Stakeholders discuss trade facilitation, investment opportunities
Stakeholders discuss trade facilitation, investment opportunities
Trade facilitation and investment opportunities in key service industries and the private sector's concern with the ongoing process of revising the Investment Promotion Law topped the agenda at the 10th Trade and Private Sector Working Group Meeting yesterday.
The meeting was co-chaired by Minister of Industry and Commerce MsKhemmaniPholsena, the European Union's Ambassador and Enhanced Integrated Framework Donor Facilitator for Laos Mr Leo Faber, and German Ambassador to Laos Mr Michael Grau.
The talks drew more than 100 representatives from the public and private sectors and development partners, who exchanged broad views on progress and challenges in two important areas of business climate in Laos.
The first session reviewed the progress of trade facilitation, including implementation of the National Trade Facilitation Agenda, review and rationalisation of Non-Tariff measures, and the effectiveness and efficiency of customs clearance at borders.
The second session was devoted to discussions on investment opportunities in the Lao service sector and key private sector concerns regarding the revision of the Investment Promotion Law.
Speaking at the meeting, MsKhemmaniPholsena said trade facilitation and the investment framework were key elements of national economic diversification and economic integration as well as the key building blocks of the AEC Blueprint 2025. They were also among the priority deliverables of Laos' Asean chairmanship.
As a small, land-locked, and resource-dependent country, Laos' economic growth prospects are directly linked to its ability to integrate with the regional and global economy.
This is why the government has been prioritising economic integration with both Asean and the multilateral rules-based trading system under the WTO, MsKhemmani added.
Mr Faber said the European Union could provide useful experiences and lessons learnt from its own integration process. The EU would remain attentive to discussions so as to be able to provide input and possible assistance to the Lao agenda next year, especially in terms of connectivity, trade facilitation, and private sector development, working closely with the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry and EU member states.
The EU's policy towards Laos an d the Asean region is to foster regional integration of all Asean members, on the expectation that this will pave the way for a Region-to-Region EU-Asean Free Trade Area.
Due to its Least Developed Country status, Laos benefits from the EU's Everything But Arms initiative, which grants full EU market access to products originating in Laos.
To achieve these results from our experiences and from what other countries in the region have experienced, it is important to have private operators involved at the early stage of the policy dialogue and legislative process because they provide practical inputs to achieving quality, coherence and smooth implementation of policies and regulations at all levels of public administration, Mr Faber said.
