LES SOURCES CONTEMPORAINES DU LAOS / - EFEO-Vientiane

Préface / Preface
Swedish, a few Norwegian Hungarian and Czech researchers, a stable
number of American, English, French-speaking, Russian and Indian
academicians. From the region itself, there are Thai, Vietnamese, Chineses
and Japanese researchers who are much more involved in research work on
Laos.
3) The third noteworthy development is the appearance of new tools, fields
and methods during the last two decades affecting all the scientific subjects.
This revival is linked to several factors. The first is the general development
in the scientific and technical fields in Laos. Secondly, the evolution in
government policy with the establishment of the Laotian People’s
Democratic Republic. It was broadly outlined by movements within the
country of populations displaced by war, and contrasted with the exile of
about 10% of the population during the first years of the regime followed by
a timorous return of these exiles. The end of the 80s saw the transition of
Laos from a socialist economy to a market economy accompanied by an
evolution in regional and international relations. And finally, the last factor
is indicated by the ever-strengthening presence and action of international
institutions through the various agencies of the United Nations, the Asian
Development Bank, the World Bank, the arrival of NGOs, and the
development of partnerships between Lao and foreign scientific
organizations within the last decade. The accumulated data is the result of
studies carried out on diverse subjects like : women, childhood, migrations ;
the long-term growth ; the political sciences, with the human rights, and the
international relations ; the protection of cultural heritage ; the development
of general and informal education ; the environment and ecology ; the health
and medicine ; the biology animal and vegetal ; and the production of maps,
audio-visuels documents, and texts about leasures ;
4) The last trend that emerges is that of the dedicated use of American
English as the lingua franca in 2/3 of the published works, followed by
French and Lao.
In conclusion, this work on Laos is aimed at answering the needs of
different participants and players from diverse fields. Available on the
Internet, it should be accessible to one and all, and the information therein
would be regularly updated.
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Gilles DELOUCHE,
Professor in Siamese studies,
President of INALCO