The 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits kicked off on October 9 in Vientiane, Laos. Several Laotian entrepreneurs spoke with reporters from China News Service, sharing their perspectives on the exchanges and collaborations between China and Laos.
“Since the completion of the China-Laos Railway, more and more Chinese businesspersons and investors are coming to Laos to discuss investment and cooperation,” said Huang Xia, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Luang Prabang.
Huang studied network engineering in university. In 2009, she traveled to Laos and, while exploring Luang Prabang, noticed the local electronic technology market was just beginning to develop. She decided to stay, teaming up with her husband to establish a company focused on the import and export of electronic products.
Reflecting on her early experiences, Huang remembered that her journey to Laos involved a long bus ride from Kunming through the Mohan port, taking nearly five days to reach Luang Prabang. The mountainous terrain in northern Laos made for a dizzying ride on the bumpy roads. Now, she can return to her home country in just a few hours via the China-Laos Railway.
Beyond transportation, close cooperation between China and Laos has advanced in various fields. In Huang’s industry, for example, Chinese companies play a crucial role in everything from fiber optic network deployment to 5G base station construction. When she first arrived in Luang Prabang, internet speeds were around 128 Kb/s; today, local shops can enjoy speeds of 10 Mb/s to 20 Mb/s.
As Laos’ information technology sector has developed, Huang has expanded her product line to include smart home security devices, aligning with local market demands. Additionally, local businesses are seeking stable and efficient data services to innovate their business models and create new entrepreneurial opportunities.
Huang noted a significant change over the years: from initially struggling to sell her products to customers who were resistant to now having clients actively seeking to purchase her offerings. The local market’s recognition of Chinese products has steadily grown.
Zhou Yanhua, who is involved in the agricultural processing industry in Luang Prabang, has also witnessed the transformation brought about by the cooperation between the two countries. Zhou’s father invested in establishing a factory in Laos in 2003, processing local crops like Job’s tears, corn, and legumes for export to China and Thailand. In 2011, Zhou took over her father’s factory after moving from Yunnan, China.
Zhou recalled that the factory’s management practices were relatively outdated. Employees spent long hours manually calculating product yields from vast and complex production data. Now, the factory has implemented data-driven management, vastly improving data processing efficiency.
According to Zhou, the introduction and development of information technology have enabled the enterprise to acquire and compute data from various stages of the harvest season. This has enhanced cost control and made pricing adjustments easier. Young Laotian employees are also gaining computer skills, which will support their future development.
Moreover, as technical exchanges between the two countries deepen, more Laotian clients are consulting about and purchasing Chinese-manufactured agricultural equipment. Zhou has collaborated with local agricultural departments to conduct pest management seminars, helping local farmers boost yields and encouraging them to engage in agricultural technology promotion initiatives.
