The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has accepted Laos as a member after
15 years of negotiations, Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr Nam Vinhaket
announced yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference in
Vientiane, Dr Nam said he had signed the WTO accession protocol and would
submit it to the Lao National Assembly to consider and ratify at the end of
this year. This would enable Laos to achieve full membership in the global
trading body early next year.
“Laos will automatically become a
full member when the National Assembly informs the WTO that it has ratified the
protocol,” he said, adding that Laos has 180 days to complete the ratification
process.
An official ceremony to accept
Laos as a WTO member was held on October 26 in Geneva, Switzerland. Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Thongloun Sisoulith attended
the event along with Dr Nam and other Lao officials.
Dr Nam said that over the 15
years of negotiations with WTO, “we amended over 90 laws and regulations to
meet WTO requirements”. This legislation would not only help Laos to integrate
its economy with that of the international community but would also improve the
domestic business climate.
According to the World Bank and
the International Finance Corporation, Laos has improved its business landscape
this year thanks to government efforts to streamline the process of business
registration along with import and export procedures.
“In a country like the Lao PDR,
the accession process is not limited to changing some laws and regulations. We
had to change our way of doing business. Indeed, such a mind change is a
difficult and time-consuming exercise. Given the progress we have made, both
institutionally, legally and in our mindset, 15 years actually seems a very
short time,” Dr Thongloun said when speaking in Geneva.
“In that period, over 90 laws and
regulations were enacted, including on trading rights, import licensing,
customs valuation, investment, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical
barriers to trade, and intellectual property rights.”
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy
said Laos had come a long way since it embarked on the road to membership in
1997.
“This is never easy for any least
developed country, and Laos’ first steps were slow. But it is now seriously
reforming its economy and its institutions, and has shown skill in its
membership negotiations.”
“The ability to strike the deal
says much about Laos’ own ability, the flexibility of WTO members who are now
implementing a series of decisions to speed up least developed countries’
accession to the WTO, the technical assistance several of them have provided,
and the invaluable mediation of the chair of the Working Party, Ambassador Yi Xiaozhun
of China,” Mr Lamy said.
Source: Vientiane Times
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