Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone Project in Laos

I. Overview

Laos Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone is a national-level cooperation project jointly established by the governments of China and Laos. It is the only state-level overseas economic and trade cooperation zone in Laos. It is a national economic zone in Laos and has been listed as a priority project in China‘s "The Belt and Road" Initiative. The development zone is located in the core area of the new downtown of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, covering an area of 11.5 square kilometers, and is 19km away from Wattay International Airport, 10km from the planned new airport and 1.5km from the Sino-Laos Railway Freight Station.

The main operator of the Development Zone is Lao-China Joint Venture Investment Co., Ltd., which is co-funded by Yunnan Provincial Overseas Investment Co., Ltd. (YOIC) and the Municipal Government of Vientiane. The total capital of the company is USD 128 million.

II. Development History

In June 2010, in the presence of Boungnang Vorachith, the then Vice President of Laos, and Xi Jinping, the then Chinese Vice President, YOIC and China Development Bank signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Vientiane Comprehensive Development Project with the Municipal Government of Vientiane, Laos.

In August 2011, Lao government issued the Decision on the Establishment of Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone, officially establishing the Development Zone as a Laos’ state-level special economic zone.

In July 2012, the two governments signed a cooperation agreement to promote the development zone as a joint project between the two countries. The project has been listed as a priority project in "The Belt and Road" Initiative of China.

In May and September 2016, the development zone was respectively included in the "Joint Statement" and "Joint Communique" between China and Laos, which further consolidated and enhanced the position of the development zone in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

In August 2016, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance of the People‘s Republic of China jointly issued the Confirmation Letter for Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones, officially confirming that the Laos Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone was a national-level overseas economic and trade cooperation zone.

On the state visit to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in November 2017, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Xi Jinping published a special article in the Laotian media, and mentioned that the "progress made in the construction of Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone is gratifying".

In March 2019, the General Secretary of the Lao People‘s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Chairman Boungnang Vorachith visited the Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone and hoped that YCIH would cooperate with Vientiane City to develop the Development Zone into a green, sustainable and prosperous area, so as to improve the living standards of local people.

In April 2019, China and Laos signed the China-Laos Destiny Community Action Plan, which included the Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone and proposed to strengthen the construction of the economic and trade cooperation zone.

III. Planning and Orientation

According to the development model of "promoting the city with industry, leading the industry with the city, and integrating the industry with the city", it is planned to focus on building the "Industry Wing" and "New City Wing". "Industry Wing" emphasizes in the four leading industries such as the processing and manufacturing industry, the entrepot trade industry, the modern logistics industry and the health care ecological industry. The implementation of "New City Wing" relies on the development of Vientiane City, Saysettha Development Zone would develop urban supporting facilities, build Vientiane New City, and become the sub-center of Vientiane City, eventually establish the green city of recreation, the ecological city of development, the city of quiet community and the city of modern sample.

IV. Investment Construction and Merchants Attraction Information

The Development Zone will be developed in 3 phases, and the total investment will reach USD 5 billion, and the development will be mostly completed by 2030.

The 4km2 Infrastructure construction and "five suppliers and one leveling" of Phase 1 of the Development Zone have been completed, with a total investment of USD 1 billion, and Phase 1 has complete infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity, communication and network and can fully meet the needs of enterprises with excellent facilities. The Development Zone has constructed the 80,000m2 of standardized workshop and 4,000m2 of customer service facilities, and is capable of providing all-round support for the enterprises. Currently, the Development Zone is carrying out the construction of Phase 2 and the development of Vientiane New City.

As of May 2019, the Development Zone has introduced 68 international and local enterprises. The enterprises settled in the Development Zone are from China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Austria, Canada, Hong Kong and so on with the industries covering biomedicine, electronic communications, technological innovation, building materials production, agricultural and by-products production and clean energy.