The Factors Affecting the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Laos

The study on the factors affecting the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lao PDR aims at firstly investigating the general characteristics of SMEs in Lao PDR, and secondly defining the factors affecting business performance of small and medium enterprises in Lao PDR. The secondary data (2018) surveyed by World Bank enterprises were employed. The descriptive statistics were employed in order to see whether independent and dependent variables have impacts on SMEs’ business performance. It was found that all small and medium enterprises were from family-based enterprises with no competition and no application of science and technology. It also revealed that the experiences of managers, services, duration of business implementation, number of laborers, number of trainings, export, access to finance, and innovation have significant relationship with SMEs’ business performance. Whereas, it was found that gender of managers, size of SMEs, location, type of enterprises: manufacturing and retail, have no significant relationship with SMEs’ business performance in Lao PDR.