Mr Bountheung Douangsavanh (right) visits a booth displaying Lao-made products at an event in Vientiane last week to mark International MSME Day.

Lao products go on display to mark International MSME Day

Products made by small and medium enterprises in Laos went on display from July 22-24 at the Vientiane Centre to mark International MSME Day and give business operators the opportunity to discuss their experiences.
The theme of this year’s International MSME Day (Micro-, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise Day) was “Resilience and Rebuilding MSME for Sustainable Development”.
The event in Vientiane was supported by the World Bank and attended by Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Mr Bountheung Douangsavanh, and other officials.
As well as product exhibitions, there were business exchange workshops, talks on access to capital by representatives of financial institutions and banks, and professional exhibition activities.
Speaking at the event, Director General of the Department of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mr Bounpheng Sibounheung, said International Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Day was first organised in 2017 after the United Nations General Assembly designated June 27 of every year as an occasion to highlight the signicicance of these businesses.
Since then, this important day has been widely celebrated by agencies in the United Nations network, both in Switzerland, New York, the United States, Asean countries, and other countries.
The purpose of the day is to make all relevant parties and the general population aware of the importance of small businesses and their huge contribution to economic development.
These businesses create jobs and generate income to improve the living standards of people and communities around the world, especially contributing to the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030.
Mr Bounpheng said it was essential to promote and develop MSMEs, with these businesses accounting for about 99.8 percent of all enterprises in Laos and employing more than 80 percent of the population.
Small businesses operate in major sectors of the economy, such as trade, manufacturing and services.
The government has supported MSMEs by formulating policies and measures to strengthen their operations and help them grow, with these policies implemented by ministries, the government as a whole, and business units themselves.
Recently, the government approved the MSME Development Plan for 2021-2025 and the National Assembly approved a revised MSME Promotion Law.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is revising the MSME Size Classification Decree and the SME Promotion Fund Decree. This legislation will be an important basis for a new phase of support for MSMEs and will help to boost economic recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update July 26, 2022)