Thailand has suggested upgrading a temporary Thai-Lao border checkpoint in Nakorn Panom province through which fruits can be transported over land to southern China. The upgrade to permanent status from temporary should increase the volume of varied Thai fruit exports to China according to Charnyudh Upapong, head of the provincial chamber of commerce.
Thailand and Laos are part of the newly-established ASEAN Economic Community where regional trade and investment are planned to expand.
The Baan Paeng - Bolikhamxay border checkpoint currently accommodates some 277 million U.S. dollars in value of the China-bound fruits from Thailand, including longan, durian, mangosteen, banana and pomelo in a year, according to the head of Nakorn Panom's chamber of commerce.
Large quantities of the Thai fruits are transported by truck from Baan Paeng district in Thailand across Mekong River to Bolikhamxay province in Laos, then forwarded toward Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and finally delivered to Guangxi province in southern China, he said.
Nakorn Panom, about 740 km northeast of the Thai capital, is among 10 Thai border provinces already declared "special economic zones" where major infrastructural, commercial and other facilities are to be developed to meet the speculated regional economic growth.
Thailand has declared "special economic zones" for two other northeastern provinces sharing borders with Laos, namely Nong Khai and Mukdaharn, in addition to Nakorn Panom.
