Quanzhou business leaders eye openings in Laos
Quanzhou business leaders eye openings in Laos
Officials in Quanzhou city, China, say many business operators are interested in expanding their operations and trade cooperation to Laos after a recent visit to Laos offered a platform for the further developmen t of commerce between Laos and China.
“Recently officials and businesspeople from Quanzhou in Fujian province visited Laos to explore investment opportunities in the garment and textile sectors,” Quanzhou Development and Reform Commission Deputy Director, Mr Wang Ke Si, said.
“We also hope to have business cooperation and investment in other sectors, including tourism,” Wang Ke Si said during an interview and seminar on the Quanzhou pilot zone, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and international production capacity cooperation, during a recent nine-day visit by Asean journalists to China from April 20-28.
Quanzhou Foreign Affairs & Overseas Chinese Affairs Office representative, Mr Zhang Lian Ying, said Quanzhou business leaders are interested in opportunites in Laos because the cost of labour is lower than in Quanzhou.
Zhang Lian Ying said another reason was the absence of import and export tariffs, as these are exempt in Asean under the AEC. These two factors are what attract Quanzhou business operators to Laos.
Quanzhou has a larger workforce than Laos, but the rapid pace of development in China has led to higher wages. “That is why Quanzhou businesspeople are looking for new place s for investment, especially in Asean,” Zhang Lian Ying said.
Currently there are garment investments by Quanzhou businesses in Cambodia and “now they are studying to have similar opportunities in Laos,” Zhang Lian Ying added.
Quanzhou is the largest city in Fujian province. It exports black tea, camphor, sugar, indigo, ceramics, cloth made of grass, and some minerals. It is a major exporter of agricultural products such as tea, banana, lychee and rice.
It is also a major producer of quarry granite and ceramics. Other industries include textiles, footwear, fashion and apparel, packaging, machinery, paper and petrochemicals. It is the biggest automotive market in Fujian and has the highest rate of private automobile possession.
Quanzhou is undergoing rapid development and this city has a culture all its own. It contains a seaport that is the starting point for China's 21st Century Silk Road project which is exciting countries around the world.
Laos has a strong desire to attract foreign investment and is the first country in the Asean bloc that the Fujian delegation chose for cooperation because Laos is centrally situated in the region and borders on China.
The deep cooperation between the strategic partners of Laos and China will raise Laos' profile in the process of regional integration. It also serves to enhance the cooperation between the two countries, which is increasing day by day.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, investment between Laos and China in 2014 amounted to US$3.6 billion, an increase of 32 percent on 2013. In three months of 2015, Chinese companies invested about US$6.6 billion in 750 projects in Laos, making China the number one foreign investor in the country.
