November 25th globally marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women , as designated by the United Nations. In recognition of a perpetually relevant issue, the event is meant to raise global awareness on the need to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world, calling for global action to increase awareness, promote advocacy and create opportunities for discussion on challenges and solutions

Women are sadly at risk of multiple forms of violence in many roles, circumstances, and contexts, including as traders and entrepreneurs. Thus, any project promoting gender-sensitive trade facilitation and/or supporting female entrepreneurship should incorporate measures to prevent and mitigate violence – that is definitely the case of Lao Competitiveness and Trade Project (LCTP).

The project, currently being implemented by the government of Lao PDR, which is funded by the World Bank Group as well as Australia, Irish Aid, and USAID, aims to simplify business regulations, facilitate trade, and improve firm-level competitiveness. Its design has strong focus on promoting effective mainstreaming of gender in all project intervention areas, and on building capacity of project stakeholders in integrating gender in all aspects of their work. Those efforts also include measures specifically intended to prevent and mitigate the risk of violence against women as well as children, indigenous people, and all other vulnerable categories.

First, the LCTP has developed a Code of Conduct which all project team and consultants are required to sign up and commit to. The purpose of the code is to help ensure the project meets international Environmental Social, Health Safety (ESHS) and Occupational Health Safety (OHS) Standards objectives, as well as prevents and/or mitigates the risks of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and Sexual Harassment (SH). Mutual respect and fair treatment between those working on the project and local communities is critical to a safe, respectful, and productive workplace and operating environment. SEA and SH can be one of the most serious violations of respect and fair treatment which can harm the local community and/or individuals working on the project in any capacity, and significantly damage trust and cooperation between parties. Therefore, the project is very against those acts.
Second, the LCTP is about to launch a Grievance and Redress Mechanism (GRM) to offer all concerned stakeholders an avenue for safe and anonymous reporting of complaints related to project activities. Grievances regarding suspected instances of SEA will also be accepted by the GRM and dealt with as urgent matters.

Finally, the LCTP has established an ‘’institutional infrastructure’’ of gender focal points within the various government agencies responsible for implementing project activities. It is now in the process of delivering comprehensive technical capacity building to those contact persons, including but not limited to how to prevent and mitigate violence against women under the project.

Overall, the LCTP is positioning itself as a regional good practice for gender-sensitive trade facilitation and female entrepreneurship promotion and would now like to use the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women as an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment that critical fight, and help promote and increase awareness on the suffering of women worldwide. This day is marked to prevent as well as respond to violence against women and to apprise people about the basic human rights of women and gender equality. Furthermore, the LCTP supports Laos’s national 16 Days campaign to eliminate violence against women. 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence falls between 25 November and 10 December and are part of an annual global advocacy period to raise awareness on ending gender-based violence. During this time, the LCTP will spotlight the gains and milestones achieved in the bid to address violence against women and gender aspect under the project implementation . Please stay tune!

Draft Stakeholder engagement plan (SEP) and Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) are prepared as part of the process of preparing additional financing to the Lao Competitiveness and Trade Project. These are “live” documents which need to evolve with the project and the project implementation unit -NIU will regularly review and update as required to ensure they reflect any changes in the project implementation and organization. In this regard, NIU is posting these two documents for project stakeholders and general public to review and provide any feedbacks/inputs that they may have on these two documents to NIU’s Communications Officer, Mr. SIMMAVANH VAYOUPHACK at Simmavang.v@laosaft.org

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Lao PDR has successfully concluded the Lao Competitiveness and Trade Project (LCTP) in Vientiane Capital. The LCTP significantly reduced the barriers to private sector-led growth through improving the regulatory environment with better and more inclusive policies, reducing trade costs, and increasing firm-level competitiveness. The project was financed with $10 million IDA credit and $9.5 million from the Multi-Donor Trust Fund with funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Australia, Ireland, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

LCTP is implemented by a dedicated unit, the National Implementation Unit (NIU) within the Permanent Secretary Office in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC).
The Project has four Pillars, including A. Improving Business Environment; B. Facilitating Trade and Connecting to Markets; C. Improving Firm-Level Competitiveness; and Supporting Better and More Inclusive Policies.

Despite enormous challenges caused first by the impact of COVID-19 and macroeconomic instability, the Project has delivered remarkable results, including: 1) removal of barriers to business entry through simplification of business startup procedures, establishment of licensing portal, and the process automation leading to significant reduction in time and cost for starting a business in the country; 2) implementation of border management procedures, including introduction of joint risk management framework, streamlining non-tariff measures, implementation of commitments under WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, and strengthening of inter-agency coordination under the National Transport and Trade Facilitation Committee; 3) through Business Assistance Facility Phase II, the project disbursed 557 matching grants to 363 companies throughout the country; 4) through the project interventions, the project has improved the effectiveness of Aid for Trade governance structure through strengthening operations of Program Executive Committee and Project Review Committee and Public Private Dialogue under the Lao Business Forum supported by the project made important contributions to resolving issues constraining private sector investment in the country.

Quotes:

“The partnership that the MOIC has had with the World Bank, Australia, US and Ireland spans over the last 15 years. The partnership has focused on regional and international economic integration, business enabling environment, trade facilitation and non-resource sector’s competitiveness in regional and international markets. These efforts are highly relevant to our national strategy of diversifying the economy, rebuilding from COVID-19, and graduating from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by 2026.” Said H.E. Mr. Malaithong Kommasith, Minister of Industry and Commerce.

“Over the past six years, we have worked together through this project on some difficult issues and have seen good results and Australia is actively considering support for the second phase of the LCT project. We look forward to collaborating closely in the design process to ensure that the next phase addresses emerging priorities.” Said H.E. Ms. H.E. Ms. Megan Jones, Australian Ambassador to Lao PDR.

“This project reflects our belief in the transformative potential of empowering private sector entities as key drivers of sustainable economic development. This project has placed the private sector at the heart of its efforts, recognizing its pivotal role in driving economic growth and creating sustainable development opportunities.” Said H.E. Ms. Heather Variava, US Ambassador

“The World Bank and development partners will also continue to work closely with the Ministry on the next phase of project to deepen further business and trade facilitation reforms and the country’s priorities in fostering private sector led growth that creates more job opportunities in Lao PDR” said Mr. Alexander Kremer, World Bank Country Manager.

The LCTP has been instrumental in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth through improving the business enabling environment, reducing trade costs, and improving firm level competitiveness, and promoting better policies and public private dialogue in Laos.