The first Laos Goods Week in HCM City will be held at Le Van Tam Park in HCM City’s District 1 from January 24 to 28, according to the Lao consulate in the city.

The event is aimed at introducing Lao products to customers and distributors in HCM City as well as the rest of Viet Nam and boosting bilateral trade ties, consul general Somxay Sanam Oune said.

More than 150 booths will be set up by Lao businesses, Vietnamese businesses operating there and city-based ones that trade with Laos, he told a press conference in HCM City on Thursday.

There will be 139 Lao product lines, including rice, sticky rice, dried beef, tea, coffee, fruits and vegetables, wooden products, handicrafts, and souvenirs.

To help the Lao businesses find local trading partners, the event will also feature 40 booths set up by enterprises belonging to the Vietnam Exporters Association (VEXA) and other business groups.

The consulate will collaborate with the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City to organise seminars on investment promotion in the Savan Seno Special Economic Zone and on measures to enhance trade between HCM City and Laos, and a business-matching event for Vietnamese and Laos enterprises on the sidelines of the event.

Pham Thiet Hoa, ITPC’s director, said through the two seminars businesses from the two sides would understand the other market, develop partnerships and suggest measures to facilitate trade.

Trade between Laos and Viet Nam topped US$900 million last year, a year-on-year increase of over 10 per cent.

The two countries have set a target of $4 billion by 2020.

Vietnamese companies have invested $5 billion in 276 projects in Laos, mainly in energy, services, infrastructure, mining, agriculture and forestry. — VNS