Agreement signed to set up SPS inspection unit at Thanaleng Dry Port

A Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) service centre will be set up at the Thanaleng Dry Port following the signing of an agreement on Monday.
The SPS service centre will speed up the shipment of farm products in response to the growing need for faster logistics and transport through the dry port and its associated Vientiane Logistics Park.

Mr Viengkhone Sitthixay (right) and Mr Seng-around Souliyavong shake hands after signing the agreement.

Vice President of Vientiane Logistics Park Co., Ltd., Viengkhone Sitthixay, and the Director of the Vientiane Agriculture and Forestry Department, Seng-around Souliyavong, signed an agreement on the development of the SPS centre.
Vientiane Vice Mayor Phouvong Vongkhamsao and other officials witnessed the signing.
Addressing the event, Mr Viengkhone said the logistics park is one of the priority projects of the Lao national logistics development strategy. It (the logistics park) serves to translate the government’s policy to transform landlocked Laos into a land link and connectivity hub for the greater Mekong Sub-region and the world.
Housing extensions of the Laos-Thailand and Laos-China railways, the dry port in Laos, which is located near the first Laos-Thailand Mekong Friendship Bridge in Vientiane, forms an important gateway between Southeast Asia and China.
And through the China-Europe rail network, cargo from Southeast Asia can reach European markets in a much shorter time compared to sea transport.
“This strategic location will serve as a centre for the expansion of trade between Asean, China and Europe,” Mr Viengkhone told guests at the agreement signing ceremony.
In addition, China’s SPS centre will also be set up at the dry port to certify farm products for export to China.
Also, the dry port developer is working with Chinese authorities to set up a China Certification and Inspection Group (CCIC) representative unit at the dry port to inspect and issue Chinese standard certification.
Opening for operation in December 2021, the multimodal-transport (road-to-rail-and-sea) dry port, which links with various logistics centres in the region, has already provided transit services between countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China.

Mr Viengkhone Sitthixay.	A crane lifts containers from the Laos-Thailand Railway at the Thanaleng Dry Port. (File Photo Thanaleng Dry Port)

By Advertorial Desk
 (Latest Update February 8, 2023)