Laos is adding to its and Southeast Asia’s infrastructure with the soft opening of the Thanaleng Dry Port (TDP) and the Vientiane Logistics Park (VLP), official media have reported.
Opened in August, the facility will link with the Laos-China railway, which, when it opens in December 2021, will connect Vientiane with the Chinese border, TDP and VLP’s developer said. This will be a gamechanger for Laos, formally linking it to its northern neighbour and making it land-linked rather than land-locked.
Both facilities are located next to the Laos-Thailand railway station and near the first Laos-Thailand Friendship Bridge and are expected to serve as a logistics and transport hub linking the two railways and to facilitate trade and investment.
This is expected to reduce cross-border transport costs, especially at the first Lao-Thai Friendship Vientiane-Nong Khai border crossing, where current prices are expected to drop by 40% by 2025, media added.
The Thanaleng Dry Port, which is being developed on a 382-hectare site with the 50-year concession project, is part of the Laos Logistics Link project.
The TDP and VLP are set to connect to the Vung Ang port in Vietnam’s central Ha Tinh province, where the Lao and Vietnamese governments have agreed to jointly develop a planned railway to link the Lao capital of Vientiane with the Vung Ang seaport and ASEAN Highway No. 12, TDP managing director Sakhone Philangam said
MICHAEL MACKEY
