The Governments of Vietnam and Laos have reaffirmed their commitment to increasing bilateral trade to USD10 billion. The event brought together more than 120 government officials, business associations and enterprises from both countries to explore opportunities for trade, investment and cross-border supply chain development.
Officials from both countries highlighted the importance of strengthening business-to-business connections, improving cross-border logistics infrastructure and streamlining customs procedures to reduce logistics costs and facilitate trade. Laos also outlined measures to improve its investment climate through administrative reforms, digitalisation of its national single-window system and incentives for investors in special economic zones, while encouraging Vietnamese companies to expand investments in sectors such as organic agriculture, deep processing and technology transfer.
The seminar also featured business matching sessions that resulted in new commercial partnerships and the signing of dozens of memoranda of understanding and framework agreements between companies from Vietnam and Laos. Participants noted that, although bilateral trade has grown steadily under existing trade agreements, its current scale remains below its potential. The agreements reached during the event are expected to support the two countries’ objective of increasing bilateral trade to USD4 billion in 2026 as an intermediate step towards the long-term target of USD10 billion.