Winners and Losers in OBOR as Public Private Partnership: A Reflection on Sustainable Development of Lao PDR

Herliin CHIEN

Abstract

One Belt and One Road (OBOR) cooperation was initiated by China since 2013. Within a few years, several partners of China have echoed the initiative with positive replies and infrastructure cooperation deals. What attracts the attention of this research is who are the winners or losers in between this kind of grand economic development plan. In order to examine such research question, the study selects Lao PDR, one of the least populous countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt, as the research subject and plans a two-level analysis. First level of analysis uses the analytical angle of stakeholder, rather than shareholder, to understand the impacts on different actors involved in China-Laos cooperation under OBOR framework. Second level of analysis then further scrutinizes diverse impacts on the development of Laos through three different developmental issues: 1) development dilemma; 2) inclusive growth; 3) dependency. Such academic analyses wish to bring benefits to not only scholars but also provide revision reference for decision makers both in China or developing countries, private investors or citizens from either the urban or rural area. This academic analysis hopes to benefit not only scholars but also provide reference to practitioner, private developer and people in urban or rural setting for fine tuning the pace of development. In other words, by elucidating winners and losers, this study reminds OBOR participating nations the need to pay attention to other sustainable development aspects such as social inclusiveness, urban-rural development, rights of minority or renewable rate of natural resource in order to make revision to the cooperation mode and move towards win-win scenario.

 

 

Keywords:   OBOR, China, Lao PDR, Development Dilemma, Inclusive Growth, Sustainable Development


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