“The clothes we make target consumers in Vientiane and the provinces. We’re not planning to produce for export yet because if we do we will have to buy more sophisticated machinery and improve the skills of our workers, which will cost a lot of money,” said the owner of a garment business in Vientiane, Ms Souphalith Chanthaluanglath.

Ms Souphalith and her family make clothes at their home, assisted by a small group of hired workers. The amount they make depends on customers’ orders.

“We have a small shop at our house where we sell the clothes we make. But the majority of our products are sold to people who buy them to sell at festivals or other events in Vientiane and the provinces,” she said.

The family buys fabric from Chinese vendors. The price varies depending on the type of material, size, and weight.

Even though they don’t sell their garments to other countries, they are popular among local buyers. The family makes children’s clothes, sweaters, trousers and other items.

One of Ms Souphalith’s customers said “I usually buy clothes made in Laos for my children because they are cheap and the quality is acceptable. Because children grow very fast the size of their clothes changes quickly. There’s also a good variety of colours and styles and my children love to wear the clothes I buy.” 

Ms Souphalith sells several thousand garments each month. Children’s clothes are the best seller year round while sweaters sell well from September to February. In the run up to Lao New Year the family makes colourful shirts as they can sell thousands of them in April.

“We aim to make garments for sale on the local market. Sales are good but we’re also thinking about taking the business online and maybe exports as well, in order to boost sales in the future,” she said.

The family sells their garments at prices ranging from just 5,000 kip to 50,000 kip.