ABSTRACT
State-owned enterprises operated more or less like government departments hence the civil service comprised also of those employed in public enterprises. In rural areas, the government created state farms and farmers’ co-operatives. The government solved the unemployment problem by creating jobs in the civil service and the public sector. In Laos, the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party makes the policies while the Government is responsible for implementation of the Party’s policy guidelines. In order to establish a better link between business and government, the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry was created in 1990. The Party organisation coexists parallel with the government administrative structure from top to bottom and its widespread linkages extend downward to the district, village and grassroots state-run economic entities. The government has designated transportation as a top priority in order to improve the socio-economic status of the rural population and to develop trade with neighbouring countries.
