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ONCE considered a less developed and forgotten member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) has achieved sustainable growth path in the last 10 years and moved to become a lower-middle income economy in 2011 based on a World Bank report.
As a mountainous and landlocked country, Laos, according to the report, is a strategic gem for the Asean’s bid to establish a single market and production base in 2015 as it borders economic giant China and the booming Asean economies of Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, which is beginning to step up democratic reforms and open its market.

Asean also groups the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The World Bank said it believes that Lao PDR is doubling efforts in implementing reforms to reduce poverty and stimulate sustainable growth. It added that the country is on track to achieve its long-term vision to shed its Least Developed Country status by 2020.

Domestic growth, coupled with good governance, makes Lao PDR ready for regional and global integration, according to the report. Laos is seen as an important partner in the Asean’s Great Mekong Subregion economic cooperation program, which is also seen as having strategic importance in terms of potential exports to rapidly increasing neighboring countries.

As a landlocked country rich in forestry, agriculture, hydropower and minerals, Laos, the World Bank report said, plays a significant role in achieving single market and production base for Asean by 2015. This potential is said to be shown in increasing foreign-investment interest in Laos and the Asean economies.

Last week British Foreign Minister William Hague announced the reopening of his country’s embassy in Laos that was closed in 1985. He said the decision is part of Britain’s increasing engagement in Southeast Asian economies.

Hague added that by increasing investments in the Asean market, one of the world’s largest regional and influential blocs with a population of 600 million, benefits would spread back to the United Kingdom and member-countries of the European Union.

“We are deliberately doing this [British Embassy reopening] ahead of the culmination of plans to transform Asean into a single market and production base that is highly competitive and fully integrated into the global community by 2015, to the great benefit of the 600 million people who live in the Asean countries,� he said in a speech in Singapore.

Laos is also embarking on an ambitious target of becoming a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) this year, a move being supported by its Asean neighbors and key trading partner and economic giant China.

Laos’s Industry and Commerce Minister Nam Viyaketh said his government has fulfilled some of the WTO requirements, including reforms in making its goods and services more accessible in 2010.

In a statement at the WTO, Nam said Laos has passed the necessary laws and regulations to ensure that the country is now all in line with the organization’s requirements.

The reforms covered, among others, the import licensing regime, Customs valuation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade. Laos said progress on these are well on the way toward meeting the WTO requirements. It is also working hard to revise its intellectual property law, the minister added.

“This is an ambitious goal, but the work done, the understanding of members of the difficulties [that]  least developed countries face in their transformation process and the generous technical assistance we are receiving, make this a realistic objective,� Nam said of his country’s move to become a WTO member.

The readiness of Laos to become a vital instrument of growth in the Asean and a global trading partner in the WTO is reflected in the World Bank Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) that cited Laos as growing at a sustainable path.

“In spite of development challenges, Lao PDR is on an increasingly sustainable growth development path. Reforms under way have reduced poverty and stimulated growth,� the ICA report of the World Bank said.

It added that Laos’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an average rate of 7.1 percent a year from 2001 to 2010 and is expected to increase to 7.6 percent in 2011 to 2015. GDP refers to the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a year.

The World Bank attributed Laos’s growth to efforts of the government to harness natural resources as the country is rich in minerals, hydropower and forestry products.

But the country needs to “strike a balance between the resource and nonresource sectors,� to allow Laos to sustain growth, it said.

The nonresource sector, according to the World Bank, is expected to contribute more than half of Laos’s real GDP growth and 75 percent of the GDP in the medium term.

“While challenges exist, these significant improvements have also taken place over the past five years. Access to electricity, infrastructure development and improved reforms have contributed to Lao PDR’s economic progress,� the WB Investment Climate Assessment report said.

Economic reforms in Laos are seen to be critical in its efforts to strengthen its regional and global role through the Asean’s single-market bid by 2015 and WTO membership.

The World Bank indicated that Laos needs to address more detailed constraints related to skills, access to finance and the implementation of a growth-friendly tax regime, specifically for small and medium enterprises.

The recently concluded Asian Development Bank annual meeting in the Philippines highlighted the importance of Asia’s growth to support the global economy amid the lingering financial turmoil in the US and euro zone.

But global economists said Asia has to look beyond exports and begin to invest in its infrastructure and ensure food security amid the worsening threats of climate change.

The sustainable growth in Laos over the last 10 years has proved that a seemingly forgotten member of Asean can rise graciously as a center of regional and global economic growth.


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Dude, the reason why they always talk about how Laos is growing or developing is because it is dead last in everything. It has no where to go but up. All these numbers and dates are hocus pocus that makes for a good story, that's why the Laos gov't allows it to be displayed to the media.

Reducing poverty? What's the average income? What's the cost of living? Inflation?
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The only ones getting out of poverty is the gov't by selling out Laos.

The only "growth" is the amount of chinese and vietnamese coming into Laos.

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This is exactly what I said before, educate and train the people, invest in their future so that Laos can depend on itself and develop within. Give loans to the Lao people to develop local business and invest in Lao people. This creates jobs for Lao people, this reduces poverty and elevates the Lao people. All this is so elementary but Lao gov't is still not controlled by Lao people, that's why. Greed is their downfall.