Laotian government discussing purchase of oil with Russia. The country is running out of oil and is nearing debt default.

The Communist Party of Laos elects Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as its new Secretary-General, replacing retiring chief Bounnhang Vorachit. Sisoulith was elected for a five-year term as leader of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the top post in the country, and part of the country Politburo.

Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations sign the world's largest free-trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in Vietnam. It replaces the Trans-Pacific Partnership, from which the US withdrew the United States in early 2017. The countries are: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.