Thai ambassador to Laos visits Savannakhet Special Economic Zone C – Savan Park, Savannakhet Dry Port

A site visit by a Thai delegation led by the Thai ambassador to Laos has brought new hope of boosting investment in Savan Park and Savannakhet Dry Port, which is currently attracting investors from Europe and Asia.
The purpose of the site visit on Thursday was to learn about the development of Savan Park and Savannakhet Dry Port, which are ideally located in a strategic position close to Thailand and Vietnam, with a logistics system that is linked to the region and the rest of the world, bolstered by the newly-opened Laos-China Railway.
During the site visit by the Thai delegation, led by Ambassador Jesda Katavetin, the General Manager of Savan Park, Mr Tee Chee Seng, highlighted the overall development of Savan Park and the Savannakhet Dry Port.  

CEO of Savan Logistics and Founder of Savannakhet Dry Port Mr Jean Pierre Grzelczyk (left) and the General Manager of Savan Park, Mr Tee Chee Seng (right), brief Thai Ambassador to Laos Mr Jesda Katavetin (centre) about the operations of Savannakhet Dry Port.	Thai Ambassador to Laos Mr Jesda Katavetin (third right) and his delegation are welcomed by officials at the park upon their arrival.

He informed the guests that the Savan Seno Special Economic (Savan Park Zone C) is strategically located along the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and was developed on 234 hectares of wasteland into an industrial, commercial and logistics hub.
“Because of the strategic location setup of the EWEC by JICA, Savan Park SEZ realised the potential to develop this area into a free trade industrial zone,” he said.
Mr Tee also said that plenty of investors in the region were now looking to invest in Laos because of the incentives offered, the country’s political stability, the relative lack of natural disasters, low initial investment cost, and the low or zero import duty paid by importing countries on products that are “Made in Laos”.
“We welcome Thai investors to explore cross-border business opportunities and investment in this zone,” Mr Tee said.
With more than 6,000 students graduating in Savannakhet province each year, there are no problems with labour shortage, he added.
Mr Tee said Savannakhet province is training people in the skills needed for employment in the zone and the number of foreign employees was dwindling as more local people gained essential skills.
According to his report, some 65,000 Lao workers returned home from neighbouring countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many of them now willing to work in Laos instead of overseas.
At the same briefing, Deputy Chief Executive Director of the Savannakhet Special Economic Zone Authority, Mr Syslaphet Keodouangsy, also gave a welcome speech to the Thai delegation.
He said Savannakhet has the largest population of all provinces in Laos and was therefore ideal for the development of a special economic zone.
“The SEZ creates job opportunities and builds skills in technology and general knowledge that can be transferred to the local population,” he said.
Savan Seno Special Economic Zone is the first SEZ in Laos and Savannakhet Dry Port was the first approved dry port (Savannakhet Dry Port) to be acknowledged by UNESCAP. Former President Bounnhang Vorachit signed a ratification of the Savannakhet Dry Port to comply with UNESCAP requirements on October 16, 2019.
It is located on the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC) with a total length of 1,450km from Vietnam, passing through Savannakhet province in Laos to Thailand and ending in Mawlamyine, Myanmar, linking the Andaman Sea with the South China Sea.
The Savan Seno Special Economic Zone is part of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) development programme.
A total of 73 companies are currently registered in the Savan Park SEZ, which earns more tax revenue for the government and helps to improve living standards for the local community, as well as boost exports.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, a significant increase of 42 percent in the logistics value was added, enabling the reduction of vessel frequency, and allowing the usual operation of road freight services.

A group photo is taken at Savannakhet Dry Port in recognition of the visiting Thai Ambassador Mr Jesda Katavetin.	A container from the Laos-China Railway arrives at Savannakhet Dry Port.

The total value of imports in 2020 was recorded at over US$214,360,513.35 while the value of exports rose to over US$245,640,544.16. The record for imports in 2021 was over US$204,005,109.02, with exports rising to US$246,437,926.71.
The value of transit cargo at Savannakhet Dry Port in 2020 was US$6,855,500,323, rising to US$9,445,539,694 last year.
Savan Park is fully protected by Prime Minister’s Decree 177, which is dedicated to investment in Savan Seno Special Economic Zone and was approved in 2003.  As of today, the zone is still complying with this decree and investors are confident in it. 
Savan Park was established in 2008 and was the first SEZ in Laos. Laos was able to develop the SEZ as the Savan Seno Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA), providing a one stop-service (OSS) to all investors in the zone.
The Prime Minister’s decree offered a 2 to 10 year tax holiday, 8 percent or 10 percent company profit tax, 5 percent personal income tax, zero VAT, zero customs duty, and other incentives to businesses investing in the zone for a period of 75 years.
SEZA is able to issue a Certificate of Origin (C/O) for products “Made in Laos”, which means that goods bearing this certificate can be imported by most countries with zero or minimal import tax.
Savannakhet Dry Port has a multimodal transport system with a two-way service that combines trucking from all over China to the railway hub in Kunming, from where it links to the Laos-China Railway for transit to the Savannakhet Dry Port, then onwards through Savan Logistics’ established road networks and back. This route offers significant cost savings and competitive transit times, providing a viable transportation alternative. 
Deputy Chief Executive Director of the Savannkhet Special Economic Zone Authority, Mrs Bouasone Vilayvong, and the Consul General of the Royal Thai Consulate in Savannakhet province, Mr Atipat Rojanapaibuly, also took part in the tour.
At the end of the tour, Ambassador Jesda expressed his interest in the development of logistics at the SEZ and said he would encourage Thai companies to seek business opportunities in the zone.

By Advertorial Desk
(Latest Update April 4, 2022)