Laos, Thailand meet to discuss trade, investment cooperation
Laos, Thailand meet to discuss trade, investment cooperation
The trade and investment relationship between Laos and Thailand continues to flourish and a trade meeting was held yesterday to talk about future prospects.
“Last year, the trade value between the two countries reached about 37.5 trillion kip (150,000 million Thai baht),” the Thai Ambassador to Laos Mr Pisanu Chanvitan said .
However, that figure does not include the trade value of the two countries' people's purchasing at the border where Lao people buy goods in Thailand and vice-versa.
“So, I think that the real figure may be about 50 trillion kip (200,000 million Thai bah t),” Mr Pisanu said at a Lao-Thai trade and investment meeting yesterday in Vientiane.
“Many people are not aware that Thai people are buying a significant number of products in Laos,” he said.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr Nam Vinhaket said “About 3.3 million people visited Laos last year and this included 1.9 million Thai citizens.”
“So I think if the Lao and Thai tourism businesses cooperate in the tourism sector, they will have a larger market.”
Mr Pisanu said that he feels confident that Lao-Thai trade cooperation will keep developing, as will tourism and investment.
The products that Laos exports to Thailand are mainly garments, agricultural produce, mining products, and wooden goods, while importation revolves mainly around vehicles and construction equipment.
“Laos is a fast developing country and it will be a hub of trade, tourism, and logistics services while I can see it as a financial centre in the future too,” Dr Nam said.
He said if Thai businesses want to invest in production here, they should enter the export market as it is still small.
“There are many sectors that the two countries' businesses should have investment and trade cooperation, including shopping centre investment, vegetable cultivation for Thai supply, other food production and logistics services.”
“Once we have greater cooperation, we will have more advantages and benefits. However, currently we still operate businesses individually.”
The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Thailand-Laos Business Council and businesspeople from the two countries.
The meeting is set to open the door for business exchange, finding business partners and investment negotiation. Transportation, mining, agriculture and food production groups were in attendance.
The chance to enhance both countries' integration towards the Asean Ec onomic Community (AEC) was also discussed.
When the AEC comes into being in 2015, it will create a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region of equitable economic development, and a region that occup ies a significant place within the globa l economy.
vientiane times
