At the recent Lao National Financial Work Conference, the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolution and Thongloun said that Laos will introduce a number of policies to establish an economic model suitable for Laos' national conditions to improve the resilience of economic development. In recent years, Laos has actively promoted economic development. Asian Development Bank**, Laos' economic outlook is stable in 2024, with economic growth to remain around 4%.
In 2024, one of the key priorities for economic growth in Laos** is to boost tourism. At the end of last year, Laos launched the "Laos Tourism Year 2024" campaign, which will attract at least 4.6 million tourists and create about 7$1.2 billion tourism revenue target. As the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, Laos will also host a number of relevant regional meetings. Laos** expects the country's tourism output to grow by 5% this year, driven by these favourable factors.
In terms of infrastructure construction, Laos will continue to play an important role in the Laos-China railway, and speed up the construction of highways, airports and other projects. According to the statistics of the Laos-China Railway, as of December 31, 2023, the Laos section of the railway has sent a total of 403 passengers30,000 person-times, sending more than 6.37 million tons of cross-border goods, highlighting the first-class channel effect, injecting new vitality into the economic and social development of Laos. Lao Prime Minister Song Sai told this reporter that as a landlocked country, efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction in the fields of transportation and other fields are one of the breakthroughs in Laos' development.
In 2024, Laos** will continue to improve its business environment and has set a target of attracting 32 trillion kip (1 yuan is about 2,889 kip) of domestic and foreign private investment this year. Thongloun said that Laos needs to extract and use natural resources in a sustainable way, encourage foreign capital and technology to enter the natural resources sector, and export products to the wider international market to maximize benefits by increasing the added value of products for the benefit of the Lao people.
Laos has also actively strengthened economic cooperation with other countries in the region. Song Sai said that Laos has planned a development strategy for sub-regional and regional connectivity, participated in various sub-regional and regional cooperation with Mekong countries and ASEAN, and actively coordinated the construction of the "Belt and Road".
Laos is one of the major power exporters in Southeast Asia, and as of May 2023, Laos has 94 power plants built and put into operation, with a capacity of more than 11,660 MW, according to statistics from the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Laos. Laos' "Vientiane Times" recently said that Laos has great potential for hydropower generation and energy exports to neighboring countries. In Cambodia, for example, Cambodia currently imports about 445 MW of electricity annually from Laos, and this number is expected to continue to increase until 2030. According to Thailand's "Bangkok Post", the foreign ministers of Laos and Thailand began to discuss the construction of a railway bridge across the Mekong River at the end of October last year, which will connect Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and Nong Khai Province in northeastern Thailand, creating conditions for improving local transportation and promoting bilateral tourism cooperation.
China is Laos' largest investor, largest exporter and second largest partner, and about 80% of Laos' agricultural exports are sold to China. Laos attaches great importance to strengthening economic cooperation with China. In recent years, Chinese and Lao enterprises have expanded their imports and exports through cross-border e-commerce, and Chinese financial institutions have also provided preferential loans to Laos, helping Laos make breakthroughs in many fields such as electric power, roads and bridges, and science and technology. The successful implementation of assistance projects for Laos, such as the relocation of Anju Village by the China-Laos Railway and the Mahoso General Hospital, has effectively improved the capacity building of Laos in the fields of people's livelihood, medical care, education and poverty alleviation, and has been positively praised by all sectors of Lao society. Thongloun recently said that Laos attaches great importance to the building of a community with a shared future between Laos and China, and will continue to promote practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields such as economy, trade, culture, tourism and people-to-people relations.