Vietnamese and Laos businesses were urged to thoroughly study the contents of the trade and border trade agreements signed by the two countries to take advantage of the two deals. — VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

VIENTIANE (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese and Laos businesses were urged to thoroughly study the contents of the trade and border trade agreements signed by the two countries to take advantage of the two deals.

Speaking at a conference to disseminate the two deals in the Laos central province of Savannakhet on Tuesday, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu said the trade agreement was signed in March 2015 to replace an outdated pact adopted in 1998. The two countries signed the border trade agreement in June 2015, under which they promised to grant special preferences to each other, he added.

The official said he hoped the conference will help Vietnamese and Laos enterprises access business opportunities in their respective countries and map out future business strategies.

After the two agreements were signed, leaders of the two countries had informed their business communities of the agreements as a way to facilitate their operation.

The Vietnamese and Laos ministries of industry and trade are always ready to support the two countries' firms to elevate trade and investment ties on par with the fruitful bilateral political links, Tu affirmed. Laos' Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Siaosawat Savengsuksa called on entrepreneurs from the two sides to raise questions regarding the two trade deals, which would be promptly responded to by officials of the two ministries.

Phan Thanh Thu, director of Viet Nam's Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group based in the Laos central province of Attapeu, said the two agreements had raised confidence and created momentum for enterprises of the two countries to move forward.

He said the border trade deal had helped remove many obstacles for his company's sugar shipments to Viet Nam.Kaseumsack Keosayavong, chairman of Laos' multi-sectoral Chaleunsap Group in the central province of Bolikhasay, said the deals, especially the border trade agreement, would help facilitate the trading of goods via the common border line between the two countries, thus benefiting businesses.

He noted that the exemption of export-import tax imposed on farm produce in Viet Nam would enable his group to increase its presence in the neighbouring country.

The conference was held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Laos Ministry of Industry and Commerce in collaboration with the Vietnamese Consulate General in Savannakhet Province.

Some 140 representatives from Laos and from Vietnamese enterprises doing business in the southern and central regions of Laos participated in the conference. — VNS