Furtherance to our posting on January 27, 2009, the Secretary General reported his visit to Vientiane as follows :

Accompanied by Mr. Hairul Hilmi and Ms. Linda Khor of AITRI/MII, we have paid a visit to Laos on March 7-10, 2009 and we would like to report the following information:

1. Insurance Environment in Laos and Persons met in Vientiane
AGL, a joint venture between Lao Government with Allianz, is the largest insurance company in Lao PDR with the annual premium income of more than USD 20 milion. There are another 3 insurance companies have been given licenses but not yet operated. AGL can be considered as the representative of the Lao insurance industry, so we met the CEO ( Mr. Guy Apovy) and Deputy CEO (Mr. Holady Volarath) as they represent the insurance industry. We also met with the Regulators Mr. Phanomphone Keovongvichith (Deputy Director of Ministry of Finance) and his staff Mr. Pavtah Philavong, but we couldn't meet Mr. Bonthoum Lomany (Deputy Director General, Fiscal Policy Departement,Ministry of Finance) who is traveling overseas at the time of our visit.
2. The Proposed Date of 35th AIC/1oth ARM Meeting in Vientiane
In setting the Date of the Meeting, we need to be aware of the insurance related activities on the region to avoid overlapping. Based on my notes, the insurance related activities this year for this region are noted as follows:
1. October 18, 2009 is Insurance Day. Most of the countries will celebrate Insurance Day.
2. October 21-23, 2009 will be a 21st Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers (FAIR) Conference in Kuala Lumpur, hosted by Malaysia
3. October 26-27, 2009 will be 25th East Asia Insurance Congress Executive Board Meeting in Bali
4. October 28-30, 2009 will be 16th Indonesia Rendezvous in Bali
5. November 1-4, 2009 will be 24th Pacific Insurance Conference in Thailand
6. November 8-11, 2009 will be 10th Singapore Reinsurance Conference in Singapore

Based on the above information, the Date of the meeting shall be chosen between these two alternatives:

1. Late November 2009: Good/dry season but treaty renewal season.
2. Early October 2009: Bad/Rainy season.

The Ministry of Finance Laos will make the decision on the Date soon, on which alternative to be chosen.

1. The Venue of the Meeting
We are planning to use Lao Plaza Hotel. The facility and surrounding is acceptable at reasonable price for our meeting. We also visited other hotels such as:
1. Palace Hotel: This is the best hotel and not very expensive but the place is isolated.


2. Lane-Xang Hotel is the first hotel in Vientiane and not expensive, close to Lao Plaza. For low budget participants can stay there.

3. Hotel along the Mekong River including Don Chan Hotel

2. Suggested Places for City Tour/Golf/Social Functions
1. Temples, Palaces Ho Phrakeo


2. Parks: Patuxay


3. Places of Interest in the city
1. Handmade shoes

2. Modern Fashion

3. Restaurants, including many Muslim Indian halal food restaurants along the bank river of Mekong




4. City landmarks : Fountain Square

4. Golf Course, 2 alternatives :
1. Youth Garden, 18 holes, 14 km from the city

2. Dansavanh Golf and Country Club

3. Access to Vientiane
There are direct flights to/from:
1. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi: Thai Airways two flights daily and Lao Airlines one.
2. Hanoi (Viet Nam): Lao Airlines three times weekly and Vietnam Airlines daily.
3. Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam): Vietnam Airlines daily via Phnom Penh
4. Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia): Air Asia [1] three flights weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
5. Phnom Penh (Cambodia): Vietnam Airlines daily.
6. Siem Reap (Cambodia): Lao Airlines three flights weekly via Pakse.
7. Chiang Mai (Thailand): Lao Airlines six times weekly via Luang Prabang
From other neighboring countries like Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam; other mode of transport like train and roads may be available. Other countries may need to transit via one of the above airport
4. Others
Not many Mosques for Friday Prayer, but there is one near Lane-Xang Hotel

Hope my initial report above will be informative to you.