In a policy-setting speech in Vientiane on Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Laos Douglas Hartwick says building stronger U.S.-Laos relations in 2004 will require genuine progress in three main areas: addressing long-standing human rights concerns, establishing normal trade relations between our two countries, and working closely together on common threats and concerns.
And he says the most pressing of these concerns remains finding a humanitarian solution to the tragic problem of the people still hiding today in Laos' remote jungles.