Canned food producer doesn't fear AEC competition
Canned food producer doesn't fear AEC competition
The only fruit and vegetable canning operation in Laos, Lao Agro Industry Company (LAICO), based in Vientiane province has no concerns about the Asean Economic Community (AEC) forming in 2015, according to a company official.
“We have no fear because the main markets for our canned fruit and vegetables at the moment are in Europe,” a senior company official, Mr Chanin Awakulpanich, said on Friday.
In fact the company looks forward to the AEC as the competition it will bring will just be an added challenge, “however our company will have an advantage because we have already produced canned food products here for years,” Mr Chanin said.
“We have locally based raw material production and we already have everything we need to supply the plant.”
Mr Chanin said that LAICO imports its cans tax free because the Lao government is keen to promote local production of goods destined for export.
He said that is why, once the new canned fruit and vegetable producers come to invest in a production facility in Laos, they will have to begin by making a feasibility study, mainly on sourcing raw materials.
Laos is gearing up to be part of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. The trading bloc will create a single market and production base, leading to a highly competitive economic region that is conducive to equitable development, and a region that occupies a significant place within the global economy.
LAICO was established in 1994 and cans sweetcorn as well as pickled garlic and cabbage, rambutan in syrup, baby corn in brine, bamboo shoots, sweetcorn milk and palm seeds on its five hectare site in Thoulakhom district, Vientiane province.
It sources most of its raw materials from local farms and forests, although some vegetables are imported.
It can produce an average of 3,600 tonnes of canned or bottled fruit and vegetables each year, with about 5 percent sold on the domestic market, while the remaining 95 percent is exported.
It has a large number of foreign clients in both the EU and Asean countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Vietnam and Thailand, while it is now focusing on finding more buyers in Asia.
When there is a large supply of raw material it employs around 300 people, the workforce comprising both permanent and temporary staff.
It is the first fruit and vegetable processing factory in Laos. It has three international accreditations which certify production and product quality, namely Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point and British Retail Consortium.
vientiane times
