Laos’s National Assembly today appointed Communist Party chief Bounnhang Vorachit as the country’s new President and named Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as Prime Minister.
The 149-member assembly completed the process of nomination and voting for both candidates in around an hour.
The picks are seen by many analysts as a continuation of the status quo in secretive Laos, where the communists have ruled since the end of the Vietnam War.
One of the fastest-growing economies in East Asia, landlocked Laos has averaged GDP growth of 7 percent over the past decade, the World Bank says.