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Dear members and colleagues,
Another month has passed and we begin to see some light at the end of the COVID ‘tunnel’. Entry into Australia is becoming much easier, although the details do depend on which state or territory you enter. The Lao PDR initiative to reduce the quarantine entry period requirement for business people, experts and foreign investors is also great news. However, the chamber and the embassy are still limited in the in-person events we can hold, which meant that Australia Day celebrations were unfortunately very muted this year.
We do expect that the government will potentially relax rules around in-person events and we can start to hold more and larger events again. I particularly look forward to being able to meet you all during our ever-popular Sundowner networking monthly events when possible.
Our last board meeting received a financial update from our treasurer Marion Rimaniol, and the good news is that despite COVID restrictions and its impact on our membership and revenue generating activities, we remain in a stable financial position. Well done to the executive team, past and present for some creative solutions to bolster our revenues over the last 12 months.
David, our Executive Director has been very active in meeting our sponsors and members to have discussions on the business climate and any advocacy issues you’d like raised. Keep the dialogue going and let him know of any support we can provide by way of lobbying on your behalf.
Best regards,
Alistair Brown, President AustCham Lao and Chair, Civitas Consulting Co. Ltd. |
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| A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR |
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This last month has been very busy for the AustCham team. I have been out meeting with many of our sponsors and presenting them with Sponsorship Certificates. This has been a great opportunity for me to meet with many of our members and learn about some of the constraints of operating in Lao. AustCham Lao will continue to advocate for our members in an effort to increase the ease of doing business in Lao.
As always, I invite our members to contact me directly with any concerns they have. I look forward to meeting more of our members in the coming months.
David Ormsby, AustCham Lao Executive Director |
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| AustCham Lao, Canadian Embassy in Laos, ECCIL, BBGL, Civitas and the Lao CSR Award Organising Committee is pleased to announce the shortlisted candidates for the inaugural Lao CSR Award.
We received a large number of excellent applications for this award and it has been extremely difficult for our judging panel to narrow these applications down to a short list. The number and quality of the applications speaks to the overall commitment to CSR within the Lao business community.
The shortlisted candidates in the SME category are:
Discover Laos Today The Green SERCASIA/Green Vientiane
The shortlisted candidates in the Larger Business Category are:
Angsana Maison Souvannaphoum Burapha Agro Foresty Co., LTD. Pullman Luang Prabang Love Life Co., LTD
The winners of the Lao CSR Award will be announced during the Responsible Business Conduct Forum, to be held on the 17th of February. |
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AustCham, Embassy of Canada, EuroCham, British Business Group and the European Union are pleased to announce the third Responsible Business Conduct Forum, to be held on the 17th of February. The event will be live-streamed via Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
The second RBC Forum, held on March 18th, 2021, was hugely successful in enhancing awareness and knowledge of CSR principles and practices. Building on this success, the third Responsible Business Conduct Forum is scheduled to be held on the 17th of February 2022, and will feature a series of interactive panel discussions involving business leaders and CSR experts over a full-day on Feb 17, 2022.
The RBC Forum will culminate in Lao PDR’s first-ever CSR Awards on the same day to recognise companies upholding the highest standards of RBC in their corporate strategies and daily work, and whose CSR activities can serve as models for the wider Lao business community.
Please register to join the event, free of charge, through Zoom (with Lao translation) by clicking "Read More" |
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| Training: English for Better Emails | | Online Training: English for Better Emails | 
| Feb 24, 2022 to Mar 31, 2022
(GMT+7) |
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| English communication via email is an essential part of doing business at an international level, especially for businesses who are members of AustCham or dealing with businesses with connections to English speaking countries.
This course aims toimprove your English writing skills by developing your use of vocabulary, grammar, understanding of different business writing genres, and your ability to write professional emails. After completing this course, you will be able to: - write clear and to the point emails - write persuasively in English - adapt content to purpose, context and audience - use appropriate style and tone of writing for business purposes
Course Structure:
This course is structured on 6 modules of 1 hour to allow maximum focus and assimilation of the concept. Participants are invited to be hands-on and practice at home (The trainer will assign homework for each session). Participants will be divided into three different ability groups (introductory, intermediate, and advanced) based on a pre-course email based assessment.
