Phongsaly approves bamboo trading projects

Villagers in Phongsaly province will have more options to earn money from the fertile soil, with a new opportunity to grow bamboo for sale to a planned processing factory or to be employed in the factory.
Two contracts were signed in Phongsaly province on Wednesday between provincial authorities and a private company on support for a bamboo plantation and the processing of bamboo into chopsticks, toothpicks, and paper.
Under the first contract, local people will be encouraged to grow bamboo for sale to the company on 980 hectares in 13 villages of Khua district.
The company has been given a 30-year concession on the project and will pay the full cost of expenditure under the 2+3 system of operations.
This means growers will contribute their land and labour and care for the bamboo trees while the company will pay associated costs, provide technical advice, and supply a market for the bamboo.
The total cost of the project is estimated at 3 billion kip, including 1.2 billion kip of the company’s registered capital.
The other contract concerns a concession for the construction of a bamboo processing plant and its operation in Phonthong village, Bountai district, on a concession area of 2.6 hectares. The factory will process the bamboo grown by villagers. 
This project has a total investment cost of nearly 4.25 billion kip, including 1.5 billion kip of the company’s registered capital, with a concession period of 30 years.
Phongsaly is located in northern Laos and has fertile soil that is suitable for the cultivation of bamboo and other species. Due to the mismanagement of bamboo, the number of trees growing in the wild has declined in recent years.
This project will encourage local people to grow bamboo on their land as well as help them to manage the crop so they can derive the most benefit.

By Times Reporters
  (Latest Update September 20, 2021)