Eyebrows are being raised in Laos over the much-hyped plans by the Akane Farm Sole Co. Ltd. to spend $10 billion building what it calls the Thakhek Ehsan International Financial Centre in Khammuan province. The chairman of the company, Somjith Aliyaphaphone, announced last week construction will start next month on the first phase of the project: a 30-storey financial centre. The second phase will be “Disney Laos,” and the third will be “residential and superior lifestyle communities,” he said. There is skepticism about the project because the gross domestic product of Laos is only $12 billion.
