China-invested project to modernize Vientiane

VIENTIANE - A reception was held in Vientiane Monday night to commemorate the launching of CAMCE Investment (Lao) Company's major commercial real estate project, Vientiane New World.

Laos Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and CAMCE General Manager and Board Chairwoman Luo Yan were among some 200 officials, diplomats and local and foreign business people who attended the reception in downtown Vientiane.

CAMCE Investment (Lao) Company is a joint venture between the Chinese state-owned enterprise CAMC Engineering (CAMCE) and Lao Krittaphong Group.

Vientiane New World is a multi-phase project to develop a large strip alongside the Mekong riverbank in central Vientiane. Covering a space of 42 hectares, the first phase of the project includes fifty stylish villas which will be completed in October.

It will serve as accommodation for the 48 heads of state visiting the capital to attend the upcoming 9th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in November. After the ASEM, the villas will be put on the market.

"CAMCE want to try its best to make this project based on traditional Lao culture, but meeting international standards. We want to make the Lao people proud of our product, while making something that international guests can be more than satisfied with," Luo Yan said.

In the two later phases, an International Cultural and Tourist Center and International Business Center will be built. The facilities will include shopping malls, cinemas, offices and hotels. The project is expected to be completed in six to eight years.

Tourism, hydropower and mining, in particular, are growing industries in Laos, one of Southeast Asia's poorest and most underdeveloped nations. CAMCE and the Lao government hope that major construction projects can help promote development in Laos, as the country is aiming to shake off its Least Developed Nation status by 2020.