The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in northern Laos is a haven for criminal activities including prostitution, scamming and drug trafficking, but Lao authorities are essentially powerless to stop it, workers in the zone and police told Radio Free Asia.

The zone is a gambling and tourism hub catering to Chinese citizens situated in Bokeo province along the Mekong River where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet. It has been described as a de-facto Chinese colony.

Due to the special nature of the zone, Lao authorities have limited access to it, and they require permission from officials at the Chinese-run Kings Romans Casino, the zone’s crown jewel, which is owned by the Hong Kong-based Dok Ngiew Kham Group. The group holds an 80 percent interest in the 3,000 hectare (11.6 square mile) zone, while the Lao government has a 20 percent stake in it.

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The inauguration ceremony of the Vientiane Saysettha Low-Carbon Demonstration Zone jointly built by China and Laos was held via video conferencing on Friday.

The event indicates construction of the demonstration zone has entered a new phase, opening a new chapter for China-Laos cooperation to address climate change in the framework of South-South cooperation.

Zhao Yingmin, vice minister of China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said in his speech that the low-carbon demonstration project in the Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone (SDZ) serves as an important step to implement the action plan on building the China-Laos community with a shared future, and highlights the joint efforts addressing climate change made by the two countries.

Located in Vientiane, capital of Laos, the SDZ covers an area of 11.5 square kilometers. It is a key cooperation project between the governments of China and Laos, with the zone expected to function as both an industrial park and a new town of the Lao capital, with a total planned investment of about 5 billion U.S. dollars.

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The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ) is growing in development and investment projects, especially economic infrastructure, agriculture, livestock, hotels, tourism, residential areas, and entertainment, to attract more visitors, while over 500 companies are investing in the area.

During a visit by reporters this week to mark the 15th anniversary of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, the Director of General Office, Administration Board of GTSEZ, Xiong Jiantian, said that over the past 15 years the Zone has been continuously developing and there are plans to develop it into a prosperous and modern city.

The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone has been developed under the direction of the Dok Ngiew Kham Group, which has concessions on 10,000 hectares of land, 3,000 hectares of which are a Special Economic Zone and 7,000 hectares are a protected area.

So far, 1,000 hectares have been developed by over 500 investment companies, Xiong said.

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Effective management of the Covid-19 crisis in Cambodia has led to an increase in the number of government-approved investment projects outside the Kingdom’s special economic zones (SEZ) in the first two months of 2022, with a total capital investment of “more than $2 billion” – a more than threefold increase from the year before, according to a new report from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Released on April 18, the report said that in the first two months of 2022, the investment situation showed a “slight” improvement, with private investment projects outside of the SEZ approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) – the highest decision-making body of the Kingdom for private and public sector investment – totalling 35 projects, up from 21 last year, with investment increasing 236.5 per cent year-on-year.

With a total capital investment stated in the report as being worth “more than $2 billion”, the projects are expected to create around 31,000 jobs.

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The military regime is inviting bids to provide legal services to the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (KPSEZ) and deep-sea port project in western Rakhine State, a key strategic component of China ‘s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The junta’s invitation to tender comes as China is pressing Myanmar to implement its ambitious infrastructure projects under the BRI, but while the country is struggling to cope with both the political turmoil created by the military’s coup and the deadly third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post Myanmar Junta Pushing Ahead with China-Backed Kyaukphyu SEZ and Port first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

Economic development zones in mainland Southeast Asia have contributed to a range of illicit activities, including drug trafficking and wildlife trafficking, according to a new report from C4ADS, a U.S.-based research organization.

The report, which analyzes 110 economic development zones (EDZs) in the five lower Mekong nations – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar – found that while these zones have stoked economic growth, corruption, opacity, and weak regulatory frameworks have undermined their benefits.

“While the creation of an EDZ is typically followed by an increased pace of development, zones can also facilitate adverse outcomes that undercut the benefits to economic growth,” the report states. “Without proper management, EDZs can serve as staging grounds for multiple types of transnational illicit activity and geopolitical machinations.”

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Svay Rieng, a town in south-eastern Cambodia, is both a gateway to Vietnam and for more than a decade now a hotbed of Cambodian industrial development. But a lack of compliance with environmental and labour regulations has raised tensions with local communities.

The region is home to almost a dozen industrial parks, many of them the direct result of Cambodia’s growing integration with Chinese industry.

A new and more hopeful precedent was set last November, when Qilu (Cambodia) Special Economic Zone Co Ltd signed a US$1 billion strategic cooperation deal with a Chinese industrial park developer to set up a “green” special economic zone (SEZ) in the province.

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The construction of a 140-kilometer two-lane highway connecting the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), in Tanintharyi Region to the Htikhee at the Thai border will commence in mid-2021, according to the Dawei SEZ Management Committee. When complete, it will take travellers from the SEZ about 2.5 hours to reach Htikhee by car. It will take another two hours to reach Bangkok from Htikhee.

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Motivated to build a green industrial zone in Cambodia, the newly-established NGO Environmental Protection Industry Associations of Cambodia (Epiac) will work with Chinese-owned industrial park developer and operator QiLu (Cambodia) Special Economic Zone Co Ltd to set a new precedent for environmentally-friendly design and construction.

On November 12, they penned a memorandum of understanding to that end over a $1 billion integrated special economic zone (SEZ) project set to cover 450ha in southeast Cambodia’s restive Svay Rieng province.

Epiac gained the status of a legal entity on September 4, the day of entry into the Ministry of Interior’s registry.

The Post’s May Kunmakara sat down with Epiac executive vice-president Choon Yik Thong to discuss the organisation’s role in ensuring the project adheres to environmental regulations, standards and guidelines

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Chinese-owned industrial park developer and operator QiLu (Cambodia) Special Economic Zone Co Ltd on Thursday signed a strategic partnership with Environmental Protection Industry Associations of Cambodia (Epiac).

QiLu is behind a 450ha special economic zone (SEZ) planned for Svay Rieng town, the administrative centre of the eponymous province, which is expected to cost $1 billion.

It says the SEZ will be 4km from the town centre just south of National Road 1. Blueprints of the industrial zone show that the project is on the northern bank of a river.

The deal aims to guide QiLu in creating an integrated environmentally friendly SEZ that “welcomes foreign investors to the border province”.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, QiLu director Xing Baoguo said the government issued a sub-decree on March 28, 2017 establishing the SEZ.

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