The Lao People's Democratic Republic's economic reforms: a case study of the specific economic zone in Vientiane

This research focused on the specific economic zones in Vientiane, Laos which was initiated from 2010 to 2020 that consisted of five sites of SEZs. They are as follows: (1C Vientiane SEZ, (2) Vientiane Industrial & Trade Park: VITA Park, (3) Saysetha Development SEZ, (4) Dongphosy SEZ, and (5) Thatluang Lake SEZ. By selecting the cases that have different historical background of the site, has distinctive in accordance with the purpose of each site. For instance, Long thanh site where the selected developer was 100% from private enterprises of Vietnam and the projects was intended to development of human resources. While Vientiane Industrial and Trade Area was a joint venture Lao China Ltd that owns 75 percent of the land and 30 percentbelongs to government. This site offered projects of industries, commerce, and services.Saysetha site indicated as a place for projects such as agricultural product, wood manufacturing, tourism services, and new energy industry. This zone was invested byGovernment and Private Enterprises (Laos & Chinese). Meanwhile, Dongphosy was invested by 100% Malaysian private enterprises. This zone run for several projects thatcomprised commercials, industrials, residential, and institutional. Finally, Thatluang Lake was invested by 100 percent private enterprises from China. This zone has anobjective to accelerate development of industry, commerce and services. In order to analyze SEZs implementation in Vientiane, this research utilized the complex Ref. code: 25646103090020XOF(2)interdependence theory to comprehend the perspective on the effectiveness of SEZs strategy towards economic reform. There were two dimensions, the first was multiplechannel which indicated the network and connection internally and internationally are essential to work out the SEZs effectiveness. The second was Absence of Hierarchyamong Issues is to cope with a hierarchy that has evolved in a highly complex manner. SEZ policy can be seen hierarchically as an underlying relationship that exists between local and central authorities. A hierarchical structure that identified as availability for social consideration have been an instrument for social transition as a result of policies in SEZs. In addition, China has been a great partner as its political system happenedwithin these two countries which shared relevance and similarities. As consequence, Chinese influence on crucial decision making including in SEZ implementation wasstill counted in by the Lao government. Finally, the Lao government should becognizant of promoting local capital through the use of geographic advantages derived from various economic cooperation programs and should recognize that local initiatives can really give different impacts on national economic development rather than relying on foreign aid through SEZs.