# Amata's Laos bet: industrial parks and hydropower

> Thai developer Vikrom Kromadit is betting Laos will become his company's largest market, drawn by land, energy and Chinese manufacturers seeking alternatives to China.
- Title: Amata's Laos bet: industrial parks and hydropower · Fortune
- Summary: Thai developer Vikrom Kromadit is betting Laos will become his company's largest market, drawn by land, energy and Chinese manufacturers seeking alternatives…
- Keywords: amata corporation, vikrom kromadit, laos, industrial parks, thailand, vietnam, china, manufacturing, hydroelectric power, Amata's, bet, industrial
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/10/12/amata-industrial-park-thailand-vietnam-laos
- Author: Angelica Ang
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: amata corporation, vikrom kromadit, laos, industrial parks, thailand, vietnam, china, manufacturing, hydroelectric power
## Amata targets Laos as next big market
Thai real estate developer Amata Corporation says Laos will become its largest focus in coming years, CEO Vikrom Kromadit tells Fortune. The company expanded into Laos in two thousand twenty-two.

> Laos will become our largest focus because of the land bank that they have.
## Why Laos appeals to Amata
Laos has abundant land and hydroelectric power. The country exports about eighty percent of its electricity to other Asian countries like Thailand, China and Singapore. Kromadit calls it the battery of Southeast Asia.

> They also have lots of green energy, that's why they're called the battery of Southeast Asia.
## Amata's first Laos project
Amata City Namor covers thirty-one point five square kilometres and sits beside a station on the China-Laos Railway. The company's long-term Laos vision could reach two hundred square kilometres.
## Kromadit's path to industrial parks
Kromadit graduated from National Taiwan University with a degree in mechanical engineering.He returned to Thailand in nineteen seventy-five and founded V and K Enterprise, an import-export business.

> I wanted to make more money.
## Building Amata in Thailand and Vietnam
Kromadit co-founded Bang Pakong Industrial Estate in nineteen eighty-eight, then established Amata Corporation in nineteen eighty-nine. After visiting Vietnam in nineteen ninety, he launched Amata City Bien Hoa in Dong Nai province in nineteen ninety-four.

> I found that the Vietnamese were focused, capable and smart.
## Chinese investment drives Laos expansion
Laos has been slotted into China plus one supply chains, where manufacturers move production to reduce costs and avoid tariffs on Chinese-origin products. In two thousand twenty-five, China pumped eighteen billion dollars into Laos's economy.
## Amata's land holdings and future plans
Amata today hosts more than one thousand five hundred factories in twelve locations across Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.

> The land that we have on hand is around seven hundred square kilometres. It's big enough to make me busy until I go to heaven.
## Key takeaway

Amata Corporation, a Thai industrial park developer, is expanding aggressively in Laos, where it sees abundant hydroelectric power and land to capture Chinese manufacturers moving production out of China.