Vietnamese firm to sell rubber plantation in Laos
A Vietnamese multi-sector conglomerate has announced it may sell nearly half of its massive rubber plantation stake in Laos to Chinese partners to deal with increasing debts and shrinking profits. The Vietnamese firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai is a major investor in Laos and operates a number of businesses including a rubber plantation in the country’s south. According to the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group has received support from the State Bank of Vietnam on its proposed bailout solutions, but the plan still needs final approval from the Vietnamese government. Hoang Anh Gia Lai chairman Doan Nguyen Duc was quoted in the Tuoi Tre News last week as saying If our debt restructuring plan is rejected, we may have to sell 20,000 hectares of our 40,000 hectare rubber plantation in Laos. Duc said some Chinese partners had shown interest in buying selected areas of the plantation. The plantation is operated by Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s agricultural arm, Agrico, which was also the main cause of the company’s massive debts.
