Vietnam and Laos promote border trade cooperation

At the Lao Bao International Border Gate in Quang Tri province - Photo: VNA

At the conference, participants agreed that the agreement has brought about many positive results in many aspects. Trade promotion and investment cooperation have been strengthened with the active participation of many businesses from the two countries, contributing to promoting and introducing products and potentials and strengths of border localities.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnamese investors have so far had 292 projects with a total investment of US$ 5.1 billion being granted investment certificates in Laos. In 10 border provinces of Laos, there were 110 direct investment projects from Vietnamese investors with a total capital of US$2.7 billion.

Regarding the development of the border market network, 36 markets have been built so far, with investment mainly sourced budgets. There are also 8 international border gates, 7 main border gates, 18 auxiliary border gates and many trails and 8 border economic zones on the Vietnam-Laos border line.

According to the General Department of Customs, in 2018, trade revenue between the two countries reached US$1.032 billion, up 11.9% from the previous year. In the first six months of this year, bilateral trade rose 14% to nearly US$594 million.

At the conference, delegates also proposed that relevant ministries, branches and localities should prioritise investment in infrastructure, border gates and border markets in accordance with the plan on developing the Vietnam -Laos border market network to 2020; as well as adopting mechanisms and policies to attract and encourage enterprises to invest in building border markets and developing infrastructure to facilitate border trade.