Thanaleng Dry Port generates 30 billion kip for state coffers, celebrates first anniversary

Dr Viengsavath Siphandone addresses the celebration.

Mr Alounkeo Kittikhoun (second right), Dr Viengsavath Siphandone (third right) and other guests take part in the walk.

Streamers are released to mark the start of the walk.

Participants attend the celebration.

Headline: Thanaleng Dry Port generates 30 billion kip for state coffers, celebrates first anniversary

Advertorial/Souk

The Thanaleng Dry Port has pumped as much as 30 billion kip into the state budget over the past year, the project developer said on Sunday.

The dry port’s Managing Director, Mr Sakhone Philangam, delivered a report to mark the first anniversary of the project (December 4, 2021 – December 4, 2022).

More than 90,000 trucks have passed through the dry port, which is being built in Vientiane near the first Laos-Thailand Mekong Friendship Bridge.   

The dry port, which contains extensions of the Laos-Thailand and Laos-China railways, has serviced 5,111 containers being carried by road and 40,997 containers transported by rail.

Mr Sakhone said the dry port has created jobs for 247 people, including four foreign nationals.

Since its inauguration, the dry port and the associated Vientiane Logistics Park have attracted great interest from government officials, the business community and diplomats from Laos and countries in the region and beyond, who have sought business opportunities after being enticed by the cost-effective services on offer at the dry port.

Some 85 local and foreign delegations comprising about 2,000 people have visited the dry port over the past year.

The decision to celebrate the first anniversary on January 8 was symbolic, as that was the day that China announced the official opening of its border with Laos at the Boten-Mohan border crossing.

“We chose today as a historic milestone for the first anniversary of the operation of the Thanaleng Dry Port,” Mr Sakhone said.

He added that the dry port will be developed into a modern regional transport and logistics connector.

Mr Sakhone is committed to continue upgrading and modernising the dry port, while streamlining procedures to speed up services.

Connecting to the Laos-China Railway, which is part of China’s global infrastructure project dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative, the dry port can facilitate transport to reach European markets via the China-Europe rail network.

As the dry port is part of the Lao Logistics Link project, which includes the Vung Ang seaport in Vietnam’s central Ha Tinh province and a planned railway linking the seaport to Vientiane, the dry port also offers cost-effective transport of goods to countries in the Pacific region via the seaport.

The construction of infrastructure at the dry port is almost complete, according to Mr Sakhone.

Addressing the celebration on Sunday, Minister of Public Works and Transport Dr Viengsavath Siphandone congratulated the Lao investor on the work done to execute the project and the successes achieved so far.

“I recognise the important role the dry port plays. It has become an important connecting point for transport and logistics both in the region and internationally,” he said.

To mark the event, the project developer also organised ‘a walk for health’ at the dry port.

Dr Viengsavath; Mr Sakhone; Mr Alounkeo Kittikhoun, President of the Executive Board of Strategy and Planning at PTL Holding Company Limited, Mr Viengkhone Sitthixay, Vice President of Vientiane Logistics Park Co., Ltd. and hundreds of state officials, businesspeople, staff and guests took part in the walk.