Laos' dry ports handled 3.56 million tons of import, export and transit cargo in 2023, according to the country's National Trade and Transport Facilitation Roadmap 2025-2030.
The government now wants that total to reach 5.34 million tons by 2030, a 50% increase. It has also issued Decree No. 298/GOV, to set rules for how dry ports are managed and operated. The roadmap also targets the development of at least two dry ports through public-private partnerships by 2030.
Dry ports are inland logistics hubs where cargo can be stored, inspected, consolidated and transferred between different modes of transport before continuing to domestic or international destinations.
For Laos, which has no coastline, that matters because the World Bank has estimated that transport costs along key corridors are 1.4 to 2.2 times higher than on comparable corridors in Thailand.
What Decree 298/GOV Says
Under Decree No. 298/GOV, issued on June 5, 2024 and in force since July 11, Laos defines a dry port as a logistics hub connected to one or more modes of transport. Such a hub can receive, consolidate and store cargo, load and unload it, transfer it between modes of transport and facilitate customs inspections.
The decree also allows dry ports to be located near international checkpoints, major provincial or capital-city areas, trade and industrial zones, and sites connected to highways, railways, ports or international airports. Each must cover at least seven hectares.
Thanaleng Carries Most of the Volume
Thanaleng, near Vientiane, moved about 3.17 million of those 3.56 million tons in 2023, roughly 89% of the total. According to Laos’ National Trade and Transport Facilitation Roadmap 2025-2030, Savannakhet handled another 391,348 tons.
Opened on December 4, 2021, Thanaleng Dry Port sits near the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong. Thailand’s railway uses a 1,000 mm gauge, while the Laos-China Railway uses a 1,435 mm standard gauge. Because the two railways use different gauges, cargo moving between them can be transferred at the dry port.
In 2022, the port handled 49,183 containers, including 36,768 for import and export and 12,415 in transit, according to Vientiane Times. It is part of the US$727 million Vientiane Logistics Park, which is also tied to the planned Vientiane-Vung Ang railway.
On March 31, 2026, Laos signed a concession agreement for the first 147 km section, from Thakhek to the Vietnamese border at Mu Gia. The remaining sections, including the proposed link from Thakhek to Vientian are still under development.
Thanaleng is also linked to the Laos-China Railway through a branch line completed in July 2022. The 2025-2030 roadmap targets a 50% increase in cargo on that railway, from 4,098,088 tons in 2023 to 6,147,132 tons by 2030.
Only Three of Nine Planned Sites Had Been Developed
The World Bank previously identified nine locations in Laos for international logistics parks and dry ports. At the time of its assessment, only three had been developed: Savannakhet, Thanaleng and Pakse. Planned dry port locations along the railway included Luang Prabang, Muangxai and Natuey.
Building them may not be enough to close the cost gap, which the World Bank linked partly to trucks' difficulty finding backload cargo, as well as poor road infrastructure and limited logistics facilities.
Laos' 2025-2030 roadmap also pairs dry port development with measures to streamline border procedures, improve logistics services and address transport bottlenecks.
