Laos has huge potential to attract more foreign investment in agriculture, especially the rearing of cattle for export to China, according to a UN expert.

In an interview with reporters on Friday, FAO Representative to Laos Mr Nasar Hayat outlined the opportunities and challenges facing Laos in this field.

“I have worked with a couple of private entities to encourage them to come and invest in Laos,” Mr Hayat said, adding that at least one foreign company had come to Laos to set up a meat processing facility with the aim of exporting meat to China, a market of 1.4 billion people.

In addition, an Israeli agricultural and technology company is interested in investing in Laos to benefit from the Laos-China Railway, which is providing closer links to more countries in Asia and Europe. 

Mr Hayat, whose term of office will soon end after serving as the FAO Representative to Laos since November 2018, said that neighbouring Yunnan province is a huge Chinese market and offers strong potential for growers in Laos to produce more goods for export. 

It takes only one day for goods to reach Yunnan province from Vientiane following the opening of the railway in 2021.   

“I see Laos in the next 10 years becoming a logistics hub in the region. I hope the volume of exports of livestock and other agricultural products from Laos to China and beyond will increase significantly,” Mr Hayat said.

In 2021 alone, Laos earned more than US$900 million from the export of agricultural produce, with bananas rated the highest income earner, followed by rubber, cassava, sugarcane and watermelons.

The Laos-China Railway is turning Laos from a land-locked to a land-linked country, geographically shifting Laos from a disadvantaged to a beneficial location.

Mr Hayat said logistics would not be a problem now that a huge logistics facility has been built just outside Vientiane.

“Do we want to be just a transit country or do we also need to produce for export?” he asked.

“To attract more investment from countries like Australia, Pakistan, India and China, Laos needs to improve the investment climate and build the capacity of local people to produce goods for export,” he said.  

Mr Hayat also said Laos needs to do more to market the country and its potential to the outside world, and inform foreign companies that this is a good place for them to invest.

“We need to re-double our efforts to market the opportunities that Laos presents. We have everything here,” he said. 

 “We went to Rome with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mr Thongphat Vongmany last year to give a presentation on Laos.”

The meeting was attended by company representatives from European and other countries, with the Lao delegation putting forward a strong case for investment in Laos.

Mr Hayat has been working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry since 2018 to develop the agriculture sector and help Laos boost exports.