Vietnam agrees to help Laos search for oil

Vietnam and Laos have agreed to jointly explore for oil and gas over coming years in two southern Lao provinces, state media in Vietnam reported Wednesday.

The PetroVietnam Oil Exploration and Production Corp will lead the search in a 14,000 square kilometer (5,400 square mile) area of Champasak and Salavan provinces, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) said.

Vietnam's visiting Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung and Lao counterpart Somsavad Lengsavat witnessed the signing of the exploration contract on Tuesday in the Lao capital Vientiane, it said.

Vietnam and Laos were marking the 30th anniversary of a cooperation treaty.

Vietnam, a country of 84 million people now often hailed as an emerging Asian boom economy, booked 8.5 percent economic growth last year, with its energy demand growing at about twice that rate.

Landlocked Laos, a mountainous and rural country of only 6 million people, is one of Asia's poorest nations and relies largely on hydropower, minerals, tourism, foreign aid and loans for income.

In Laos, the state-run Vientiane Times newspaper reported that Vietnam had approved 87 investment projects in Laos last year with a total registered value of over 1 billion dollars.

"The areas that have seen the greatest increase included mining survey and hydropower projects," the report said, adding that Vietnamese companies in 2007 also invested in rubber and tree plantations. (Thomson Fianncial)