Version 86253 Version 90372
Size under contract (leased or purchased area)
  • [current] 80000 ha
  • [2007, current] 80000 ha
Intention of investment
  • [current] Non-food agricultural commodities
  • [current] Non-food agricultural commodities, Forestry unspecified
Comment on intention of investment
Rubber plantation
Nature of the deal
Lease
Concession
Negotiation status
  • [current] Concluded (Contract signed)
  • [2007, current] Concluded (Contract signed)
Comment on negotiation status
the source just states "Viet Nam and Laos on May 9 signed a contract to grow rubber, other industrial crops and build a rubber-processing factory..." (http://www.isgmard.org.vn/News.asp?Status=1&InfoID=490 )
Implementation status
  • [current] In operation (production)
  • [2014, current] In operation (production)
Comment on implementation status
(source: Vientiane Times). Looking at google earth imagery in 2019 it looks like this deal might be abandoned (plantations look fallow).
According to the company, they have invested approximately US$33 million in planting rubber trees on 6,672 hectares of land in Savannakhet province (in 2014) Looking at google earth imagery in 2019 it looks like this deal might be abandoned (plantations look fallow).
Actors involved in the negotiation / admission process
  • District Government Government / state institutions (government, ministries, departments, agencies etc.)
Comment on investment chain
Base on the Global Witness report in 2014, it mentioned that Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) is a parent company of Quasa Geruco.
Base on the Global Witness report in 2014, it mentioned that Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) is a parent company of Quasa Geruco. In the Kenney Lazar study, he learnt that Quasa-Geruco had extensively corrupted the district government, establishing a rubber plantation for the former district governor and providing salaried positions in the company to government officials’ family members. Source: Resisting with the State: The Authoritarian Governance of Land in Laos (2016)
Negative impacts for local communities
Displacement
Promised compensation (e.g. for damages or resettlements)
None
Received compensation (e.g. for damages or resettlements)
None
Promised benefits for local communities
Roads
Education, Productive infrastructure (e.g. irrigation, tractors, machinery...), Roads, Other
Comment on promised benefits for local communities
Company failed to do as they promised to pay for the installation of electricity to the village, to build a road, to build a school [Miles Kenney, 2015]. Based on Vietnam Plus [Vietnamese news, 2014], the company said that it poured 2.3 billion VND (over 108,000 USD) into the construction of roads, a power system, schools and pagoda.
Company failed to do as they promised to pay for the installation of electricity to the village, to build a road, to build a school [Miles Kenney, 2015]. Based on Vietnam Plus [Vietnamese news, 2014], the company said that it poured 2.3 billion VND (over 108,000 USD) into the construction of roads, a power system, schools and pagoda.
Comment on materialized benefits for local communities
Quasa-Geruco failed to deliver on these promises, even after land had been cleared and trees planted. [Source: Resisting with the State: The Authoritarian Governance of Land in Laos (2016)]
Presence of organizations and actions taken (e.g. farmer organizations, NGOs, etc.)
Three villages that lost paddy land by this project wrote a proposal to the government to claim their land back. Finally some of their lands were returned[Miles Kenney, 2015].
The US-based Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) suspended all operations under the company in 2013-2014.
Crops area/yield/export
  • Rubber tree [current]
  • Accacia, Rubber tree [current]
Fully updated
Yes
No

Location #t-I1iQYu

areas
unknown field
unknown field

Data source #CK_PeDlY

nid
unknown field
Type
Media report
Url
Keep PDF not public
No
Publication title
LAOS: Vietnamese firm begins rubber production in Laos
Date
2014-10-05
Comment on data source
Accessed: August 2021 The company plans to exploit 700 ha of rubber trees this year and it will also build a rubber processing plant with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year in the neighboring country in the time to come. Apart from its business activities, Quasa-Geruco also pays attention to implementing welfare work in the country. It poured 2.3 billion VND (over USD 108,000) into the construction of roads, a power system, schools and pagoda.

Data source #RxBKUy7T

Publication title
uthoritarian resource governance and emerging peasant resistance in the context of Sino-Vietnamese Tree Plantations, Southeastern Laos
Authoritarian resource governance and emerging peasant resistance in the context of Sino-Vietnamese Tree Plantations, Southeastern Laos

Data source #9ZApC35Q

File
nid
unknown field
Type
Media report
Url
Keep PDF not public
No
Publication title
Environmental Group Urges Laos to Support Complaint Mechanism
Date
2014-12-31
Organisation
RFA
Comment on data source
Source details of how an environmental advocacy group has urged the Laos Government to ensure that Vietnam Rubber Group is adhering to the law and upholding the rights of villagers affected by its plantations.

Data source #vX4ZXMNu

File
nid
unknown field
Type
Media report
Url
Keep PDF not public
No
Publication title
Forest management group strips Vietnamese rubber company of certification
Date
2015-10-29
Comment on data source
The US-based Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) stripped a Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) of its certification after finding that the state-owned entity committed human rights violations and illegally destroyed thousands of acres of forest for rubber plantations in Cambodia. The state-owned Vietnamese rubber company had illegally seized land from local villagers in Cambodia and decimated at least 50,000 hectares (123,600 acres) of the forest, including wildlife sanctuaries and protected areas, for its plantations.

Data source #qsuQR-ON

File
nid
unknown field
Type
Research Paper / Policy Report
Url
Keep PDF not public
No
Publication title
Resisting with the State-The Authoritarian Governance of Land in Laos_KenneyLazar_Final 2016
Date
2016-12

Contract #DcJSgaV_

nid
unknown field
Date
2007-05-09
Expiration date
2037-05-09
Duration of the agreement
30 years