Sustainable Development in the Plantation Industry in Laos

This 2009 report by the National Economic Research Institute, commissioned by the IISD and IUCN, examines the role of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in managing the rapid growth of the plantation industry in Lao PDR. It highlights a critical gap between the MPI's role as the final investment decision-maker and its limited capacity to integrate environmental and social considerations into that process, recommending stronger inter-agency coordination and the establishment of monitoring systems.

• Foreign direct investment in the plantation sector of Lao PDR grew rapidly from $18.6 million in 2001 to nearly $665 million in 2007, representing 11 per cent of total foreign investment for that period.
• The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) lacks comprehensive data on the plantation sector because it only holds information on 123 large-scale projects (over 165,794 hectares) and does not track medium and small-scale projects approved at the provincial level.
• The primary plantation crops in Lao PDR are para rubber (estimated 40% of area), eucalyptus (20%), and smaller shares of kathinnalong, jatropha, sugarcane, and palm tree.
• The plantation industry poses significant risks to local environments and livelihoods, including the loss of traditional cultures, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and soil degradation caused by the intensive use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides.
• While the MPI is the final decision-maker for major investments, it has played a minor role in ensuring environmental and social issues are addressed, lacking its own environmental working group and specific criteria for approving projects on environmental merits.
• The Water Resources and Environment Agency (WREA) is the lead agency for environmental protection and is the only body authorized to issue the environmental certificates required for the legal approval of investment projects.
• The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) manages natural resources and uses agricultural business certificates as a regulatory tool to ensure companies abide by environmental laws; it is prohibited from clearing primary or secondary forests for large-scale production.
• Environmental monitoring and evaluation in the plantation sector is fragmented and poorly enforced; many companies fail to submit required regular reports, and the central inspection team in Vientiane faces high costs and difficulties inspecting distant large-scale projects.
• To improve sustainable development, the report recommends that the MPI establish an internal environmental working group, create a unified monitoring system involving local inspection teams, and set up an environmental data center at the MAF or National Land Management Authority.

APA

-1, & Voladet, S. (2009). Sustainable Development in the Plantation Industry in Laos. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sd_plantation_laos.pdf

Chicago

-1, and Saykham Voladet. Sustainable Development in the Plantation Industry in Laos. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2009. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sd_plantation_laos.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=-1 |last2=Voladet |first2=Saykham |title=Sustainable Development in the Plantation Industry in Laos |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2009 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sd_plantation_laos.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{12009sustainable, author = {-1 and Voladet, Saykham}, title = {{Sustainable Development in the Plantation Industry in Laos}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2009}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sd_plantation_laos.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }