The signs of digital technology adoption are evident across Southeast Asia. In big cities, the use of mobile phones for messaging and social media has become ubiquitous. Ride-sharing services and delivery riders using apps to obtain their next booking are changing the face of urban transport and...

Although economic linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia have been strengthened over the past decade, integration between these two regions remains limited. Can new approaches to regional integration help revitalize trade and economic links between South Asia and Southeast Asia This...

Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) is endowed with abundant natural resources, such as water, forests, minerals, and biodiversity. This document aims to succinctly summarize the climate risks faced by Lao PDR. This includes rapid onset and long-term changes in key climate parameters, as well...

Successive national socio-economic development plans have identified the private sector as the main engine of growth and the government of Lao PDR (GoL) is committed to fostering a transition to a private-sector-led market economy. In line with that approach, the GoL has pursued an increased...

In 2015, Lao PDR is virtually unrecognizable from what it was just a decade ago. A more open, more outward trade landscape has transformed the country from a closed-off backwater into a fast-growing developing country, complete with coffee shops, restaurants, and billboards lining the streets of...

While on-track for child health and maternal health MDGs, Lao PDR continues to have some of the worst maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes, both globally and in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region. Under-five and infant mortality rates are high relative to GDP per capita, and utilization...

Lao PDR has made notable progress in improving maternal health, with materanal mortality decreasing from 1,600 per 100,000 births in 1990 to 220 in 2013.1 However, in order for further gains to be realized, at least two barriers need to be addressed - the low utilization of maternal health (MH)...