Government, development partners and private sector discuss progress on business environment reform, implementation progress of the National Trade Facilitation Roadmap for 2017-2022 and Roadmap for the Trade and Private Sector for 2022-2026

Vientiane Capital, 25 November 2022, Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) organized the 19th Trade and Private Sector Working Group (TPSWG) meeting at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Vientiane Capital. The meeting was honorably co-chaired by H.E. Dr. Manothong Vongsay, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E. Ms. Ina Marciulionyte, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Lao PDR, EIF Donor Facilitator. More than 100 participants representing line ministries, embassies, development partners domestic and foreign business community attended the meeting.

The meeting discussed preliminary findings and recommendations from the Assessment of the Implementation of National Trade Facilitation Roadmap (2017-2022), introduced the updated Lao PDR Trade and Private Sector Development Roadmap (2022-2026) and exchanged views on improving effectiveness of the public private dialogue to address constraints affecting environment for doing business in Laos.

While recognizing the importance of trade facilitation for promoting internal, regional, and international trade, H.E. Dr. Manothong said that “Overall, we have made progress in implementing a range of trade facilitation reforms, but further reforms are necessary and essential to advancing our country’s overall competitiveness and attractiveness for efficiency seeking investment”.

H.E Dr. Manothong also informed the meeting that the updated trade and private sector development roadmap for 2022-2027 validated in May identifies priority actions in support of our national strategy of diversifying the economy, rebuilding from COVID-19, and graduating from LDC status by 2026.
Dr. Manothong concluded his opening remarks by acknowledging the important contributions made by the public private dialogue process in resolving concrete issues facing the private sector and stressing the necessity to further improve its effectiveness.

“Despite significant success and progress being made, a great deal of challenges is lining upon us. One of the obvious challenges is maintaining the level of commitment and dedication to leverage the National Trade and Private Sector Roadmap to be private sector-based platforms as the ultimate objective is not just a conducive environment for traders but the strong and sustainable trading capacity and productivity of businesses, as they are the final beneficiaries.” said H.E. Ms. Ina Marciulionyte, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Lao PDR. “In the longer term, accelerating reforms to promote diversification and improve competitiveness in the private sector, supported by improved connectivity, will be pivotal to strengthen the economic and social resilience, and ensure that Laos reaps the full benefits from all the infrastructure investments made in recent years”, H.E Ambassador Ina Marciulionyte, added.

The meeting divided into two main sessions and discussed three topics. The first topic was presented by Deputy Director General of Department of Import and Export, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, who reported on preliminary findings and recommendations from the Assessment of the Implementation of National Trade Facilitation Roadmap (2017-2022). The second topic on updated Lao PDR Trade and Private Sector Development Roadmap (2022-2026) was presented by Ms. Lattanaphone Vongsouthi, Director of Division, National Implementation Unit Division, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the last topic on public private dialogue as emerging instrument to address constraints affecting environment for doing business in Laos through public private dialogue was presented by Mr. Thanongsinh Kanlagna, Executive Vice President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Before closing the meeting, H.E. Ms. Ina Marciulionyte, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Lao PDR, emphasized the need to establish a transparent and rules-based regulatory framework. She also added that “Reforms take time and are not cost-free, but we all hail the positive actions taken by the cabinet under the helm of Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh”. “Again, I can assຮືັure you that as development partners, we want to support the Lao authorities by better coordinating ourselves, and to contribute to obtain tangible results in the trade and private sector development agenda” further stressed by H.E Ambassador Ina.

Finally, H.E. Dr. Manothong Vongsay, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce closed the meeting by acknowledging the importance of prioritizing trade and private sector policy action items, ensuring government ownership, necessity to strengthen inter-agency coordination at both central and local level as well as supporting broad directions to strengthen public private dialogue mechanism under the Lao Business Forum.

The TPSWG is one of the ten sector working groups under the Round Table Process and is the main forum for policy dialogue between the government of Lao PDR and development partners. Participants of the forum usually come from government, development partners, the private sector and civil society. Other 9 sector working groups include Health; Education; Governance; Macroeconomics; Infrastructure; Illicit Drug Control; UXO; Agriculture and Rural Development; and Natural Resource and Environmental Management.