Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Khamjane Vongphosy. (Photo: VNA)Accordingto the Lao minister, Vietnam is currently one of the top three foreign investorsin Laos with 417 valid projects valued at 4.3 billion USD, with many projects inremote and isolated areas.
He praised Vietnam’s assistance for Laos in researching and drafting policieson agriculture development, along with cooperation and investment in hi-techagriculture in Laos. He added that the Lao Government is encouraging Vietnameseinvestment in environmentally-friendly agriculture, citing as examples a projectby Hoang Anh Attapeu, and a cow farming project in Xiengkhuang province, whichproduce good results.
In the field of mining and energy, Vietnam has implemented several projectsbased on agreements between the two Governments and Lao laws, the ministersaid, highlighting Xekamane 1, XekamaneXansay and Xekamane 3 projects, which he said have contributed significantly toLaos’ budget.
Besides, the Lao Government is working to attract more Vietnamese investment inthe service sector, according to Vongphosy. He said many Vietnamese projects inthis sector have contributed greatly to socio-economic development and povertyreduction efforts in Laos.
The minister stressed that Laos is carrying out the 9th five-yearsocio-economic development plan, with a focus on infrastructure connectivitywith Vietnam in line with its strategy of turning land-locked Laos into aconnectivity hub of the region. Major projects under the plan are the Vung Angport, the Laos-Vietnam railway, the Thanaleng dry port and a logistics hub inVientiane.
According to the Lao minister, as the Vietnamese Government has agreed to letLaos use the Vung Ang port to reach out to the sea and international market,the Lao Government aims to turn Vung Ang into a deep-water port capable ofaccommodating 100,000-tonne ships, thus enabling Laos to transport goods tothird countries at lower costs than by land. When operation, Vung Ang willbecome an economic gateway of Laos, he said.
Inparallel with developing the Vung Ang port, the two governments have agreed tobuild a railway line connecting Vung Ang with Thakkek in the central Laoprovince of Khammoune and Vientiane capital.
Minister Vongphosy said the railway project is expected to facilitate thedevelopment of the infrastructure network for passenger and cargo transport aswell as the logistics system, thus reducing transport time and costs.
When completed, the two projects will realise the plan on an East-West economiccorridor from Vung Ang in Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province through Khammoune incentral Laos to northeastern provinces of Thailand.
Theminister said the Governments of the two countries have created favourableconditions for the development of bilateral investment-trade ties. The two Ministriesof Planning and Investment have held many meetings with Vietnamese investors,and the two Prime Ministers also had a meeting with business communities of thetwo countries early this year to inquire into their operation and listen totheir opinions.
Accordingto him, based on the outcomes of those meetings, the two countries should workto improve the business environment through open policies and administrativereform, attract investment from Vietnamese businesses with financial capacityand modern technology, and continue to quickly handle difficulties faced byeach other’s investors./.
VNA
