"Thailand to invest in Lao airport"

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Thailand to invest in Lao airport
Thai Press Reports


The Thai government has unveiled plans to support the expansion and
improvement of one of Laos' key provincial airports.

The Thai government is interested in helping develop an airport in Laos'
Suwannakhet Province so that it could become the centre of an aviation
link between Thailand and Indochina, the Foreign Minister, Surakiart
Sathirathai told TNA yesterday.

At present, the Suwannakhet Airport cannot serve commercial airlines, as
its runways are too short for a jet plane to land.

Its radio and radar system and passenger terminal are also obsolete.

The Thai government plans to offer to invest in a Lao joint venture that
would carry out the work, and to provide funds for the construction
work, Mr. Surakiart told TNA.

The proposed project will be put to the Laotian government in the near
future.

Once the agreement is signed, the renovation work would start right
away, Mr. Surakiart said.

When completed, the airport would be included in the inter-linked
transport grid system of Southeast Asia.

Mr. Surakiat said the Thai government would also invite local low-cost
airlines, like Nok Air and Air Asia, to open routes between various Thai
cities and Suwannakhet, and later to other cities in Vietnam.

The inter-regional Highway No. 9, from Myanmar to Vietnam via Thailand
and Laos, is nearly finished, said the foreign minister.

The two transportation systems then will provide land and air links that
will help boost inter-regional economic trade, investment and tourism.

Thailand would benefit from these regional inter-linked transportation
routes, a renowned economist, Dr Veerabongse Ramangura told TNA .

The Highway No. 9 is expected to link Thailand to special economic zones
in Laos and Vietnam, and to open up great business opportunities for
Thai investors and exporters.


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