Government officials from ministries, the National Assembly, departments, institutes, other organisations and provinces and districts gather at the President Kaysone Phomvihane statue at the Xieng Khuang provincial Administration Office during a study tour to the province from May 26-31. The group is attending a 9-month fourth upper diploma course on politics and public administration, which began at the start of October 2023 and will end in July 2024, at the National Academy of Politics and Public Administration. During their 6-day study tour to Xieng Khuang province, the group met with officials from the provincial Administration Office, visited Kham, Phaxay, Phoukoud and Paek districts and sites of historical importance, and met with district governors to learn about the progress being made in social and economic development. 

The Korean Institute of Justice completes a training programme titled “Capacity Building in Identification of Forensic Documents for Safe Border Management in Laos (2023-2025)”. The training was held in Korea from May 20-31 and aimed to enhance the capacity of 20 officials from the Ministry of Public Security to manage the immigration system. The programme was taught in three phases starting in 2023. The second phase focused on equipping participants with advanced skills and knowledge essential for the development of action plans for immigration management. Participants gained practical insights by visiting key facilities such as Incheon International Airport and the Immigration Reception Centre. In addition, they learnt more about Korea’s socio-economic development by visiting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and a motor vehicle factory. The KOICA office in Laos seeks to build the capacity of Lao government officials by providing practical training programmes facilitated by Korean experts through CIAT (Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow), the global fellowship programme run by KOICA. The ultimate goal of the programme is to strengthen cooperation between South Korea and Laos in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through joint efforts.