NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

*Laos, Government

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador HIEM Phommachanh
chancery:
2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
(202) 332-6416 or 6417
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Charles B. SALMON, Jr.
embassy:
Rue Bartholonie, Vientiane
mailing address:
B. P. 114, Vientiane, or AMEMB, Box V, APO AP 96546
telephone:
(856) 2220, 2357, 2384
FAX:
(856) 4675
Flag:
three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a
large white disk centered in the blue band

*Laos, Economy

Overview:
One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a Communist centrally
planned economy with government ownership and control of productive
enterprises of any size. In recent years, however, the government has been
decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise. Laos is a
landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure; that is, it has no
railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited external and internal
telecommunications, and electricity available in only a limited area.
Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation, accounting for over 60% of
GDP and providing about 85-90% of total employment. The predominant crop is
rice. For the foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend for its
survival on foreign aid from the IMF and other international sources; aid
from the former USSR and Eastern Europe has been cut sharply.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $900 million (1991)
National product real growth rate:
4% (1991)
National product per capita:
$200 (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
21% (1989 est.)
Budget:
revenues $83 million; expenditures $188.5 million, including capital
expenditures of $94 million (1990 est.)
Exports:
$72 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
commodities:
electricity, wood products, coffee, tin
partners:
Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, USSR, US, China
Imports:
$238 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
commodities:
food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures
partners:
Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam, China
External debt:
$1.1 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 12% (1991 est.); accounts for about 18% of GDP (1991 est.)
Electricity:
226,000 kW capacity; 990 million kWh produced,