FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Fifteen years ago Laos lodged its application for membership to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It then embarked on a process of sometimes painful economic reforms, designed to make a one-party communist state feel a little more acceptable for the overwhelmingly capitalist classes who founded and run the world trading bloc.

Vientiane followed a path chartered by the likes of China, Vietnam and to a much lesser extent Cambodia. Their work is about to pay off and Laos is expected to become the last member of ASEAN to join the 157-member WTO at meeting slated for later this month.

Read more in The Diplomat.