Laos expects 7% GDP growth next year
The government in Laos expects economic growth of at least seven per cent in 2018, the same level expected for 2017, according to Vientiane Times. This is about the same as the growth rates that Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines expect for next year, but more than Indonesia’s expectation of 5.8% and Malaysia’s of 4.9%, and significantly more than Thailand’s (3.6%) and Singapore’s (2.5%).
Laos ranks amongst the fastest growing economies in the world. It is forecast that the country will sustain at least seven per cent growth in 2019 as well as a result of continued policies of the government to decentralise control and encourage private enterprise.
The World Bank supports the official growth anticipation of Laos, saying that the country’s economy was driven by solid expansion in electricity production for export and a buoyant service sector. Work on a major cross-border railway project should also help strengthen growth this year and next.
However, major policy changes are needed to promote labour-intensive manufacturing and make the benefits of growth more inclusive, the World Bank noted.
Key goals for the Lao government include pursuing poverty reduction and education for all children, and also with its initiative to become a “land-linked” country through the construction of high-speed railways.
The country opened a stock exchange, the Lao Securities Exchange in 2011, and has become a rising regional player in its role as a hydroelectric power supplier to neighbours such as China, Vietnam and Thailand, driving back the still dominant, but inefficient agricultural sector.
In the current period, the economy of Laos still relies largely on foreign direct investment to attract capital from overseas to support its continual economic progress, as well as on foreign aid to improve societal infrastructure.
The government in Laos expects economic growth of at least seven per cent in 2018, the same level expected for 2017, according to Vientiane Times. This is about the same as the growth rates that Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines expect for next year, but more than Indonesia's expectation of 5.8% and Malaysia's of 4.9%, and significantly more than Thailand's (3.6%) and Singapore's (2.5%). Laos ranks amongst the fastest growing economies in the world. It is forecast that the country will sustain at least seven per cent growth in 2019 as well as a result of continued policies of...
The government in Laos expects economic growth of at least seven per cent in 2018, the same level expected for 2017, according to Vientiane Times. This is about the same as the growth rates that Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines expect for next year, but more than Indonesia’s expectation of 5.8% and Malaysia’s of 4.9%, and significantly more than Thailand’s (3.6%) and Singapore’s (2.5%).
Laos ranks amongst the fastest growing economies in the world. It is forecast that the country will sustain at least seven per cent growth in 2019 as well as a result of continued policies of the government to decentralise control and encourage private enterprise.
The World Bank supports the official growth anticipation of Laos, saying that the country’s economy was driven by solid expansion in electricity production for export and a buoyant service sector. Work on a major cross-border railway project should also help strengthen growth this year and next.
However, major policy changes are needed to promote labour-intensive manufacturing and make the benefits of growth more inclusive, the World Bank noted.
Key goals for the Lao government include pursuing poverty reduction and education for all children, and also with its initiative to become a “land-linked” country through the construction of high-speed railways.
The country opened a stock exchange, the Lao Securities Exchange in 2011, and has become a rising regional player in its role as a hydroelectric power supplier to neighbours such as China, Vietnam and Thailand, driving back the still dominant, but inefficient agricultural sector.
In the current period, the economy of Laos still relies largely on foreign direct investment to attract capital from overseas to support its continual economic progress, as well as on foreign aid to improve societal infrastructure.
