Authorities in central Thua Thien-Hue province have licensed the Vien Dong PTS Joint Stock Company to study a plan to build a cross-border coal conveyor to bring coal from Laos to Vietnam.

The project will have estimated investment of VND8 trillion ($336 million).

Investment will be divided into three phases and construction is expected for completion in two years.

In the first phase, the investor will build a section of the conveyor from a warehouse in Co Tai village to a warehouse at the Hong Van border gate in the province’s A Luoi district. It will have a total length of 12-15 km.

In the second phase, a conveyor section of 25-30 km will be built from the Hong Van border gate to the Cam Lo - Tuy Loan Expressway.

In the third phase, a conveyor section stretching 75-85 km will be built from Kaleum coal mine in the Lao province of Sekong to the A Dot border gate in A Luoi district.

The Vien Dong PTS JSC is a contractor that has transported coal for the Phonesack Group in Laos from the Kaleum coal mine in Sekong province to Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces.