Ministry sees major decline in business licence registration
Ministry sees major decline in business licence registration
The number of business units applying for a business licence and registration with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce declined substantially in 2014 compared to the previous year because of unfavourable processes and conditions demanded by some government sectors.
A total of 1,832 business units applied for licences in Vientiane with a total registered capital of more than 33 billion kip in 2014, down in number by 1,997 from the 3,829 business units with a total registered capital of more than 596 billion kip who applied in the previous year, according to the ministry.
The reduction in licence registrations came about from economic difficulties such as the financial crisis, monetary policy and debt issues.
If economic growth is restored and the government has improved its promotion policy for business operation within the country, however, this may attract more business operators to register for a licence, especially small and medium business units involved in food preparation, agriculture, handicrafts and tourism, the ministry reported.
At a recent meeting between the Vientiane authorities and the business sector, most of the business operators called on the relevant sectors to urgently tackle obstacles such as the management of transport and services businesses, fair customs declarations and measures on raw material supply.
They should also help business units to access sources of long-term funding at low interest.
Another important issue was that relevant sectors should facilitate business operations with the transparent and fast processing of documents because it was well understood that document approval usually involved many different processes.
