Two large Lao and Thai fuel operators, PTL Holding Co Ltd (PTLH) and PTT Oil and Retail Business Pcl (PTTOR), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the joint development of and potential investment in a fuel tank farm and logistics operation at the Vientiane Logistics Park in the Lao capital.
The agreement was inked in Vientiane last week by PTTOR senior executive vice-president for International Marketing, Songpon Thepnumsommanus, and PTLH CEO Chanthone Sitthixay.
PTLH and PTTOR decided to enter into the MoU as the two parties wish to explore opportunities and develop potential collaboration in relation to joint investment in the industrial estate known as the Vientiane Logistics Park, which is located in Dongphosy village, Hadxaifong district, Vientiane, Laos.
PTLH and PTTOR wish to jointly conduct working, cooperation and feasibility studies in logistics, trading and supply of petroleum from Thailand to Laos and the South of China, and other areas as agreed by both parties.
The MoU records the “understanding and fundamental principles” laid down by the parties to investigate, assess and evaluate the feasibility and potential of jointly developing the project. The two parties and their affiliates shall collaborate with each other “in good faith” and shall fully perform their obligations for the effectiveness of the MoU.
The MoU shall be a frame of reference to jointly conduct the working, cooperation and feasibility studies and similar forms of cooperation in order to evaluate the feasibility and potential development of the project in relation to investment, financial, commercial, legal and related aspects.
Part of the PTLH, Petroleum Trading Lao Public Co (PetroTrade) was founded in 2008 with the vision of delivering quality oil at a fair price to all areas for a better quality of life. This inspiration came from the firsthand experiences of the founder, who realised that access to fuel in remote areas is usually a problem and causes significant economic damage.
PetroTrade was registered as a public company and was listed on the Lao Securities Exchange (LSX) in 2014 to attract Lao and foreign investors as shareholders, becoming the first local company in the petroleum business to be listed on the bourse.
It envisages future opportunities where economic competition will become much more intense owing to implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the rising domestic consumption of energy in response to the government’s policy of bolstering national economic growth and turning Laos from a landlocked country into a land-linked hub within the region.
It is the second private petroleum company in Laos to own a modern laboratory for oil quality monitoring, accredited by ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and OHSAS 18001:2015.
VIENTIANE TIMES/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
