Despite strategic infrastructure such as the Laos-China Railway, Lao SMEs faced significant barriers to cross-border trade. These included limited product diversification, weak branding, complex trade procedures, underdeveloped logistics, fragmented governance, outdated border procedures, poor SME preparedness, weak access to finance, and the absence of centralized trade information portals. There was also a need to connect rural producers to trade corridors and help transform Laos from a transit country into a regional trade hub.
