On March 12, 2007, CS Bangkok's DSCO Jim Golsen led a group of 12 U.S. Companies to Vientiane, Laos on a Business Mission to explore commercial opportunities in the small but growing Lao market. The mission had been planned for a number of months under CS Bangkok's partnership post relationship with the economic section of the U.S. Embassy in Laos.

CS Bangkok directly recruited a number of the companies and also worked closely with the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand to recruit interested U.S companies located in the SE Asian region.

The mission was composed of a mix of SMEs and large companies including, 3M, Citibank and Monsanto. The SMEs in the delegation included ICT, Environmental Technology and Healthcare companies.

CS Bangkok worked closely with Embassy Laos to develop a substantive and flexible one-day program. All mission participants received a half-day briefing on "How to Do Business in Laos" from the U.S. Embassy, locally based foreign investors and the Lao Government. The U.S. companies were able to meet with the Minister of Commerce over lunch and took part in individual one-on-one meetings or site visits in the afternoon. The mission culminated in a well-attended reception hosted by the Lao Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Embassy.

CS Bangkok Commercial Assistant Kritsananan Setasuvarna also attended the mission and provides invaluable support in coordinating the one on one meetings for the companies.

We are happy to report that we already have one success story that came out of the mission and one more likely success story in the near term and the overall response from the U.S. companies was very positive.

CS Bangkok staff worked tirelessly on every facet of the mission including preparing pre-briefing materials, as well as working with our partner the Asian Wall Street Journal to provide the delegation with supplemental market data.

The mission was a success in strengthing our relationships with the American Chamber of Commerce as well as our partner post in Laos, both of whom are already talking about doing it again next year. Most importantly, the mission was a success in getting American companies sales and exposure in a market where they has previously not been.