世界各国

Laos

Introduction to Laos

Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.

Government

Capital:

Vientiane 

Independence:

19 July 1949 (from France) 

National holiday:

Republic Day, 2 December (1975) 

Economy

Economy overview:

The government of Laos - one of the few remaining official Communist states - began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 7% in 1988-2001 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure; it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid from the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in food processing and mining. 

GDP:

purchasing power parity -$0.32 billion (2004 est.) 

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 49.4%
industry: 24.5%
services: 26.1% (2004 est.)

Agriculture products:

sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice, water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry

Industries:

tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism 

Transportation

Highways:

total: 21,716 km
paved: 9,664 km
unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.)

Waterways:

4,600 km
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2003)

Pipelines:

refined products 540 km (2003)

Merchant marine:

total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2003 est.)

Airports:

46 (2003 est.)