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One-stop investment service to be launched next month
The government expects to launch a new system to boost private investment early next month, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
The ministry announced at a joint meeting of the planning and finance sectors last week that it will begin to offer investors a ‘one-stop' service at the start of the 2011-12 fiscal year, which starts on October 1.
“I'm happy to learn that the Ministry of Planning and Investment will launch a one-stop service on October 1,” Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad said at the meeting.
The service aims to facilitate domestic and foreign firms seeking investment information, submitting investment proposals or obtaining investment permission from the government.
Investors currently have to obtain documents from each ministry involved in the process, an inefficient procedure that wastes time and money, and deters some investors.
The one-stop service was made possible by a prime ministerial decree on the implementation of the Law on Investment Promotion, which was signed by Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong in April.
Under the decree, the one-stop service investment system consists of an investment promotion committee and a one-stop service office. There will be two levels of investment promotion committees – central and provincial – and they will play an important role in considering and approving proposals.
Committee members will meet once a week to consider and approve proposals, to accelerate the process.
There will also be two levels of the one-stop service office. The office will be a state organisation serving as a coordinator between investors and the investment promotion committees. The office will not only receive and respond to investment proposals but also help investors to access information on investment opportunities, regulations and laws in Laos.
A number of officials from different sectors, including the industry and commerce, and finance sectors, will also work in the office to provide consultation services to investors who struggle to understand aspects of investment regulations.
The decree also differentiates between general businesses, for which investors can request a license from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and concession businesses, for which investors will have to receive permission from the investment promotion committee.
The decree also includes a list of general and concession businesses for which the government will offer investment incentives.
The government has increased efforts to boost private investment as it considers the private sector a major driver of economic growth.
The government is seeking to secure 127 trillion kip worth of investments to ensure GDP growth of above 8 percent annually over the next five years. The government hopes about 50 to 60 percent of the total investment value will come from the private sector.
vientiane times
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