Laos - Country Commercial Guide
eCommerce

Describes what a company needs to know to take advantage of e-commerce in the local market and covers prominent B2B websites.

Last published date: 2022-07-30

While interest has grown, electronic commerce is not widely used in Laos, due to underdevelopment of Laos’ telecommunications infrastructure and the low rate of formal banking and credit card use.  Facebook is the most common and effective tool used for businesses to communicate with their customers.  Across the country most internet users access the web by mobile device.  Broadband internet access is widely available in Vientiane.  The Lao government passed a Law on Electronic Transactions in 2012 and a Decree on Electronic Commerce in 2021 and has sought ways to encourage  growth and capture revenue from electronic commerce.  The 2021 decree mandated electonci commerce enetities register with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.  In February 2022, the Ministry of Finance announced a new tax regulation that requires non-resident electonric commerce and digital platform service providers that earn more than approximately U.S. $34,000 annually in Laos to register a tax identification number and pay VAT taxes, profit taxes, and applicable income taxes twice per year, beginnign July 2022.