The RLED-EWEC Project of MI continues to build stakeholder capacity with a recently-concluded Enterprise Workshop on the Facilitation and Promotion of Cross Border Trade between Mukdahan, Quang Tri and Savannakhet Provinces.

Organized on May 18-19, 2018 at Quang Tri province, Vietnam, the workshop gathered 40 private sector delegates from such agencies as the Mukdahan Chamber of Commerce, Savannakhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Quang Tri Business Association, and other enterprises from the three provinces.

The event aimed to enable the private sector representatives to further analyze the issues and recommendations forwarded during the Roundtable Meeting held in Savannakhet, Lao PDR early in March this year, as well as come to a joint agreement on the content of the recommended proposals and an action plan for the upcoming dialogue between enterprises and the government of the three concerned provinces.

Three groups developed a complete proposal offering 15 recommendations including ensuring the transparency of fees and charges at the border gates. They also proposed an action plan for organizing the upcoming dialogue tentatively set for June. The workshop also witnessed the active participation of women entrepreneurs who shared meaningful and critical inputs to the proposals.

As part of the Enterprise Workshop, a Communication Corner was also set up displaying brochures and sample products from the private sector of the three provinces. The enterprises made full use of the event to exchange information and widen their network for potential cross border cooperation.