Thailand becomes top investor in Champassak province
Thailand has topped the list of investors in Champassak province, supporting 52 projects at a cost of US$280 million.
Thai investment reached 37 percent of all foreign investment in the province, according to the provincial Planning and Investment Department.
Second is Vietnam with 45 projects worth US$235 million.
The industry sector attracted about 58 percent of the total with 27 percent for agriculture and 15 percent in the service sector, the provincial domestic and foreign investment promotion section deputy head, Mr Bounyong Sounthone, informed local reporters recently.
As encouraging domestic and foreign investment in the private sector has become one of the most important responsibilities of the provincial authorities, the number of investors has grown continuously over the past few years, he said.
The province currently has 356 projects within the private sector costing 11,635 billion kip, of which 181 involve only domestic investment of 2,368 billion kip, broken down into 63 projects in agriculture and forestry, 56 in industry and 62 in services.
The 175 projects being supported by foreign investment at a cost of 6,267 billion kip, involve 79 in agriculture, 58 in industry and 38 in services.
The province has foreign investors from 19 countries, said Mr Bounyong.
In the twelve months of fiscal year 2013-2014, the provincial authorities issued investment licences for 27 projects worth 780 billion kip, of which 15 involved domestic investment, worth 578 billion kip.
So far most of these projects are going very well, especially the coffee plantation projects.
Coffee currently covers 43,579 hectares including local farmers' plantations, all of which amounts to 32,753 tonnes of production.
Last year, the province exported 29,500 tonnes of coffee beans, worth US$65 million.
Chicken farms are proving to be a successful investment, which combined are producing 300,000 eggs a day. Pig breeding is also proving to be very worthwhile.
The effect of these projects has been the creation of job opportunities for local people and an increase in the rate of employment within the province.
Thailand is currently Laos' third largest foreign investor behind China and Vietnam.
Last year Thailand was Laos' biggest trade partner, while we ranked 21st on the list of Thailand's global trade partners and 7th in Asean after Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Myanmar according to The Bangkok Post.
During the five years from 2009-13, bilateral trade between Thailand and Laos averaged US$3.76 billion a year.
In 2014, total trade reached US$5.44 billion, up 6.3 percent from the year before, with imports of US$4.03 billion, up 7.3 percent from 2013. Exports last year totalled US$1.41 billion, up 3.7 percent.
