Publication Categories
Lao Natural Resource Exports
This report on resource exports serves as an input to the Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) Update. Building on earlier studies such as that of the World Bank’s Lao PDR Development Report 2010, it evaluates the potential impact of resource-led export growth on the external sector as a whole and its feed-through effects on the production of domestic goods and the services industries. Of particular importance are the implications of those resource exports on the development of offshoot activities for the mineral and electricity industries, along with the possible broad-based diversification of the economy into high-value export products. To that end, the report explores a broad range of opportunities and offers recommendations both for generating more domestic value added activities and for strengthening linkages between resource-based industries and the wider economy. The recommendations are presented as possible technical assistance initiatives and policy actions that could assist the Lao PDR to achieve high and sustainable broad-based export growth, building on the Government’s current development strategy under the Seventh National Social Economic Development Plan (NSEDP VII).