Lao business operators facing tough challenges 

One man trying to make headway in the construction business. Bounleuth Luangpaseuth described some of the problems that he and others are facing. 
“The government has established a single-window service to facilitate trade and provide assistance with business registration, but the implementation of this system has been delayed,” he told Vientiane Times recently. 
Anyone wanting to set up a business must wait a long time to get approval, which delays the process, while other countries spend much less time on such procedures, giving their entrepreneurs a competitive advantage. This loss in time forces people to spend more money to register their business and leads to corruption to speed the process. 
“The government has enacted good policies for investment promotion and trade facilitation to integrate with regional and international markets, but the measures have not been carried out efficiently in practice,” he said. 
Lao businesses are also thwarted by high interest rates and limited government funding. 
Additionally, a lack of skilled human resources means that very often technicians must be brought in from abroad, further raising the cost of operations and costing Laotians much needed jobs. 
“Skills and labour development programmes are limited compared to other countries in the region,” he said.