First Laos, Myanmar trade fair to boost border business
First Laos, Myanmar trade fair to boost border business
Laos and Myanmar will organise their first friendship trade fair from November 24-26 in Long district, Luang Namtha province of Laos, seeking to boost trade, services, tourism and investment along the border of the two countries.
The event is mainly for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Laos and it also aims to begin activities in regards to trade and services between the peoples of the two countries.
It will also aim to attract both local and foreign businesspeople to invest in the area, improve the tourism services sector, especially natural tourism and cultural tourism between Laos and Myanmar, according to a handout at a press conference in Vientiane yesterday.
The event aims at building the border of Laos and Myanmar to become a centre of border trade and tourism in the near future.
“It seeks to enlarge trade cooperation of the two countries' people after the opening of the first Lao-Myanmar friendship bridge in April,” said the CEO and President of Luangpaseuth Corporation, Mr Bounleuth Luangpaseuth, said. The corporation is also a co-organiser of the event.
He said there will be more than 100 booths featuring exhibitors from Laos and Myanmar this year. Next year, there may be a fair involving vendors from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and also other countries.
The event will display agricultural products, consumer goods and other equipment. The products will be sourced from Laos and Myanmar. There will also be various cultural performances.
However the organising committee has not revealed how many booths there will actually be at the event.
The event expects for people between the two countries to exchange goods for sale as well as visit each other along this border area.
It is also part of preparations for the Asean Economic Community which shall open at the end of this year
Currently, most people from Laos are travelling to Myanmar for selling goods at the border while Myanmar people typically go on tour in the border area and the town of Long district.
According to a recent report from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Lao products exported to Myanmar had a value of more than 9 billion kip (US$1.13 million) in the fiscal year of 2013-14. However imported goods from Myanmar had a value of only about 2.84 billion kip (US$353,500).
The fair aims to provide a symbol of the efficient cooperation between Laos and Myanmar. It also reflects the friendship, good relations, solidarity and mutual understanding between the peoples of the two neighbouring countries.
