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Headlines:
Economic Recovery Shows Real Progress
Small Businesses Get a Tax Break
Australia Backs AUD2.1M Investment Push
Southeast Asia's First Gold Bank
Luang Prabang Tourism Printing Cash
Rail Tourism Plan Connects SEA
Laos-China Railway Freight Skyrockets
Power Grid Gets Cross-Border Boost
Phone Networks Expanding Across Borders
PM Concerned About Regional Tensions
Digital Health for Almost Every Child
Economic Recovery Shows Real Progress
Inflation's cooling. June numbers hit 7.2%, down from May's 8.3%. The first half of 2025 averaged 10.9%, with food prices remaining the main driver of price increases. Housing and utilities costs rose just a hair under 1%. These numbers are a welcome improvement from 2024's 24.77% rate. The economy's growing too - GDP growth came in at 4.5%, with services at 4.7%, industry at 4.6%, and agriculture at 3.3%.
Read more: Laotian Times (Inflation Data), Laotian Times (Economic Indicators)
Small Businesses Get a Tax Break
Laos has made substantial changes to its Income Tax Law, to better support small business, The revision allows micro-enterprises to deduct operating expenses before calculating tax, which could reduce the tax owed by up to 75%. Multinational companies will pay a minimum 15% profit tax rate, and firms listed on the stock exchange get a reduced 10% rate. The amendments, however, expand taxable income categories to include carbon credits, agricultural products, and forest product sales.
Read more: Laotian Times (Tax Changes)
Australia Backs AUD2.1M Investment Push
LIFT 4 Laos is an AUD2.1 million investment promotion initiative funded through the Mekong-Australia Partnership. The program is designed to improve Lao’s capacity to pull in FDI both sustainably and in support of sustainability (particularly mining and critical minerals).
Read more: UNESCAP
Southeast Asia's First Gold Bank
Southeast Asia's first gold bank, the Lao Bullion Bank, is reportedly doing well. The bank was set up to formalize the Lao gold market and help support a bid to become an Asian gold trading hub. The bank offers gold deposit, withdrawal, and transfer services, issues gold certificates for loan collateral, and owns/ manages an inventory of gold vending machines. In its first six months of operation, it’s had more than 2,000 people open accounts and expects to rake in 500-600 kg of gold from private households.
Read more: Business Times
Luang Prabang Tourism Printing Cash
Luang Prabang Province has generated LAK 691 billion (USD 32 million) in revenue during the first five months of 2025, wildly exceeding its annual target by more than 60%. Most of the growth is thanks to tourism, and the province expects to collect an additional LAK 466 billion in the rest of this year. The region's tourism success follows a strong 2024, which saw more than 2.3 million visitors.
Read more: Laotian Times
Rail Tourism Plan Connects SEA
The ASEAN Rail Tourism Corridor, connecting Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Nong Khai, Vientiane, and Boten was a highlight at the recent Mekong Tourism Forum. The project's first phase (2024-2029) depends on infrastructure development and cross-border coordination, and will build on existing Laos-China and Laos-Thailand rail networks. China's Belt and Road Initiative continues to support railway infrastructure projects in the Mekong region. A development directly impacting Laos is the planned China-Vietnam Railway, a 390km project with an estimated cost of US$8.3 billion.
Read more: Laotian Times (Tourism Corridor), Think China (BRI Projects)
Laos-China Railway Freight Skyrockets
January through May of this year saw 2.48 million tons of goods worth US$ 1.4 billion move along the tracks. Freight tonnage rose 7.9%, and cargo value increased 33.2% y-o-y. Since it started running, the 1,035-kilometer railway between Kunming and Vientiane has moved more than 60 million tons of freight, including 13.9 million tons of cross-border shipments. The railway has also raised the number of cargo categories it can carry from an original 10 to more than 3,000 today.
Read more: Fresh Plaza
Power Grid Gets Cross-Border Boost
Construction has started on the Chinese portion of the China-Laos 500-kV power interconnection project, a 145-km transmission line connecting Xishuangbanna (Yunnan Province) to Laos. The project, managed by China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd., will allow for 1.5 million kW two-way power exchange and support transmission of 3 billion kWh of clean electricity when done next year. The Lao section, being built out by Electricite du Laos Transmission Co., Ltd., began construction on February 26. On the retail front, the government has ordered an assessment of the impact of recent electricity price hikes on the public and told state bodies to come up with mitigation plans.
Read more: Daily Independent (China Interconnect), Asian News Network (Electricity Pricing)
Phone Networks Expanding Across Borders
There are now 18 cross-border telecommunications transmission lines connecting to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and China. Laos built out 98,524 kilometers of fiber optic cable in 2023, and saw mobile coverage in 8,245 villages in 148 districts; 97% nationwide coverage. The network currently supports 6.1 million mobile numbers and 4.6 million internet users, with 5G services available in the provinces of Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Bokeo. Telecoms have generated LAK 5 trillion (USD 231 million) in revenue with five operators, and netted the national coffers LAK 391 billion (USD 18 million) in taxes.
Read more: Laotian Times
PM Concerned About Regional Tensions
Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has spoken out about his concerns about rising regional and global tensions. The PM specifically mentioned the recent military brouhaha between Cambodia and Thailand. He acknowledged that Laos' economy and security can’t stay isolated from global events and reemphasized the importance of being proactive about doing what it takes to protect the Lao national interest.
Read more: Laotian Times
Digital Health for Almost Every Child
Closing with some good news this week, the Electronic Immunization Registration System apparently covers almost every health facility nationwide. The system allows for real-time vaccination tracking and data collection to make sure that children’s development and health stay on track. Developed through collaboration between the Ministry of Health and partners including UNICEF, WHO, and Japan, the program has already trained more than 3,000 health workers in digital data collection.
Read more: UNICEF
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading.
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