On the morning of January 22, 2024, the 4th Annual Business License Reform Coordination Committee Meeting was held in the first-floor meeting room of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and chaired by H.E. Mme. Chansouk Sengphachanh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, and Head of the Business License Reform Coordination Committee. The meeting included the Deputy Minister, representatives from the Ministry's Permanent Security Office, and relevant departments both within and outside the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, with a total of 125 participants.
The purpose of this meeting was to evaluate the implementation of the business license reform in 2023 and to discuss the future work plan, with a focus on addressing outstanding issues, prioritizing the workplan, and enhancing collaborative efforts in 2024.
During the opening ceremony of this meeting, Mme chair commended the relevant sectors for their proactive efforts in improving licensing within their purview. Notably, many sectors have proposed removing their activities from the controlled list, illustrating a commitment to revising numerous regulations and legislation pertaining to business license applications in alignment with their rights and responsibilities. This aims to streamline procedures, reduce unnecessary paperwork, and expedite license issuance, thereby enhancing the business environment in Lao PDR.
To ensure the successful implementation of Order No. 03/PM and achieve concrete results, Mme chair urged representatives from pertinent ministries to maintain close coordination. She also emphasized the importance of each sector conducting comprehensive research to reevaluate their activities and expedite the improvement of the license issuance process, incorporating a risk-based approach. Moreover, Mme chair recommended that sectors prioritize the update of legal information pertaining to their reformed business licenses on the inventory business license portal website (www.bned.moic.gov.la)
Simultaneously, the meeting proceeded with a brief report from the Director General of the Department of Enterprise Registration on the compilation of a list of activities within relevant sectors that require permission to operate, summarizing a total of 414 activities.
This compilation serves as a fundamental reference for the private sector. Additionally, a presentation was delivered on the principles governing the issuance of enterprise certificates according to the revised Law on Enterprises. It emphasized the separation of business establishment (enterprise registration) from the issuance of business licenses, and international principles and best practices aimed at improving the process of business license issuance and the associated management mechanism were also presented. The meeting concluded with great success.
The meeting was supported by the Lao PDR Competitiveness and Trade (LCT) project. 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. The project aims to eliminate barriers to private sector-led growth by improving the regulatory environment, lowering trade costs and raising firm-level competitiveness.
