Lao Government, Private Sector and Development Partners Discuss Issues Affecting trade and Investment environment

Vientiane, 6 June 2023 – Lao government officials, development partners and private sectors met today at the 20th Trade and Private Sector Working Group (TPSWG) meeting to discuss and update priority issues affecting trade and investment environment in the country.

Held by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Dr. Manothong Vongsay, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce and H.E. Ms. Ina Marciulionyte, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Lao PDR. More than 100 participants representing line ministries, embassies, development partners domestic and Lao and foreign business community attended the meeting.

The meeting updated and discussed the preparation of the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2024, the expected outcomes of the revision of the Investment Promotion Law, the results of the 14th Lao Business Forum and the Lao PDR Foreign Investment Survey findings jointly conducted by major business chambers in Laos.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Dr. Manothong Vongsay stressed the important role of private firms in the development process. “Driven by the quest for profits, they invest in new ideas and new facilities that strengthen the foundations of economic growth and prosperity,” said H.E. Dr. Manothong Vongsay.

He also encouraged government agencies to play a key role in shaping the investment climate. He said that the government has more decisive influence on business regulations, security of property rights and taxation, provision of infrastructure, the functioning of finance and labor markets.

“For these reasons, today’s gathering is important for both policy makers and development partners to exchange views and build broad consensus on priority issues affecting trade and investment environment in the country and make timely policy actions before the issues become binding constraints for trade and investment,” he added.

H.E. Ms. Ina Marciulionyte said that the private sector continues to face a hardship situation with very high inflation, falling value of the Lao currency, reduced public spending, and labour migration. “In such a challenging economic and fiscal situation, which forced the government to reduce drastically public spending, it is more imperative than ever to foster private sector development and attract foreign investment. This will generate much-needed revenues, jobs, and exports to contribute to achieving the objectives of the 9th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP),” said H.E. Ms. Ina Marciulionyte.

She also added that this is why all needs to be done from the government side to deepen and accelerate the implementation of reforms that will facilitate businesses’ operations. This fully rests on ensuring that political decisions and impetus trickle all the way down to the technical levels and materialise in actual change for businesses and end users.

The meeting discussed four topics. The first topic is an update on preparation for Laos’ ASEAN Chairmanship in 2024 by Mr. Itthilith Ngangnouvong, Deputy Director General of Department of Foreign Trade Policy. The second topic is the discussions around objectives, expected outcomes, and the approach for revising the Investment Promotion Law by Mrs. Thavychan Thiengthepvongsa, Deputy Director General of Investment and Planning Department. Next topic is to update about the last annual Lao Business Forum by Dr. Xaybandith Rasphon, Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President. Last topic presented the recent business sentiment survey jointly conducted by major business chambers in Laos by Mr. Sheng Lee from ANZ and President of Australian Chamber of Commerce.

The TPSWG is intended to provide a platform for strategic discussions and consultations on Trade and Private Sector and SME Development policies and their implementation.

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.