The training aims to: - Improve English literacy
- Improve clarity of communication
- Enhance the capacity of participants
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| PAST MATE TO MATE INTERVIEWS |
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Watch last month's episodes of MATE to MATE, AustCham's topical interview series on our members' Covid-19 emergency response. |
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Mate to Mate 'A Diverse Workplace' with Tim Scheffmann from LTS Ventures. Tim talked about FinTech, Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, and the Blockchain, Click on "read more" to play the interview! |
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| BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT & INFO |
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ASEAN tourism ministers announced the reopening of tourism in the region at the close of the ASEAN Tourism Forum held in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
During the forum, tourism ministers from each ASEAN nation revealed their shared strategy to boost regional tourism recovery.
The region has seen a decline in tourism of over 200%, with the Covid-19 pandemic causing the loss of millions of jobs and business closures due to stringent travel restrictions.
At the forum, ministers highlighted the need to quickly launch domestic tourism campaigns in each of the ten countries, as well as easing border controls to encourage regional tourism among ASEAN member states.
Tourism ministers and representatives at the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2022. Member countries proposed the establishment of dedicated ASEAN travel gates at border checkpoints as well as shared digital vaccination cards in a format recognized by all ten countries.
At the same time, ministers emphasized the need to ensure tourism operators are compliant with ASEAN hygiene and safety guidelines.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Minister of Tourism, Thong Khon, announced the adoption of the New ASEAN Tourism Logo and ASEAN Safe Travel Stamp “Safe and Warm” as part of the plans to support tourism recovery.
Despite optimistic reopening declarations, however, experts say strict travel restrictions continue to hinder the revival of tourism in several ASEAN nations, including Laos, Indonesia, and Vietnam. |
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| ANZ AWARDED THE BEST EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE 2021 |
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Congratulations to our gold sponsor, ANZ, who was awarded the Best Employee Experience 2021 by the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Prudential Life Assurance (Lao) Company Limited on 19th January 2022.
This significant award was presented to ANZ Laos in recognition of ANZ’s outstanding cultural initiatives to create the best experience for their organisation’s employees. Receiving the award on behalf of ANZ was Mukdalay Xayarath, Head of Talent and Culture of ANZ Laos.
ANZ is the only AA- rated bank in Laos, and was the first international bank to enter the Lao market back in 2007 with a mission to be the best bank for sustainable institutional companies who move goods and capital throughout Asia-Pacific. Along with supporting the Laos economy through high quality financial services to businesses operating in the region, ANZ also has a strong focus on supporting employment through developing local employees with international skills and knowledge.
ANZ’s people and cultural program focuses on three main areas with an aspiration to ‘Grow People Selflessly’. Their initiatives include a “speak up” environment, uplifting employee recognition, and fostering learning and development in order to build strong employee engagement. |
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| CROWNE PLAZA CELEBRATING 5TH ANNIVERSARY |
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Our Gold Sponsor Crowne Plaza Vientiane, the first Intercontinental Hotel Groups hotel in Laos, is celebrating its 5th anniversary!
Crowne Plaza Vientiane opened its door to the first guest on 27 January 2017 as the first IHG® (Intercontinental Hotels Group) hotel in Laos. IHG is one of the largest hotel groups in the world which consist of over 5,000 properties worldwide. Crowne Plaza Vientiane is strategically located in the heart of the Chanthabouly district featuring 198 contemporary guest rooms including 8 suites.
Throughout the years in operation, the hotel has won many awards and recognitions worldwide including the title of Laos' Leading Business hotel 2019 and 2020 from the World Travel Awards and Laos' Luxury Hotel & Conference Centre 2020 from the World Luxury Awards.
Crowne Plaza Vientiane also features state-of-the-art conference centres which can accommodate up to 1,012 guests in a theatre-style setting. With its services exceeding expectations, the hotel gains awards for two consecutive years as Laos' Best MICE hotel 2020 and 2021 from the World MICE Awards.
"It is one of the major stepping stones as we are celebrating the hotel's fifth anniversary. We would like to thank our clients who have supported us over the years, our owning company BIM Group, and last but not least, we would not have done this without the team's dedication and hard work. Our authentic services and the true hospitality spirit in all of our team member is the distinctive aspects that bring our hotel to the forefront in our customer thoughts. We thank you and we look forward to the many more years of delivering service excellence in Vientiane!"
