Infrastructure
The main international airports are Vientiane's Wattay International Airport and Luang Prabang International Airport with Pakse International Airport also having a few international flights. The national airline is Lao Airlines. Other carriers serving the country include Bangkok Airways, Vietnam Airlines, AirAsia, Thai Airways International and China Eastern Airlines.
Much of the country lacks adequate infrastructure. Laos has no railways, except a short link to connect Vientiane with Thailand over the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge. A short portage railway, the Don Det–Don Khon narrow-gauge railway was built by the French in Champasak Province but has been closed since the 1940s. In the late 1920s, work began on the Thakhek–Tan Ap railway that would have run between Thakhek, Khammuan Province and Tan Ap Railway Station, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam through the Mua Gia Pass. However, the scheme was aborted in the 1930s. The major roads connecting the major urban centres, in particular Route 13, have been significantly upgraded in recent years, but villages far from major roads can be reached only through unpaved roads that may not be accessible year-round.
There is limited external and internal telecommunication, but mobile phones have become widespread in urban centres. In many rural areas electricity is at least partly available. Songthaews (pick-up trucks with benches) are used in the country for long-distance and local public transport.
Laos has made particularly noteworthy progress increasing access to sanitation and has already met its 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target. Laos' predominantly rural (68%, data 2009, source Department of Statistics, Ministry of Planning and Investment) population makes investing in sanitation difficult. In 1990 only 8% of the rural population had access to improved sanitation. Access rose rapidly from 10% in 1995 to 38% in 2008. Between 1995 and 2008 approximately 1,232,900 more people had access to improved sanitation in rural areas. Laos' progress is notable in comparison to similar developing countries. This success is in part due to small-scale independent providers emerging in a spontaneous manner or having been promoted by public authorities. Laotian authorities have recently developed an innovative regulatory framework for Public-Private partnership contracts signed with small enterprises, in parallel with more conventional regulation of State-owned water enterprises.
Read more about this topic: Laos
Other articles related to "infrastructure":
... Freetown's fire department provides 24-hour ambulance service to the town, and coverage to surrounding communities such as Lakeville ... The town is situated between three major cities (Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford), each with their own hospitals Morton Hospital Medical Center in Taunton St ...
... infrastructure system including all public and private non-residential capital stock was valued at $7 trillion, an immense portfolio to operate and manage ... invested $400 billion in infrastructure capital across federal, state, and local levels including the private sectors on transportation networks, schools, highways, water systems, energy, and ... While public spending on infrastructure grew by 1.7% annually between 1956 and 2004, it has remained constant as a share of GDP since early 1980s ...
... though the majority is focused on ICT infrastructure investments ... External financing increased in the 2000s (decade) and in Africa alone external infrastructure investments increased from US$7 billion in 2002 to US$27 billion in 2009 ...
... to collect information regarding the sports programme, infrastructure, and accommodation requirements ... Cortina was a small village, and its infrastructure would be overwhelmed by the crowds expected for the Games ... Italian government supplied Italian lira 460 million for infrastructure improvements ...
... The Vevey–Chardonne–Mont Pèlerin funicular links Vevey with the summit of Mont Pèlerin ... The Vevey–Villeneuve trolleybus line is the last remaining of the five interurban trolleybus lines that have existed in Switzerland ...