Ministry of Industry and Commerce presented certificate of appreciation to Mr. Mombert Hoppe, Senior Trade Economist of the World Bank Vientiane Office

Vientiane Capital, 01 September 2020. Ministry of Industry and Commerce awarded certificate of appreciation to Mr. Mombert Hoppe, the Senior Economist of the World Bank Group in Lao PDR in recognition of his important contributions to promotion of Trade and Private Sector Development in Laos. Mr. Hoppe has worked in Laos as Senior Trade Economist from 1st July 2015 to 30th August 2020. His main tasks included advising Government of Laos on policy in the area of trade and competitiveness as well as supporting implementation of Government Trade and Competitiveness agenda. During these five years, Mr. Hoppe supported the implementation on the second phase of the Trade Development Facility (TDF 2), which was designed to support the implementation of the Trade and Private Sector Development priorities for 2013-2018 and 2017-2018. He also supported the implementation of SME Access to Finance project, which aims to support provision of long term financing for SMEs. Recently in his capacity as Task Team Leader he led formulation of new phase of trade program called the Lao Competitiveness and Trade (LCT) project, which supports Government’s efforts to environment for trade and investment and enhance firm level competitiveness. This program is co-financed by World Bank and other development partners such as Australia, Ireland, USA, and the World Bank. Moreover, during his assignment in Laos, he also conducted a number of research and studies on specific issues related to trade development, export competitiveness, and economic diversifications. These include Taking Advantages of E-Commerce; Commercialization of Rice and Vegetable Value Chains; Informal Practices of Formal Firms as Key Business Constraints; Efficiency of Transportation and Logistics system in Laos; Unlocking the Potential of Lao-China Railway Connectivity and contribution to semi-annual Lao Economic Monitor Publications.
H.E. Mrs. Khemmani Pholsena, Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce presented Certificate of Appreciation to Mr. Hoppe in recognition of his valuable contributions to the development of trade and private sector in Laos during the past five years.