China's Linhai Group has vowed to speed up a 960-million-dollar project that aims to launch Laos' first satellite by 2015, state media reported Friday, according to dpa. Wu Weilin, chairman of Chengdu Linhai Electronics Co Ltd, met Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong Wednesday when he vowed to set up a Vientiane-based company to manage and implement the satellite development project, the state-run Vientiane Times reported. Chengdu Linhai will hold 70 per cent of the venture, while the Lao government will hold the remainder. This year, the Lao telecommunications ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Linhai Group to jointly build a factory to make satellite equipment and other items for electronic communications. The government plans to launch a satellite to mark the 40th anniversary of the Lao People's Democratic Republic's founding. The idea to develop a Lao satellite project was not new, the government newspaper said. "The country established a joint-venture with Thai investors to launch a satellite several years ago, but the Thai investors' financial troubles led to its collapse. "The government also inked a cooperation agreement with US investors but that failed too," the Vientiane Times reported.
