By: Vientiane Times
4th July 2019
The government has warned that it will revoke the licenses of investors whose land concession projects have not made any development or progress.
The move follows a government inspection of more than 1,000 land concession projects, which found that 138 such projects covering a total of 22,000 hectares had failed to implement agreements signed with the government.
The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr Sommad Pholsena, “Many of the 138 land concession projects have seen almost no progress, and they have not paid their tax obligations to the government.”
Early this month, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith made a decision to establish a task force committee to address this issue and to prevent companies from delaying the development of land concession projects.
In May 2017, authorities rescinded the concessions of 15 mining operations after they failed to develop the projects in line with agreements signed with the government. Officials said some companies just held the concessions without implementing them, purely in order to resell them.
For more than half a decade, the government suspended the consideration of all new mining projects after discovering that several ventures had failed to comply with agreements that they had signed.
As of 2016, an estimated 657 companies had been granted authorisation to perform surveys and excavation as part of 942 projects. Of these, 226 companies were sanctioned by the central government to undertake 392 projects.
The move is aimed at boosting economic growth and generating jobs for the local people to alleviate poverty. The government strongly welcomes all companies that are keen to invest in Laos, but those who fail to implement contracts signed with the government are bound to have their licenses revoked.
Mr Sommad said the government will also inspect projects that have impacted the country’s environment. Members of the public and local authorities can inform the government about such projects through hotlines and other channels.
He said his ministry will set up special teams in different regions to promptly address issues related to projects that are harming the environment.
Source from Vientiane Times: http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/freeContent/FreeConten_Govt_warns_149.php
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