Laos offers investment opportunities: US trade representative
Laos offers investment opportunities: US trade representative
Laos is offering investment opportunities while the United States has pledged to work with the country to help improve ‘Ease of Doing Business' procedures to attract greater investment, a US trade representative has said.
Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the US Department of State Ziad Haider made the comment in a media conference during his trip to the capital to attend the Asean Economic Ministers Meeting and its related meetings at the beginning of August.
US businesses have seen investment opportunities in Laos and some US companies have already established their presence here, including Coca-Cola, he said.
Mr Haider a few days earlier met with the US companies doing businesses throughout the country as well as a Representative for the American Chamber of Commerce to Laos.
“These companies see opportunities in Laos – the opportunity of Laos' location,” he told the local media.
He cited an example that US companies setting up their presence here in Vientiane also see opportunities to be able to reach markets in Thailand from here.
To enable the businesses to better enjoy the benefits, Mr Haider stated it was important to ensure customs procedures approval is quickened.
“So on those issues we really want to work with the [Lao] government and the government understands that,” he said.
The US has also pledged to work with Asean - the 10-member bloc of which Laos is a member - to boost economic cooperation between them via a new initiative, the US-Asean Connect including by improving policy conducive for investment.
During the Special US-Asean Summit in February in California, US President Barack Obama announced the US-supported US-Asean Connect comprising of four pillars: Business Connect, Energy Connect, Innovation Connect and Policy Connect.
Mr Haider said Asean member states, including Laos, will benefit from the initiative.
Mr Haider said he has learnt during his trip to the Vientiane Industry and Trade Area (VITA Park) that it takes about seven days to complete investment license processes at the park.
“If we can scale that up here in Laos w e'll make life a lot easier for our companies. That's the type of issue we want to work on through Policy Connect,” he said.
Through Energy-Connect, the US also wants to work with Laos in promoting the use of green energy – an issue the Lao government has committed to as it has high potential for hydroelectricity investment and development.
This year will get a big boost in promoting US investment in Laos as more American investors are expected to visit Laos during next month's visit to the country by President Obama, which will be the first US President to visit Laos to attend the Asean Summit and its related meetings, Mr Haider said.
Asked about potential areas that the American businesses could be interested in, Mr Haider suggested agriculture production for export while looking at Laos as part of their broader supply value chain had potential. Telecommunication and e-commerce also had some potential.
During t he Sunnylands Summit in Ca lifornia, the US and Lao governments signed a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement that looks to expand economic ties between the two countries.
Mr Haider welcomed Laos-US trade that has gained growth rates of almost 20 percent since Laos became a member of the World Trade Organisation in 2013.
The United States was the country's 9th largest exporting market with an export value amounting to more than US$24 million in 2014, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
Meanwhile, imports from the US amounted to more than US$21.2 million in 2014 making the US the 10th largest importing source for the country in that year.
