On Friday, July 7th, the EWMD (European Women’s Management Development International Network) organized a workshop about sustainable economic development in the GSC Garment Service Centre which is located in Chanthabouly. EWMD is an international network for women in management, founded in 1984 in Brussels. It supports innovative management and ethical responsible business.
The Lao Economy, a lecture given by Dr. Ramon Bruesseler
Ms. Keiko Miwa, Country Manager of the World Bank, Mr. Sinouk Sisombat, president of the Lao coffee association, and Ms. Sengdavone Bangonesengdet, Deputy Secretary General of LNCCI, were among the other speakers, so was Dr. Ramon Bruesseler, Executive Director of ECCIL.
Dr. Ramon Bruesseler gave a lecture entitled “The Lao Economy – Facts & Figures and Facts behind the Figures”. The speech focused on current and expected future economic developments in Lao and the underlying determining factors while also looking into the regional comparison. Impressive achievements were highlighted – Laos will most likely be among the ten fastest developing economies of the world this year – but also peculiarities and future challenges. The boom in the resource sector contributes significantly to the outstanding growth rates, which has the inherent danger of the so called “Dutch Disease”. ODA is still indispensible to back up public investment projects. The recent easing of import regulations for Lao garments into the EU should give a boost to that sector. But in order to benefit also from the trend of shifting garment factories out of Southern China into South East Asia due to lower wage cost Lao would have to mobilize more industrial workforce.