According to the World Bank, Asia’s smallest economies are growing faster than giants. Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos are set to sustain growth rates close to 7%. The three countries will post the most rapid expansions in Asia after India from 2017 to 2019. Among the least developed countries, the combined size of the three economies is less than $100 billion.
Southeast Asia frontier nations are stepping up their infrastructure drive to boost growth and diversity their economies as they seek to shed their image as the region backwater, as it is located in The Mekong Region. And Vietnam which has prodigiously transformed stands as their role model.
"The promise of transforming the Mekong into a manufacturing hub has a lot of potential,” said Eugenia Victorino, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Singapore. "Vietnam provides the template for an export-led growth from agricultural. We have seen Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia trying to imitate Vietnam's model of luring FDI to prop up their export capacity."
They're counting on China, which is investing in everything from railroads to real estate in the three countries. After decades of military rule, Myanmar is liberalizing its economy and adopting market reforms after a transition to democracy. China is its largest trading partner and is building a special economic zone, power plant and deep-water seaport on the west coast.
In Laos, a long-delayed $5.7 billion railway from China through northern Laos officially began last month. Cambodia has gained particular appeal for Chinese manufacturers seeking to relocate, which aligns with China’s strategy to export industrial capacity through initiatives such as its One Belt, One Road program.
Source : bloomberg.com
