Lao Voices

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the slogan of USAID From the American People is “the government agency providing US economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.”

To view a complete listing of U.S. foreign assistance to various countries, you can visit the USAID website for public access to data on economic and military assistance from 1946 to 2006 (most current year available). The report is published in the U.S. Overseas Loans and Grants aka the Greenbook.

The Greenbook shows a complete historical record of United States’ (U.S.) foreign aid to the rest of the world by reporting all loans and grants authorized by the U.S. Government for each fiscal year. Users can access standard tables already constructed, or create custom tables and reports by selecting recipient countries, years and type of USG assistance. Data is available in either historical or constant dollars. The historical dollar series looks at current-dollar values actually obligated or lent in that year. The constant-dollar price series, converts each year’s loans and obligations amounts into 2006 dollar equivalents. The constant-dollar series allows you to evaluate, on a comparable basis, loans and obligations that occurred in different time periods.

Laos is still listed under the USAID Program, mostly under the themes of Peace and Security and Investing in People. How much is Laos currently receiving assistance from the U.S. in economic and military under the program? I generated a country custom report for Laos, using historical $US amount. The figures did not surprise me at all because I expected to see a decrease in bilateral assistance to Laos after 1975. It’s not a secrect that the U.S. government didn’t give Laos normal trade relation status or NTR until recently. When the Lao PDR took office, the U.S. foreign assistance to Laos plunged in millions of dollars.

U.S. Economic Assistance to Laos from 1955 to 1975 in millions (historical dollars). There is no specific data on foreign assistance to Laos prior to 1955, any assistance was listed under “Indochina” group.

1955 40.9
1956 49.5
1957 44.5
1958 31.7
1959 25.5
1960 42.3
1961 32.7
1962 29.4
1963 38.6
1964 42.9
1965 50.9
1966 57.6
1967 57.8
1968 64.4
1969 52.2
1970 53.8
1971 49.5
1972 52.2
1973 50.8
1974 44.5
1975 26.5

Between 1976 and 1977, no aid was given to Laos. U.S. foreign assistance to Laos resumed in 1978. What a shocking difference in the dollars amount. What is the objective of the U.S in regards to Laos? Here is the official statement from the USAID Program for Laos.

U.S. national interests in Laos remain unchanged, focusing on five main issues:

• Reducing the cultivation of opium through law enforcement, crop substitution and infrastructure development;
• Finding the remains of U.S. citizens missing in action and assisting in the removal of unexploded ordinance from the Indochina conflict;
• Promoting respect for human rights, including religious freedom;
• Encouraging movement towards a market-oriented economy; and
• Countering global terrorism.

How much has Laos been receiving under the USAID Program since 1975?

1978 1.3
1979 1.9
1984 1.5
1988 1.8
1989 1.7
1990 1.4
1991 1.7
1992 3.2
1993 2.0
1994 2.0
1995 2.2
1996 2.0
1997 3.5
1998 5.2
1999 7.8
2000 7.3
2001 5.3
2002 9.9
2003 6.8
2004 5.4
2005 6.8
2006 3.0

Now, let’s take a look at the military assistance Laos was receiving under the Royal Lao Government (RLG) and the Lao PDR ruling.

U.S. Military Assistance to Laos from 1955 to 1975.

1955 0.00
1956 29.2
1957 9.3
1958 15.3
1959 8.2
1960 19.9
1961 46.5
1962 61.2
1963 4.0
1964 25.6
1965 50.7
1966 68.9
1967 83.0
1968 85.0
1969 95.7
1970 144.5
1971 204.2
1972 289.9
1973 288.8
1974 67.9
1975 12.5

U.S. Military Assistance to Laos from 1978-2006.

1978 0.0
1979 0.0
1984 0.0
1988 0.0
1989 0.0
1990 0.0
1991 0.0
1992 0.0
1993 11.8
1994 0.0
1995 0.0
1996 0.5
1997 0.0
1998 0.0
1999 0.0
2000 0.0
2001 0.0
2002 0.0
2003 0.0
2004 0.0
2005 0.0
2006 0.0

It would be interesting to know the reason(s) behind the military assistance to Laos in 1993 and 1996.