Thailand
Human resources the key for Asean economic integration: PM
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has highlighted the significance of human resource development to boost economic growth and enable Laos to better integrate with the rest of the region and the world.
The prime minister delivered the message when addressing over 500 students and academics at Champassak University on Friday.
He called on lecturers and scholars to create a strong master plan for the development of the university, especially the curriculum and overall structural reform.
Mr Thongloun visited the university when he was in Champassak to officially declare Pakxe district to be a city, as the capital of the province.
He also visited other places in Champassak including the Provincial Hospital, where he advised doctors to improve the quality of their services.
In his address at the university, the prime minister said it was critical to create suitable conditions for teachers and other university staff to raise their level of academic study and enhance their knowledge and professional skills so as to improve the quality of education.
The university’s administrators should instil revolutionary values, ethics, and a sense of responsibility in academics and students so that higher standards were reached.
In the meantime, students should devote themselves to their studies so they could be competitive in the job market.
Mr Thongloun encouraged students to not only learn from their lectures, but also to undertake research on issues relating to their particular field of study.
He said that a higher level of knowledge and greater capacity in the younger generation was not only vital for the development of the country but was also important for Laos’s economic integration with other Asean nations.
Teachers and students were also advised to use social media wisely and focus on information that was of real benefit in their lives.
The university, which was previously a campus of the National University of Laos, was established in 2002 and changed its name to Champassak University in 2004.
The university is central to the education of young people in response to the development needs of the four southern provinces.
Almost 10,000 people have graduated from the university, of which 60 percent come from the southern provinces of Champassak, Saravan, Xekong and Attapeu.
President of Champassak University of Dr Bounmy Phonesavan told the prime minister that the main area of study was agriculture, with a view to boosting production in the south of the country.
“We plan to carry out more research on various species of crops, fish and other animals which are important for the development of Laos,” Dr Bounmy said.
Champassak province is the economic hub of the south and has enjoyed a high rate of growth in recent years, accompanied by a decline in the poverty rate.
The province exports large amounts of agricultural produce, notably crops grown on the Bolaven plateau, which generates a huge amount of income.
Source: http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/FreeContent/FreeConten_Human.php