Dried cassava chips dominate Borikhamxay exports
Dried cassava chips dominate Borikhamxay exports
Borikhamxay province has reported that dried cassava chips represented its largest export commodity for the first nine months of this fiscal year, due to the large increase in cassava plantations in the province.
The provincial Industry and Commerce Department reported that the province produced a total export value of more than 113.84 billion kip (US$14.23 million) over the nine month period.
The US$14.23 million includes over 76.56 billion kip (US$9.57 million) in export value from provincial production while the remainder came from exports passing through Borikhamxay or making use of export services there.
The department representative, Mr Sahouane Sawang, said on Friday that the US$9.57 million export value included more than 42.66 billion kip (US$5.33 million) of dried cassava chip to the markets of Vietnam and Thailand, about 50 percent of the value for each market.
The provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department reported on Friday that the province had more than 10,150 hectares of cassava farms in 2012, which was a large increase from the past years.
The remaining 32.19 billion kip (US$4 million) was the export value of wood products, about 70 percent of which is to Vietnam and around 30 percent is to Thailand.
Mr Sahouane said the province also has other ag ricultural products such as maize and job's tear and some processed products, including electronic equipment and scanners that are assembled in the province for export to Vietnam.
The province has a focus on promoting the agricultural sector, including the production of crops and livestock, plus processing industries for export.
This production sector has placed a higher importance on attracting investment from both local and foreign investors which has increasingly helped to bring in large amounts of income for the province.
The province also has tax exemptions on the duties for imported machinery, raw materials, equipment, crop species and animal feed to be used for various projects.
Borikhamxay is being transformed into another economic hub in the northern and middle parts of Laos following the improvement of its road network, linking the province with other regions of the nation and its neighbouring countries.
Borikhamxay was established in 1984 by taking districts from surrounding provinces to form the new province, which at that time had a population of more than 100,000 people.
Today the province has seven districts including Pakxan, Thaphabath, Pakkading, Borikhan, Khamkeuth, Viengthong and Xaychamphone and a population of 264,000 people.
The income per capita in Borikhamxay has now reached some US$1,533.
vientiane times
