China-Laos border trade on �fast track�
Li Hongfeng and Li Jisheng
Recently, 20 businessmen from Oudomxay Province in Laos visited the Mohan Economic Development Zone in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. They went to Xinnong Vegetable Cooperative, tasted tomatoes and talk about chilli peppers newly cultivated there.
This visit epitomizes the cross-border cooperation in various areas between China and Laos. After Kunming-Bangkok Expressway opened to traffic several years ago, Mohan Management Committee and Laos Oudomxay Provincial government have worked together to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two sides.
In recent years, with the Huay Xai Bridge on Kunming-Bangkok Expressway open to traffic, governmental and non-governmental cultural, logistics, business and tourism exchanges and cooperation between China, Laos and Thailand continue to increase.
On November 13, the representatives of the Chinese government and the Lao government signed an inter-governmental railway cooperation agreement in Beijing, marking the China-Laos Railway project entering the implementation phase. This good news enhanced the confidence of various investors, who are ready to take advantage of the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway to expand international cooperation.
At Xishuangbanna Vocational and Technical College Dai Pottery Experimental Base located in Mohan, reporters saw various tea cans, lampshades, vases, bowls and other Dai pottery products, which seem to be simple but reflect the aesthetic taste of the Dai people. In the future, were going to open a shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said Qiu Yisheng, the main pottery maker of the Base.
In recent years, Qiu Yisheng and his team have combined Dai traditional culture with modern techniques and created a new style of Dai pottery. It has attracted the industry attention. He has been repeatedly invited to Thailand and other ASEAN countries for academic exchanges, and his unique creative ideas and pottery making processes are influencing a growing number of Southeast Asian consumers. So far, Qiu and his team have developed three categories and more than 300 varieties of new Dai pottery products.
According to Qiu, the Dai pottery developed by his team is now popular in Beijing, Dalian and other cities. Their products are mainly used for decorating high-profile office buildings and real estate projects. However, due to insufficient production capacity, supply still lags far behind market demand. Qiu said: We are teaching more people to make pottery in the Dai villages. When the techniques are spread from village to village, the pottery industry will be even more prosperous in Xishuangbanna.
Over the past seven years, the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway has gone through continuous upgrades, bringing valuable opportunities for enterprises to invest in Mohan. Xishuangbanna Zhongjin Investment Company is invested by a Kunming-based business. According to Zeng Yong, general manager of Mohan Zhonghui Operation and Management Centre of the company, the opening of Kunming-Bangkok Expressway has brought huge business opportunities for the company.
Currently, the company is actively building the Mohan Zhonghui International Trade Logistics Centre. To date, the Logistics Centre has attracted department stores from both Thailand and Kunming; I believe more enterprises from ASEAN countries will come to join us in the future, said Zeng Yong.
