Thongloun Sisoulith

Thongloun Sisoulith (Laotian: ທອງລຸນ ສີສຸລິດ) (born 10 November 1945) is a Laotian politician serving as General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party since 15 January 2021 and President of Laos since 22 March 2021.

2016

 * One of the most important goals of ASEAN since its inception in 1967 is to maintain and promote peace, stability and development cooperation in the Southeast Asia region and the world at large. Towards this end, ASEAN has continued to strengthen its internal cooperation and broaden its relations with external partners.
 * "Welcoming Remarks by H.E. Thongloun SISOULITH, Prime Minister of the Lao PDR at the Opening Ceremony of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits" (6 September 2016)

2020

 * The United Nations has been created from the ashes of World War II aimed at saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war that brought untold sufferings to our mankind one after another. Ever since its advent, the United Nations has evolved into a main mechanism for preserving international peace and security, which constitutes a significant prerequisite for the promotion of international cooperation and socio-economic development to be thrived. .. UN Charter has become a significant tool that identified mechanisms and principles for our joint collective efforts to achieve our noble common objectives. To date, 75 years have passed and we can say that under the UN auspices, the international community has made a number of significant achievements. .. Conflict resolution mechanism through peaceful means has turned into principle and prevailing trend. International laws and treaties have been gradually enhanced and served as a tool to prevent and resolve various issues in areas such as disarmament, racial discrimination, religion and cultural differences, promotion and protection of human rights, and gender equality, to name a few. .. More importantly, multilateral cooperation under the flag of the United Nations has synergized collective efforts in responding to and addressing major common challenges that no single country can do alone, such as an issue of climate change, pandemic, terrorism and others. .. But of course, the regional and international environment in the past 70 years is definitely different from the current setting. Therefore, the United Nations has to be adapted and strengthened if it is to effectively deliver its mandates on maintaining international peace and security as well as promoting development cooperation. .. The United Nations should be reformed to fit the current environment in our joint efforts in addressing the unfolded significant obstacles to peace and development, such as lasting resolution to the Middle East problem, in particular the Palestinian issue and the call for lifting of economic embargo on Cuba and so on. Cooperation for development should be further enhanced and prioritized. Without development, people will remain poor and hungry, as a result peace cannot be sustained, and social problems, such as crimes, drugs, human trafficking and refugees will remain unresolved. This requires the international community to actively address the pressing challenges together. .. I am confident that, with the committed joint efforts and with the progress being made on the research and development of vaccine of which some are in the final stage, we will find the vaccine that is effective and safe to prevent COVID- 19 soon. However, universal access to the vaccine is another important matter that needs to be considered. Otherwise, we will not be able to respond to the pandemic effectively. .. Another important task is the post COVID-19 economic recovery. How are we going to revitalize our world economy and stimulate economic growth. I believe that the international community has to collectively address the issues that are obstacle to the international trade, funding and technology access and build mutual trust for a win-win cooperation, only this then that it will bring benefit and prosperity to the international community. .. Today, climate change has induced more frequent and severe natural disasters that brought huge impact on development, particularly food security and infrastructure development. Therefore, building society with climate resilience and adaptation is very important. In this connection, it requires that international community provides financial support and technological know-how to the least developed countries in order for them to be able to respond to the natural disaster. .. In conclusion, I have a strong confidence that multilateral cooperation, conflict resolution by peaceful means and cooperation for development under the UN Charter remain a relevant mechanism in our efforts to synergizing and unifying us for maintaining international peace and security and our concerted efforts in addressing our common challenges lying ahead. Lessons from history remind us that unilateralism and the use of force to solve the problems always led to war and ushered in unwanted disaster to our mankind. In this respect, we have to try to avoid any emerging elements causing disunity so we can prevent disaster from ever occurring again to our humanity.
 * "Statement by H.E. Mr. Thongloun SISOULITH Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic At the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly" (26 September 2020)

2021

 * Police must protect people and must be fair to people. Police should allow people to participate and cooperate in maintaining safety and security. .. People should be encouraged to report the wrongdoings of the police and other authorities especially the wrongdoings that will be dangerous to their community and to the general public. Police should not do anything that will scare people off or that will stop them from reporting. .. In the era of the advanced technological and modern social media, police must fight firmly and immediately against people who use social media to commit crimes, to destroy our country and to cause any disorder by undermining our unity, creating misunderstanding and creating any antagonistic parties in the country.
 * "Laotians ‘Confused’ by President Urging Police Whistleblowing, Threatening Social Media Use" in Radio Free Asia (12 April 2021)

2022

 * Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Laos Railway has been completed and put into operation, and the Lao people have finally realized their railway dream
 * Quoted in How China's growth drives 'growbalization', China Daily, (25 January 2022)