VIENTIANE, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN member countries need to work together to align their various procedures to enable easier trading within the 10-member bloc, Lao state-run online newspaper Vientiane Times Wednesday quoted Khemmani Pholsena, Lao Minister of Industry and Commerce as saying.
Khemmani Pholsena told a press conference at the Lao National Television Station on Tuesday that standards concerning goods produced and traded by member countries currently vary from nation to nation.
"We have had agreements (on trade), but trade facilitation involves many aspects that need to be worked out," she said.
Minister Khemmani said ASEAN needs to decide on uniform standards that are acceptable to all countries, to enable the freer flow of goods and capital in the region.
She also stressed the need for ASEAN to improve the business environment so that it is more conducive to competition.
"To do so, each ASEAN member country needs to improve their legislation. The Lao PDR is speeding up the amendment of the Investment Promotion Law," she said.
To facilitate trade and investment in the region, ASEAN economic ministers attending their 48th meeting in Vientiane last month launched the ASEAN Solutions for Investments, Services and Trade (ASSIST). The initiative is an internet-based and business-friendly facility that receives and responds to complaints submitted by ASEAN-based businesses.
The ministers also launched the ASEAN Tariff Finder, which is a new practical tool for businesses, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This takes the form of a no-cost online search engine to obtain up-to-date facts on tariff-related information applied by ASEAN member states and their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Partners under the various ASEAN+1 FTAs (Free Trade Areas).
Khemmani said ASEAN is committed to doing whatever is necessary to standardize legislation and streamline procedures to ease the processing of investment licences, and enable smooth business operations and the freer flow of goods.
It was reported that ASEAN central bank officials recently met in Vientiane to discuss ways to deepen cooperation in payment linkages to facilitate trade and investment in the region.
Khemmani also said Laos would draw up a Law on Special Economic Zones to facilitate cooperation in this area with other countries.
Trade facilitation and special economic zones are among the eight priority deliverables under Laos' ASEAN Chairmanship 2016.
Economists say that ASEAN, a region of 620 million consumers, has growing economic and strategic importance as it has rich natural resources and an emerging middle class that provide huge investment opportunities.
Statistics show that ASEAN's economy is projected to grow by 4.5 percent in 2016 and by 4.8 percent in 2017, supported by strong private and public consumption and improved efficiency in infrastructure.
Total merchandise trade in ASEAN reached 2.28 trillion U.S. dollars in 2015, of which 24 percent was intra-ASEAN trade, highlighting the continuing development of regional production networks.
