Phetsamone Sone is a Deputy Head of the Lao Statistics Bureau (LSB), Ministry of Planning and Investment. Holding two master 's degrees in Economics with specialization in Statistics from the National Economic Institute of Kiev in Ukraine (former USSR) and in Public Policy from Saitama University of Tokyo in Japan, she has more than 26 years of experiences in the production of official statistics.
Starting her career in 1992 as statistician at the Data Collection Division of, what was still at the time, the National Statistics Center, in 1994 she was appointed at the National Accounts Division. In this position she focused on the compilation of foreign trade statistics. Promoted Deputy Chief of the National Accounts Division in 1998 and Chief in 2004, she was notably in charge of the compilation of National Accounts Statistics and the computation of macroeconomic indicators.
From 2007 to 2014, first as Deputy Director General of the Department of Economic Statistics, and then as Director General[1], she was in charge of the supervision of the work of the LSB on Economic Statistics, as well as on the implementation of Statistically sound methodologies and the strategic planning of the work of the bureau. From 2014 to 2017 she was Director General of the Department of Administration of LSB, notably in charge of cooperation, human resources and finance of the LSB.
At present, as Deputy Head of the Lao Statistics Bureau since 2017, she is in charge of the supervision of economic statistics and national accounts. Widely experienced in the management of censuses and large-scale surveys, she currently simultaneously heads the 3rd Lao Agriculture Census Office and leads the implementation of the 6th Lao Expenditure and Consumption Survey.
As part of her duties within the LSB, Mme Phetsamone Sone has been involved in a number of activities in parallel to the professional work described above such as:
She has an extensive experience in leading and managing institutional and technical capacity building projects in Lao PDR, including working with private sector technical services providers. In addition to her contribution to numerous international development partners ' supported projects, she was notably project manager of the National Human Development Reports (NHDR)[2], and ATC supported by the UNDP national and Regional; project manager of ADB project in the area of International Comparison Program -- ICP, and director of the WB financed LAOSTAT project. She is member of the task team on capacity development 4.0 of PARIS21.
After having been extensively involved in the Monitoring and Evaluation of MDGs, in particular leading and supervising the Technical Working Group on indicator identification and development toward the harmonization of the National Socio-Economic Development (NSEDP) and MDGs/LDCs Monitoring and Evaluation System, she is currently a Deputy Head of the Secretariat to the National Steering Committee for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in Lao PDR.
Her fields of expertise also include the Lao National Statistical System organisation, its legal structure, statistical strategies and programmes. She has in particular led the preparation of the 1st and 2nd National Statistical Development Strategies -- 2010-2020, including its midterm review with PARIS21 's Experts, and 2016-2025 respectively. Mme Phetsamone Sone is also a member of the National Human Resources Development Committee.
[1] She was more specifically Deputy Director General from 2007 to 2010, Acting Director General from 2010 to 2011 and Director General from 2012 to 2014.
[2] She was the NHDR project manager from 2004-2009, she also takes part in the substantive research work thru the participation in the capacity activities conducted as a resource person to the workshop and participated in the research work and proof read the report on the for the third publication "International trade and its impact to human development" and fourth publication "Employment and Livelihoods in Lao PDR"