New SME centre to forge links with other Asean countries
New SME centre to forge links with other Asean countries
Laos plans to open a new small and medium en terprise (SME) centre early next year to connect with other Asean member countries, especially in relation to economic and business issues.
The centre is in line with the Asean Strategic Action Plan for SME Development 2016-2025. It will be a place to provide and exchange information about economics, business and start-ups in the Asean region.
Executive Vice President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, MrDao vonePhachanthavong, talked to Vientiane Times about the centre on Thursday.
It will be located at the Chamber of Commerce and will be a singl e-storey building with three modern and furnished conference rooms. It also has an exhibition hall, cafeteria and library.
MrDaovone said the new centre will set up a business call centre to provide information about business and start-ups.
The centre will be a place where businesses and start-ups can share their experiences of running a business, MrDaovone said.
He noted that as a significant contributor to economic growth, employment generation and gender empowerment in Asean, SMEs are increasingly becoming an important force in Asean economic integration.
The development and progress are important to Asean as SMEs are active in multiple spheres of economic activity and are in a unique position as well as have a crucial role in helping Asean to meet the goal of equitable economic development due to their wide reach and diversity.
Asean SMEs face a number of challenges in terms of access to finance, technology, and competitive markets. Asean member states are increasingly addressing these challenges and assisting SMEs to mitigate these issues, according to the Chamber of Commerce.
The Asean Strategic Action Plan for SME Development 2016-2025 serves to strengthen SME engagement in an increasingly competitive economic environment and to support their growth and development through the vision of a Globally Competitive and Innovative SMEs.
It is hoped that by 2025, Asean will be in a position to create more globally competitive and resilient SMEs.
It is recognised that the full and effective implementation of the plan will be key to the achievement of these goals.
To this end, the plan envisages a distinctive approach of an Implementation Roadmap, using country champions, maximising resources including those from Asean Dialogue Partners, and conducting periodic monitoring and evaluation of the plan.
