Local auto company to invest in race track

A local company plans to invest about US$2 million to build a race track aimed at promoting automotive sports in Laos.

Souksomlouay Auto Service Company Director Somlouay Padabvong announced the plan during a press conference in Vientiane on Monday.

“We will invest about 17.4 billion kip (US$2 million) in the track, which will be located on 11 hectares in Xaythany district in Vientiane ,” he said.

Mr Somlouay said the track would be designed for racing all kinds of vehicles including motorcycles and cars...more info>>

He said it was not yet decided whether the race track would be an individual investment or if it would be open to shareholders or other businesses partners.

At this stage the company has not asked for government permission to develop the land, but this request will be made later this year.

Mr Somlouay said construction of the race track would be completed within 12 months of securing the land agr eement.

Vientiane Administration's Deputy Head of Office, Somphone Sengsilavong, said Laos should have a race track because similar tracks in neighbouring countries were very popular.

“So we should learn from their experiences,” Mr Somphone added.

He said the race track would be good for young people, as they like driving fast and could race on a custom-built circuit without fear of violating traffic regulations.

Mr Somlouay made the announcement during Vientiane Drift 2008, an event being held at Lao ITECC this week to promote car racing.

The Vientiane Drift runs until April 13 and will feature a concert and beauty contest.

By Phonsavanh Vongsay
Vientianetimes

Laos is making significant progress in its experiments to produce bio-diesel from soybean oil and used palm oil for use in vehicles in place of regular diesel.

The experiment began five months ago conducted by the Sustainable Tree Plantation and Livestock Promotion Association.

The bio-diesel is made from used palm oil and fresh processed soybean oil with organic additives made from crops in Laos...more

To prove the success of the experiment, five vehicles were driven for almost 200km using the bio-diesel yesterday.

“The bus runs so smoothly I can't tell the difference between the bio-diesel in the tank now and the diesel I buy at the petrol station, even when the bus is going uphill,” said a bus driver, Amphone Sisoutham, who has worked in the job for 25 years.

He also said the exhaust fumes had a pleasant smell, a favourable comparison to the bad odours given off by diesel.

Another point in its favour, he said, was the fact that the engine did not overheat but maintained the same temperature as when using ordinary diesel.

“Yesterday, when I was informed that officials would drain my bus's tank of diesel, I was worried and called my director. I felt quite strongly we should not put bio-diesel in the tank, but I was surprised when the engine started right away,” said Mr Sisoutham.

He said the engine would have showed signs of trouble within 6 kilometres if the new fuel was causing any problems.

According to the association's electro-mechanical engineer, Mr Douglas A. Handisides, the bio-diesel can be used on its own or mixed with regular diesel.

He said it was not necessary to make any adjustments to a vehicle in order to use bio-diesel in the engine.

Importantly, there have been no reports indicating that any country owns a copyright to produce bio-diesel made from soybean oil and used palm oil, he added.

The president of the association, Mr Houmpheng Manipoun, said the experiment had not given any indication of the production costs, the price of the product or how many kilogrammes of soybeans were needed to produce one litre of bio-diesel.

He said the association would have to calculate this in the future to get more details before proposing any copyright for the product.

The experiment is in line with the Prime Ministerial decree on crop planting promotion to produce a source of energy, contributing to poverty alleviation.

The cost of the bio-diesel is expected to be lower than regular diesel because after oil is extracted from the soybeans, the residue can be sold as food.

Mr Houmpheng said that if the experiment proves production costs are less than the cost of diesel, Laos has a strong incentive to grow soybeans in large quantity

Vientienetime

Laos and France signed two grant agreements in Vientiane on Friday to develop the health sector, and to fund studies to build capacity and expertise in project identification.

The agreements between the Lao government, the French Embassy, and the French Development Agency (AFD), amounted to 7 million euros (about 825 billion kip, US$8.4 million), and 1 million euros (about 110 billion kip, US$1.2 million)...more

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Phongsavath Boupha, Minister of

Health Dr Ponmek Dalaloy, and the French Ambassador to Laos Mr Maurice Portiche. The governors of Vientiane and Savannakhet provinces were also present.

The first grant agreement, for 7 million euros, will allow support for the health sector by

targeting two priority areas. The first is the extension of the community-based health insurance system in Vientiane and in Savannakhet province.

There will also be support for efforts to eradicate emerging diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and avian flu. This second component will comprise, in particular, the construction in Laos of the future Pasteur Institute of Laos.

The projects are expected to better the general health of the population, by providing more equal access to quality health services and by enhancing control over emerging and contagious diseases. This will be AFD's first support of the health sector in the Lao PDR.

The second grant agreement, for a total of 1 million euros, is committed to the financing of studies and expertise for the purpose of project identification and preparation, feasibility and project assessment and auditing, in preparation for commitments from AFD.

The first studies to be financed by this study fund could be oriented to the preparation of a new project for heritage preservation and urban development in Luang Prabang province.

The second part involves studies for a railway track between Dongphosy and Sokkham villages in Vientiane , and the design of a train station at Sokkham village. The railway between Dongphosy and Sokkham is 9 km long.

This last project is not directly related to AFD commitments but is implemented within the framework of triangular cooperation between Laos , France , and Thailand .

By Khonesavanh Latsapaho
vientianetimes.org.la