TNAG-1529-FCO40-2093-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1986 — Page 25

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M Roberts Esq

SEAD

FCO

London SW1

He foxers

M

BRITISH EMBASSY

BANGKOK

4 September 1986

que

I have sinc

'clarification'

of this.

"

Dear Machack

LAOS

1.

I enclose a copy of the Communique of the Council of Ministers of the Lao PDR on its meeting on 4-5 August. Like most pronouncements of the LPDR is is not very informative but a couple of points might be worth remarking on.

2.

พ

The Communique indicates the Lao willingness to talk to the Thais either at the state or regional levels" in contrast to their earlier insistence that talks should take place only at Senior/Ministerial level. This decision has since been conveyed to the Thais and as the Ambassador reported in his teleletter of 26 August this has received a positive response from the Thais.

3.

However, as the communique points out, the Council of Ministers' meeting concentrated on economic matters. The reference to measures designed to turn the state enterprises into financially viable businesses is intriguing. The communique provides little detail on how this will be achieved. But it would seem, not surprisingly, that Laos is experiencing similar pressures for economic reforms of the kind being advocated in some quarters in Vietnam.

CC:

Research Dept., FCO M Wood, Esq., Hanoi

Your een

David

D Wyatt