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Hoang Anh Gia Lai starts work on $40 mln airport in Laos

15.02.2012

Vietnamese Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Corp (HAGL) has broken ground for a new airport in the southeastern province of Attapeu in Laos.

The $40 million project covering 200 hectares is expected to be carried out in 2 phases.
When the 1st phase of the project is completed in June 2013, it will be capable to accommodate small aircraft like ATR 72 and Fokker 70, HAGL chairman Doan Nguyen Duc said.

Once the project is fully operational by 2020, it will be able to handle larger commercial jets like the Airbus A320, he said.

It will take about 1.5 hours for passengers to fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Attapeu, instead of taking a flight from HCMC to Pleiku, and an additional 4-hour car ride from Bo Y Border Gate to Attapeu.

It is the first one of the 2 airports invested in by HAGL that was licensed by the Laos government in November 2011. The second one is scheduled to be started early next year in northeast province of Huaphanh.

The construction project will result in direct profits for HAGL because most of the group’s investment projects in Laos are situated in Attapeu.

“Laos is a suitable destination for HAGL to channel investments worth as much as billions of US dollars,” Duc said in an investment promotion conference in Laos last year.

With its abundant natural resources and large available land plots, the southern region of Laos has much potential for development, he said.

Last October, HAGL started the construction of a $100 million sugar and sugarcane industrial cluster in the Attapeu Province.

HAGL is also running many other projects in the rubber, palm and hydropower sectors, mostly located in Attapeu Province, with the total registered capital of nearly $1 billion.

Last September, Doan Nguyen Duc was ranked 29th out of the 30 most influential executives and officials in Southeast Asia, according to Wall Street Journal.

Vietnam national airport corporation established

The Transport Minister has signed a document marking the establishment of the Vietnam national airport corporation.

The corporation is established on the merger of 3 airport management units, Northern Airport Corp, Central Airport Corp and Southern Airport Corp.

Under the decision, the corporation will operate under the model of a single state-run one member limited liability company with a charter capital of VND7.7 trillion.

It will manage 20 civil airports nationwide including six international airports.

The newly established corporation is the 79th wholly state-owned firm under direct management of the Ministry of Transport.

Currently, there are 130 wholly state-owned firms.

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