LAOS/THAILAND. A group of Lao and Thai businessmen, led by leading Lao duty free retailer and wholesaler Dao-Heuang Group, is investing THB10 billion (US$295 million) in a large shopping and hotel complex in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, according to a well-sourced report in the Bangkok Post (we’ll bring you comment from Dao-Heuang Group soon).
Sayam International Co, led by Thai chairman Sayam Ramasoot, will hold a 49% stake in BM Group, the project developer, the report said. The balance will be controlled by a group of Lao businessmen headed by Phisith Banyadith, whose family owns Dao-Heuang Group.
BM Group has been awarded the licence by the Lao government to build and operate the 37,000sq m Lao Duty Free Mall, which will host 200 popular brands, the newspaper said.
Dao-Heuang Group has been expanding its duty free retail interests strongly in recent years. In April 2010 the group formed strategic partnerships with Heinemann Asia Pacific and UG Indochina to further improve its duty free business by developing the HAVEN duty free centre, initially launching at the Lao border crossing near Vientiane.
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How the Bangkok Post reported the new project |
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(Above and below) Dao-Heuang Group is a respected and ambitious travel retailer player in Laos, having expanded its business strongly in recent years. |
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In the Vientiane development’s second phase, a shopping mall with a hotel, theme park and commercial buildings will be added. Sayam said the Lao Duty Free Mall is 70% complete and will open in February as a high-end destination for foreign tourists, especially Chinese and Thai visitors, as well as nationals from Laos.
After the initial mall, BM Group hopes to build four more duty free malls in Luang Prabang, Pakse, Savannakhet and Vientiane in coming years, the report said.
In 2014 more than 4 million tourists visited Laos – including 2 million from Thailand and more than 1 million from Vietnam, the article concluded.
