The developer of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Bokeo province has said that about US$600 million has been invested to date in building up the 3,000 hectare site.

Dok Ngiew Kham Group President Mr Choi Wai told local media recently his company has spent US$278 million on basic infrastructure and US$327 million on tourism, production and commercial facilities in the zone since 2007.

The special economic zone is located in Tonpheung district and borders Thailand and Myanmar. It is also close to the Chinese border, making it easier for the developer to attract Chinese tourists and investors.

According to Mr Wai, the Dok Ngiew Kham Group has built a 40km road from Namkeung to Namone villages, a 6km embankment from Donsao to Khuan villages, a 4,800 cubic metre water supply, a 27km power line, and accommodation for 1,200 employees.

The company has also built seven hotels containing 600 rooms, a casino, horse race track, livestock farm, a zoo and gardens, a commercial centre, a brick factory and a concrete factory.

Mr Wai said that even though development had not yet reached the halfway point, the zone had been able to attract foreign investment and tourists, generating a large amount of foreign exchange.

About 33,490 people have visited the zone as tourists, of whom 58 percent were Thai, 30 percent were Chinese and the rest were from Laos and other countries.

The Dok Ngiew Kham Group expects to spend about US$2 billion over the next 10 years to develop a rural area of Tonpheung district into a new urban centre in northern Laos.

The government has given the developer the green light to build an international airport, which will bring in more foreign tourists and investors.

The developer expects that this massive project will create about 5,000 jobs and envisages that about 300 domestic and foreign companies will set up business in the zone.

The Lao government has given the private sector the go-ahead to invest in special and specific economic zones as it has no funding of its own.

The government established the first state-owned special economic zone in Savannakhet province in 2003. But infrastructure development was very slow because the government was constrained by a very tight budget.

At present, there are three special economic zones in Laos, two of which are being developed by Chinese groups. The government plans to build 41 special economic zones nationwide, with 10 of them to be built over the next 10 years. The developers of these zones benefit from special incentives, including the right to import duty free fuel and vehicles, approve investments and set taxes for businesses that operate in the zones. Such incentives are aimed at attracting foreign investment.

Zone developers also have the right to manage their own security operations as they see fit.