An entrepot will be built in Lang Son province to help reduce accumulation of agricultural products at border gates. — Photo tinngan.vn

LANG SON (Biz Hub) — An entrepot will be built in the northern province of Lang Son, with the aim of reducing the accumulation of agricultural products at the border gates.

The 143ha centre, to cost an estimated VND986 billion (US$45.2 million), would be built in the Dong Dang border gate economic zone, Vice-Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Binh said.

The centre will accommodate warehouses and quarantine and quality-testing centres. Businesses can also organise trade fairs and classify, pack and preserve their products there.

The industry and trade ministry has worked with the provincial authorities on the implementation of the project.

A representative from the ministry said the centre would help to effectively deal with the problem of products getting accumulated at the border gates, before being exported to China.

The centre would also serve as a venue for Chinese businesses to seek information about the Vietnamese market and vice versa.

An average of 1,200 trucks transporting agricultural products, chiefly watermelons and litchis for export to China, go through the customs at border gates in Lang Son each day.

Blockages at the border gate have been occurring for several years, especially when seasonal crops such as watermelons and litchis are harvested.

An estimated 100,000 to 130,000 tonnes of watermelons are exported to China under the small-scale trade each year. — VNS