A senior official from the provincial authorities delivered a report during the signing ceremony of the land concession for the new tea processing plant. Present were representatives from the provincial land management office and the Chinese company, with the ceremony held recently in the province.

The new plant, which has been built in Pakbaeng district, will have the capacity to process up to 8,000 tonnes of tea per year, adding fuel to the province’s tea production potential.

Currently, there are only a few small-scale tea processing plants operating in the province. “The new plant is able to produce a better quality of tea products,” the official from the provincial investment promotion section said.

Tea is now being grown on over 8,000 hectares of land in 11 villages in the district. Tea planting and processing has the potential to be one of major cash crops for the province and local authorities have encouraged farmers to cultivate it on a commercial basis in a bid to drive economic growth.

Export products grown in Oudomxay also include rubber, sweet corn, bananas and other crops.

“Despite that tea is not our main export product,” department official Khamchack Laocheubeng said, adding that the province has the potential to further expand tea planting initiatives in the future.

The province also has wild tea trees aging from 400 to more than 1,000 years old, whose leaves fetch considerably high prices on international markets.

“We have set a clear plan to continue promoting tea planting and production, through collaboration with Chinese investors,” he said.

In addition to tea, the provincial authorities will continue promoting animal husbandry enterprises to alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of local residents, whose incomes remain relatively low.

The average income per capita of the province’s residents is only just over 9 million kip (about US$1,000) per annum.

In order to maximise the potential of these cash crops, the provincial authorities recognise the need to upgrade the knowledge of technical staff so that they can provide better planting know-how to local farmers.

“More training courses will be conducted, along with on-the-job experience as well,” he confirmed.