This morning, President Higgins visited the Lao National Institute for Tourism and Hospitality.
The centre, established in 2008, trains students aiming for a career in the hospitality sector. It is supported through a partnership with Dublin Institute of Technology and a bursary scheme through Irish Aid.
The President also addressed the small Irish community in Vientiane. In his speech, he spoke of the legacy of the 80 million bombs dropped on Laos in a war that was never formally declared, and he spoke of the obligation of the international community to assist Laos in the removal of the remaining unexploded ordnance, which to this day kill over 200 people each year.
