President Calls for Stronger Management of State-Owned Enterprises

Vientiane: President Thongloun Sisoulith has called for major improvements in the management and governance of state-owned enterprises, warning that weak structures and poor planning continue to undermine profitability. He made the remarks on December 17 while attending a meeting to review the 2025 performance of the State Enterprise Reform Committee and to discuss priorities for 2026. According to Lao News Agency, the President emphasized the necessity for relevant sectors to enhance management mechanisms, particularly in large state enterprises. He stressed that boards of directors should be strengthened, with board chairpersons at the deputy minister level serving full-time as Party secretaries within enterprises. Additionally, he stated that board members and executive committees must be appointed based on professional knowledge, capability, and expertise. The President called for a clearer division of responsibilities among the central-level State Enterprise Reform Committee, the Ministry of Finance, an d supervising ministries, organizations, and local authorities. The President also highlighted the importance of improving business plans to ensure effectiveness and profitability while preventing the erosion of state capital. He urged the State Enterprise Reform Committee to clearly define the roles of state-owned enterprises, emphasizing the need to separate the state's macroeconomic management role from enterprises' ownership rights and operational autonomy. Moreover, the President stated that state enterprises should be robust enough to implement Party and state policies, respond to urgent economic challenges, and handle strategic tasks that the private sector is unable to undertake. He set a five-year timeline for resolving debt issues in state enterprises, alongside improvements in transparency and good governance. Strengthening integrity and accountability among enterprise managers and staff was also a key point of his address. Following the conclusion of the 12th Party Congress, the President said that reform strategies and development plans for state enterprises should be submitted to the government and the Party Central Committee's Political Bureau for guidance. He described this process as a necessary step towards a 'revolution' in state-owned enterprise reform to make them stronger, more stable, and more effective. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Saleumxay Kommasith, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the State Enterprise Reform Committee. It included participants such as committee members, representatives from ministries, provinces, and state enterprises nationwide, as well as representatives of the World Bank in Laos. Mr. Kikeo Chanthaboury, Deputy Head of the Party Central Office and Deputy Head of the Reform Committee, presented a report on the progress of state enterprise reform in 2025 and outlined plans for 2026. Under a resolution of the Party Central Committee's Political Bureau, reforms would focus on strengthening state-owned enterprises and, where appropriate, transforming them into joi nt-stock or mixed-ownership companies. State-owned enterprises are expected to play a central role in promoting economic growth, capital accumulation, and public service delivery, while also supporting national defense and security. The resolution outlines six priority tasks, including improving management mechanisms, separating political and security objectives from economic goals, refining policies and regulations, studying mixed-ownership models, strengthening state oversight, and improving the leadership and activities of Party and mass organizations within state-owned enterprises.