PROVINCIAL FACILITATION FOR INVESTMENT AND TRADE INDEX IN THE LAO PDR

The Lao Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) unveiled a new Lao Provincial Facilitation of Investment and Trade Index (ProFIT) that rates economic governance in 17 provinces according to feedback from the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises. ProFIT considers six areas of importance to business: (i) starting a business; (ii) transparency and access to information; (iii) regulatory burden; (iv) informal charges; (v) consistency of policy implementation; and (vi) business friendliness.

LNCCI developed ProFIT in partnership with the Mekong Business Initiative, supported by the Australian Government and the Asian Development Bank. The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry also provided technical inputs, having published a similar index for the last 14 years. Approximately 1,300 businesses participated and shared their views.