Lao PDR–U.S. International and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Integration (USAID LUNA II), a four-year activity funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), helps Lao PDR further integrate into the global economy by supporting officials to develop and implement sound, modern, transparent and inclusive economic policies and regulations.
Natural resource extraction has helped fuel, on average, a 7.5 percent annual GDP growth rate in Lao PDR over the past 10 years; however, the country’s per capita income remains low at about $1,500 with poverty levels among the highest in Southeast Asia. Integration within the global economy helps generate sustainable trade and investment, and creates the conditions for improved access to economic opportunities and higher incomes across Lao society. Higher incomes are essential for Lao PDR to reach its goal of achieving middle-income country status by 2020.
In 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) is set to launch, transforming ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor and capital. The AEC Blueprint highlights the need for increased mobility of persons as ASEAN becomes more interconnected with a greater exchange of skilled labor. ASEAN member states have agreed to create a standardized system to measure professional education and experiences obtained in eight priority sectors – architectural services, surveying, medicine, nursing, dental services, engineering, accounting and tourism. Developing and implementing national qualification frameworks would allow workers in these sectors to transfer jobs within the ASEAN countries.
The United States Agency for International Development Laos–U.S. International and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Integration (USAID LUNA II) is a four-year, $9 million activity that is helping Laos to further integrate into the global economy by developing and implementing sound, modern, transparent and inclusive economic policies and regulations. Currently, natural resource extraction has fueled 7.5 percent average GDP growth over the past 10 years. However, per capita income remains low at about $1,460 and poverty levels are among the highest in Southeast Asia.
In 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) is set to launch, transforming ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor and capital. The AEC Blueprint highlights the need for increased mobility of persons as ASEAN becomes more interconnected with a greater exchange of skilled labor.
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Control and Prevention of Tuberculosis project is a five year effort, which runs from October, 2011 to October, 2016, to reduce the incidence and mortality of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Burma, China and Thailand.
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