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The European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Laos and Prudential Life Assurance (Lao) Co., Ltd. together announced the winners of the Best Employee and Customer Experience Awards which Phongsavanh Insurance (APA) Co., Ltd won in the category of Best Customer Experience as the company was recognized for its excellent and outstanding business in category of Customer Experience which demonstrates a unique, standout, or innovative experience initiative for clients with its bespoke insurance solutions to address customers' specific needs. We are the first insurer to introduce pay-as-you-go motor insurance in Lao PDR, and tailor made this product for a very particular client, LOCA, which itself has launched a very innovative service in Lao PDR and required an innovative insurance. For their particular needs, including very different risk elements for its new online taxi business, Phongsavanh Insurance (APA) created a bespoke insurance solution which was a brand new insurance concept in Lao PDR.
On behalf of Phongsavanh Insurance (APA), Suthee Vitthayagovit, Chief of Operations and Finance said: “We would like to thanks both organizers- The European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Laos and Prudential Life Assurance (Lao) Co., Ltd to organize such a good event and we’re so delighted and proud that Phongsavanh Insurance (APA) has received this recognition. This proves our company’s mission which is to be the preferred and trusted innovative Insurance Company in Laos and this motivates us to continue to focus even more and try even harder to maintain our best customer experience. At Phongsavanh Insurance (APA), we never stop thinking how better we can engage with each individual customer in different ways they preferred and understand their needs in order to provide the best solutions. We believe that each customer/business has different risk elements which mean different insurance solution is needed. Thus, we think it’s important to give the customers something they really value rather than a One Size fits all off the shelf solution.” |
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| SPECIAL OFFER FOR VALENTINE DAY |
| Promotion from Phongsavanh Insurance (APA) during this month of love: Special for customers who buy Happy Health insurance today till 28th February 2022 will get:
- 14% discount for 1 policy
- Buy more than 2 policies get 20% discount/each
We still have more special promotions as:
Whoever buys Happy Health and life insurance (Annual payment) from 1st February until 30th June 2022 has a chance to win special prize (1 policy/ 1 coupon)
- 1st prize: 2 nights accommodation in Luangprabang + free round trip train tickets (for 2 people)
- 2nd prize: 1 night accommodation in Vangvieng (02 prizes)
- 3rd prize: Personal accident insurance (07 prizes)
*Terms and Conditions apply.
For more information, please contact us via 1677
Email: info@apa.com.la
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| Up to -2%* on your current loan rate!
Our Silver sponsor BFL is launching a Refinancing campaign intended for SMEs in Laos.
Refinancing working capital loan with BFL will give SMEs established in Lao PDR the opportunity to lower their monthly instalments, allowing them to boost cash flow for the expansion of their businesses.
Benefit from a competitive rate and a waive on both approval and inspection fees*.
A Limited offer and a not to be missed opportunity! For further information, please contact BFL at:
Tel: 021 285 444
*Terms & Conditions Apply |
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Our Silver Sponsor Toyota Laos supports for the “RUN LAOS 2022, 140km CHALLENGE SERIES”. Under this Covid-19 situation, at this moment it conducts the virtual run / a virtual marathon that takes during the month of 1st February to 28th February 2022. This “RUN LAOS 2022, 140km CHALLENG SERIES” are organized by ‘Event for Goods’, and Launched by ‘Run Laos’ for the purpose of encouraging the community to donate blood to save lives.
Toyota Laos see the importance of the blood shortage in Laos as a result of the Covid19 pandemic and support the ‘Quality for health’ of lao community. Toyota Laos support this event, encourage people to participate this marathon to raise awareness of blood donation campaign through this event. Having a real role in this contribution, Toyota Laos also held a blood donation event at Toyota Square this last Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January, and will continue this activity until end of February 2022.
There will be a variety of running event throughout the year of 2022, as part of the “Run for Food Heart” series, which is consists of three separate running events designed to provide all runners with more than just a running experience by allowing them to participate in a variety of social benefits and social service activities.
Click on "read more" More information for the registration of this Marathon: |
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| Jaguar Land Rover Laos launched the new all-electric Jaguar I-PACE premium performance Sport SUV on Friday 28th of Jan 2022 at Champasak Grand Hotel at Champasak Province.
This event aims to launched the new jaguar I-pace to show a presentation officially electric premium sports SUV vehicle in Champasak Province for the customers know about our new jaguar detail to attract interest customers and touch the real experience of the Jaguar I-PACE.
The fully electric Jaguar I-PACE is a new and unique concept in the automotive business. The new all-electric Jaguar I-PACE launch event in Champasak has impressed customers with its sleek, luxurious design, modern technology and new innovation of driving. This event bring us a successful from good feedback of customers and a lot of customer reserve a Jaguar I-PACE for a test drive. |
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