luding capital expenditures of $NA
(1996 est.)

Industries: tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power,
agricultural processing, construction

Industrial production growth rate: 7.5% (1992 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 261,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - production: 890 million kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 48 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee,
sugarcane, cotton; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry

Exports:
total value: $240 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: electricity, wood products, coffee, tin, garments
partners : Thailand, Japan, France, Germany, Netherlands

Imports:
total value: $570 million (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
commodities: food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures
partners: Thailand, China, Japan, France, US

Debt - external: $2 billion (1995 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency: 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at

Exchange rates: new kips (NK) per US$1 - 961.00 (January 1997), 921.14
(1996), 804.69 (1995), 717.67 (1994), 716.25 (1993), 716.08 (1992)
note: as of September 1995, a floating exchange rate policy was
adopted

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

@Laos:Communications

Telephones: 6,600 (1991 est.)

Telephone system: service to general public very poor; radiotelephone
communications network provides generally erratic service to
government users
domestic: radiotelephone communications
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean
Region)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 0, shortwave 0

Radios: 560,000 (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 2

Televisions: 32,000 (1993 est.)

@Laos:Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 18,153 km
paved: 2,505 km
unpaved: 15,648 km (1995 est.)

Waterways: about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897
additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing less
than 0.5 m

Pipelines: petroleum products 136 km

Ports and harbors: none

Merchant marine:
total: 1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,370 GRT/3,000 DWT
(1996 est.)

Airports: 39 (1996 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 25
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m : 3
under 914 m: 16 (1996 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total : 14
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 13 (1996 est.)

Military

Military branches: Lao People's Army (LPA; includes riverine naval and
militia eleme