Young Thai entrepreneurs eye business opportunities at Vientiane Logistics Park, Thanaleng Dry port

More and more foreign entrepreneurs are exploring business opportunities offered by the Vientiane Logistics Park and its Thanaleng Dry Port, thanks to its cost-effective services.

Thailand’s young entrepreneurs explore business opportunities at the Thanaleng Dry Port. --Photo Bee

On Saturday, more than 200 Thai businesspeople, mostly young entrepreneurs from Thailand’s Chamber of Commerce, visited the US$727 million project being developed on 382 hectares in the Lao capital Vientiane.
Open for service since December last year, Laos’ first-ever integrated logistics park and dry port has facilitated the flow of goods, notably between Southeast Asian countries and China.

Containing extensions of the Laos-China and Laos-Thailand railway tracks, which enable containers to be transferred for onward shipment, the dry port has put Laos in the spotlight and cemented its place as a new supply chain for the region and beyond.
Welcoming the guests, Vientiane Logistics Park Co., Ltd. Vice President Tee Chee Seng said several countries, mainly China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, are regularly shipping goods through the dry port.
Over the first five months of this year, as many as 13,000 containers passed through the dry port. 
The linked railways and the dry port have offered opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs, thanks to the improved interconnection, Mr Tee Chee Seng said.
Many transport service providers in Thailand - a major producer of farm products - have shipped locally-grown farm produce to the Chinese market of more than 1.3 billion consumers using the cost- effective services provided by the railways through Laos.

Young entrepreneurs from Thailand are briefed about the Vientiane Logistics Park and its Thanaleng Dry Port. --Photo Bee

Thanaleng Dry Port's Managing Director Sakhone Philangam explained how the dry port offers cost-effective services.

President of Thailand’s Kaocharoen Train Transport Co., Ltd., Panya Paputsaro, told the Vientiane Times recently during his visit to the dry port that it now takes less time to export goods to China and cuts costs considerably.

Through the railways and the China-Europe rail network, the cost of exporting goods from Thailand to Europe is cut by as much as 40 percent compared to transport by sea.
So far, the logistics park and dry port have been providing only transport and logistics services. But the project developer is expediting the development of investment zones where investors will be encouraged to set up businesses.
The planned zones include an export processing zone that will offer a more competitive business environment and will gear up to become a manufacturing export hub for Southeast Asian countries and the global consumer market.
Investors in these zones will benefit from incentives including tax breaks, as permitted under Lao law, as well as trade privileges that major economies like the United States and Europe have extended to least developed countries like Laos.

Trucks loaded with containers are parked at the dry port.

Products that are manufactured here are eligible to name Laos as the country of origin, which enables them to enjoy these trade privileges, Mr Tee Chee Seng said.
In addition, the free trade zone will house the main business activities, including the HALAL hub and agriculture production park, technology park, office zone, SME area, and commercial zone.
According to the plan, the Lao developer envisions building Shenzhen-like and Hong Kong-like shopping hubs in these zones to provide people in the region with new and exciting shopping experiences.
Mr Tee Chee Seng said his company is preparing everything necessary for efficient business operation, including infrastructure and legal aspects and procedures, meaning that businesses need to invest only capital and know-how. 
The whole project is expected to be fully complete within five to seven years, he added.

The Lao developer said the dry port and logistics park will also link businesses to markets in the Pacific region through the Vung Ang seaport in Vietnam’s central Ha Tinh province, as the logistics park and the seaport are part of the packaged Lao Logistics Link (LLL) project.
A planned railway to connect the seaport to Vientiane and a planned logistics park in Khammuan province are also part of the LLL project, which will provide even more cost-effective transport and logistics services.  

By Advertorial Desk
 (Latest Update August 9, 2022)