9th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party
| Date | 17–21 March 2011 (5 days) |
|---|---|
| Participants | 576 delegates (of which 56 were members of the 8th Central Committee) |
| Outcome | The election of the 9th Central Committee |
The 9th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) was held in Vientiane from 17–21 March 2011. The congress occurs once every five years. A total of 576 delegates represented the party's 191,700 card-carrying members.
Before the congress, delegates paid tribute to Kaysone Phomvihane, the former leader of the LPRP, and to express their gratitude to a man they believe laid the foundation for the party's revolutionary ideological foundation and as their national liberation hero. The former LPRP leader, Khamtai Siphandon, attended the 9th Congress as one of the delegates. The 576 delegates attended the opening of the 9th Congress on 17 March 2011. The 9th Congress was held under the theme, "Enhancing the cohesive solidarity of the Lao nation and unity within the Party; upholding the leadership role and capacity of the Party; devising a breakthrough approach for the implementation of the renovation policy; creating a solid basis for lifting the nation from underdevelopment by 2020; and advancing further towards the destination of socialism".
Thongsing Thammavong, the Prime Minister of Laos, opened the proceedings stating that the delegates would study and adopt the 9th Political Report and the new five-year plan for socio-economic development. Following Thongsing's speech, Bounthong Chitmany, the Head of the Personnel Committee of the Party Central Committee, reported on the qualifications of the delegates. Then, at last, party General Secretary and state President Choummaly Sayasone delivered the draft of the 9th Political Report, and talked of the achievements which were made since the 8th Congress (held in March 2006).
Both Choummaly and Thongsing were optimistic of the future, with Choummaly stating that the key for Lao industrialization lay in taking the appropriate steps, by prioritizing sectors which have most potential; “We give priority to the processing of agriculture and forest products and energy development, including hydropower, in parallel with forestry protection and alternative energy". As decided by the congress, the 7th five-year plan (2011–2016) targets growth of at least 8 percent per year, to reach a national per capita income of US$1,700, increasing rice production to 4.2 million tonnes and tourist arrivals of 2.8 million by 2015, reduce family poverty levels to less than 10 percent and eliminate illiteracy among ethnic people aged 15–24 years.
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