (2025-version amendment) and amendments to the Law on Local Governance and the Law on Civil Servants, the Secretary of the NA, Ms Amphayvone Lombounpheng, told a news conference last week.

By Souksakhone Vaenkeo
 (Latest Update March 15, 2025)