On 13 October 2026, Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, a member of the Party Central Committee's Political Bureau, visited the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) and held a working session there. Minister Leklai Sivilay, a Party Central Committee member, welcomed him alongside deputy ministers, office heads, department directors, institute leaders, technical staff and civil servants from across the ministry.

The minister presented an overview of the ministry's performance over the first nine months of the year and outlined its plans for the last three months of 2026 and for 2027. The review covered party and staff affairs, road and bridge works, railways, civil aviation, transport, waterways, urban planning and housing, water supply, the ministry's self-reliant economy initiative, and the Three Builds campaign.

Within that review, the road sector provided a detailed update on its portfolio. Key items included:

• Investment projects funded by official development assistance (ODA) and by the regular state budget.
• Implementation of policies to promote new road construction and repairs under National Assembly Resolution 165 and Government Resolution 10.
• Expressway projects, including the Vientiane Capital to Boten road in Luang Namtha Province, the Boten to Houayxay road in Bokeo Province, and the Vientiane to Hanoi expressway.
• A new expressway linking Thangon in Xaythany District, Vientiane Capital, to Ban Na Xang Lek in Thoulakhom District, Vientiane Province.
• Feasibility studies, surveying, design and construction of a new expressway from Vientiane Capital through Xaysomboun and Xiangkhouang to Houaphan and the Nam Soy international border crossing.
• A bypass road around Pakxan town.
• Upgrades to a road from the southern junction of Route 13 at Ban Pa Lai, Thaphabat District, Bolikhamxay Province, to Ban Namyoun in Anouvong District, Xaysomboun Province.
• Upgrades to Route 5B from the Namyoun Bridge junction in Anouvong District to Ban Namon in Vangvieng District, Vientiane Province.
• Several other projects.

The Prime Minister then gave his remarks and directives to the ministry. He asked officials across the sector to focus on developing and improving transport infrastructure, with a clear emphasis on roads that meet international quality standards. He set out the following priorities:

• Build and upgrade the strategic and main economic routes, especially National Routes 13 North and 13 South, within the next five years.
• Survey connecting roads, particularly economic corridors and cross-border links, so that upgrade and construction plans can be drawn up.
• Improve roads that carry goods from production sites to markets and export points, along with tourism routes and urban roads, to the required standard.
• Identify bottlenecks in infrastructure development and propose solutions so that the road upgrade plans can be carried out as scheduled.

He also asked the ministry to keep pushing forward major projects, including the Laos–Vietnam railway and the Vientiane–Hanoi expressway, so they advance on schedule. In addition, the ministry should work with relevant agencies to promote electric vehicles by upgrading supporting infrastructure and carefully selecting high-quality imports. Other tasks include tackling the shortage of water supply in urban areas, gradually clearing debts from past investment projects, and monitoring national-level investment projects to ensure they meet their timelines and standards.

In aviation, he called for a comprehensive upgrade that ensures safety, meets international standards, builds public trust, and makes the sector more efficient and modern. He also stressed the need to set clear development priorities and modernize the ministry's work so it can respond to changing needs.

The Prime Minister expressed confidence that, under the leadership of the ministry's Party committee, the ministry will achieve even bigger results and live up to its guiding motto: “Develop public works and transport to be cutting-edge, focused, durable, modern, safe, interconnected and sustainable.”