The Third Licensing Reform Coordination Committee Meeting

17 January 2023 Vientiane. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s (MOIC) Department of Enterprise Registration hosted the third Licensing Reform Coordination Committee Meeting at the MOIC’s Meeting Hall I. Mr. Aphisid Sengsoulivong, Director General of the Enterprise Registration and Management Department and Head of Committee, presided over the meeting, which had over 60 participants from all relevant ministries.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss implementation progress and challenges in improving the business license process during the 2022 period, to determine the priority work plan for 2023, and to hear from representatives of the Reform Coordination Committee’s Secretariat about international good principles and risk-based licensing approaches.

Mr. Aphisid emphasized in his opening remarks the importance of the Coordination Committee in contributing to the achievement of the goals outlined in Prime Minister’s Order No. 03, dated January 21, 2020, on the improvement of services for issuing business licenses and investment licenses in the Lao PDR. While some ministries have made significant progress, there are still several challenges ahead. “I’d like to congratulate those who have demonstrated good progress to streamline licensing procedures in their ministries,” Mr. Aphisid said. He also urged line ministries to accelerate licensing process improvement by eliminating unnecessary requirements and procedures, particularly the risk-based licensing approach, and to learn from international best practices.

The meeting also presented participants with “A Guideline on Licensing Reform in Lao PDR,” which they are encouraged to use as a basis for improving licensing reform in the sector for which they are responsible, as well as the Inventory of Business License (IBL) website, which will provide the private sector with online access to various documents and procedures required for starting and operating a business in Lao PDR. The IBL website is now complete and will be officially launched at the end of January 2023. The IBL website compiles the laws, requirements, procedures, deadlines, and costs for obtaining various types of business formalities for the business sector to access, making it simple, transparent, and cost-effective to do business in Lao PDR.

This meeting was supported by the Lao PDR Competitiveness and Trade project implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, with technical and financial support from the World Bank and additional financial contributions from Australia, Ireland, and the United States.