What is the state of infrastructure in Laos?
Laos is a landlocked country with relatively backward infrastructure, and in recent years, it has increased investment in infrastructure, and Highway 13, which runs through the north and south, has remained smooth, and the infrastructure of the central city has improved. Four Trans-Mekong bridges connecting Thailand have been built (Vientiane – Nong Khai, Savannakhet – Mukdayhan, Khammon Taqu – Nakhon Penong, Pocho Waisai – Chiang Khong, Thailand). On May 9, 2015, the first friendship bridge across the Mekong River between Laos and Myanmar was officially opened to traffic.
Highways
Laos has 43,604 kilometers of highways, including 866 kilometers of concrete roads, 6,496 kilometers of asphalt roads, 15,324 kilometers of gravel roads, and 20,919 kilometers of dirt roads. There are no highways in Laos, and road transport accounts for 79% of the country's total transport. The completion of the Kunman Highway has reduced the cost of land transportation between China and Southeast Asian countries, and is conducive to the economic and trade exchanges between China and Southeast Asian countries. As an important section of the China-Laos Expressway, the Vientiane-Vang Vieng Expressway project, invested and constructed by Yunnan Construction Investment Group, is progressing smoothly, and the next step will be to promote the progress of the construction of other parts of the China-Laos Expressway. In addition, the construction of Laos North Highway 13, which is part of the most important national highway in Laos, started in 2019. After the completion of the above-mentioned backbone roads, it will greatly promote the development of the public transportation industry in Laos and the level of interconnection with neighboring countries.
Railway. Friendship Bridge, invested by Thailand**1The 9.7 billion baht construction was completed in May 2008 and officially opened to traffic in March 2009. In December 2014, China and Laos launched railway cooperation. At the end of 2015, the China-Laos Railway held a groundbreaking ceremony, and in December 2016, the China-Laos Railway is scheduled to be officially opened to traffic in December 2021, which will drive the development of the Boten-Mohan cross-border economic cooperation zone.
Airlift. There are 12 airports and more than 20 routes in Laos, and the capital Vientiane Airport can take off and land large aircraft. International routes are: Vientiane - Kunming, Vientiane - Nanning, Vientiane - Guangzhou, Vientiane - Changzhou, Vientiane - Bangkok, Vientiane - Incheon, Vientiane - Hanoi, Vientiane - Ho Chi Minh City, Pakse - Siem Reap, Vientiane - Kuala Lumpur, Vientiane - Singapore, Luang Prabang - Bangkok, Luang Prabang - Jinghong, Luang Prabang - Chengdu, with a passenger volume of 440,000 passengers per year and a freight volume of 20,000 tons per year. Larger airports include Vientiane Wattay Airport, Luang Prabang Airport, and Pakse Airport.
Water. The total length of water transport in Laos is 3,000 km. The Mekong River is more than 1,800 kilometers long in Laos, flows through 13 provinces (municipalities), and has more than 20 small terminals along the Mekong River, accounting for 18% of the total traffic. After the renovation of part of the Upper Mekong River, 150-ton ships can pass in the dry season and 300-ton ships in the rainy season.
Correspondence. Laos has basically built a national communication network, with a total length of 6,000 kilometers of optical fiber cables in north-south and east-west directions. The national fixed-line capacity of 1 million, mobile capacity of 3 million, 3G network in 2008 began to put into use, the current capacity of 280,000, mainly concentrated in the capital Vientiane and other large cities, in 2012, Laos opened by China Huawei to provide equipment and build LTE network (4G). In 2015, Laos issued a 4G license and officially launched 4G network services. There are three large-scale communication network operators in Laos, namely LTC, UNITL and ETL. By the end of 2019, LTC had built and operated 2,600 4G**, UNITL had 2,900, and ETL had built and operated 1,386 4G**. Among them, ETL is a Sino-Laos joint venture company, which began to cultivate the Lao market in 2017. Laos** is expected to start issuing 5G licenses in 2020.
Electricity. According to the analysis, the total theoretical reserves of hydropower resources in Laos are about 26,000 MW, and the total amount of technical development is 23,000 MW, of which the main stream of the Mekong River exceeds 10,000 MW. In terms of coal reserves, Laos has proven mineable reserves of 22.6 billion tons, mainly distributed in the northern and central regions, with certain potential for the development of coal-fired power stations. In terms of new energy development, the wind speed in most areas of Laos cannot meet the requirements of wind power generation, but the solar energy resources in most areas are better. Laos is rich in hydropower resources and can be exported in addition to its own use, but a small number of villages and counties have not yet been electrified. At present, Laos has 61 power stations in operation and 944 power generators380,000 kilowatts to meet domestic demand and export surplus electricity to Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar.
At present, Laos is working with the Chinese side to study the national grid construction plan and gradually implement it. According to the plan of the Lao National Electricity Company (EDL), in 2020, the 115kV and 230kV power grids will be used as the regional main network in local areas, and the national trunk grid, cross-regional power grid connection, and the power network of Vietnam and Thailand will be transmitted through 500kV transmission lines. In particular, the demand for electricity to Vietnam and Thailand is increasing, and it will increase significantly in the next 10 years (expected to exceed 5,000MW by 2020), and strive to have 98% of the country's residents have electricity in 2020.
References**:
Research Institute of International Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.
Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Laos.
Department of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.