Lao PDR Trade Development Facility Project

closed

The Trade Development Facility Project (TDF) for the Lao People's Democratic Republic aims to support the establishment of the National Integrated Framework Governance Structure (NIFGS) and implement NIFGS's initial activities to address the key institutional and operational bottlenecks and capacity gaps that hinder cross-border trade. There are five components to the project, the first component being trade facilitation. This component of the TDF will be led by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) Department of Imports and Exports (DIMEX) department and will finance technical assistance for the government agencies (mostly other than customs), to help them simplify their procedures, automate their processes, and better coordinate to deliver on the Trade Facilitation agenda under the regional and international agreements. The second component is the strengthening of the sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Standards (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Frameworks. The third component is the Increasing Export Competitiveness and Business Environment. This component is designed in a flexible way to allow for future adjustments. It is currently designed around interventions based on the fundamental principles of developing market for business development services in priority sectors. The fourth component is the capacity building, trade policy, trade agreements and global opportunities. Finally, the fifth component is the strengthening of the national implementation unit and supports the government sub-executing agencies.