Regional Local Public and Private Dialogue for Three Northern Provinces (Luangnamtha, Oudomxay and Phongsaly provinces) in Lao PDR

Vientiane Capital, 23 October 2020. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) organized a Regional Local Public and Private Dialogue for three Northern Provinces in Lao PDR, Luang Namtha, Oudomxay and Phongsaly provinces, to discuss the issues related to trade facilitation. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Khemmani Pholsena, the Minister of MOIC and the Deputy Head of General Supervision Committee on Central Trade Facilitation. The Presidents of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry from the three provinces presented in the meeting. Together with them, more than 70 participants who are the representatives from the Departments of Trade Promotion, Import and Export, Domestic Trade from the MOIC, the Departments of Agriculture, and Forestry from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Department of Tax, and Customs, Ministry of Finance, the Department of Standard and Measurement, Ministry of Science and Technology and the Department of Investment Promotion, Ministry of Planning and Investment also joined the meeting.

The meeting was organized as a part of the implementation of the Promotion of Export Competitiveness and Sustainability support to public-private dialogue in Northern Lao PDR (ECL) project. The objectives of this meeting are to provide the opportunity for private sectors in these three provinces to propose trade facilitation issues they have faced. The representatives of the private sectors were the Presidents of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry from Luang Namtha, Oudomxay and Phongsaly provinces. Then, other participants provided comments to contribute to the discussion.

Ms. Khemmani Pholsena, the Minister of MOIC, provided opening remark that: “According to the reports on previous project implementation, the majority issues raised by private sectors from the three Northern provinces are related to trade facilitation. These issues have been raised in discussion with relevant sectors at the provincial level. However, previously, we still faced with challenges during implementation. Some new regulations that nationally enforced are not capable of implementing in central and local levels. This is the challenges for businesses to establish and expand as well as the poverty eradication”.
Mr. Oudeth Souvannavong, the President of Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI), emphasized the objectives of the meeting that “the issues discussed today are specified on the trade facilitation in the three provinces. These issues have been proposed to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Provincial Level. They were raised for discussion in technical level from July to September. However, there are some issues that required to be addressed, which consists of two issues in Luangnamtha province, one issue in Oudomxay province and four issues in Phongsaly provinces”.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Oudeth Souvannavong summarized the output of the discussion in the meeting, following by the closing remark by Ms. Khemmani Pholsena, who expressed gratitude to all participants on their contribution to the meeting.

The Project of Promotion of Export Competitiveness and Sustainability support to public-private dialogue in Northern Lao PDR (ECL) is funded by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF). The project intends to promote trade, business, and private sector-led economic growth in the least developed Northern Region of the country, in response to the Government’s eight National Socioeconomic Development Plan (NSEDP). This project directly supports the implementation of two of the Government’s three strategic pillars for trade and private sector development.