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The National Economic Research Institute (NERI)
The National Economic Research Institute, commonly known as NERI, was established in 1997 as a strategic research institute under the supervision of the Committee for Planning and Investment (CPI). NERI’s major roles are to assist the CPI in monitoring macroeconomic indicators, formulating long-term national, regional, provincial and sectoral policies; to conduct research on a wide range of issues including development policies and economic management mechanism; to provide economic data and information; to train planning and statistics officials in economic management; and to cooperate with local and foreign economic research institutes.
Publications
One of NERI's main tasks is to produce, publish and disseminate publications on a wide range of socio-economic topics. The main NERI publications include:
NERI Economic Review – a bi-annual publication covering various research topics in economics and development, first issued in 2001. The review publishes both the individual research papers of NERI researchers and the findings of specific NERI projects.
Microfinance Newsletter – a bi-annual newsletter produced by the Microfinance Capacity Building and Research project (MCBR), a NERI-Concern Worldwide cooperation, to provide information on microfinance to the microfinance community in the Lao PDR and abroad.
Economic Theory, Transition & Alternatives – the textbook aims to provide reference on general economics for Lao students, policy-makers and the public. The text covers a wide range of topics, including economic theory and several applications of theory to the case of the Lao PDR, the economics of transition and sustainable economic alternatives specific to the Lao PDR.
Training curriculum for district planning officials – the curriculum was developed to train district planning officials across the country. It offers materials on various topics including statistics, economic mathematics, population, development economics, plan formulation, project analysis and village development fund management.
What Happens at NERI?
Some of the previous and on-going activities at NERI include:
Government Assignments:
- Formulated the Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2020
- Formulated the Industrialisation and Modernisation Strategy 2020
- Formulated the master plan for the development of 9 Northern provinces
- Completed a Lao-Japanese project on macroeconomic policy support for socio-economic development in the Lao PDR
- Conducted research to support the implementation of the 6th five-year development plan (2006-2010)
- Prepares monthly macroeconomic report
- Prepared the document on “30 years of socio-economic development in the Lao PDR”
- Publishes the NERI Economic Review on a bi-annual basis
- Developed the training curriculum for district planning officials
Completed Research:
- Macroeconomic imbalances in the Lao PDR
- Evaluation of the decentralisation process in the Lao PDR
- Dollarisation in the Lao PDR: cause, effect and possible solution
- Livelihood system in rural area and policies for its improvement
- Microfinance and poverty reduction: an alternative development strategy
- The impact of the implementation of AFTA on the Lao economy
- The structure and role of border trade in the Lao PDR
- Improvement of farmer family income in the Lao PDR
- The social security system in the Lao PDR
- Pro-poor tourism in the Lao PDR
Ongoing research:
- The saving behaviour and its implications on the saving rates of the Lao PDR
- The impact of regional economic integration upon poverty reduction in the Lao PDR
- ODA effectiveness and poverty reduction in the Lao PDR
Ongoing projects and activities:
- Assist the formulation of national export strategy (NERI, UNIDO)
- Capacity building in microfinance research in the Lao PDR (NERI, Concern Worldwide)
- Conduct quarterly Consumer Sentiment and Business Tendency Survey (NERI, SPF)
- Implement pilot project on “One District One Product” (NERI, JICA)
Training
- “Project Economic Analysis”
- “Public Expenditure Management”
- “Macroeconomic costing and prioritisation for NGPES”
- “Economic policy for poverty reduction”
- “Introductory course to trade policy and WTO”
For more information on the specific role and responsibilities of each division within NERI, you can download the NERI brochure, or contact us at:
National Economic Research Institute (NERI)
Kaysone Phomvihan Avenue
Sivilay Village, Xaythany District
Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR
Tel/Fax: +856 (0)21 711 181
Email: nerilaos@yahoo.com
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