Supreme People's Assembly—last held on 26 March 1989 (next to be held NA); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(79 total) number of seats by party NA
_#_Other political or pressure groups: non-Communist political groups moribund; most leaders have fled the country
_#_Member of: ACCT (associate), AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Charge d'Affaires LINTHONG PHETSAVAN; Chancery at 2222 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-6416 or 6417;
US—Charge d'Affaires Charles B. SALMON, Jr.; Embassy at Rue
Bartholonie, Vientiane (mailing address is B. P. 114, Vientiane, or
Box V, APO San Francisco 96346); telephone 2220, 2357, 2384
_#_Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band
_*Economy #_Overview: One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a Communist centrally planned economy with government ownership and control of productive enterprises of any size. Recently, however, the government has been decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise. Laos is a landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, that is, it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited external and internal telecommunications, and electricity available in only a limited area. Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation, accounting for over 60% of GDP and providing about 85-90% of total employment. The predominant crop is rice. For the foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend for its survival on foreign aid from the IMF and other international sources; foreign aid from the USSR and Eastern Europe is being cut sharply.
_#_GDP: $600 million, per capita $150; real growth rate 5% (1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 21% (1989 est.)