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Laos

Laos

The EU works closely with Laos under the framework of the EU-ASEAN Cooperation Agreement to ensure an effective environment for trade and investment relations.

Trade picture

  • EU imports from Laos are dominated by textiles, clothing and agricultural products.
  • EU exports to Laos are dominated by machinery.

EU-Lao (People's Democratic Republic) "trade in goods" statistics

Trade in goods 2011-2013, € billions
Year EU imports EU exports Balance
2011 0.2 0.2 -0.0
2012 0.2 0.2 -0.0
2013 0.3 0.1 -0.1

More statistics on Laos

EU and Laos

Laos and the WTO

  • On 2 February 2013, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) became the 158th member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The EU has been supporting Lao's WTO accession since the very start of the process in 1997.
  • Both in the field of market access and WTO rules, Lao PDR, as a Least Developed Country (LDC), has benefitted from flexibilities.

As a Least Developed Country (LDC), Laos benefits from the most favourable regime available under the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), namely the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme. The Everything but Arms scheme  gives the 48 Least Developed Countries - including Laos – duty free access to the EU for exports of all products, except arms and ammunition.

Laos and ASEAN

Laos is one of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The countries as a group are the EU's third largest trading partners outside Europe, after the United States and China.

The ASEAN region is a dynamic market with some 580 million consumers. Laos is one of the four Least Developed Countries in the ASEAN region.

The EU co-operates with the EU-ASEAN region as a whole. Cooperation is maintained through the EU-ASEAN Dialogue which includes discussions on trade and investment issues at ministerial and senior economic officials levels.

More information on ASEAN

Trading with Laos