Progress is following different paths for two separate ore-processing projects in Huaphan province. Investors from China and Vietnam obtained license from the provincial Planning and Investment Department to operate in the province in January and February respectively. The Chinese investor expects to spend about 207.5 billion kip (US$ 25 million) on the plant which will be completed by 2015. The facility, located in Viengxay district, will purchase ore extract from mining operators in the province and process it for export. Iron ore is currently being mined in the province by an Indian company but is exported as a raw material, not processed. The Vietnamese investor received a licence in February, but there has not been any progress on the project. The project is budgeted to cost about 42.3 billion kip (US$ 5 million) and is scheduled to begin operations by 2013. Both investor groups hope to operate their ventures for a period of 50 years with a view to exports. Investment in Huaphan province is growing in both the state and private sectors. In the 2007-08 fiscal year, provincial revenue from investments reached more than 118 billion kip (US$ 14 million). That was a seven percent year-on-year increase. In the first six months of the current fiscal ear (October to March), domestic investments were valued at 14.4 billion kip and foreign investments at US$ 4 million.
Source: Vientiane Times
