Representatives of Vietnam National Coffee Corp (Vinacafe) and Champassak authorities have recently signed an official agreement on a project growing coffee trees in the southern Laotian province.
The deal was reached at the 29th meeting of the joint Economic, Science and Technology Committee held in Vientiane last week, where Vietnam and Laos together pledged to further develop bilateral cooperation and investment relations.
Accordingly, the Vietnam-Laos Coffee Joint Stock Co. under the Vinacafe has got license to lease 1,000 hectares of land in Pakxon district of Champassak province for coffee cultivation at initial capital of US$5 million.
The Champassak administration will consider allocating another 3,000-5,000 ha to the corporation, enabling the Vinacafe to harvest some 17,000 tons of coffee beans in the next three years.
Also at the meeting, several cooperation agreements for the year 2008 were signed.
The two sides informed each other about the implementation of large-scale projects, such as the construction of the Sekaman 3 and Dak Cheung hydropower plants.
Vietnam will complete 60,000 ha rubber tree plantation in southern Lao provinces, including 10,000 ha in Champassak, said Vietnamese officials.
Vietnam had 106 investment projects in Laos from 1989 to May 2007 with a total value of nearly US$517 million, ranking third among 37 countries and territories investing in the neighboring country, just behind Thailand and China.
Vietnamese investment into Laos mainly focuses on the fields of agriculture, wood processing, energy, mining, pharmaceutical production, and service. Meanwhile, Lao companies have to date invested US$23 million in eight projects in Vietnam in the areas of trade, tourism and services. (Vietnam & World Economy)
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