MOIT VIETNAM | Vietnamese enterprises face the opportunity to penetrate the Lao market after being opened

/ News / Activities

Vietnamese enterprises face the opportunity to penetrate the Lao market after being opened

24th December 2021 post by MOIT Vietnam

Laos is racing to vaccinate against COVID-19 to prepare to open its borders from next month, part of a three-phase opening plan by 2022. On December 18, the AFP news agency reported that Lao health authorities were speeding up the injection of additional doses for people at tourist hotspots along the recently opened Laos-China high-speed railway. This railway is expected to welcome more than 1 million passengers during the Lunar New Year.

The Arc de Triomphe Patuxai (Vientiane) is a place that attracts many tourists to Laos

Previously, on December 17, the Laotian Times newspaper quoted the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism as announcing that the country would open in three phases. The first phase will be from January 1, 2022, the next phase from April 1, 2022, and the last one from July 1, 2022.

In phase 1, Laos will open its doors to 17 countries, including Vietnam and many neighboring ASEAN countries, besides some European countries, China, the US, Australia and Canada.

Before the COVID-19 epidemic, Laos welcomed about 4.7 million tourists a year. However, visitor arrivals fell by 80% in 2020. Laos' growth also slowed to 0.4% last year, the lowest in three decades.

"Many hotels in Vang Vieng are empty and have had to temporarily close for the past 2 years because no one has visited. After the new year, hopefully everything will be better," said Alex Tran, owner of a hotel in Vang Vieng city, said.

Laos is also looking for ways to control the epidemic. The country recorded 1,249 cases of COVID-19 on December 18, down from the increase of the previous days. According to Lao health authorities, the country had 1,702 new cases on December 17 and 1,493 on December 16. The highest number of cases in recent times was 1,898 cases on December 11th.