Lao: A new boiler pays off

From 2010 to 2016 UNIDO showed six Southeast Asian countries how to minimize pollution and climate effects by replacing and retrofitting old boilers. In Lao and other countries, new boiler regulations, inspired by the project, ensure that the benefits will continue. Khammanithip Vongxay is Assistant Managing Director of Lao Agro Industry Co., LTD. He explains.

- Our company owns Lao's first and only fruit and vegetable processing factory, which has been running since 1994.

Our most important product is whole-kernel corn, which we mainly export to European countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Another product is canned sugar-palm seed, which is a dessert product that we export to Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia. We also make sweet corn milk for the local market. Altogether, about 95 per cent of our products are exported.

To make every single product, we need steam. Until recently, we were using an old boiler to make that steam. Old boilers of that type were inefficient and had no mechanism for preventing the release of harmful pollutants. Countries including Lao have committed to minimizing some of these pollutants, including those called dioxins, under the Stockholm Convention.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmen t approached us about being a pilot demonstration facility for a project with UNIDO that would both help Lao meet its Stockholm obligations and reduce climate impacts. It was a good business opportunity for us, too. After an initial assessment, we decided that it would be better to install a new boiler than retrofit the old one. We would invest in new infrastructure, including the boiler housing, and they would provide the boiler.

We have had the new boiler since March this year. I feel great. I am saving money. Additionally, the old boiler made two to three tons per hour of steam; the new one makes five tons per hour of steam, and the steam is steadier, which improves our efficiency.

We are taking advantage of the savings and increased capacity to invest in new products, such as pineapple juice for export. We are also able to lower the price of our products, making them more competitive with those from other countries like Thailand and Vietnam. More than 70 per cent of the Lao population makes a living from agriculture, so boosting agricultural exports could have a big effect on our country's prosperity. As we grow, our company is committed to employing more members of the local community in our factory.

It is nice to have the opportunity to show to the world that, even though Lao is small country, we are capable of producing this kind of agricultural product for the international market.