U.S. and Laos Launch Second Phase of Trade Project

Monday, February 09, 2009

The United States and Laos today launched the second phase of a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) project to help Laos meet the requirements to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), comply with obligations under the Lao-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), and fulfill its commitments to the ASEAN Economic Community. 

The project is managed by USAID and funded by the U.S. Government through the U.S. Embassy in Laos.

The second phase of the Laos BTA/WTO Project will build upon the initial phase’s successes.  These include English-language translations of trade-related decrees, assessments of the impact of liberalizing telecommunication services, holding trade workshops for negotiators and regulators, and training government officials to draft trade-related fact sheets.  The first phase was launched in 2008.

The second stage will expand Lao policymakers’ and business executives’ access to trade-related information.  In addition to developing a public website for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s Foreign Trade Policy Department, the project will help establish an information center providing the government and private sector with access to trade-related agreements, laws, regulations and research. 

The program will support transparency by translating laws, regulations, and trade agreements.  It will provide legal analysis and assistance in drafting laws and regulations that comply with international standards.  It will offer assistance to establish enquiry and notification points as required by the WTO. 

Training activities will also support WTO accession and BTA compliance by drawing upon the accession experiences of fellow ASEAN members.  For example, tomorrow and Wednesday the project will sponsor a workshop for the National Assembly highlighting lessons learned from Cambodia’s and Vietnam’s WTO accession and implementation of BTA commitments.  Later this year, Lao trade officials will make a study tour to Vietnam. 

Additional activities will foster dialogue between Laos’ public and private sectors on trade reforms and help the Lao private sector learn about opportunities provided by the Lao-U.S. BTA.

The second phase of the Laos BTA/WTO Project will conclude at the end of this year.

FURTHER READING

• ADVANCE Broadens U.S. Assistance to ASEAN (88 KB PDF)
• ADVANCE: Laos Bilateral Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization Project (70 KB PDF)

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