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Lao textiles benefit from South Korean exposure
The Asean-Korea Centre is helping Lao textile producers to develop design and packaging in order to boost their customer numbers in the South Korean and global markets.
“There will be an exhibition in South Korea next year, so we need to have attractive products and packaging to put on display there,” Trade Promotion and Product Development Department Deputy Director General Mr Phouvong Phommabout said yesterday.
“If the textiles are designed well and the packaging is nice it will attract buyers,” said Mr Phouvong during a design and packaging development workshop currently being held in Vientiane.
“In April this year the Asean-Korea Centre showcased jewellery and accessories from Lao companies at the Jewellery Fair Korea 2011 and next month the Textile Fair Korea 2011 will be held and Lao textile companies have been invited,” said the centre's Trade and Investment Manager, Mr Ki Bong Moon.
A Food and Beverage Exh ibition is due to take place at the same venue in November in a bid to introduce and promote Asean food and beverages to the South Korean market.
“There is also series of programmes planned to further exchanges and cooperation between Asean and South Korea,” Mr Ki Bong Moon added.
South Korean design expert Mr Byun Soo Eun said Laos' rich culture had led him to visit many times adding that he admired the Lao textile industry.
Mr Byun Soo Eun said that Lao textiles had been exhibited in South Korea in 2005 and 2007 through cooperation between producers and designers.
The products exhibited were beautiful “but they did not sell well,” Mr Byun Soo Eun said.
Mr Phouvong said that many South Korean products have entered the Lao market however Lao exports to South Korea were lagging.
A ccording to a recent report from the centre, bilateral trade between Laos and South Korea was worth over US$73 million in 2009, an increase of 4.8 percent from the previous year.
South Korea's exports to Laos accounted for US$55.7 million while Lao exports to South Korea were valued at US$17.5 million.
From the period 2000 to 2008, Lao exports to South Korea grew by 19.3 percent annually.
The value of Lao exports to South Korea was only US$64 million in the decade to 1990 but rose to US$391 million between 1991 and 2000. The figure reached US$1,604 million by 2008, according to a document from the centre.
The value of South Korean exports to Laos also grew 19.3 percent annually between 2000 and 2008. Laos imported US$149 million worth of South Korean goods in the decade to 1990, rising to US$690 million by 2000 and US$2,825 million by 2008.
The three-day seminar, which runs until July 22, includes lectures on how to integrate Lao traditional textile designs with global trends as well as instruction on how Asean designs inspired by tradition and nature can impact on the modern western lifestyle.
The lectures also include how to develop textile design capacity using IT techniques and provide suggestions on ways to access the global market through the internet.
The seminar will also help producers enhance their understanding of South Korean design trends and the South Korean market.
The event is contributing to the development of the design capacity of the Lao textile industry while fostering cooperation in the industry between South Korea and Laos.
vientiane times
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