This document highlights the difficulty level of doing business in Laos for the year 2018. Laos does present some undoubtable advantages such as the low cost of opening a business, for electricity or taxes, and for enforcing a contract. Moreover, a construction permit is easily accessible and registering properties is an easy and fast process (less than a month). Furthermore, Laos has a young population that is eager to learn and very much adaptable. As a result, Laos holds some major advantages in terms of the cheap cost for labour and certain infrastructures; the fact that it is bordering China is also a major advantage. Nonetheless the lack of regulations encroach on the difficulty level of doing business.
Indeed, Laos is not particularly an easy country to do business in for several reasons: a) investors are at risk as they do not benefit from protective policies; b) it is difficult for businesses to obtain a credit and there is currently no practise of resolving insolvency in Laos; c) enforcing contracts is a long procedure (can take more than a year). Furthermore, getting electricity is pricy and can take up to 4 months and paying taxes is also a time-consuming procedure. As a land-lock country, Laos may struggle more than other countries concerning trade across its borders. Accordingly Laos is ranked by the World Bank the 141st (out of 190 countries) country in the world for the “Ease of doing Business” in 2018.
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