Economy and commerce

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – Alipay is available for use by Lao and foreigners at the state-owned Lao Development Bank (LDB). The bank is also preparing to step up cooperation with international partners overseas and is expected to list on the Lao Securities Exchange at some ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting a favourable outlook for Laos’ economic growth in the upcoming years despite the present difficulties.The international financial institution unveiled its projection last week as part of the Article 4 Consultation with the Lao PDR ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – A World Bank survey has suggested that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Laos face a range of constraints, most notably difficulty accessing finance, the practices of informal competitors, and electricity outages.Access to finance has become even more difficult over the ...

Washington D.C/VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – A senior official from the US-Asean Business Council of the United States has advised Lao companies to partner with other Asean companies in order to attract more global investors.The council’s Senior Vice President of Policy Affairs, Mr Marc Mealy, said ...

Japanese cable manufacturer Bando Densen has opened a factory in Laos, joining a group of competitors that are stepping up their presence in Southeast Asia amid demand for electronic vehicles.The company will gradually strengthen its local operations and with cheaper labor costs and existing distribution ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The newly launched transit freight train service requires more cargo shipments from Laos to Thailand to be successful.The train can carry 10 to 20 containers in and out of the country, but it appears that the number of exporters is smaller ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The World Bank is optimistic about economic growth in Laos, which is projected to rebound to 6.5 per cent in 2019, rising from 6.3 per cent recorded last year.Despite continued fiscal tightening, the pickup is expected to be driven by robust ...

WASHINGTON D.C. (Vientiane Times) – A senior official at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Asian Economic Strategy Commission of the United States has advised developing countries to closely cooperate among them to reduce the impact of the trade war between China and the ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) should not merely issue warnings to money changers who break the currency regulation rules, a senior Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) official said yesterday.The remarks were made during a consultative meeting ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The government will try to sell more domestic bonds in the local currency in an attempt to address the fiscal deficit and strengthen the national capital market.Over the past five months of this year, the government has sold 1.13 trillion kip ...