Country seen as rich in investment opportunities for Korean firms
Country seen as rich in investment opportunities for Korean firms
The investment climate and policies of the Lao government were underscored in recent discussions with Korean business people interested in investing in the country.
The Asean-Korea Centre held a business environment seminar on the Lao PDR in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Investment at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul.
The seminar was organised to provide information on the general investment climate of Laos, as well as the investment opportunities in the agriculture and hydroelectric power sectors.
Representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Energy and Mine and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry visited Korea for the occasion and gave presentations on topics including the investment climate and policies, project financing and foreign direct investment trends in Laos.
A one-on-one business meeting session was also held between the Lao delegation and Korean business participants allowing the two sides to discuss in detail specific investments and business plans. The Korean business people came away enthusiastic about investment in Laos after the talks.
The hydroelectric power sector was a topic at the seminar and drew much attention and interest from the Korean participants as it was mentioned in recent Korea-Lao PDR summit talks as a promising field for cooperation between the two countries. Laos has great potential in this field while Korea has abundant experience in water resource management and construction & operation of hydropower plants.
The importance of Laos as a regional logistics hub, with the nearby countries of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and China, is expected to become further reinforced when the Asean Economic Community is launched in 2015.
Laos-South Korea trade volume year-to-date is approximately 1.6 billion kip (US$200 million) while South Korea’s accumulated investment amounted to about 2 billion kip (US$250 million) making it the 4th largest investor in Laos after China, Vietnam and Thailand, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
In other statistics, 291 major investment projects of South Korea were listed in 2014. The total value of investments of foreign countries in Laos from August 2008 to May in 2014 was over 467.5 trillion kip (US$58 billion) and there were 97,537 private companies involved in general businesses in the country over the same period. South Korean firms’ foreign and direct investment in general business covered 228 projects.
vientiane times
