It's a fairly strategic location, centred between Vietnam, China, Thailand and Cambodia (and China/Vietnam would love to bypass Cambodia for land access to the relatively westernised markets of Malaysia and Thailand and Singapore.) The main issue is lack of modern infrastructure, exacerbated by the war wiping almost all of the existing infrastructure out, including 2000 year old passes and roads.
With the new rail networks opening up Laos is likely to become a key part of the western Silk Road project.
There is of course also the fact that Laos is a de facto client state of Vietnam, albeit a willing one.
It's a tiny landlocked country in a strategically useless location.
It's a fairly strategic location, centred between Vietnam, China, Thailand and Cambodia (and China/Vietnam would love to bypass Cambodia for land access to the relatively westernised markets of Malaysia and Thailand and Singapore.) The main issue is lack of modern infrastructure, exacerbated by the war wiping almost all of the existing infrastructure out, including 2000 year old passes and roads.
With the new rail networks opening up Laos is likely to become a key part of the western Silk Road project.
There is of course also the fact that Laos is a de facto client state of Vietnam, albeit a willing one.
Loads of Hydrodams in Laos, they're not completely irrelevant