Public-Private Consultative Meeting on gathering ideas on the draft Investment Promotion Law of the (Revised Version 2016), On October 27, 2023, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel

The Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) held a Public-Private Consultative Meeting to collect feedback on the Investment Promotion Law of the (Revised Version 2016).

The meeting was co-chaired by Ms. Ph.D Valy Vedsaphong, Vice President of the LNCCI and Mr. Ph.D Sthabandith Insisienmay Deputy Minister of the Ministry of MPI. There were about 40 participants from both the public and private sector. From the private sector there were mostly the board of directors of the LNCCI from various industries as well as  lawyers and consultants. Nevertheless, from the public sector mostly were from the Investment Promotion Department.

The purpose of the meeting was to get feedback from the private sector on the investment promotion law (Revised Version 2016) so that relevant changes can be made to keep the legislation to date. It was reported in the meeting that a total of 41 articles that were revised. The changes discussed in the meeting can be summarized as follows:

• 14 articles content relevant to investment promotion were revised
• 10 articles of Investment Promotion and Management Committee were changed to MPI’s
• 10 articles were reduced on the development of special economic zones and Investment Promotion and Management Committee
• 6 articles were revised in accordance with the relevant legislation and the actual implementation of the law

Lao PDR Competitiveness and Trade project (LCT) is implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, with technical and financial support from the World Bank and additional financial contributions from Australia, Ireland, and the United States. The project aims to eliminate barriers to private sector-led growth by improving the regulatory environment, lowering trade costs and raising firm-level competitiveness.