Unless strong measures are taken in the course of 2006, we risk witnessing a reversal.

As happened this year, we are facing a permanent risk which demands permanent measures,

You have done great work in seizing drugs and precursors, prosecuting drug-related crimes and seizing weapons and ammunition.

It is of the greatest concern that, more than one year later, the seized cocaine has not been destroyed.

The progress that Laos has made is quite momentous when we consider that until the mid-1990s, it was the third-largest producer of illicit opium in the world.

We have a collective responsibility to ensure that the poorest of the poor are not the ones who pay the price for successes in drug control. The progress that Laos has made is quite momentous.