Vietnamese infrastructure developer Deoca Group and Petroleum Trading Lao (PetroTrade) have signed a joint venture (JV) agreement on the construction of a railway line between the Vietnamese port of Vung Ang and Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Accordingly, the Laos – Vietnam Railway Project (LVRP) includes the construction of a 555 km double-track line in standard gauge, with costs initially estimated at €5.8 billion (US$6.3 billion). The fully electrified line will enable maximum speeds of 150 km/h. Initially, Deoca and PetroTrade will invest €1.1 billion in building the 103 km section from Vung Ang to the border crossing with Laos at the Mu Gia pass in the Vietnamese province of Quang Binh, which is to be built under a public-private partnership (PPP). In 2022, the government of Laos had awarded a feasibility study for the LVRP project, which is an extension of the line from Kunming in China to Vientiane, which was opened at the end of 2021.
