The Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund implemented "Developing an Economic Forecasting Model in Laos" project in fiscal 2002-04, and has provided support to help economic policymakers in Laos to carry out a number of quarterly economic surveys. This project has a twofold purpose: first, to facilitate the further establishment of these quarterly economic surveys; and second, to support research and study tours, carried out by young researchers at the National Economic Research Institute, as a means of fostering human resources who can eventually engage in high-quality policy advisement activities.
This year, quarterly consumer sentiment and business tendency surveys were conducted. Survey reports were distributed to relevant central and local government agencies, and were presented at a seminar of about 25 relevant individuals from such international organizations as the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, as well as the Laotian Ministry of Finance, Bank of Lao PDR, Department of Domestic and Foreign Investment Management and Promotion, and Department of Planning. In addition, research was conducted during the year on savings behavior in Laos. In January 2007, five young researchers spent five days in Beijing learning about the management of government think tanks and visiting such facilities as the National Development and Reform Commission of China, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.