Development partners target trade development elements
Development partners target trade development elements
The EU estimates that around US$50 million is to be provided by Development Partners to help Laos strengthen its trade and private sector development priorities, according to a senior EU representative.
Revealed at the 6th Trade and Private Sector Working Group meeting yesterday in Vientiane, EU Charge d' Affairs Michel Goffin, said a total of US$50 million is committed for the period 2012-18 to finance the cost of technical assistance to support government agencies.
He went on to point out that there were a lot of things to do with the revision of relevant policy, improvements to legislation, the setting up of information systems and technical implementation units to comply with WTO and Asean requirements.
“This is also to provide direct financial and technical support to the SME sector, especially giving access to credit, matching grants and business advice,” he said.
He also stressed that the need to use the assistance effectively to maximise the impacts for private sector development is a key factor for economic diversification and sustainable economic growth.
Minister of Industry and Commerce Ms Khemmani Pholsena who co-chaired the half-day meeting told the attendees that the Lao trade and private sector faced several new challenges.
“The country's resource sector, especially mining and energy, played a significant role in Lao economic growth, contributing around 2.7 percent to the country's average real growth rate annually within 2010-14.”
She noted that the overreliance on the resource sector as the source of growth in the economy poses serious risks to the long-term sustainability of development in Laos.
“The focus of our trade programme is to facilitate a shift towards non-resource sectors,” Ms Khemmani said.
The focus of the trade programme is on the long-term and competitive growth potential that exists, ensuring a large proportion of the poor is engaged and market development continues apace.
All interventions supported by the trade programme are geared to improve the competitiveness of key non-resource sectors, including textiles, garments, tourism and several agro activities related to production value chains .
Yesterday's meeting brought together more than 100 representatives of participants from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, line ministries, development partners and donors.
The gathering of representatives also allowed them to discuss key achievements in the past and investment constraints hindering the growth of manufacturing and service sectors in Laos.
The meeting also discussed the sector working groups inputs to the upcoming Round Table Implementation Meeting, the concept for the next five years sector development plan and key findings and recommendations of the enterprise perception survey.
The World Bank, GIZ and other development partners presented the trade and transport facilitation assessment at the meeting.
The meeting was organised by the Department of Planning and Cooperation under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
German Ambassador Designate to Laos Mr Michael Grau was also present at the meeting.
vientiane times
