VIENTIANE — Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has pledged to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese firms to continue investing in agricultural development in Laos.

At a reception in Vientiane on Thursday for chairman of Trường Hải Auto Corporation (THACO) Trần Bá Dương and chairman of Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Group Đoàn Nguyên Đức, the Lao PM appreciated the two companies’ strategy on sustainable investment in agriculture in Laos.

He urged Hoàng Anh Gia Lai and THACO to transfer technology to local people, helping them to access modern agricultural production methods.
He also praised the companies’ commitment to complete and hand over Nongkhang Airport in Houaphanh Province on the occasion of Laos’ National Day on December 2 this year.
                       
The Hoàng Anh Gia Lai executive reported to the Lao PM that the group’s investment in Laos had been affected by the steep fall in the prices of rubber latex in the global market, which made the group unable to fulfill its commitment to building Nongkhang Airport.
He added that his group had signed a strategic deal with THACO in August last year, under which THACO provided financial support for Hoàng Anh Gia Lai to restructure and pay its debts. Thanks to the assistance, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai had overcome its most difficult period, stabilised its finance capacity, and continued to invest in agriculture.
            
THACO Chairman Dương said his firm would supply agricultural machinery for Hoàng Anh Gia Lai’s farm in the southern Lao province of Attapeu.
           
The company will also open a transportation route from Attapeu to the THACO agro-forestry-industry park and Chu Lai Port in Quảng Nam Province through the Bờ Y Border Gate in Kon Tum Province.
Dương said THACO and Hoàng Anh Gia Lai would work for the common target of developing fruit tree cultivation in Laos. THACO would build a closed value chain in the field, expand large-scale cultivation models and transfer technology to Lao farmers with the goal of developing sustainable and high-value agriculture in Laos.
           
According to Dương, THACO would advance US$12 million to Hoàng Anh Gia Lai to complete Nongkhang Airport. It would assign its subsidiary Đại Quang Minh to help with the management and supervision of construction so the airport would be completed on schedule as committed by Hoàng Anh Gia Lai to the Lao PM. — VNS