According to Shanghai-based real estate agency, Juwai IQI, Laos is starting to attract a greater number of property buyers mainly from China, Japan and South Korea due to new relaxed property laws and the construction of a high-speed railway as part of China's Belt & Road Initiative, reports Investvine (14 October 2020). New provisions now award foreigners the right to own units in a condominium or apartment building in Laos within a limited framework. The other driver of foreign buyer activity is the new high-speed railway that will connect the southwest of China with the Laos capital of Vientiane and which will likely provide an influx of people and businesses into Laos. Juwai IQI executive chairman Georg Chmiel said that buyers see Laos as "the new Cambodia," a thriving destination where investment and Chinese money are driving prices upwards. "These new developments will put a rocket under Chinese demand for property in Laos," said Chmiel, adding that demand is also expected to increase from Japanese and Korean buyers.