A bright future after COVID: The Ministry of Transport is moving forward with infrastructure and driving policies to create economic growth along the trade route in the Chiang Khong area to elevate it to a logistics city of the region. This will help reduce transportation and logistics costs with neighboring countries along the route, Thailand, Laos, and China. The first phase of the Chiang Khong transshipment center project will be fully operational within the year 2022, with phase 2 expected to be completed by 2025.
The Chiang Khong transshipment center project will support the expansion of the ASEAN economy, including the economic growth of China, which has no outlet to the sea, along with plans to transport goods from the road to the rail system according to the construction plan of the Denchai-Chiang Rai-Chiang Khong railway line. One of the policies that the government prioritizes is cross-border economic cooperation among the Mekong-Lancang countries, which includes all six member countries: Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and China. Since 2015, the government has been developing trade facilitation along the borders, such as customs procedures, to help smooth the release of goods, improve logistics service efficiency, and reduce costs for operators. This is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with the next step being the development of policy proposals for the Chiang Khong special economic zone by the Ministry of Commerce.
The goals of the policy proposal for the development of the Chiang Khong special economic zone
- Chiang Khong as a logistics hub for cross-border e-commerce (Cross Border e-Commerce: CBEC)
- Promote the export of Thai and ASEAN products through route R3A and the Kunming Free Trade Area
- Elevate trade to northern China and Europe in the future
The first phase of the Chiang Khong transshipment center project and phase 2 have been pushed forward by the government to align with these goals. The project area is located at the Fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge near the Chiang Khong border checkpoint. Project phase 2 involves the construction of a transshipment and packing building and a container yard that will support the dual-track railway route of Denchai-Chiang Rai-Chiang Khong of the State Railway of Thailand, which is planned to be completed in 2025. The tax benefits that Thailand will receive include dried fruits, tea, coffee, and cosmetics, which will be exempt from customs duties and will pay VAT and excise taxes at a rate of 70% of the normal tax rate.
ที่มา: www.bkkterminal.com
