South Korea, Laos join forces to promote green growth, investment cooperation
The event brought together over 100 participants from government ministries, international organisations, and private sector companies from both countries.
Lao and Korean officials join development partners for a group photo at the 2025 Korea–Laos Net-Zero Partnership Forum in Vientiane on May 13.
It was jointly organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), in celebration of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Laos.
The forum aimed to deepen collaboration on carbon emission reduction and to promote green investment initiatives that contribute to both countries' sustainable development goals.
Co-chaired by the President of Southeast Asia and Oceania at KOTRA, Koo Bon Kyung, and Laos' Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Laos, Phouvong Luangxaysana, the event welcomed several distinguished guests, including Minister-Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Laos, Lee Dong Gyu, and Country Representative of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Dagmar Zwebe.
Koo Bon Kyung reaffirmed Korea's commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and underscored Laos' importance as a strategic partner in green energy development.
He said 'This forum provides a timely opportunity for our governments, businesses, and development partners to share strategies, align policies, and identify concrete projects that can turn climate ambition into climate action.'
Phouvong echoed this sentiment, reiterating the Lao government's commitment to its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
'We are actively implementing the Decree on Carbon Credits, preparing NDC 3.0, and enhancing climate finance strategies, with strong support from international partners such as Korea,' he said.
Key presentations from Lao ministries—including the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry—highlighted national strategies on carbon credit markets, greenhouse gas reduction, and energy transition.
International partners such as GGGI, KOICA, and KOTRA shared updates on technical assistance, Article 6 carbon trading mechanisms, and frameworks to drive green investment.
The forum also featured a technology showcase by leading Korean green energy companies. These included the CS Tech Consortium (comprising NS Telecom, KCP, and Dasco), Enerwin Korea, MOA E&C, Thanks Carbon, and EWC, who introduced their innovations in renewable energy and carbon reduction technologies.
Two significant Memorandums of Agreement were signed during the event.
The first was between CS Tech Consortium and Electrical Construction and Installation State Enterprise (ECI) for the development of e-bike and battery-swapping infrastructure.
The second was with ASA Power Engineering for solar power development projects.
These initiatives are expected to become the first Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes between the Republic of Korea and Laos under the Paris Agreement framework.
A government-to-government session was also conducted between the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and representatives from Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, KOTRA Headquarters.
Discussions focused on establishing a collaborative framework to meet 2030 GHG emission reduction targets.
The event concluded with a business matching session that facilitated direct consultations between 19 major Lao companies—including EDL, EDL-Gen, Phongsubthavy Group, Khounxay Group, ASEAN Group, DDC, and the AIF Group—and Korean green technology providers.
In his closing remarks, Director General of KOTRA Vientiane, Park Jungwe, said 'This is not a one-time event. It is a long-term initiative. KOTRA will continue to support project identification, investor engagement, and capacity-building to ensure Korea and Laos achieve meaningful progress together on the net-zero transition.'
The forum served not only as a platform to promote investment cooperation, but also to raise public awareness about Laos' climate change commitments and the growing opportunities for Korean companies to invest in renewable energy, electric mobility, and sustainable infrastructure in Laos. - Vientiane Times/ANN
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Pledging to deepen ties
Stronger relations: Lam (left) and Lee attending a press conference to announce their joint statement at the presidential office in Seoul. — AP THE nation has pledged deeper economic and strategic cooperation with Vietnam as their leaders held a summit, with the countries seeking to leverage their business ties to navigate a challenging global trading environment. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is hosting Vietnamese leader To Lam as his first state guest since taking office on June 4, and they discussed promoting trade and investment in the South-East Asian country, Lee's office said. Lam, who is the Vietnamese Communist Party general secretary, leads a delegation of industry, trade, foreign and technology ministers and senior party and parliament members on the four-day state visit. 'Our countries agreed that about 10,000 Korean companies operating in Vietnam contribute to Vietnam's economic development and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries,' Lee said in a televised address. 'I asked for a continued interest in the stable economic activities of our companies in Vietnam.' Lam said the countries agreed to further open up their markets and expand trade to US$150bil (RM635.5bil) by 2030, adding that Vietnam welcomed an increase in investment by South Korean businesses along with greater technological cooperation. The countries are due to sign at least 10 memoranda of understanding at the summit meeting, pledging cooperation in areas including nuclear and renewable energy, monetary and financial policies, and science and technology, Lee's office said. Other agreements covered cooperation in infrastructure, including high-speed rail. The rare visit by the Vietnamese leader is expected to contribute to a favourable condition for South Korean businesses to invest in major infrastructure and nuclear energy projects planned in Vietnam, it said. A number of major South Korean companies including Samsung Electronics have used Vietnam as an export hub, benefiting for years from lower labour costs, generous tax incentives and Hanoi's numerous free trade pacts with dozens of countries. But the trade policy of US President Donald Trump, who imposed sweeping new tariffs on the Asian countries in recent weeks, has increased uncertainty over future business commitments, with Vietnamese official data showing a slowdown in new investment. South Korean companies have been cited as potential investors in Vietnam's planned nuclear energy, LNG power plants and high-speed rail projects. Trump has imposed a tariff rate of 15% for South Korean goods and 20% for imports from Vietnam. — Reuters
