Economic corridors, Chinese Networks and Development in Southeast Asia. Laos at the crossroads.

What is the role of Chinese networks in the socio-economic transition of Laos?

Abstract

This session aims to examine development issues related to the regional integration occurring in Southeast Asia from the perspective of smaller countries such as Laos.

Surrounded by economic giants – namely Thailand, Vietnam and China – Laos’ geostrategic location at the crossroads of economic corridors launched by the Asian Development Bank makes it now a crucial keystone of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), one of the most advanced regional integration programs in Southeast Asia.

These new development projects have revitalized the historical caravan trade routes between Yunnan and mainland Southeast Asia, causing thousands of Chinese migrants to pour onto the new roads of Laos, channelled through the North–South Economic Corridor linking Kunming to Bangkok. Depicted as “an army of ants” that plunders the natural resources of this poor country, these Chinese newcomers are also the main drivers of development. The challenges are immense to take advantage of these new flows (trade and migration) that are currently crossing through the country. Laos enters the twenty-first century between economic pragmatism and political and social burdens.

This presentation will focus on the role of Chinese networks in the socio-economic transition of Laos.

About Danielle Tan

Danielle Tan is currently pursuing her postdoctoral research at IIAS (Leiden). She is also a Research Associate at IRASEC (Bangkok) and at IAO (Lyons, France).

Her main research interests include Chinese networks and migration in Southeast Asia, comparative politics and the political economy of the Greater Mekong Subregion, with a specific focus on ethnographic enquiries into the meaning and discourse of ‘the rise of China’.

She recently completed her PhD in Political Science at Sciences Po/CERI in Paris, France. Her dissertation was entitled “From Communism to Neoliberalism: the Part Played by Chinese Networks in the Transformation of the State in Laos”.

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Roy Huijsmans