Indonesia shows interest in Lao economic development
Indonesia shows interest in Lao economic development
Laos and Indonesia will take advantage of AEC integration to boost the trade value between the two countries over the years to come.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ms Retno Marsudi spoke to local media representatives yesterday, saying that Indonesia is keen to seek ways to boost trade between the two countries.
Vientiane Times was granted an exclusive interview with the Indonesian Foreign Minister in Vientiane yesterday during her two-day official trip to Laos from January 27-28.
“Last year the figure of the two way trade value was recorded at more than US$7 million. For me, this figure remains very small if compared to the trade between us and other countries in this region,” she said.
Ms Marsudi continued to say that Laos and Indonesia will need to do a lot to ensure it reflects to the potential of the two countries in boosting their bilateral trade values.
Education cooperation can also be an asset for the bilateral cooperation by dispatching scholarships for Lao students to participate in short and long-term courses of culture and language in Indonesia.
“Laos is assuming the chairmanship of Asean and Indonesia is also giving its full support to Laos. Therefore, we are also looking at strengthening bilateral cooperation in the economic sector as one of the priorities.”
When asked about how Laos should address the gap of SMEs development amongst Asean countries, Ms Marsudi said Laos can do a lot to improve SMEs and also consider the interests of SMEs as an important element because SMEs' contribution to the economic development of Asean is obvious.
“In Laos, the contribution of SMEs to the Lao economy is also obvious but the country still needs to pay more attention to this sector,” Ms Marsudi said. She noted that investors from Indonesia have also expressed their interest in investing in various fields in Laos since last year however the two countries still have plenty of space to boost trade and investment over the years to come.
Ms Marsudi also advised that Laos has to adapt the policies and regulations set by Asean and acknowledge the importance of SMEs to ensure people feel they benefit from Asean integration.
“I'm here in Laos to convey our full support for Laos as Asean chairman and Indonesia is ready to get involved in the economic development of Laos,” she added.
According to a survey of the National Statistics Bureau in 2006, Laos' SME sector had more than 126,000 units. However it is still a small number of businesses if compared to the density of the population.
As a result, the Lao government is trying to improve the business environment in terms of decreasing various obstacles and unnecessary processes to pave the way for the establishment of more businesses.
Last year, the World Bank also issued a grant to the business promotion and development fund to provide greater access to funds for the SME sector in Laos through the provision of low interest loans.
The provision of the funds was an extension project to the SME Promotion and Development Fund, with a total of 300 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) targeted to benefit from the SME Promotion and Development Fund.
This project commenced in 2010, allowing the SME sector greater access to funds, technical assistance and other advice in relation to market research and business training courses.
