Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Disarmament Database

Start typing and accept a suggested keyword
or type keywords separated by spaces

Country Profile: Laos

BASIC FACTS

Laos is a Member Country of the NAM Movement since 1964. 

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is located in Southeast Asia, bordering Burma, Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Lao PDR was one of the poorest countries in the world, yet now considered one of the fastest-growing economies in the region. Laos was occupied by Japan, and then France, during and after the Second World War. The country gained independence in 1953 as “the Kingdom of Lao” and later on renamed as Lao PDR in 1975.  

Capital: Vientiane

Currently, there is no nuclear power plants or research reactors in Lao PDR. However, in 2017 country has signed a roadmap cooperation with Russia ROSATOM in which the parties agreed to study the possibility of nuclear power projects implementation on the territory of Lao PDR3.  

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

  • IAEA Membership (2011)

  • Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (Bangkok Treaty) (1997) 

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) (1975) 

  • Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) (1987) 

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC) (1997) 

  • Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol) (1928) 

  • International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) (2007) 

  • Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (1970)  

  • Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water (Partial Test Ban Treaty) (1963)  

  • Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof (Sea-Bed Treaty) (1972)  

  • Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) (2014) 

  • The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) (2010)  

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Mine Ban Convention) (1999)  

  • Treaty on Open Skies (2002) 

  • Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty )(1967) 

  • Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) (ratified-2000)  

  • Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons  (TPNW) (signed-2017) 

 

REGIONAL GROUPS

  • Member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)7 

  • Member of the G-778 

  • Member of the East Asia Summit9 


         AGREEMENTS (In Force): 

  • Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (2010) 

  • Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (2023) 

  • Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (2013) 

  • Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency (2013) 

  • Revised Supplementary Agreements Concerning the Provision of Technical Assistance by the IAEA (2014) 

  • Regional Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology, 2017 (2023)  

  • Agreement between the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (2001) 

 

LINKS