Laos

Between the farmers and Olam lies one of Lao’s most powerful, and some allege, corrupt families, the Siphandones.

Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group started work on the construction of a US$100 million sugar and sugarcane industrial cluster in Attapeu province, southern Laos.

Lao Indochina Group, which grows cassava on about 7,700 hectares of land in three provinces in Laos, is mobilising investment funds to expand business.

Lao and Chinese businesses this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for investment in organic farming in Laos, at a cost of about US$5 million.

The RTL World Trade Company wants to grow about 50,000 hectares of cassava and oil palms in Vientiane province.

A new Chinese-controlled town inside Laos where Laotians are not welcome.

More than 50 percent of land concessions granted for investment projects result in detrimental affects to Laos, according to an expert from the National Land Management Authority

The granting of land leases and concessions for some investment projects is unacceptable, as some projects negatively impact on the environment and livelihoods of local people.

China and other nations are making Laos an industrial farm, to the detriment of its ecology

The government will allow foreign companies and individuals to invest in rice cultivation in Laos, Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh announced on Friday

Kuwait has provided US$350,000 to the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to study the suitability of extending irrigation so rice can be grown for export to Kuwait.

FIDP has launched a Cambodia and Laos fund, “an extended China play” that will focus largely on agriculture, seeking to benefit from China’s desire for food security.