Govt urged to ensure secure agriculture market

Govt urged to ensure secure agriculture market

The Lao National Chamber of Industry and Commerce has urged the Lao government to hold talks with neighbouring countries about the trading of Lao agricultural products in an effort to boost the country's commercial production.

The chamber presented the report at a government and business leaders' meeting at the end of last month.

Enterprises in the northern provinces illegally exporting their agricultural goods to neighbouring countries due to the lack of legal avenues was the main issue discussed at the meeting.

Currently, the government is urging businesses and farmers to invest in industrial tree and cash crop plantation in order to export goods to China and Thailand due to the rising demand for raw materials in these countries.

Despite effective production promotion policies put in place, Laos has yet to sign an agreement with China and Thailand to secure a market for their produce. This forces businesses to export their goods illegally.

In the past several years, Thailand has occasionally banned the import of Lao sweet corn in an attempt to protect local farmers. Many farmers in Xayaboury province have suffered an income loss as a result of these bans.

The chamber also said the government should effectively enforce the regulations after learning of the rising number of undocumented enterprises operating in the country with specific attention being focused on the northern parts of Laos.

The illegal operation of these enterprises had caused a negative impact on legally-run businesses, the chamber said.

Illegal businesses do not pay taxes to the government therefore they are able to reduce their operation cost which creates an uneven playing field for registered enterprises and has also lowered the role of the chamber.

The government needed to set up a committee to study the situation in order to resolve the business conflicts between unregistered and registered businesses, the chamber said.

Another problem the chamber wanted the government to address is the improvement of the business climate in the country. In 2014, Laos ranked 159 out of 189 nations for difficulty in operating businesses.

If the business climate is improved, it would enable enterprises to reduce business operation costs and guarantee Laos a place in the Asean Economic Community in 2015.

It will also encourage foreign investors to invest in Laos, especially in the manufacturing sector.

Currently, most foreign businesspeople like to invest in Laos' resource sector such as mining and hydropower. There are only a few people investing in Lao manufacturing, which poses a challenge in securing sustainable growth.

vientiane times