PHL, Lao PDR explore trade and investment opportunities

THE Philippines and Lao People’s Democratic Republic began exploring new trade and investment opportunities on Friday, with both governments promising a more business-friendly policy environment for the business sector. Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, who led Lao PDR’s 24-member official delegation to Manila, assured Filipino businessmen of equal opportunities with their businessmen as he encouraged members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) to explore business opportunities in his country.

Speaking before Philippine and Lao government and business leaders during a business meeting initiated by the Philippine-Lao Business Council (PLBC) at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Pasay City on Friday, Thammavong said he was confident of enhancing bilateral cooperation with the Philippines. Just hours after arriving in Manila on Thursday, he signed four new agreements with the Philippines in Malacañang.

The prime minister thanked President Aquino and the PLBC, which organized the Sofitel meeting that provided a great opportunity for government and business leaders of both countries to more thoroughly discuss ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation in trade and investment.

Through his interpreter, he underscored the importance of international cooperation to improve trade and investment and promote economic development in the region.

“In this globalizing world, we should never ignore the importance of international cooperation; toward this end, Lao PDR gives great importance to widening arenas, namely, in regional, sub-regional and bilateral levels,” he said.

The Philippines and Lao PDR are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). They began formal bilateral-trade cooperation in 2007. The prime minister said Lao PDR and the Philippines have been enjoying good relations since then.

Lao PDR’s “open door” policy, Thommavong said, makes his country a promising investment hub in Asia because of its strategic location and vast natural resources. He said Lao PDR’s laws also provide adequate protection for both local and foreign investors.

He said Lao PDR is finalizing negotiations for its membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), seeing it as an opportunity to further boost the economic development of his country.

He said policy incentives have been put in place to encourage business to go smoothly and amendments of laws to make business easier and friendlier in Lao PDR.

Thammavong recognized the need for his country to encourage foreign investments, especially foreign direct investments, which have given its economy a big boost over the past decade.

Lao PDR is considered among the least-developed countries in Asia, but Thommavong boasts of his country’s steady growth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), averaging 7 percent, over the last 10 years since, or from 2001 to 2010.

Philippine Ambassador to Lao PDR Ma. Lumen B. Isleta said Philippine exports to Lao PDR doubled—from 2010’s  $300,000 to 2011’s $600,000. Balance of trade is slightly favorable for the Philippines, with exports slightly exceeding imports.

Around 600 highly skilled Filipino workers are employed in various companies in Lao PDR.

With the renewed interest of government and business leaders from the two countries, Ambassador Isleta said she expects an increase in the number of Filipinos getting employed in Lao PDR.

“The opportunity of increasing collaboration between the Philippines and Lao PDR is bright and we hope to see businessmen from both countries investing and doing business in both countries in the future,” she said.

Minister Somdy Douangdy of Lao PDR’s Planning and Investments Ministry gave an overview of the investment climate and opportunities in Lao PDR.

The country aims for a GDP growth of 8 percent in 2012 and hopes to get a boost on private-sector investment. Mining, power generation, agriculture, handicraft and service sectors are among its top investment opportunities, said Douangdy.

The law of investment and promotion, he added, helps provide better services to investors as it advocates legal security and fair treatment, equality and free competition between local and foreign investors.

Investment in less-developed areas allow investors several tax incentives, he said. The income-tax rate for special economic zones is also set at a flat 5 percent.

Foreign investors, he added, can also invest in real-estate and property development, as they can enjoy more efficient or smoother investment application services.

Kissana Vongsay of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry vowed to work with his counterpart to improve cooperation between the Philippines and Lao PDR and make their countries perfect for foreign investment.

Before the business meeting, Thammavong visited the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) in Los Baños, Laguna, to witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding formalizing research collaboration between Lao PDR and Irri.

Through this collaboration with Irri, Thammavong expressed confidence that Lao PDR would be able to improve its rice production and achieve its goal of becoming a rice exporter. Lao PDR became self-sufficient in rice in 2009, he said.

Local officials, led by Laguna Gov. Jorge Estregan Jr., and Irri Director General Robert Zeigler, welcomed Thammavong during his visit.

The prime minister and members of the official delegation of Lao PDR were accompanied by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who initiated talks with his counterpart to explore possible areas of cooperation between the two countries in agriculture.

Thammavong donated some traditional Lao PDR rice-farming tools to Irri’s Rice World Museum, which showcases rice-farming tools of various rice-producing countries. Also, Thammavong visited Irri’s rice-gene bank.

Alcala met with Lao PDR Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) Phouangparisak Pravongviengkham and both agreed to work together to help boost food production in their two countries.

“Within two weeks they will give us a concept paper and from there, we will start working on agricultural collaboration,” Alcala said. Exchanging experiences and agricultural technology with Lao PDR will provide a boost to both countries’ food-security targets and goals, Alcala said.

Cristino L. Panlilio, undersecretary for the trade and investment promotions group of the Department of Trade and Industry, also assured Lao PDR’s businessmen of tax perks under various programs of the government to promote foreign investment in the Philippines.

Panlilio said the Philippines continues to experience economic growth. Business is “more fun in the Philippines” because of the government’s strong fiscal policies and incentives that are being offered to foreign businessmen who invest in the Board of Investments’ Investment Priority Program and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority , he said.

Panlilio encouraged businessmen from both countries to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the bilateral cooperation treaties signed between the Philippines and Lao PDR.

Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, former Philippine envoy to Laos PDR and chairman of the PLBC, and Miguel Varela, president of PCCI, welcomed Thammavong and members of the official delegation after the business meeting.

The meeting, according to Cabangon-Chua, aims “to promote and expand businesses between the two countries” and as a strategy to boost the economies of the Philippines and Lao PDR.

Varela said the PCCI, along with PLBC, would return the favor by sending a business delegation to Lao PDR. He said the business meeting was just the start of more such meetings between the two countries.

“Regardless of how big or small a country is, having friendly trade relations with another country is beneficial to the economy of both countries. It helps create jobs and spur economic activities,” he told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

He said the PCCI will pursue private-to-private meetings with its counterpart in Lao PDR “to return the favor,” even as he noted the “good gesture” the Lao PDR prime minister leading and bringing in his country big business players to the Philippines.

“We will be organizing private-to-private meetings soon,” he said.

According to Varela, the meeting was timely, considering the need to strengthen and expand economic and trade within Asean and the rest of the world.

The emergence of Asean and Asia has put the region in the center of the global trade and investment map, with its huge market of 5 billion people and the resources that can be tapped within its shores.

Thammavong and members of his official delegation were scheduled to return for Lao PDR on Saturday at the conclusion of their three-day official visit in the Philippines.

In Photo: Lao PDR Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong (right) and Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, former envoy to Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and chairman of the Philippine-Lao Business Council (PLBC), at a business meeting initiated by the PLBC held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel. (Nonoy Lacza)

View the original article here