Laos

Laos is a small, landlocked, lower-middle-income economy — one of Southeast Asia's poorest — that remains a one-party communist state slowly opening to market forces and regional trade.

Growth has leaned on hydropower, mining, and Chinese investment, including a major railway linking it to China, but the country has been burdened by heavy external debt.

Key Sectors

Key sectors include hydropower exported to neighbors (Laos aims to be the 'battery of Southeast Asia'), mining (copper and gold), agriculture and forestry, and growing tourism.