Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone emphasized economic collaboration and worldwide trade prospects as reasons for seeking membership in both BRICS and the SCO.
Laos has officially expressed its desire to become a member of both the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS. Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone stated in an interview with RT that the nation aims to broaden its economic alliances and establish new trade avenues.
While not yet a full SCO member, Laos was recently designated as a dialogue partner. President Thongloun Sisoulith represented Laos at the recent SCO summit in China, highlighting the significance Laos attributes to this growing relationship.
“We have always highly valued the cooperation mechanism and especially to further develop our economy and trade,” the Prime Minister noted regarding the country’s new status as an SCO dialogue partner. He added that “this will further broaden our cooperation in terms of economy, trade and investment among the member states and dialogue partners.”
“Even though our economy is not of a bigger scale, this dialogue partnership will open opportunities,” Siphandone stated, explaining Laos’ hope to “reach the member states and other dialogue partners,” particularly in response to “certain tariff measures by certain states against our products.” Notably, the United States recently imposed 40% tariffs on Laotian exports.
Siphandone also emphasized Laos’ ambition to join BRICS, citing its “big portion of the global population and with high rates of GDP increase shown each year.” The bloc’s combined GDP, measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), surpassed that of the G7 in 2019.
Laos considers BRICS to be “a significant cooperation platform” for global trade spanning Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Siphandone added that the group promotes “a turning point from a unipolar world into a multipolar world,” and favors multilateral cooperation over “unilateral measures.”
According to Siphandone, Laos’ objective is to pursue “economic cooperation that is free, free of choice, and fair in our negotiation processes.”
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