Laos is increasingly in the race to attract and win Chinese investment capital. From the South China Morning Post: "Mr [Vichit] Xindavong [the Laotian ambassador to China] said Laos' abundant supply of young labour and natural resources had attracted an accumulated $1US billion investment from China since 2000, or one-sixth of the country's total foreign direct investment. 'We welcome Chinese investors, especially those who want to set up factories,' he said yesterday."
The ambassador further states that last year, China overtook Thailand as the largest source of foreign investment in the country. Clearly Laos is following in the same footsteps of its larger neighbors - as Vietnam becomes the "next China" and Cambodia the "next Vietnam," Laos is becoming the "next Cambodia...."