August 30th, 2021. The Champasak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and the Department of Industry and Commerce Champasak (DICC) co-organized public-private consultation meetings for the tourism and agriculture sectors at the Champasak Grand Hotel.

The meetings were supported by the USAID Laos Business Environment Project.

The principal objective of these meeting was to bring together representatives from the public and private sectors in Champasak to discuss how they can collaborate to improve the local business environment, and the specific policies that could help the private sector recover from the economic impact of COVID-19. Issues raised during this meeting were based on the results of the Private Sector Working Group (PSWG) workshop held in July 2021.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Bounyadeth Thongsavath, Director General of DICC, and co-chaired by Ms. Bounhaeng Calor Liddung, the President of CCCI. More than 40 people participated in the meeting, including representatives from various provincial government departments and the tourism and agriculture PSWGs.

Mr. Bounyadeth Thongsavath, Director General of DICC, emphasized during his opening remark that “in order for the LPPD mechanism in Champasak Province to effectively and systematically implemented, I urged all relevant government departments to actively and continuingly support the implementation of this imitative. So that issues raised by private sectors can be effectively and efficiently resolved and followed”.

In her remarks, the President of CCCI, Ms. Bouheuang Calor Litdung urged all of the relevant government departments to support the private sector in resolving their issues so that the pace of economic recovery can be accelerated.

The meetings covered 9 specific issues from the tourism sector and 10 specific issues from the agriculture sector including informal business operations; access to finance and loans; inconsistency of laws and regulations; high administrative costs; cross-border transportation; customs clearance procedures; transportation checkpoints; taxes; and export quotas.

The meetings achieved consensus on some of the recommendations proposed by the private sector. Participants agreed to take specific actions to seek additional solutions to the issues raised.

The USAID Laos Business Environment Project, in close collaboration with LNCCI, will support CCCI and DICC in following up with public sector counterparts to ensure that all of the actions specified during the meeting are addressed as soon as possible.

The USAID Laos Business Environment Project assists the Government of Laos to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises while strengthening the country’s business environment.