The 2nd PRC Meeting for Promotion of Export Competitiveness in Northern Laos (ECL)
Oudomxay – 13 July 2020 – The Department of Planning and Cooperation, Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) in collaboration with provincial offices of Industry and Commerce of three northern provinces organized the 2nd PRC meeting for the ECL project.
The meeting was co-chaired by Deputy Minister (DM) Mr. Somchith Inthamith and Vice Governor Mr. khampieng yachongva of Oudomxay Province. The meeting was attended by more than 40 participants from relevant public sector agencies from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, relevant provincial authorities as well as provincial chambers of commerce and lead firm of the project.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister stressed the importance of economic integration, continuous improvement of business environment, and enhancing capacity of local enterprises, particularly SMEs. Private sector lead economic growth is an outcome of increasing export and economic cooperation. DM also highlighted that the ECL aims to increase investment in and exports of targeted sectors, namely Maize in Oudomxay, Rice in Luangnamtha, Tea in Phongsaly, and handicraft in those three provinces, leading to sustainably improve incomes of poor households, particularly women in three Northern provinces.
Vice Governor also stress the coordination between central and provinces in more sectors to improve the employment in local by producing local products to global market.
The PRC meeting also reviewed the achievements of the first six months of 2020 and endorsed some priorities for the second half. The meeting also provided useful full picture of project intervention’s progress and further actions to improve export competitiveness of three target agro products.
The ECL Project is funded by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF). EIF is an Aid for Trade partnership in action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Operational since 2009, the EIF is a multi-donor program that supports the LDCs to become more active players in the global trading system by helping them tackle supply-side constraints to trade.