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Vietnamese investor eyes traditional medicine development
A Vietnamese company is considering investing in traditional medicine development in Huaphan province, to provide locals with more treatment options.
Deputy Director of Huaphan provincial Health Department, Dr Thongbay Thavisouk, told Vientiane Times this week the company has submitted a proposal to run a business in the province.
“The investment would support the policy of the government as well as the Ministry of Health on promoting the use of traditional medicine alongside modern medicine,” she said.
The company is expected to set up a pharmaceutical agency in the province before carrying out a medicinal plant survey and building a traditional medicine factory.
It has yet to say how many hectares the survey will cover or how much land might be needed for investment purposes.
Dr Thongbay said the project would work towards the sustainable use of forests. Medicinal plants should be replanted after they are harvested, she added.
The department has not yet conducted a survey on how many kinds of medicinal plants exist in the province, but health officials believe there are more than 100 species.
Dr Thongbay said investment in this area would be profitable because the use of traditional medicine was popular in the province and the number of people using such remedies was on the increase.
The province plans to train medical staff on traditional medicine development and will encourage provincial and district hospitals to use this form of treatment.
“This is a good time for an investor to go into business,” Dr Thongbay said. With the Vietnamese border nearby, that country will provide a convenient export market.
As well as encouraging both Lao and foreign investors to improve traditional medicine products, Dr Thongbay also invited investors to build a modern pharmaceutical factory.
“Huaphan doesn't have a pharmaceutical factory. The first investment in this area should be considered a priority under the investment law,” she said.
The government con-siders the improvement of the education, agriculture, communication and health sectors to be a priority.
According to the Inves-tment Promotion Department of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, investors who open a hospital in Laos will receive five years of tax exemptions under the new investment promotion law.
They will also receive a 15-year exemption on land rental fees if the hospital is built on state-owned land.
Vientiane times
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