The economy of Laos is a lower-middle income developing economy. Being one of the socialist states, the Lao economic model resembles the Chinese socialist market and/or Vietnamese socialist-oriented market economies by combining high degrees of state ownership with openness to foreign direct investment and private ownership in a predominantly market-based framework.
Southeast Asia is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and north-west of mainland Australia which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. Apart from the British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of Maldives in South Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia is the only other subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. Mainland Southeast Asia is entirely in the Northern Hemisphere. East Timor and the southern portion of Indonesia are the parts of Southeast Asia that lie south of the Equator.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized agencies, the eight functional commissions, and the five regional commissions under its jurisdiction.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly as ASEAN, is a political and economic union of 10 states in Southeast Asia. Together, its member states represent a population of over 600 million over a land area of 4.5 million km2 (1.7 million sq mi). The bloc generated a purchasing power parity (PPP) gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$10.2 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately 6.5% of global GDP (PPP). ASEAN member states include some of the fastest growing economies in the world.
A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries, two of them doubly landlocked, and three landlocked de facto states in the world. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country, while Ethiopia is the world's most populous landlocked country.
A subregion is a part of a larger region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the UN statistical geoscheme, which is a changing, constantly updated, UN tool based on specific political geography considerations relevant in UN statistics.
The Asia–Pacific (APAC) is the region of the world adjoining the western Pacific Ocean. The region's precise boundaries vary depending on context, but countries and territories in Australasia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia are often included. In a wider context, Central Asia, North Asia, the Pacific Islands, South Asia, West Asia, and even Pacific-adjoining countries in the Americas can be included. For example, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) includes five countries in the New World. The term has become popular since the late 1980s in commerce, finance, and politics. Despite the heterogeneity of the regions' economies, most individual nations within the zone are emerging markets experiencing rapid growth. Sometimes, the notion of "Asia–Pacific excluding Japan" (APEJ) is considered useful.
The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a grouping of developing countries which are small island countries and tend to share similar sustainable development challenges. These include small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, excessive dependence on international trade, and fragile environments. Their growth and development are also held back by high communication, energy and transportation costs, irregular international transport volumes, disproportionately expensive public administration and infrastructure due to their small size, and little to no opportunity to create economies of scale. They consist of some of the most vulnerable countries to anthropogenic climate change.
The United Nations geoscheme is a system which divides 248 countries and territories in the world into six continental regions, 22 geographical subregions, and two intermediary regions. It was devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) based on the M49 coding classification. The creators note that "the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories".
The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) is a private non-profit higher education institution in Bangkok, Thailand. The university's origin dates back to 1940, with the foundation of the College of Commerce in Bangkok. In 1984, the college was granted full university status under its present name.
The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to Singapore:
The Act East policy is an effort by the Government of India to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations with the nations of Southeast Asia to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People's Republic of China. Initiated in 1991, the Look East policy by Indian government marked a strategic shift in India’s perspective of the world. It was developed and enacted during the government of Prime Minister Narsimha Rao (1991–1996) and rigorously pursued by the successive administrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998–2004) and Manmohan Singh (2004–2014).
Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram is the head of the Royal House of Sulu, a position which he has held since 16 February 1986. As the eldest son of the former Sultan Mohammad Mahakuttah Abdulla Kiram, he is the legitimate heir claimant to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu. As the last Crown Prince officially recognized by the Philippine government, he is the 35th Sultan of Sulu.
Alounkeo Kittikhoun is a Laotian diplomat and statesman. He served as Minister to the Prime Minister's Office from 2016 to 2020 and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Laos, and was the country's ASEAN Senior Officials Meetings (SOM) Leader. Prior to his Vice Ministerial role, Kittikhoun was Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs (2007-2011). This position was preceded by his service as the Lao Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (1993-2007). Kittikhoun is noted for maintaining the longest length of service as a Lao diplomat, and is one of the longest-serving Ambassadors at the United Nations.
In 2009, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights to promote human rights in the ten ASEAN countries. By mid-2012, the Commission had drafted the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. The Declaration was adopted unanimously by ASEAN members at its 18 November 2012 meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Declaration details ASEAN nations' commitment to human rights for its 600 million people. The Declaration includes 40 paragraphs under 6 headings.
The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat which deals with the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States. It was founded in 2001 by United Nations resolution 56/227.
The countries of the Bay of Bengal include littoral and landlocked countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia that depend on the bay for maritime usage. Historically, the Bay of Bengal has been a highway of transport, trade, and cultural exchange between diverse peoples encompassing the Indian subcontinent, Indochinese peninsula, and Malay Archipelago. Today, the Bay of Bengal region is the convergence of two major geopolitical blocs- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) promotes regional engagement in the area.
The Timor-Leste–Indonesia–Australia Growth Triangle (TIA-GT) is a combined initiative of the regions of Eastern Indonesia, Northern Australia, and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. This initiative aims to promote and foster economic growth through integrated economic development in the region that these nations reside in. The growth triangle was created in 2012, after a meeting was held by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. The initiative aims to support economic, social, and cultural development primarily by attracting investment, developing manufacturing industries, enhancing human capital, and overall building a stronger cooperative relationship between the three countries involved. The initiative also aimed to accelerate the accession of Timor-Leste into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and to fulfill goals set by Timor-Leste's Strategic Development Plan, such as increasing the nation's economic prosperity and stability. The growth triangle is often misinterpreted as a free-trade zone; however, while there are elements of free trade agreements between Indonesia and Australia specifically, the terms of the growth triangle initiative are not directly linked to these free trade agreements, and the goals of the growth triangle do not specifically encompass free trade between the three nations.
