Laos says in order to increase the
competitiveness of its media sector as planned, from now to at least 2015, it
needs funding of more than US$ 120 million. Minister of Information and Culture
Mounkeo Olaboun said recently this amount of money is needed to upgrade
technology and equipments, as well as personnel, in the nation’s media system
to enable it to compete with other Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) member countries by 2020.
Technicians installing a TV sattellite
However, with a limited budget, Laos has to rely
mainly on foreign aids for funding.So
far, Laos has already sought assistance from three countries, revealed Mr.
Mounkeo Olaboun who added that a grant of approximately US$ 10 million was
provided by China to upgrade Lao TV Channel 3. This project has already started
and is expected to be completed by the end of this year and ready for use in
2009. Another US$ 10 million grant was provided by Vietnam to improve the
transmission system in four regions - Oudomxay, Luang Prabang, Champassack and Savannakhet provinces. The Lao government is also looking to
obtain a low-interest loan of US$35 million from South Korea to help fund its
media development project.
A recent one-week visit to China led by Mr.
Bosengkham Vongdala, Vice Minister of Information and Culture and
Chairman of the Lao Press Association, has led to a closer cooperation between Laos
and China in the media sector.Under
China’s assistance in improving Laos’ media quality, both in substance and
technology including converting from analog to digital, Laos
believes that by 2015, its radio and television signals will be able to cover all
of Lao territory.
Meanwhile, China also plans to expand its
national radio and international television broadcasts to cover not only all of
Laos, but also all Southeast Asian countries during the same period.Laos has already allowed China’s International Radio to set up an office in Vientiane and broadcast in Lao, Chinese
and English, as long as twelve hours a day.
Listen to Songrit's report for more details in Lao.