The forum is a government-endorsed platform for the private sector to raise issues and propose recommendations to the public sector, chaired by the prime minister.

Of the many remedial directives issued to line ministries, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Ministry of Planning and Investment were instructed to streamline administrative procedures to bolster the doing business climate. They were also asked to cut unnecessary regulatory measures to support economic diversification and pave the way for Laos’ departure from heavy reliance on natural resource exploitation in order to ensure economic stability and sustainability, according to a press release issued by the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Achieving this goal will require a dedicated effort by every line ministry, provincial department and district division. The prime minister urged all sectors to remove investment restrictions by amending the Business Controlled List so as to open up the economy and attract investment.

The Ministry of Finance was charged to speed up its efforts to bring into force Guidance on the Implementation of the Law on Value-added Tax and to expedite the amendment of the Presidential Ordinance on Fees and Charges to create greater clarity for business operators.

The Bank of the Lao PDR was tasked to take the lead in liaising with line ministries and departments to simplify and reduce costs in registering loan and security agreements in order to lower businesses’ overall investment costs.

In addition, the promotion of innovative startups that offer goods and services in the field of information technology was delegated to the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the promotion of nature-based tourism to the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

In light of the fact that the service industry has overtaken the industrial sector in terms of GDP contribution, the Ministry of Energy and Mines was instructed to consider reducing electricity tariffs in the service sector to a more favourable level, such as is allocated to industry, to boost the competitiveness of service providers.

Given the fruitful outcomes of the public-private dialogue mechanism under the Lao Business Forum, the prime minister agreed with the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the concept of establishing a special taskforce committee to push for further reforms and address the problems encountered in doing business.