On the afternoon of January 9, in the capital Vientiane, within the framework of his visit to Laos and his participation in the 47th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee on Bilateral Cooperation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone co-chaired the Vietnam-Laos Investment Cooperation Conference 2025 with the theme “Promoting sustainable development and prosperity”. Also attending were Deputy Prime Ministers, leaders of ministries, sectors and agencies of the two countries.
At the conference, Lao Minister of Planning and Investment – Chairman of the Laos-Vietnam Cooperation Committee Phet Phomphiphak introduced the investment environment and policies of Laos. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung – Chairman of the Vietnam-Laos Cooperation Committee assessed the investment cooperation situation between the two countries and the orientation for 2025.
According to Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, implementing the direction of the two countries' senior leaders, in 2024, economic, investment and trade cooperation between the two countries will be focused on and promoted, focusing on handling long-standing difficulties and obstacles, and achieving many important results.
Specifically: Investment cooperation has had positive changes, many difficulties and obstacles have been promptly resolved, investment and trade promotion, guidance, inspection and supervision have been promoted. As a result, Vietnam's investment in Laos is showing a more sustainable upward trend. In 2024, registered investment capital in Laos will be 191.1 million USD, an increase of 62.1% compared to 2023, focusing on the following areas: clean energy, high-tech agriculture, mineral exploitation, deep processing, etc.
To date, Vietnam has invested in 267 projects in Laos, with a total investment capital of 5.7 billion USD, focusing on the following sectors: energy, mining, agriculture and forestry, food production and processing, telecommunications, banking, tourism, etc. Vietnamese enterprises have invested in 17/18 provinces and cities of Laos. Many investment projects of Vietnamese enterprises in Laos have operated effectively, contributing positively to socio-economic development, creating jobs and increasing income for thousands of workers, contributing to the Lao government's budget in the past 5 years reaching about 200 million USD/year, implementing social security policies cumulatively to date about 160 million USD.
According to the Minister, Vietnam's investment in Laos is currently facing two "bottlenecks" that need to be prioritized. These are: Focusing on thoroughly resolving difficulties and obstacles for investment projects in Laos, especially large-scale investment projects... Many difficulties and obstacles of enterprises are waiting for ministries, branches and localities of the two countries to resolve, especially Laos; For new enterprises that have not invested in Laos: The Lao Government needs to have a new direction, with breakthrough measures, creating more space and room, especially Laos needs to strongly reform, comprehensively and synchronously innovate economic institutions and drastically cut overlapping and unnecessary administrative procedures to free up resources to promote investment and development.
Representatives of Vietnamese and Lao enterprises spoke about the potential for business cooperation between enterprises of the two countries.
Speaking at the Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the world situation is changing rapidly, complicatedly, unpredictably, and has global impacts; war in the heart of Europe disrupts supply chains; inflation in major countries, climate change, cyber security, etc. also impact the two countries, therefore no country can solve these global, national, and comprehensive problems alone, so it is necessary to unite and promote multilateralism to adapt, be flexible, and withstand external shocks.
In that context, Vietnam and Laos must strengthen solidarity to support each other in developing the country. The relationship between the two countries has gone through nearly a century, the solidarity, friendship and special brotherhood. Vietnam-Laos has a decisive role in the cause of building and developing the country. Therefore, if we are united, we must unite even more.
In the new period, Vietnam must strive to develop into a rich, civilized, prosperous country, meeting the requirements of the two development goals of the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding and the 100th anniversary of the country's founding. The relationship between the two countries has its own characteristics, especially "a grain of rice bitten in half, a piece of vegetable broken in half", so there must be special mechanisms of behavior, originating "from heart to heart", considering this as a responsibility and obligation to carry out, not "doing as much as possible" because "helping a friend is also helping yourself". The Prime Minister called on businesses of the two countries to unite, help each other to progress together in the spirit of listening and understanding; sharing vision, awareness and action; working together, enjoying together, winning together and developing together; sharing joy, happiness and pride.
The two countries have united and united, and businesses must also demonstrate this spirit. Today, business may be good at times and not so good at times, this period may be good, the next period may not be good, but everything we do is for the development of the two countries, bringing core benefits to the two countries; that is independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and people being prosperous and happy. We must always be persistent and steadfast in investing, doing business, and producing, without comparing too much, from there we determine our determination and resoluteness to invest; considering the overall benefit as our own benefit, also a way to show gratitude to the previous generations who sacrificed their blood and bones for national independence.
The Prime Minister pointed out that Vietnam and Laos have favorable conditions, close geographical distance, mountains next to mountains, rivers next to rivers, and a shared friendship. This is a different potential, an outstanding opportunity, a competitive advantage; culture and sentiment are also advantages, so why don't we turn this opportunity into an advantage for production and business, achieving better results? The Prime Minister raised the issue and said that Vietnam has a market of more than 100 million people, Laos has a market of more than 8 million people, and we regularly exchange, but we are not satisfied because economic development cooperation is not commensurate with the relationship and advantages of the two countries. This is something worth thinking about.
The Prime Minister was pleased that many delegates attended the Conference, showing their interest in promoting the development of investment relations between the two countries. So what is the fault? Is it the mechanism, or the leadership and direction of the two governments? We must find the cause. According to the Prime Minister, both sides have relatively clear awareness but their actions have not been drastic or positive, besides there are barriers in institutions, even negative ones, or barriers of concerns and worries. This is due to ourselves, to the agencies and localities. We must trust each other and share with each other. Currently, institutions are still bottlenecks, and institutions are also resources and motivations. Besides the lack of determination and determination, institutions are barriers, so institutions must be removed. If priorities are given, there must be policies such as taxes, procedures, and mutual trust.