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
North Korea warns of reprisal against South Korea-US drills amid signs of tensions easing
SEOUL: North Korea denounced on Monday (Aug 11) a major joint exercise planned by the South Korean and US militaries as "direct military provocation" and warned of counteraction, amid signs of easing tension across the border under a new leader in Seoul. North Korea's Defence Minister No Kwang Chol said its military has an "absolute mission" to defend national security against the large-scale 11-day drills by South Korea and the United States, which he said posed a real and dangerous threat. "The armed forces of the DPRK will cope with the war drills of the US and the (South) with thoroughgoing and resolute counteraction posture and strictly exercise the sovereign right," No said in a statement issued via KCNA state news agency. DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. No said the drills staged under the pretext of defence against threat were additional proof of confrontational intent by the two countries that raises hostility and further destabilises regional security. North Korea routinely denounces military drills by the South and the United States, having called some previous exercises "a rehearsal" for nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, even as Pyongyang conducted a range of missile tests and live fire artillery exercises. South Korea and the United States said last week the annual exercise would begin on August 18 to test command control and troop mobilisation under an upgraded security strategy against heightened threat of nuclear warfare by North Korea. However, the allies said a major part of the field exercise would be postponed and conducted separately next month, citing weather conditions. The postponement was widely seen as prompted by South Korea's liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who won a snap election in June, to ease tension with Pyongyang. Ties between the rival Koreas had plunged to some of the most hostile points in recent years, as the North pressed on with developing nuclear attack capabilities and dramatically boosted military ties with Russia. While Pyongyang has publicly rebuffed renewed outreach by Lee and Washington for dialogue, it was making moves seen as reciprocating some South Korean actions to ease tensions. South Korea said on Saturday it had detected the North's military removing some loudspeakers at the border, days after the South began dismantling similar equipment that had blared propaganda across the border. - Reuters
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
North Korea now removing speakers from border
Keeping watch: A North Korean soldier standing guard in a watch tower next to a giant loudspeaker (right) in Paju in this file photo. — AFP The military said it detected North Korea removing some of its loudspeakers from the inter-Korean border, days after the South dismantled its own front-line speakers used for anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts, in a bid to ease tensions. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't disclose the sites where the North Koreans were removing speakers and said it wasn't immediately clear whether the North would take all of them down. In recent months, South Korean border residents have complained that North Korean speakers blasted irritating sounds, including howling animals and pounding gongs, in a tit-for-tat response to South Korean propaganda broadcasts. The South Korean military said the North stopped its broadcasts in June after Seoul's new liberal president, Lee Jae-myung, halted the South's broadcasts in his government's first concrete step towards easing tensions between the war-divided rivals. South Korea's military began removing its speakers from border areas on Monday but didn't specify how they would be stored or whether they could be quickly redeployed if tensions flared again. North Korea, which is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong-un, didn't immediately confirm it was taking down its speakers. South Korea's previous conservative government resumed daily loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year, following a yearslong pause, in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons towards the South. The speakers blasted propaganda messages and K-pop songs, a playlist designed to strike a nerve in Pyongyang, where Kim has been pushing an intense campaign to eliminate the influence of South Korean pop culture and language among the population in a bid to strengthen his family's dynastic rule. The Cold War-style psychological warfare campaigns further heightened tensions already inflamed by North Korea's advancing nuclear programme and South Korean efforts to expand joint military exercises with the United States and their trilateral security cooperation with Japan. Lee, who took office in June after winning an early election to replace ousted conservative Yoon Suk-yeol, wants to improve relations with Pyongyang, which reacted furiously to Yoon's hard-line policies and shunned dialogue. But Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, rebuffed overtures by Lee's government in late July, saying that Seoul's 'blind trust' in the country's alliance with the United States makes it no different from its conservative predecessor. She later issued a separate statement dismissing the Trump administration's intent to resume diplomacy on North Korea's denuclearisation, suggesting that Pyongyang sees little urgency in resuming talks with Seoul or Washington. — AP
