The Lao PDR Trade Portal (LTP) was launched by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on June 22, 2012. With additional funding, the Customs and Trade Facilitation Project (CTFP) aims to facilitate trade by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of customs administration and simplifying customs procedures to eliminate duplication and redundancy, reduce transactions costs and time to clear goods, and increase transparency and accountability. Trade facilitation was singled out both as a priority area in the Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) as well as a major component of the Trade Development Facility (TDF) project, supported by the World Bank. According to a Time Release Study (TRS) by Laos Customs Department, the average time to clear goods at border from truck arrival to customs release was reduced by 36% from 17.9 hours in 2009 to about 11.4 hours in 2012.Īs a crowning achievement-and after 15 years of negotiations-Lao PDR is now a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), with its eyes set on establishing itself as an equal partner in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Customs operations are nearly fully automated and border clearance times have been drastically reduced. Rural-urban migration is underway as non-agricultural opportunities are on the rise. A more open, more outward trade landscape has transformed it into a fast-growing developing country-complete with coffee shops, restaurants, and billboards lining the streets of what is now a much busier and livelier Vientiane. However, in 2016, Lao PDR is virtually unrecognizable from what it was just a decade ago.
Domestic producers have faced unknown or unclear export procedures, paper-based and obsolete customs operations, and a level of cooperation between government agencies on trade-related matters that as recently as the mid-2000s was almost nonexistent. “Since carrying out its first outward-looking economic reforms in 1986, trade with the outside world has mostly been a one-way street: imports,” says Madame Banesaty Thephavong, Director-General of the Department of Imports and Exports.įor years, the country has had a weak regulatory framework, lacked proper infrastructure, and offered a very poor investment climate. Lao PDR has long faced significant barriers to trade.