The Prime Minister also raised the issue of infrastructure connecting the two countries that needs to be resolved. The governments of the two countries have also made great efforts because in recent years there have been many backlogged and prolonged projects; especially soft infrastructure connectivity such as policies; infrastructure connectivity issues, especially transport infrastructure. In the coming time, the two sides must be more determined to resolve infrastructure issues. Assign "clearly people, clear tasks, clear responsibilities, clear implementation time, clear efficiency, clear products". It is necessary to connect the supply chains of the two countries: in Laos there are raw materials, in Vietnam there is deep processing, there is an export market. Whatever Vietnam can bring to Laos, we must make efforts. From there, connect the global supply chain. Conversely, if Laos has any global supply chains, it should also help Vietnamese businesses.
The business communities of the two countries need to increase exchanges, support, and find ways to resolve problems; connect businesses from third countries; and study the establishment of a joint industrial park in Laos (such as the VSIP Industrial Park) because this is a long-term, core benefit. Ministries and sectors of the two countries should proactively resolve procedures and licenses; develop and perfect the Investment Law to ensure greater transparency and convenience, and reduce input costs for businesses. Strengthen decentralization and delegation of authority to localities to resolve licensing issues faster in the spirit of "locality decides, locality acts, locality takes responsibility".
Mobilize resources because resources come from thinking; when thinking changes, the whole country will change. Renew old growth drivers, promote new growth drivers, enter emerging industries because this is a world trend, "if you don't do it, you can't do it". Respect Laos' traditional strengths to exploit together; ministries, branches and localities must create the most favorable conditions for businesses; businesses must also contribute ideas to the government. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of time, intelligence, and timely decisiveness as decisive factors for success, demonstrated through investment, business and production, which are extremely important for businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Prime Minister affirmed that investing in production and business in Laos is also investing in Vietnam; conversely, Lao friends investing in Vietnam is also investing in Laos. Therefore, we not only have profit but also affection and responsibility; "what comes from the heart will touch the heart", is gratitude to previous generations.
Therefore, the Prime Minister called on the business communities of the two countries to continue investing and doing business with all their enthusiasm and capabilities. Any remaining problems or obstacles should be frankly proposed, and the two governments will make efforts to resolve them. The responsibility of state management agencies, including the Government, and the Prime Minister himself, must be resolved so that businesses from the two countries not only make a profit but also demonstrate patriotism and foster the great friendship that is unique in the world.
Regarding the recommendations of businesses at the Conference, the Prime Minister assessed that they were very close to reality, stating that the Vietnamese Government will review and make adjustments; hoping that the Lao Government will do the same with the spirit of solving problems wherever they are; solving difficulties at any level; we do it with the spirit of not shirking responsibility or avoiding responsibility.
At the Conference, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone welcomed and congratulated the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant agencies of the two countries for their careful preparation for the Conference. This is an opportunity to promote stronger economic, investment, trade, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. The Lao Government always urges Vietnamese enterprises to promote investment in sectors and fields that are in line with the priority economic development plan such as infrastructure development to enhance connectivity.
The governments of both sides are determined to implement key transport infrastructure projects such as ports and railways connecting the two countries; encourage the development of clean energy, wind energy, etc.; among the projects, there is a project to build a power plant. The Lao government has considered applying a number of specific policies to encourage Vietnamese enterprises to invest. Vietnam has experience in developing industrial parks such as VSIP, so it can cooperate with Laos. The Lao Prime Minister said that processing raw materials and then exporting them is a waste of resources. The year 2024 was an important year for Laos because it hosted the ASEAN Summit and related Summits.
Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone emphasized that in the current period, the two governments are focusing on developing the transport infrastructure system to connect the economies of the two countries. This is an important issue because the quality of Vietnamese goods is very high, with many famous brands. Laos is making efforts to develop roads, railways, highways, and airports, including taking advantage of Noong Khang airport. Vietjet has cooperated with Lao Airlines. The Prime Minister noted that businesses investing in Laos need to pay attention to environmental protection and efficient use of land.
The Prime Minister hopes that Vietnamese enterprises will understand the situation of land allocation and use in Laos; and suggest that enterprises should increase the application of modern science and technology to develop projects, and use artificial intelligence (AI) and high technology to improve production capacity. Enterprises of both sides need to coordinate more closely; and hope that Vietnamese enterprises will invest in Laos to contribute to training human resources and improving vocational skills for Lao workers. In order to solve financial difficulties, the Lao Government always attaches importance to and urges projects to produce goods to replace imported goods, apply modern science and technology in production; and have priority policies for this. At this conference, the two countries need to research and invest in developing industries such as building industrial zones for deep processing of products. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of payment in local currency in trade relations between the two countries.
Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone hopes that both sides will uphold the tradition of good cooperation and continue to organize more forums and conferences to promote strong economic cooperation commensurate with the excellent political relationship. Developing together and achieving comprehensive prosperity is extremely important.
* Within the framework of the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone witnessed the ceremony of granting investment certificates, investment agreements, and cooperation agreements between businesses and partners of the two sides.
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