(Biz Hub) — Laos and Thailand have set a bilateral trade value target of US$5.77 billion in 2015 as part of efforts to strengthen economic cooperation between the two neighbouring nations.
To achieve the highly ambitious trade target, the two countries will continue to organise frequent exchange delegations, product exhibitions, and business networking meetings, allowing businesses tighten their cooperation, according to Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The two countries will also continue to build roads, bridges and railways connecting the two countries, aiming to facilitate increasing imports and exports of goods, which will be necessary to achieve the set bilateral trade value target.
The establishment of the Asean economic community in 2015 will also create increased opportunities for the two countries to trade with each other, given that various barriers to cross border business will be removed.
The ministry says that Laos expects that its export values to Thailand will reach US$2.2 billion, triple the level it was back in 2010. The country's main exports are electric power, agricultural products and mineral ore.
The primary commodities that Laos imports from Thailand include construction materials, vehicles, fuels and consumer goods.
Analysts say that it is possible for Laos and Thailand to achieve the ambitious trade target thanks to close cooperation between the two governments while statistics show that the bilateral trade value of the countries has increased rapidly over the past years.
In 2007, the trade value between Laos and Thailand was only US$1.78 billion, but by 2011 it had risen to more than US$3.9 billion, of which Laos' exports to Thailand accounted for more than US$1 billion of that figure.
Over the past ten months of 2012, Laos and Thailand have already exchanged commodities and services to the value of US$4 billion, which is already larger than the annual total the preceding year.
Bilateral trade has been increasing by over 30 per cent per annum in recent years, reflecting the unique trade cooperation between the two countries, with none of Laos' other trading partners having been able to achieve that kind of growth as yet.
Analysts say that when comparing the last two-year trade performance with the trade target of US$5.77 billion by 2015 set by the two governments back in 2010, there is a great potential that the target will be reached.
They said that the Lao economy has constantly expanded in recent years, with an annual growth rate of more than 8 per cent, particularly in the sectors of mining, hydropower, infrastructure, services, and industrial and agricultural production.
Such development runs counter to world economic trends, with the global economy still affected by the financial crisis in the Eurozone.
However, continued economic growth in Laos should still see vast increases in both imports and exports of goods and services in the years to come, analysts say. — Vientiane Times/ANN