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Officials in central provinces learn about investment promotion
State and private officials from the central provinces have gained a better understanding of new government policies to promote trade and investment, after attending a two day seminar.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs teamed up with Khammuan provincial officials to hold a seminar on trade, investment and tourism promotion policy from March 6 to 7.
The aim of the seminar was to equip state and private officials in the central provinces of Borikhamxay, Savannakhet and Khammuan with a working knowledge of the new policy.
Officials hope to put measures into effect that boost domestic and foreign investment in the central provinces and thereby accelerate economic growth. About 60 representatives from both government and private enterprises attended the two day meeting.
According to the revised Law on Investment Prom otion, domestic and foreign enterprises will benefit from a number of investment incentives including tax breaks and other measures. Investors in the fields of education and health and those undertaking ventures in remote parts of the country will also be eligible for tax breaks over a longer period of time.
Foreign businesses that invest US$500,000 in Laos will also have the right to own 800 square metres of land, according to the amended law. The government has also opened a one-stop registration service to make it easier to get investment projects off the ground.
The seminar also gave participants the opportunity to exchange views and discuss measures to address investment barriers in the provinces, as well as the investment opportunities that will arise when Laos joins the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 2015.
Seminar participants also learnt about the progress made so far towards integration with AFTA and the Asean Economic Community by 2015. Laos will have to reduce import tariffs to zero by 2015 as part of its obligations in opening up its market to other Asean members.
Lao enterprises in many industries will need to become more cost efficient in order to accommodate growing competition otherwise they will face bankruptcy when the Asean Free Trade Area comes into effect. AFTA will boost foreign investment in Laos, as many enterprises will then have access to the much larger regional market of more than 500 million consumers.
The meeting participants also heard about the upcoming Mekong-Japan Summit in April and the progress of Laos' preparations to host the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Vientiane on November 5 to 6.
The seminar was held under the chairmanship of Khammuan Deputy Governor, Mr Somchay Phetsinuan.
vientiane times
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