Trade and development implementation reviewed
Trade and development implementation reviewed
Representatives from the government, development partners and the business community met in Vientiane yesterday to review the implementation of the Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS), the Trade and Private Sector Development Roadmap and the readiness of Laos for the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
The 5th Trade and Private Sector Working Group meeting was co-chaired by the Minister of Industry and Commerce Ms Khemmani Pholsena, German Ambassador to Laos Mr Robert von Rimscha and Chargé d' Affair of European Union Mr Michel Goffin.
More than 100 participants also discussed the guiding principles and the new approach for developing the 8th National Social Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) and Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI)'s plan to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) under the Lao Business Forum.
In her opening remarks, Ms Khemmani emphasised that Laos has just completed a mid-term review of the implementation progress of the 7th NSEDP and recently commenced the process of forming the next long term development plans, including Vision 2030, the development strategy for 2016-25, and 8th NSEDP for 2016-20.
“The development of medium and long term plans provides a good opportunity for us to reflect on what we have achieved in the past few years and identify more effective measures necessary to deliver intended development outcomes”, Ms Khemmani said.
She also encouraged representatives from the government, development partners and the business community to actively participate in the policy dialogue forum and to use it as a tool for identifying the key constraints to trade and enterprise development while resolving those constraints through a collaborative dialogue process.
Ambassador von Rimscha renewed the development partners' call for better cooperation between the government and the private sector.
“It is important to conduct the Lao Business Forum at more regular intervals and to follow up on the issues identified by participants.”
Ambassador von Rimscha also discussed the current fiscal situation and pointed out that investors in resource-based parts of the economy should bear a fair share of the tax burden.
“Those who contribute to diversifying the Lao economy through investing in manufacturing and services should not be unduly burdened by additional taxes, fees or legal requirements,” he said.
Mr Goffin reiterated the importance of strengthening measures for transparency to promote Lao competitiveness, social and economic development as well as enhance political stability in future.
He also stressed that in times of economic difficulty, any new regulations and measures aimed at increasing revenue collection and fiscal consolidation should comply with the principles of transparency, predictability and non-discrimination and avoid additional burdens on the private sector.
vientiane times
