Lao PDR policy makers have recognized the economic potential of protected areas and seek to develop these sites as a focus of the National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025 and the 2030 National Green Growth Strategy, given the globally unique natural heritage of Lao PDR.

Protected areas can deliver a wide variety of direct and indirect economic benefits. Protected areas have demonstrated the ability to increase government revenues, promote better rural infrastructure, stimulate new tourism enterprises, promote economic diversification and resilience, encourage the local manufacture of goods and services, generate local tax revenues, provide disaster risk reduction, improve water quality and availability, and provide other ecosystem services important for sustaining life.

Due to protected areas often being established in remote areas with high poverty rates and low agricultural production, they can often drive economic growth and reduce poverty in places with few other options, while also reducing risks to sustainable growth and enhancing quality of life.