Customs Office begins functioning at Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone

The Customs Office within the Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone has begun operations to facilitate easy imports and exports by investors.
The Customs Office, developed by the Laos-China Joint Investment Co Ltd, was officially launched on Wednesday and handed over to the Vientiane Customs Department Office. It will be manned by customs officials on duty at the zone.

The launch and hand-over ceremony at the Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone was attended by officials of the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance and the Vientiane Special Economic Zone Authority, representatives of the zone’s developers, and investors.
The Deputy Managing Director of the Laos-China Joint Investment Co Ltd Mr Khiengkham Phoutchanthavong presented a construction report and said the zone had received permission from the Ministry of Finance to build the Customs Office on an area of 28,000 sq m. The project included an office building, a dormitory, an inspection complex, a parking space and other facilities.
“The Customs Office is ready to provide full services and the zone’s developers, in collaboration with the government sector, are preparing to build an inland container depot (ICD) inside the zone,” he said.
The Deputy Director of the Vientiane Special Economic Zone Authority, Mr Kaynakhone Thammavone, said the establishment of the Customs Office will benefit investors involved in import and export operations, especially when more companies and factories become operational at the zone.
“This newly launched office will also mobilise and contribute to the one-service initiative and this will create a better business environment within the special development zone,” he said.
According to a senior official of the Laos-China Joint Investment Co Ltd, a total of 150 companies have invested in the zone. However, only 50 companies have begun production and the rest are in the process of building the required facilities.
Most of the investors in the zone are from China, Thailand, Japan and the US, and some of them are Lao nationals.

By Advertorial Desk
(Latest Update February 24, 2022)