Vietnam "feels threatened" by increasing Chinese
and Thai investment in neighboring Laos and is concerned that the two countries
will dethrone it as the top investor there, according to a senior Lao official.
The concern was expressed in a letter from the secretariat
of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party to its Lao counterpart, the official told
RFA's Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The letter reaffirmed Vietnam's aim to be the leading
foreign investor in Laos for years to come, said the official, who is a member
of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party's Central Committee.
He said Vietnam felt threatened that the investments from
the two other leading investors will eclipse its own.
Vietnam emerged this year as Laos's top foreign investor,
pumping in a total of US$5 billion in 449 projects in Laos. Thailand and China
are a close second and third, respectively, and all three compete for projects
in Laos's energy, mining, and agriculture sectors.
Thailand has some 760 projects amounting to more than $4.8
billion and China has more than 800 projects in Laos with a value of about $4
billion. Vietnam has planned to increase its investment in Laos to $7 billion
by 2015.
Laos and Vietnam, which have had a special friendship and
cooperation agreement since 1978, have in recent years offered each other
investment incentives and tax breaks to boost investment and trade.
The two countries plan to increase bilateral trade from
about $725 million at present to $2 billion in 2015 and to $5 billion in 2020,
according to the Vientiane Times.
Southwestern Laos's Champassak province, known as a tourism,
social, and economic hub, has attracted the most investors.
Other leading investors in Laos over the past two decades
include South Korea, France, Malaysia, Japan, India, Singapore, and the United
States.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Viengsay
Luangkhot. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
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