Concessions and Leases in the Lao PDR: Taking stock of land investments

This publication presents the first nationwide analysis of land concessions and leases in the Lao PDR. It comes at a pivotal moment after investment in land has expanded significantly throughout the country, sparking increased dialogue and a greater level of scrutiny regarding the impacts of this expan- sion, both inside the Government of the Lao PDR (GoL) and throughout wider civil society. Investment in land, particularly foreign direct investment, has been championed as an effective development tool by a number of actors. Such significant transformations in national landscapes, however, could engender drastic socioeconomic and environmental change, affect food security and traditional livelihoods and could ultimately pose challenges to national sovereignty. The inventory represents a globally unique and extremely valuable database from various perspectives. It is the first sys- tematic inventory that allows capturing, visualizing and analysing the extent and dimensions of the concession phenomenon for the entire country. The inventory data presented in this publication... has been collected at various administrative levels and in a spatially explicit manner wherever possible, allowing for its combination with other national level data in order to provide further insight into the contexts in which land concessions and leases occur in the Lao PDR.

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