Vientiane to get 21st century skyline
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, will see a complete makeover of its cityscape after a $600 million project by Chinese investors will have been completed in six to eight years.
The sleepy Mekong river town, administrative center of a country that still ranks among the least developed countries in the world, will be transformed into a Hong Kong at the Mekong, according to CAMCE Investment (Lao) Company, a joint venture between Chinese state-owned enterprise CAMC Engineering (CAMCE) and Lao Krittaphong Group of Laos.
The project, Vientiane New World, will turn 42 hectares of Don Chan Island along the Mekong River in Vientiane into an international residence area and will boast an international business centre as well as an international cultural and tourist centre. The company said it will create modern facilities for shopping, dining and entertainment, and also Vientiane’s first international-standard cinema.
The project, dubbed the Glory of Laos, is already taking shape along the Mekong River. It will have a range of skyscrapers, hotels and condominiums to give the city a distinctive modern outlook.
The first phase of the project includes fifty stylish villas which will be completed in October 2012. It will serve as accommodation for the 48 heads of state visiting the capital to attend the upcoming 9th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in November 2012. After the ASEM, the villas will be put on the market.
In the two later phases, an International Cultural and Tourist Center and an International Business Center will be built. The project is expected to be completed in six to eight years.
Ambitions of the city is to raise the total number of inhabitants from 700,000 to 1.4 million by 2030.
Meanwhile, another ambitious project, the Regal Megamall City near the Vientiane International Airport, seems to be on hold. The $1 billion project for a huge seven-storey shopping mall with 1,000 shops, restaurants, cinema and hypermart, as well as residential properties in a second phase, seems to suffer from a lack of retail space sales. Originally planned to open in 2013, this target seems to be unrealistic, according to local residents who cannot see any progress on the construction site.
[caption id="attachment_3191" align="alignleft" width="300"] Artist's impression of the new Vientiane skyline as planned by Chinese investors[/caption] Vientiane, the capital of Laos, will see a complete makeover of its cityscape after a $600 million project by Chinese investors will have been completed in six to eight years. The sleepy Mekong river town, administrative center of a country that still ranks among the least developed countries in the world, will be transformed into a Hong Kong at the Mekong, according to CAMCE Investment (Lao) Company, a joint venture between Chinese state-owned enterprise CAMC Engineering (CAMCE) and Lao Krittaphong Group of Laos. The project,...
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, will see a complete makeover of its cityscape after a $600 million project by Chinese investors will have been completed in six to eight years.
The sleepy Mekong river town, administrative center of a country that still ranks among the least developed countries in the world, will be transformed into a Hong Kong at the Mekong, according to CAMCE Investment (Lao) Company, a joint venture between Chinese state-owned enterprise CAMC Engineering (CAMCE) and Lao Krittaphong Group of Laos.
The project, Vientiane New World, will turn 42 hectares of Don Chan Island along the Mekong River in Vientiane into an international residence area and will boast an international business centre as well as an international cultural and tourist centre. The company said it will create modern facilities for shopping, dining and entertainment, and also Vientiane’s first international-standard cinema.
The project, dubbed the Glory of Laos, is already taking shape along the Mekong River. It will have a range of skyscrapers, hotels and condominiums to give the city a distinctive modern outlook.
The first phase of the project includes fifty stylish villas which will be completed in October 2012. It will serve as accommodation for the 48 heads of state visiting the capital to attend the upcoming 9th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in November 2012. After the ASEM, the villas will be put on the market.
In the two later phases, an International Cultural and Tourist Center and an International Business Center will be built. The project is expected to be completed in six to eight years.
Ambitions of the city is to raise the total number of inhabitants from 700,000 to 1.4 million by 2030.
Meanwhile, another ambitious project, the Regal Megamall City near the Vientiane International Airport, seems to be on hold. The $1 billion project for a huge seven-storey shopping mall with 1,000 shops, restaurants, cinema and hypermart, as well as residential properties in a second phase, seems to suffer from a lack of retail space sales. Originally planned to open in 2013, this target seems to be unrealistic, according to local residents who cannot see any progress on the construction site.
