What note worthy is this was the first abroad visit of the provincial high-level officials that was entouraged by enteprises. 

Firmly backed by a quantum leap in economy last year, Quang Ngai Government now initializes its plan to seek business and investment farther in new places: an investment outflow abroad. And the neighbouring country of Laos is chosen by Quang Ngai province to start its outreaching.

The falling-behind country of Laos, whose development has been hampered by poor communications in the heavily forested and mountainous landscape, is assumed by local authorities and businesses a less challenging place in terms of competitiveness, at least with local rivals.    

Apart from Kim Thanh Luu Enteprise who has been successfully doing business with the country of thousands of elephants for years, the other members of the business entourage were Agricultural Product and Foodstuff Company L.t.d, Ba To Forestry Enteprise, Quang Ngai Sugar Corporation’s Subsidiary of Thinh Phat, and Phuoc An Inox Company.

Thsese said enteprises are well-to-do businesses in Quang Ngai, and all want to seek opportunities to expand their business to Laos’s market.

Director of Phuoc An Inox Company, a newly-established company but has very remarkable market share in Vietnam with a network of over 200 sale agents throughout Vietnam, said he found the fact-finding visit to Laos a very interesting milestone in his business plan. “Laos is a new and potential market,” he said “and opportunities have been opened, not only for mu business but also for many others.”

Agricultural Product and Foodstuff Company L.t.d (APFCO), mainly specializing in processing cassava flour for export with its export turnover of over USD 25 million in 2007, is planning to expand its production. And Laos’s fertile land is considered by the company management as a new land for expanded input material production.

In fact, APFCO did buy some 5,000 tons of cassava last year from Laos farmers to use as input material. Therefore, expansion of the input material production into Laos seems a good idea.

Earlier, Quang Ngai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) had sketched a game to play on agro-forestry sector after detecting huge potentials of money making opportunities in the wake of its short survey last year in Laos.

In order to realize the profitable opportunities, Quang Ngai DARD during its visit to Champassak signed an MOU with its counterpart agency of this province in South-west Laos. As stated in the MOU, Champassak should make 10,000 ha of land available for Quang Ngai to invest in planting production forest. Hybrid acacia and eucalyptus were two among species to be planted. Some 5,000 ha in Pathumphon district of Champassak should also be delivered to Quang Ngai side for growing cassava to provide input material for a cassava flour processing factory to be set up there subsequently.

In another MOU signed years ago with Sekong, a province located in the south-east of Laos, Quang Ngai also pledged its investment in planting some another 10,000 ha of hybrid accia for production forest.

However, most of the past designed plans of Quang Ngai have remained on table, unrealized.  

The idea of making investment into Laos has now revitalized by Quang Ngai with positive signs that show firm bases for turning an idea into reality: now Quang Ngai is much stronger than it was a couple of years ago when the prvince’s flesh was weak though its spirit was willing.

Investment as a matter of course is far from an easy work. Challenges are ahead, and successes may some time not come. Nonetheless, putting investment abroad on the agenda of the Government has affirmed its strength in economy that is now sufficient to expand to cover new places that lay outside the country.

The will this time may not be realized with ease, yet there’s a will there’s a way. And obviously, nothing venture nothing gain.

N.N