What is Laos?

 

 

Laos is located in Southeast Asia.

It is borderd with China, Myanmar, Thailand,Cambodia,

Vietnam and it is a landlocked country.

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Its territory is covered with dark green, ratio of mountain areas

to territory is about 80 percent.

It is called 〝Country of the forest〟, selected as a country

which want to go most by The New York Times in 2008.

 

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In actually, we went to Laos and created animations of Lao charm.

Please watch this!

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Basic information

 

【Territory】240 thousand square kilometer

 

【Population】     about 6.6 million　(2013)

   　　                     It is much less than Thailand〈about 66 million〉, Vietnam〈about 84 million〉

 

【Capital】            Vientiane

 

【Ethnic groups】Lao（about half of population）etc.

　　　　                The number of ethnic groups is more than 50 groups,

                                 for example Hmong, Yao, Akha.

                                 Each oe the groups have their own cultures.

 

【Languages】     Lao

 

【Region】            Buddhism

 

【Main trading partners】Thailand, Australia, Vietnam, China etc.

                                           （Ministry of Industry and Commerce in 2012）

 

【Currency】        Kip（1kip=0.0001224USD）

 

 

Brief history

 

1353　     Lanexang Kingdom was founded.

1899　 　Lanexang Kingdom became a part of French Indochina Federation.

1949　　 Lanexang Kingdom declared independence within the limits of French Union.

1953　　 Lanexang Kingdom declared complete independence throughout Laos-France Treaty

                  on Oct.22

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After that,  civil war was repeated, but agreement about restoring peace and racial  reconciliation was enacted.

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With Indonesia situation changed suddenly, Lao People's Democratic Republic was founded in 1975.

 

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The present situation of Laos

 

【Education】

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The Lao government aims to break away from LDC（Least Developed Country）by 2020.

So, they are tackling diffusion and improvement of education as a means of a fundamental settlement of poverty.

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But, there is a lot of problems（shortage of classrooms and teachers）are still unsolved.

And an agricultural and provincial areas are more serious situation than urban areas.

 

【Economy】

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The mass of people are self-sufficient farmers,

Laos is one of the poorest countries in Asia.

However, in recent years, the Lao economy is growing rapidly

because of increase in tourist and development of tertiary industries.

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In addition, labor costs of Laos is lower than one of Thailand and China.

So, in Laos, foreign company is increasing.

Vientiane becomes like China quickly.

We saw many building under constructions and signboard in Chinese

when we visited Laos.

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【Infrastructure】

Japanese goverment and the Asisn Developmend Bank cooperated with Lao government.

So, Laos was founded road and bridge that connect Thailand and Vietnam.

Thanks to this, distribution is improved and industrial parks has been developed.

 

Taking these opportunities, in Laos, foreign investment which related to manufacturing expand

and economic growth is about to accelerate.