Laos Economic Analysis

The economy of the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic is rapidly growing, as the government began to decentralise control and encourage private enterprise in 1986. It opened a stock exchange in 2011, and has become a rising regional player in its role as a hydroelectric power supplier to neighbors such as China, Vietnam and Thailand, although the country remains one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia. A landlocked country, it has inadequate infrastructure and a largely unskilled work force. The country's per capita income in 2009 was estimated to be $2,700 on a purchasing power parity-basis.