CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
This present presents the perspective of sustainable development based on three factors of
development and sustainability of Laos. Each factor highlighted its advantages and drawbacks,
underlining the fact that no indicator is absolutely perfect and no one can give a comprehensive
view of sustainable development. Therefore, the study of a single factor is insufficient for
sustainable development, for example focusing only on the analysis of sustained growth without
considering the sustainability of the society and environment. Even though this study proved
that many key variables influence sustained economic growth, it is important to identify the
impacts of growth on other factors of development, such as social development, which is related
to poverty reduction and income distribution, as well as the impacts of growth on the
environmental condition, because the increase in the level of production in order to enlarge
growth is related to increasing natural resource allocation and pollution exploration, which are
assumed to produce negative impacts on current and long-term development. In brief, the
analysis of various factors and sub-factors is necessary to evaluate sustainable development
with accuracy.
In brief, this study concludes that sustainable development is a combination of economic
growth, social development, and environmental protection, under the condition that economic
growth is distributed to all the population, through poverty reduction, minimizing inequality in
society, and maintaining a good condition of the environment and natural resources. It concerns
the involvement of virtually all traditional sectors, including economic planning, education and
health improvement, sanitation system extension, poverty reduction strategies, social equality
promotion (including gender and ethnic minority), and the environmental and natural resource
protection. The underlying detail of sustainable development is only the interaction of these
factors in decision and policy making at all levels.
Based on the country’s geography and those potential natural resources, sustainable tourism
is one option that could play an important role in sustainable development. This tourism
concept attempts to produce as low an impact on the environment and local culture as possible,
while assisting in creating job opportunities for current and future local people. The final aim of
sustainable tourism is to ensure that development carries a positive experience for local people
(villagers or communities), tourism companies, and tourists themselves. This would benefit not
only local people or companies, but also the entire population by increasing the national income.
An additional suggestion for rural development and poverty alleviation strategies is to
The Determinants of Sustainable Development in Laos
H.Phimphanthavong
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promote community participation in the development process through preparation and
implementation. The final aim of community participation is to provide equality opportunities
among the population (gender and ethnic minorities) to share their ideas and needs in social
development, leading to increased capacity and awareness of local people that can be utilized
for the future development of their communities.
Regarding the suggestion for natural resource protection, which is a main resource for the
current economic development of Laos, it is necessary to have a good policy for natural and
environmental protection. Large projects for hydropower construction and mineral projects
should have acceptable environmental impact studies from environmental specialists to confirm
that those projects will benefit the entire population and produce few impacts on the
environmental and natural conditions in both current and long terms expectation.