Using comprehensive trade data from United Nations Comtrade, this paper examines
the changes of the country‟s comparative advantages over an extended period. The main
objectives are to examine the patterns of external trade and the evolution of revealed
comparative advantages in Laos from 1985 to 2005, and to discuss some relationship between
trade and investment policies and the country‟s comparative advantages. The hypothesis of
the analysis is that despite trade liberalization and integration, the structure of external trade and the revealed comparative advantages of Laos have not changed significantly over this
period.