State inspection body to have more independence
 
The State Inspection Authority (SIA) is expected to assume a more independent role in carrying out investigations into state bodies and will now be supervised by the state president.
The SIA was previously called the Government Inspection Authority (GIA) and was overseen by the government.
The Politburo recently adopted a resolution to split the organisation from the government’s oversight. This means the SIA is now an independent body under the supervision of the Lao president.

The change should allow the SIA to perform more effectively and independently, especially in carrying out investigations into the government’s performance.
“Placing the SIA under the supervision of the president upgrades its status and role. It should be able to perform more independently,” Vice President of the National Assembly (NA), Prof. Dr Chaleun Yiapaoher, told Vientiane Times on Thursday.
The fact that the government is a target of inspection was another reason to justify removing the SIA from the government’s oversight, according to Dr Chaleun, who is also President of the NA’s Law Committee.
The State Audit Organisation (SAO), previously supervised by the National Assembly, will now also come under the supervision of the president.
The ongoing inaugural session of the NA’s ninth legislature, which ends today, elected former Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as the new state President, who will have authority over the two above-mentioned bodies.
The session also elected former Head of the Party Central Committee’s Propaganda and Training Board, Khamphan Phommathat, as President of the State Inspection Authority. Mr Malaythong Kommasith was elected President of the State Audit Organisation.
The session approved the government’s organisational structure, which consists of 17 ministries and two ministry equivalent organisations (the Prime Minister’s Office and the Bank of the Lao PDR).
This structure has been downsized from the previous 18 ministries and three ministry-equivalent organisations after the Ministry of Science and Technology was dissolved and the Presidential Palace was split from the government’s organisational structure.
 The session also approved members of the government cabinet and some new ministers have officially taken up their posts.
Mr Khampheng on Thursday officially assumed the post of Minister of Industry and Commerce, replacing Mrs Khammani Pholsena.
Mrs Baykham Khattiya now replaces Mr Khampheng as Minister of Labour and Social Welfare.
 Following are the 17 ministries:
1.  Ministry of National Defence
2. Ministry of Planning and Investment
3. Ministry of Public Security
4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
5. Ministry of Industry and Commerce
6. Ministry of Technology and Communications
7.         Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
8.  Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
9. Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
10.       Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism
11.       Ministry of Finance
12.       Ministry of Public Works and Transport
13  Ministry of Education and Sports
14.       Ministry of Health
15.       Ministry of Justice
16.       Ministry of Home Affairs
17.       Ministry of Energy and Mines
The two equivalent organisations are:
1. Prime Minister’s Office
2. Bank of the Lao PDR

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update March 26, 2021)