Dishonest investment officials should be punished: PM
Dishonest investment officials should be punished: PM
Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong has vowed to punish government officials who delay the provision of state services for their personal gain, as the government recognises this is a problem in encouraging private investment in the non resource sector.
Speaking at the second Private Investment Promotion and Management meeting at the International Cooperation and Training Centre in Vientiane yesterday, the premier said the Ministry of Planning and Invest ment and other sectors should make sure that only capable and honest officials work at the One Stop Service Office, so that investors receive better service.
The government opened the One Stop Service Office last October in a bid to facilitate investment as it considers the private sector to be the engine of economic growth. However, the provision of this service has not put a stop to complaints among business operators trying to acquire permission to invest in Laos.
Prime Minister Thongsing said the ministry and the sectors concerned should identify exactly what and who are causing delays in the delivery of state services to investors, stressing that dishonest officials should be punished in line with the norms of civil servant discipline and the law.
He said government officials should not put their own interests before those of the Party and state, adding that officials would stand to benefit when Laos is developed.
Prime Minister Thongsing said delays to investment project approval were posing challenges for the government in bolstering private investment.
“Many businesspeop le want to invest in Laos but have decided to give up the idea after having so much trouble getting permission,” he said while giving directions to policy makers about how to boost private investment in the country.
He said another major problem was that a few dishonest officials were creating leaks of state revenue, making it impossible for the government to raise the salary of honest officials. The gap between rich and poor people in Laos is increasing, he said.
Mr Thongsing said it was necessary to increase the number of professional business operators in Laos so that the country's full potential could be exploited and the economy c ould grow sustainably.
He said that a number of Lao businesspeople were not professional, pointing out that they acted as brokers to help foreign investors get concession projects from the government. There are also others who are on the lookout for concession projects so they can sell them to a foreign investor.
The sectors concerned should carefully investigate whether companies trying to seek government agreement on investment concession projects are financially sound and have sufficient technicians to carry out the project. Mr Thongsing said many concession development projects are delayed because companies cannot fund them and other investors have to be found, which takes time.
“A project cannot begin until a company finds an investor,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the Mini stry of Planning and Investment and other agencies involved must accelerate work to draw up an investment calling list, which would provide information for potential investors in Laos.
Laos requi res investment funding of about US$15 billion over the next five years to secure GDP growth of at least 8 percent annually.
vientiane times
