According to data from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Trade of Laos,The total bilateral trade between Laos and foreign countries in 2022 is 15 billion US dollars, of which exports are 8.19 billion US dollars and imports are 6.8 billion US dollars.Electricity accounts for the largest share of Laos' total exports in 2022, worth 2.35 billion US dollars, followed by mining, including gold, rubber, coffee, cassava, clothing, and other agricultural products. Meanwhile, Laos' main imported products include fuel, vehicles and components, machinery, steel, plastics, etc.

Among them, Thailand isIn 2022, Laos is the largest export market with a total export value of 2.94 billion US dollars, followed by China with a total export value of 1.64 billion US dollars. Vietnam ranks third with a total export value of 1.35 billion US dollars, followed by Australia and Cambodia, with a total export value of 395 million US dollars and 185 million US dollars, respectively. Thailand is also the largest source of imports for Laos in 2022, with a total import value of 3.37 billion US dollars, followed by China with a total import value of 1.64 billion US dollars, and Vietnam with a total import value of 423 million US dollars.

This is already a continuous process in LaosWe have achieved a trade surplus in 4 years, with a surplus of 1.39 billion US dollars. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Laos, the largest contributor to Laos' trade surplus in 2022 is electricity and mineral exports to neighboring countries.

Trade surplus, also known as trade surplus, refers to the phenomenon where a country or region's export volume exceeds its import volume during a certain period of time. This indicates that the country or region is in a relatively favorable position in foreign trade and can obtain net profits through foreign trade.

But the higher the trade surplus, the better. A high trade surplus means that the country's economic growth is more dependent on external demand,Externally dependent degreeToo high. The huge trade surplus has also brought aboutforeign exchange reserveExpansion, forLocal currencyBringing greater appreciation pressure.

According to the latest report of the Macroeconomic Research Institute of Economy of Laos Economic Research Institute, during the COVID-19 pandemic, LaosSince 2019, it has been experiencing a trade surplus and has grown significantly in the past two years. Laos had a trade surplus of $145 million in 2019, $848 million in 2020, $1.74 billion in 2021, and $1.39 billion in 2022.

This set of data indicates that in recent years, foreign trade has greatly promoted Laos' economic growth, and further indicates that Laos' economic growth is increasingly dependent on the international market and has poor ability to resist risks.

The authoritative experts in the industry said that the growth of trade surplus will mainly bring two problems to Economy of Laos. First of all, it will lead to the high dependence of Laos' economy on foreign countries, occupy the development space of national economy, and economic growth and rising unemployment rate may coexist. Secondly, the trade surplus increases the outflow of funds, increases the cost of foreign exchange reserves, increases exchange rate risks, and is not conducive to the stability of value.

Therefore, he suggested that Laos implement an economic development strategy that emphasizes both export and domestic demand, and improve itinvestment policyExpandInvestment channelsImprove the efficiency of fund utilization and promote employment through economic growth. We also need to create policy conditions for entrepreneurs to bring all foreign currencies earned from exports into Laos, reduce the risk of exchange rate instability and value exchange, and maintain the stability of domestic currencies.