Laos is set to formally join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after a 15-year effort to become a part of the group, which has included shaking up its import exports system and introducing a series of wide-ranging new laws.
The small, land-locked country is the last of the 10 member Association of Southeast Asian nations to become a WTO member.
And as Jonah Fisher reports, Laos' entry may finally open up the communist nation to much-needed foreign investment.