Members of the private sector of the twin provinces of Khammouane, Lao PDR and Nakhon Phanom, Thailand met on January 26, 2019 in a Business to Business (B2B) meeting to discuss the challenges and ways forward to advance competitive cross-border trade in their twin border crossings. Held in Khammouane province, the meeting was co-hosted by the Khammouane Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nakhon Phanom Chamber of Commerce and facilitated by the RLED-EWEC Project of MI. Some 40 members of the business organizations joined the meeting.  

Among the major issues discussed during the meeting were the costs associated with import-export procedures, border operational services and regulatory issues affecting trade. Suggested solutions and recommendations on how to increase cross-border agricultural trade were gathered from the meeting participants and will be later consolidated into a joint proposal.

Following this, a Business to Government (B2G) Dialogue is scheduled in March 2019 to formally present the business sector’s proposed solutions for consideration of the two provincial governments.