Enhanced Integrated Framework Monitoring Mission for EIF Projects in Lao PDR
Vientiane Capital, October 12, 2023. The EIF Executive Secretariat (ES) conducted a mission to Lao PDR from 7 to 12 October 2023 to discuss with the Government of Lao PDR on the overall EIF programme in Lao PDR, lessons learnt and TRTA priorities.
The mission was led by Dr. Ratnakar Adhikari, Executive Director of the ES, Mrs. Hang Tran, Senior Coordinator at the ES. During the mission the EIF Secretariat had productive meetings with key program partners in the country, including meeting with H.E Dr. Manothong Vongsay, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, H.E Ms. Ina MARCIULIONYTE, Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to Lao PDR as EIF Donor Facilitator, meeting with the Secretary General of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI), the Ock Pop Tok – Textile social enterprise in Luang Prabang, the National Implementation Unit under the Department of Planning and Cooperation of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and other stakeholders.
During the Courtesy Meeting with the Deputy Minister of MOIC, H.E Dr. Manothong Vongsay expressed his warm welcome to the delegations and thank EIF for their support to Trade and Private Sector Development in Laos, he also emphasized that Laos and MOIC highly value EIF’s contributions to the development policies and strategies and development to the overall trade capacity in Laos. H.E also expressed the special thanks for support to the Project on Promotion of Export Competitiveness and Sustainability Support to Public-Private Dialogue in Northern Lao PDR (ECL) and the support for the Diagnostic Trade Integration Study Update 2022 (DTISU 2022).
Going forward, H.E Deputy Minister also requested EIF to consider supporting Laos in three priority areas, including further strengthen of trade and investment regulatory environment, including reducing trade costs, establishing supportive business environment; improve competitiveness of key non-resource sectors, including agribusiness, light manufacturing, and the tourism; and enhance overall competitiveness of SMEs in Lao PDR.
During the mission, a workshop on Key Results from DTIS Update 2022 (DTISU 2022) and EIF Program Implementation in Laos was organized to discuss the country’s priorities in trade and private sector development as well as lessons learned from implementing the EIF program over the past few years.
The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) is an Aid for Trade partnership in action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Operational since 2009, the EIF is a multi-donor program that supports the LDCs to become more active players in the global trading system by helping them tackle supply-side constraints to trade.
