states that the growth prospects for 2010 and beyond in Lao PDR were expected to remain strong, due to renewed interest in the Lao economy from foreign investors and continued low-cost concessional assistance from bilateral and multilateral agencies. In the area of economic development, the emergence of institutions in Southeast Asia such as the Asian Development Bank(ADB), the World Bank(wB), ASEAN and AFTA, has led to greater economic integration among countries in the region, with Laos gaining World Trade Organization(WTO) membership status in 1997