Lao National Women’s Day: Celebrating the Strengths and Successes of Lao Businesswomen

Vientiane, 17 July 2023-To mark the Lao National Women’s Day, Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) organised a Women Empowerment Public Event on “Celebrating the Strengths and Successes of Lao Businesswomen During and Post Covid-19”. This is the first of the series of Women Economic Empowerment Events to create a platform for dialogue, inspiration, and networking.

The half-day event aims to raise awareness of gender equality and women’s empowerment, fostering a supportive environment for women in the business sector. Through the panel discussion and inspirational talks, the event aims to inspire participants to take proactive steps towards achieving gender equality in the business world and empowering women to unleash their full potential in Lao PDR.

Like other countries, Lao PDR and its people were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, the society suffered from loss of jobs, high inflation, depreciation of kip and rising public and private debts. Women and girls were more adversely affected in all aspects of economic and social engagements from education, health, jobs, domestic violence, representations and more. Yet, women did not succumb to these pressures. As the country continues its post-pandemic recovery, they are right there on the frontier showing the potential, stamina, and know-how.

In her opening remarks, Mrs. Chanshouk Sengphachanh, MOIC Deputy Minister gave an overview of women exclusion landscape in Laos and in the region and what should be done to further boost economic empowerment in Laos.

Deputy Minister Chanshouk Sengphachanh concluded her remarks by emphasising the importance of taking practical actions and emphasized that “To tackle existing gaps between man-owned and operated businesses and woman-owned and operated businesses, we will continue to focus on creating an enabling business environment, increasing access to financial services and digital solutions for all.”

While talking about the importance of taking a comprehensive approach in promoting women economic empowerment, Mrs. Sirehood Phoummavanh, Vice President of Lao Women Entrepreneurs’ Association emphasized that “we need to recognise that more can be done to further women’s progress through improving the business environment, access to finance, labor, information and other productive assets”.

The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Souphaksone Silaphet, news reader from Lao National Television who was able to spotlight the inspiring journeys and contribution of four Lao businesswomen from different sectors including tourism, logistics, agriculture and food processing, and a guest speaker from Thailand who shared women’s challenges, resilience, and leadership towards Covid-19 recovery.

The panel included Ms. Khamly Philavong, CEO and Founder of the KLP Company.,Ltd and also the founder of Khaolao brand, Ms. Mimee Phommaly, Manager of Khamphet Farm Ms. Philaprachit Prachittham, Business Operation Manager of Inthira Group, and Ms. Sisomphon Phomvilaye, Marketing Manager of Houngaloun Logistic Company.

The event was attended by the representatives from line government agencies, development partners, business associations, lecturers, and students from National University of Laos.

The Women Economic Empowerment event was supported by the Lao PDR Competitiveness and Trade (LCT) Project. The project aims to eliminate barriers to private sector-led growth by improving the regulatory environment, lowering trade costs, and raising firm-level competitiveness. The LCT Project is implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, with technical and financial support from the World Bank and a multi-donor trust fund contributed by Australia, Ireland, and the United States.