5. LAO PDR ECONOMY NEWS AND ANALYSIS DIGEST
Healthcare mission to Laos
07 Aug 2014
16 leading healthcare and medical-service companies visited Laos to look for trade and investment opportunities under the Asean Economic Community.
Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said it organised the trade mission to Luang Prabang because Laos will open up to Thai businesses setting up in the country under Asean integration.
With rapid growth in its economy and tourism, Laos has high demand for healthcare and medical services.
The group consists of six hospitals, four spas and six cosmetics and cosmetics packaging manufacturers.
They include Korat Memorial Hospital, Chularat 3 Hospital, Siam Wellness Group, My Health Care, Doctor Cosmed and Green Zone.
They will meet with local enterprises to discuss business matching and joint ventures. They will also be able to observe hospitals, clinics and spa businesses before they return tomorrow.
Source: world.einnews.com
Laos Gives PanAust Perfect Kick-start
28 Jun 2014
Capitalizing on recovery improvement program, PanAust evolves from a junior explorer into a producer with a market cap of $1.1 billion
The journey of PanAust from junior explorer to successful ASX 200 mining company can be largely attributed to its successful operations in Laos. The Phu Kham copper-gold and Ban Houayxai gold-silver projects have seen PanAust's Lao-registered company, Phu Bia Mining, become an important part of the Lao economy, both in terms of contributions to GDP and exports.
PanAust also ensures the economic and social benefits of its operations are shared with key stakeholders in Laos, including the government and host communities, through employment, training and development, and a broad range of community development programs.
In addition to its operations, PanAust holds a portfolio of development and exploration projects in Laos and Chile. The company has also entered into a share sale and purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Glencore Xstrata for PanAust to acquire Glencore's interest in the Frieda River copper-gold project in Papua New Guinea.
The Phu Kham operation comprises a large open-pit mine feeding ore to a process plant with recovery of copper and precious metals into a saleable concentrate using conventional flotation technology. The final product is a copper-gold concentrate grading about 22% to 25% copper, 7 grams/metric ton (g/mt) gold and up to 60 g/mt silver. Concentrate is trucked in covered containers to Sriracha Harbour south of Bangkok in Thailand or to the South China Sea port of Vung Ang in Vietnam.
The significant cash flow generated by Phu Kham since commencing production in 2008 has supported PanAust's growth and success, and contributed to the company's strong balance sheet.
Managing Director Gary Stafford has been at the helm of PanAust for almost two decades and has overseen its successful rise. Originally in the Southeast Asia region scoping out a copper project in northern Thailand, Stafford explained that PanAust looked elsewhere to see whether there were any complementary projects it could work on as it was experiencing difficulties getting the Thai project off the ground.