Vietnam pours more cash into agricultural projects in Laos

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group has invested approximately 1.2 billion USD in Laos to plant corn, sugar cane, rubber and palm in an area of 40,000ha, according to an article published on the English language news website VietNamNet Bridge.
Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group has invested approximately 1.2 billion USD in Laos to plant corn, sugar cane, rubber and palm in an area of 40,000ha, according to an article published on the English language news website VietNamNet Bridge.

Chair of the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Laos Tran Bac Ha says that at the end of 2013, Vietnamese enterprises invested in 440 projects in Laos, worth about 4.9 billion USD. Of them, Hoang Anh Gia Lai ranks first among investors. Currently, Vietnam is the one of the three largest investors in Laos.

In particular, Vietnamese enterprises have invested in four southern provinces of Laos, with about 1.7 billion USD. Hoang Anh Gia Lai accounts for over 90 percent of that capital. Vietnamese companies in Laos have employed 35,000 workers and the number is expected to rise to 65,000 by 2020.

Vietnamese investors have granted 40 million USD to social welfare programmes in Laos, of which more than 30 million USD is from Hoang Anh Gia Lai.

Ha says the association aims to increase investment capital in Laos to 6.3 billion USD in 2015. He says trade turnover between the two countries has reached about 1 billion USD per year.

To meet the target of pushing bilateral trade volume to 2 billion USD in 2015, the two governments should create the most favorable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to invest in Laos, including the opening of Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi-Vientiane-Attapeu air routes to promote economic development in Laos’ southern region, says Ha.

Chair of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Doan Nguyen Duc says that his company is also preparing to import 100,000 Australian cows to breed in Laos.-VNA

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