The Vientiane Logistics Park and its associated Thanaleng Dry Port are a boon for Thai businesses, the Lao developer of the project told Thailand’s visiting Deputy Prime Minister.
Anutin Charnvirakul and his entourage visited Laos’ first-ever integrated logistics park, which is being developed in Vientiane near the first Laos-Thailand Mekong Friendship Bridge.
Linking up the Laos-Thailand Railway and Laos-China Railway, the logistics park and dry port facilitate freight shipment from countries in the region to Europe by rail via the China-Europe rail network.
Welcoming the guests, the Chairman of Vientiane Logistics Park Co., Ltd, Chanthone Sitthixay, said the logistics park is part of the packaged Lao Logistics Link (LLL) project, which the Lao developer is partnering with the governments of Laos and Vietnam to develop and operate.
The LLL project also includes the Vung Ang seaport in Vietnam’s central Ha Tinh province and a planned railway linking Vientiane with the seaport. This route leads to markets in southern China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Chanthone told the Thai DPM that the transport of cargo from Thailand’s Isan region to the Pacific region through this route is much more cost-effective.
“The logistics system I describe will cut costs (for Thai logistics) by not less than 35 percent,” the chairman said.
Thanaleng Dry Port’s managing director Sakhone Philangam said the dry port is an important gateway between South-East Asian countries and China.
A number of Thai businesses have shipped freight to China via this route since the dry port opened for service on December 4, 2021.
The multimodal transport facilities, which link to various logistics centres in the region, facilitate transit services between countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China.
Over the first five months of this year, as many as 13,000 containers passed through the Thanaleng Dry Port.
The US$727 million project, which was studied by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is also developing various investment zones to encourage investors to do business there.
These include an export processing zone, which is expected to become a manufacturing export hub for Southeast Asian countries and the global consumer market. In addition, the free trade zone will house the main business activities, including the halal hub and agricultural production park, a technology park, an office zone, an SME area, and a commercial zone.
Vientiane Logistics Park Co., Ltd. vice president Tee Chee Seng said the project offers good opportunities because investors operating businesses here can benefit from various incentives including tax breaks for up to 16 years.
Manufacturers will also enjoy trade privileges that major economies like the United States and Europe have extended to Laos.
“Made-in-Laos products exported to European markets enjoy zero-tariff status with unlimited quota,” said Tee Chee Seng, who is a Malaysian businessman. The cheap cost of electricity is another incentive that boosts competitiveness.
The Lao developer said manufacturers could import raw materials from China and process, rebrand or repackage their products for distribution.
The Lao developer also envisions building Shenzhen-style and Hong Kong-style shopping hubs within the investment zones.
Tee Chee Seng foresees an influx of foreign tourists into Laos boosted by the Laos-China railway as countries in the region relax Covid-19 restrictions. This will give a boost to the shopping business. “This is an opportunity for Lao and Thai entrepreneurs in the cross-border business,” he said.
The Lao developer said the LLL project is part of the Lao government’s strategy to transform landlocked Laos into a land-link country and regional transport connector.
