Chinese company to take over Oudomxay animal feed factory
Chinese company to take over Oudomxay animal feed factory
Oudomxay provincial authorities will allow a Chinese company to take over an existing animal feed factory in Xay district to produce and supply animal feed to local farmers in the northern provinces of Laos.
The ceremony to hand over the factory from Sahamit Developing Company to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was held recently at the Agricultural Technical Service Centre in the province.
Provincial Commerce and Industry Department Director Mr Bounthan Vannachai said construction of the factory began in 2012 and was completed the following year, carried out by a Chinese construction company.
A concession on the factory was then granted to a local company but they weren't ready to operate it at that time.
The company therefore transferred the factory to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the ministry transferred it to the province, according to Mr Bounthan.
The factory is worth over 40 billion kip (over US$5million) and it has a production capacity of 60,000 tonnes per year.
The factory had received financial support from the China government as well as from Yunnan province by the time it was handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 2013.
Mr Bounthan said there is now a Chinese company keen to take over the concession and they are waiting for Lao government approval after checks have been made of the investment and other considerations.
The factory will have a concession period of 40 years and the company will have the opportunity to extend this after further consideration is given by the Lao government.
“If everything goes smoothly the factory will go into production at the end of this year. This will have the major benefit of helping us to reduce the amount of animal feed we import as well as earning some export income from feed sent to China,” he believed.
Most of the animal feed we have to import from neighbouring countries like Thailand and China as there isn't an operational animal feed factory in the province at the moment, said an official from the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department.
When the factory goes into production the local farmers in the northern provinces will have adequate feed for their animals, he said.
The country currently produces enough animal feed to supply about 60 percent of domestic demand, so the country still needs to import to satisfy the market.
By increasing of the number of animal feed processing factories and sweetcorn plantations in Laos, it is believed that the country will be able to produce sufficient animal feed to meet all its needs by 2018.
vientiane times
