Govt, trade sector debate economic diversification
Govt, trade sector debate economic diversification
The Lao government is seeking advice from development partners, donors and the private sector for the improvement of non-tariff barriers and policy measures to promote economic diversification and SME competitiveness.
The 9th Trade and Private Sector Working Group (TPSWG) meeting took place in Vientiane yesterday, organised by the Department of Planning and Cooperation under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The meeting was attended by officials from line ministries, the business sector, civil society, the World Bank, Asean country embassies, the German embassy and the EU.
In her opening remarks, Minister of Industry and Commerce MsKhemmaniPholsena said the meeting was a useful platform to discuss policy frameworks in relation to economic diversification and SME competitiveness.
“This meeting is held in challenging and interesting times. The 10th Party Congress was held earlier this year followed by the National Assembly election and the formation of a new government cabinet that is charged with implementing the 8th National Socio-Economic Development Plan,” she added.
She said the meeting would discuss several important issues, notably policy measures and the framework to enhance the overall competitiveness of the non-resources sector as well as policy recommendations to improve productivity in key areas that have important implications for reducing poverty in rural areas.
German Ambassador to Laos Mr Michael Grau said the meeting was the first since the establishment of the Asean Economic Community and that Laos' chairmanship of Asean this year offered opportunities while imposing responsibilities.
“As the first Asean chair, it is an opportunity to present Laos to Asean and the world as a business, investment and tourism destination. Laos can also benefit from AEC integration both through intra-regional investment and integration into regional industrial value chains,” he said.
MrGrau said the completion of measures unfinished under the AEC Blueprint 2015 by the end of 2016 was an important deliverable in the context of ‘Implementing the Asean Community Vision'.
As one of Laos' key development partners, Germany has offered support to the Lao government under existing cooperation schemes to elaborate a consolidated Action Plan for the implementation of Lao commitments under the AEC Blueprint 2015 and to support their realisation, mainly in the areas of trade, transport and lo gistics.
“I hope that the work on the Asean Trade Facilitation Agreement, the Asean Food Safety Framework and the deliverables on tourism will be successful,” MrGrau said, adding that the current revision of the Investment Promotion Law represents an opportunity to improve the framework conditions for intra-regional investments in Laos.
Charge d'Affaires of the European Union Delegation to Laos, Mr Michel Goffin, said that non-tariff barriers and measures are potentially important for consumer markets.
“Value chains are also crucially important because I've visited many provinces and villages in rural areas, and of course value chains will benefit farmers in rural areas across Laos and promote poverty reduction in those areas,” he said.
The first session of the meeting discussed the importance of removing non-tariff b arriers and promoting healthy development of the services sector as a broad policy direction to promote economic diversification. Also on the agenda were the key findings and recommendations from three most recent studies carried out by the World Bank under the World Bank executed Trade Development Facility multi-donor trust fund.
The second session discussed key findings of a Value Chain Analysis of the Rubber, Maize, Cassava and Cattle subsectors in Laos. The study was carried out by the Global Development Solution under financial support from the Enhanced Integrated Framework.
The TPSWG is one of 10 sector working groups under the Round Table Process and is the main forum for policy dialogue between the La o government and its development partners.
