VnExpress reports that FLC Group, the conglomerate which operates a string of resorts across Vietnam as well as Bamboo Airways, has signed on to help build a US$5 billion rail line between Vientiane, Laos and Vũng Áng Port in Hà Tĩnh Province.
The route, which will span 555 kilometers, includes a 103-kilometer-long section in Vietnam, which FLC will be responsible for. The Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company, Laos' top fuel distributor, will handle the rest of the project in Vietnam's neighbor. Work on the project could begin as soon as this November, though no timeline for completion has been announced.
Discussion of a rail line linking landlocked Laos to Vietnam's coast goes back at least as far as 2015, with planners aiming to increase trade links from Laos and northern Thailand through Vũng Áng.
At a ceremony to announce the agreement in Vientiane, representatives from FLC Group also asked the Laos government to create favorable conditions for the corporation to invest in tourism, aviation and mining projects there.
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