메콩유역 수자원 개발과 라오스의 전략적 포지셔닝 = Hydropower Development in Mekong Region and the Strategic Positioning of Lao PDR

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Hydropower development in the Mekong River basin was launched with the advent of Post-cold war from the early of 1990's. Laos, which has a history of reclusion and isolation as a land-locked country, had started to accept the market economy. However it still remains as one of Least Developed Countries(LDCs) due to the lack of labor and capital.
While the electricity export through hydropower development in Mekong River is the only hope that Laos has in overcoming poverty and underdevelopment in the future, it is now very essential that the Lao government design ways to strengthen its strategic positions in order to respond to various kinds of requests from stakeholders of Mekong River development such as governments of neighboring countries, international institutions, investment corporations and inhabitants in the development area.
To maintain sovereignty and autonomy and to also maximize national interest, Laos has pursued the strategy of multilateralism and balancing. Against obvious geopolitical disadvantages of being a weaker power, Lao has eagerly taken part in and favored multilateral international organization such as the MRC, the ADB, the World Bank and the GMS over bilateral approaches which has hardly negotiated with stronger counterpart. Moreover Laos has endeavored to balance the political and economic support from the competitive structure in the Mekong region among China, Vietnam and Thailand that wish to take initiatives based on cooperation from Laos.
Such multilateralism and balancing strategy of Laos has proven successful so far. However it has faces critical limitation as a passive strategy. Therefore, the Lao government should precede the intra-regional regime of Mekong River; furthermore, there are significant challenges that require strengthening the internal competitive power of hydropower industry for the future of Laos through improving productivity as well as transmission capability.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

인도차이나 지역의 탈냉전이 도래한 1990년대초부터 메콩지역의 수자원 개발은 본격화되었다. 내륙국가로 은둔과 고립의 역사를 갖고 있는 라오스는 최근 개혁과 개방으로 시장경제체제를 도입하였으나 노동력과 자본의 부족으로 2014년 현재 최빈국에 머물러 있다. 산업경쟁력이 전반적으로 취약한 라오스에게 메콩 수자원개발을 통한 전력수출은 빈곤과 저개발을 극복하고자 하는 미래의 희망이기도 하다. 하지만 메콩 수자원개발에 참여하는 이해관계자(stake holder)들 즉 주변국가의 정부, 국제기구, 투자기업 그리고 현지 거주민 등 다양한 요구에 맞서 라오스의 국익을 극대화시키고자 하는 전략적 포지셔닝이 필요한 상황이다.
라오스는 자국의 주권과 자율성을 지키면서도 국익을 극대화시키기 위해 다자주의(multilateralism)와 균형(balancing) 전략을 펴고 있다. 메콩주변국에 비해 상대적으로 국력이 약한 상황에서 양자적(bilateralism) 접근으로 협상하기보다는 MRC, ADB, World Bank, GMS 등 다자주의적 국제기구를 적극 참여하여 라오스의 입장과 이익을 관철시키고자 노력해왔다. 또한 라오스의 지정학적 위치로 인한 중국, 베트남, 태국의 경쟁구도를 활용하여 이들 국가의 정치경제적 지원을 최대한 유인하고자 한다. 이와 같은 라오스의 다자주의와 균형전략은 일부 성과를 거두고 있지만, 수동적 선택이라는 측면에서 한계를 지니고 있다. 라오스의 미래를 위해서는 보다 능동적으로 지역 레짐을 선도하며 나아가 라오스 내부적인 경쟁력을 강화시켜 나가야 할 과제를 안고 있다.

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