Lao economy still the smallest in Asean
Lao economy still the smallest in Asean
The Lao economy remains the smallest in Asean despite experiencing rapid growth over the past several years, according to a senior economist.
“Our economy has seen rapid growth over the past years but it will take several decades before Laos reaches the same economic as neigbouring nations,” said Dr Leeber Leebouapao, Director General of the National Economic Research Institute.
He made the comments after a recent report listed Laos as among one of the top 10 countries in the world in terms of rapid economic growth in 2014.
According to the US based Economist Intelligence Unit's projections, the Lao economy will see 8.5 percent growth this year, which should put it among the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world.
The other fastest growing economies in 2014 should be Mongolia, which is projected to see 15.3 percent growth, Sierra Leone, which will see 11.2 percent growth, Turkmenistan, which will experience 9.2 percent growth and Bhutan, which is projected to see 8.8 percent growth.
Meanwhile Libya should experience economic growth of 8.8 percent, Iraq should see economic growth of 8.5 percent, Timor-Leste is projected to see 8.5 percent growth, Eritrea 8.0 percent growth and Zambia 7.9 percent growth.
Dr Leeber said that despite rapid economic growth over the past years, the Lao economy remains the smallest in Asean, noting that while rapid, Lao economic growth is coming from a very small base so it will still take a long time for the country to reach the same as neigbouring countries like Thailand or Vietnam.
“Our starting point is from a small base therefore it is impossible for us to compete with the big countries, which have a bigger base on which to build,” he said.
“If we were comparing countries to people, we would still be a little child. No matter how fast we grow, we still need years before we can reach the same as as an adult.”
The value of the Lao economy in 2012 was US$9.2 billion while the value of the Thai economy was US$365.5 billion and the Vietnamese economy US$135 billion.
Indonesia is the largest economy in Asean with a GDP value of about US$878 billion, while the next smallest after Laos were Cambodia with a GDP value of US$14 billion and Brunei with a GDP value of US$16.6 billion.
Dr Leeber said that despite the fact that the Lao economy is very small it does not matter as rich and poor countries are not measured by economic but by the wealth of a particular nation, of which one measure is income per capita.
He said that Lao income per capita is higher than some countries in Asean, adding that Laos has become a lower middle income country and is expected to become a higher income country by 2040 if the country maintains economic growth of at least eight percent over the next few decades.
Dr Leeber said that the government has laid down a socio-economic development strategy which aims to turn the country into one of the manufacturing centres of the region, noting that the processing industry has begun to see rapid growth after the government introduced a number of investment incentives recently.
vientiane times
