PM’s historic UAE visit highlights business opportunities in Laos

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone on February 10 met with United Arab Emirates’ business executives in Dubai where he highlighted the lucrative opportunities in Laos that can boost trade and investment between the two countries.
PM Sonexay’s historic visit to the Gulf country from February 10 to 12 included attendance at the World Governments Summit 2025 at the invitation of the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

PM Sonexay Siphandone (centre  left) at the Laos-UAE Business Forum.

On the first day of his visit to the oil-rich nation, the Lao leader chaired the “Laos-UAE Business Forum”, which brought together more than 80 officials and business executives from more than 50 companies.
In his keynote speech acquired by the Vientiane Times, Dr Sonexay pointed out Laos’ investment potential for UAE’s businesses, explaining they can tap into four areas of development, namely clean energy, carbon credit, agricultural production and processing, and financial and banking services.
Elaborating on the potential of each area, Dr Sonexay said Laos is a leading nation in Southeast Asia that has the potential to develop clean energy to supply the domestic and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) markets. Hydropower, solar and wind energy, and pump storage offer particular opportunities.
Investors from many countries have expressed interest in carrying out feasibility studies on setting up Big Data centres in Laos, charging stations for electric vehicles, and technological parks, leveraging the potential of Laos’ clean energy, PM Sonexay said.
Carbon credit is another area of potential, thanks to Laos’ extensive forest cover, he added.
“The Lao PDR ranks first in ASEAN and the eighth globally in terms of largest forest coverage,” PM Sonexay told participants at the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates.
With the vision of increasing forest cover to 70 percent of Laos’ total land area of 236,800 square kilometres, it is an opportunity for investment in forest protection and rehabilitation to absorb carbon dioxide and boost carbon credit trade, he said.
PM Sonexay added that the government encourages investment in modern agriculture, clean agriculture, agricultural processing and the development of agricultural systems value chains to ensure food security, support green tourism, and promote agricultural exports.
Laos also recognises the important role of a modern financial and banking sector in driving sustainable development.
“We have focused on promoting the development of digital financial services and encouraging international cooperation to increase the capacity of public and private financial institutions,” PM Sonexay said.
“We are happy to cooperate to build capacity and expertise, create an environment that makes financial services modern, reliable and guaranteed, and able to grow stably to achieve the country’s development goals,” he added.
Prime Minister Sonexay also invited companies in the United Arab Emirates to consider investment opportunities in fields of potential such as the production of high-value agricultural products and the processing industry, which uses innovation and is linked to the ASEAN production base.
Laos also has potential in the areas of infrastructure development, logistics, dry ports, financial services, and crypto mining research and services.

PM Sonexay Siphandone (centre  left) at the Laos-UAE Business Forum.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update February 13, 2025)