Foreign ambassadors and members of the Diplomatic Corps have applauded the progress being made in building facilities to house the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit to be held in Vientiane in November.
Ambassadors visit the under-construction International Convention Centre, which will house the ASEM Summit in November.
They expressed their optimism yesterday after inspecting the progress of construction of 50 ASEM villas, the International Convention Centre and a five-star hotel at the southern end of Don Chan.
Cuban Ambassador to Laos Mr Waldo Reyes Sardinas told Vientiane Times he was confident the Lao government would successfully host the event after seeing the progress of the various projects.
“I think it's a great effort and a strong commitment on the part of the Lao government to host the summit,” he said, adding that while it was a considerable challenge, it was also an opportunity for the country's development.
Despite some heavy rain recently, the construction of the various facilities is on track.
The International Con-vention Centre is now between 65 and 70 percent complete and the contractor is installing the roofing.
The Chinese government has provided 450 million yuan (about US$80 million) to build the convention centre, which is on track for completion before the summit on November 5-6.
The centre is being built on a seven-hectare site at km 6 on Kaysone Phomvihane Road, with the building itself to cover an area of 24,899 square metres.
The 50 ASEM villas are also well on the way to completion after work began last August on the 8.1 hectare site.
The villas are scheduled for completion in August this year and the project is now about 75 percent complete. The remaining work consists largely of landscaping and interior decoration.
The villas will house the heads of state and government attending the summit and are the first phase of the Vientiane New World project.
The project is being undertaken by CAMCE Investment (Lao) Co Ltd, a joint venture between the Chinese state-owned enterprise CAMCE Engineering and the Lao Krittaphong Group.
The third construction site visited by the ambassadors yesterday was a five-star hotel to be known as the Landmark Mekong Riverside Hotel.
The Krittaphong Group expects to spend about US$40 million to build the 216-room hotel, of which about 100 rooms will accommodate delegates to the summit. Construction is now 25 percent complete.
Deputy Minister of Forei gn Affairs Mr Bounkeut Sangsomsak briefed the ambassadors and members of the Diplomatic Corps on the progress of preparations for the summit, and told them which countries had confirmed that their leaders will attend.
The ASEM Summit is the biggest event ever to be held in Laos, with heads of state and government from 48 countries expected to attend. Three other events will take place simultaneously: business forums, parliamentary meetings and people-to-people forums.
