Laos to become world coffee club member by year end

(KPL) After a two-year torturous wait, the Lao Coffee Association received the good news that the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) would welcome it as a permanent member at the end of this year.
The good news sparked off a whole range of activities in the Lao Coffee Association that its staffs were feverishly preparing the documentary papers, which would be lodged at the ICO head office in England in October 2009. Mr Sinouk Sisombath, who was re-elected President of the Lao Coffee Association, added that the entry to this exclusive club was so important for his members and to Laos that he would fly to England to personally lodge the application papers.
He said that the members of the association had actually spent more than two years in making preparations and during this time they were determined to get their coffee products to be recognised by the world coffee market.
The ICO membership would enable the local coffee growers to gain access to new markets, assistance and higher prices for Lao coffee. Speaking to a KPL News reporter this week he said he had a three-pronged approach to raise the profile of the association: get every coffee farmer in Laos to join the Lao Coffee Association, gain entry of this association into ICO and to promote Paksong district, southernmost Champassak province, as an agricultural eco-tourism destination.
He also said that the Lao government recognised Paksong district as an important area for the production of agricultural crops, especially coffee and for eco-tourism. With such recognition the district has been banned from the plantation of other industrial trees such as rubber, eucalyptus and acacia. Established in 1963, the ICO now has 80 country members.
Since 2004, Laos has exported roasted coffee beans to a number of countries, including the USA, the EU, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.