Lao province eyes Vietnam trade
Lao province eyes Vietnam trade
Laos's newly established province of Xaysomboun wants to bolster trade and investment co-operation with Vietnam, especially HCM City, a deputy secretary of its Party Committee told a conference in HCM City on Tuesday.
Phoikham Houngbounyuang told the conference held to seek investment in his province, said 80 percent of Xaysomboun's area of 8,500sq.km is covered by plateaus and mountains. Its climate and geography are suitable for agriculture and forestry, mining, and processing, and it has many rivers, which offer great potential for hydropower development, he said.
With historical tourist attractions and beautiful landscapes, the province also has much tourism potential, according to the Lao official.
The Lao Government and provincial administration are greatly focused on its socio-economic development, but a lack of resources domestically has held it back.
Thus, the province wants to seek investment from Vietnam, especially HCM City.
Chanhthanom Vongsomchit, director of the Xaysomboun province Department of Planning and Investment, said, “The province is seeking private investment locally and from abroad.”
He furnished a list of projects in which the province is seeking investment, including growing green vegetables and daisies, the 15MW Nam Pheng hydropower plant, tourism and services, housing, a cement factory and a supermarket.
The province would offer graded incentives – from levels one to three -- to investors, he said.
Businesses listed as level 1 would get tax exemption for 10 years, while those in levels two and three would get it for six and four years, he said.
Those investing in difficult areas like mountains would be entitled to the highest level of incentives, he said.
Investors building hospitals, kindergartens, schools, vocational colleges, universities, research centres and some other public facilities would get free use of land for 15 years and tax waiver for an extra five years, he said.
Lê Van Khoa, deputy chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, said the establishment of the Asean Economic Community had opened up investment opportunities in the region, including between the two countries.
He urged city agencies to work with their counterparts in Xaysomboun for investment and developing long-term co-operation for mutual benefit.
More than 30 city-based companies have invested more than US$250 million in Laos, while trade between the two sides topped US$6 million last year, he said.
