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Overview of the Forum

The Forum was attendedby representatives of the two governments, Mr Nguyen Xuan Phuc – Deputy PrimeMinister of Vietnam, Chairman of Vietnam-Laos Cooperation Department andMr Somsavath Lengsavad– Deputy Prime Minister of Laos, Chairman of Vietnam-Laos Cooperation Department and leadersof Ministries of the two contries, leaders of Highland, Central Southernprovinces of Vietnam and leaders of 7 provinces of the Southern Central Laos.250 guests from different provinces and 80 enterprises from Laos and Vietnam participatedin this forum.  

The purpose of thisforum is to promote cooperation in all sectors: economy, politic and social developmentbewteen the two countries and prepare for future partnership: Conference oneconomic cooperation between Laos and Vietnam in January 2015; dialogue tosolve constraints in several localities in South Central Laos in order toassist Vietnamese investors; solutions for boosting investment cooperationbetween Vietnam and Laos, especialy for the next stage.

At the forum, thelocal government and entrepreneurs of the Highland and South Central Vietnam expressedgratitude to the support of two governments. They also stressed difficultiesand constraints in their business in Laos, especialy with administration,custom, tax procedures….

Speaking at the forum,Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the special friendship of Vietnam-Laos; healso appreciated the organization of the forum, the partnership between theprovinces of Central Vietnam including Binh Dinh with Southern Laos. Theeffectiveness of investment promotion programs of Central Vietnam provinces inSouthern Laos, especially contribution of the entrepreneurs from Binh Dinh wasacknowledged.

On behalf of thedelegation of Laos high-ranking officials, Deputy Prime Minister SomsavatLengsavad expressed great thanks to the Deputy Nguyen Xuan Phuc, leaders ofministries in Vietnam and Binh Dinh province for warm and friendly welcome. Healso emphasized Binh Dinh’s potentials and strengths and strongly believed thatBinh Dinh will become a developed area in Vietnam and its partnership withSouth Central Laos will gain excellent achievement.

So far, 413 projects ofVietnamese entreprises have been licensed by Laos government, with totalcapital of around USD 5 billion, ranking second among the nations investing inLaos. These projects are mostly in: energy, infrastructure service, agriculture – forestry, mining. As of September2014, there were 199 Vietnamese projects investing in South Central Laos,accounting for 49% of the foreign projects in Laos. Total capital is more thanUSD 4.7 billion, accounting for 95.4% of the total FDI capital of Vietnam inLaos. Since the first investment promotion forum in Champasak in 2012, 36 Vietnamesenew projects have been granted licenses in Laos with total capital of USD 1.53billion, increasing 1.5 time compared with 2012.