A large Chinese potash mine in central Laos that has come under fire in the past for not employing enough Lao workers has begun offering Mandarin language classes for local youths.
Sino-Agri International Potash Co., Ltd. in Khammouane province last month began a pilot program for young people living in three villages near its potash processing plant, offering them three days of language instruction weekly for two months, according to local residents and a company employee.
A Tha Khek district resident familiar with the program told RFA that the selected students were primarily in sixth grade or above and that local villagers were happy to hear about the training as they believed it would afford their children more employment opportunities in the future. She, like others interviewed for this article, asked not to be named for security reasons.
“It will help them to have more opportunities in the future,” she said. “If they only know Lao language, they will earn a low salary. If they know the Chinese language well, it will help them to earn a higher salary.”
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Last year, sources told RFA that Chinese laborers at the mine outnumbered Lao workers by 30 times, despite an agreement that mine operators must hire more domestic workers than Chinese.
The mine has also repeatedly come under fire by local villagers in Tha Khek and Nong Bok districts who said Sino-Agri did not compensate them fairly for lost land.
The company is a subsidiary of Asia Potash International Investment (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., which is linked to entities directed by China’s governing State Council. Much of the potash – a soluble form of potassium, used for crop fertilizer – is exported to China, which has made acquiring more of the mineral a priority.
Smoothing relations
The language classes appear to be a way to smooth relations with local villagers.
An employee with the company who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak with the media said the program was aimed at improving language skills with an eye toward eventual employment.
“We only select students and youths from three villages close to our processing factory,” he explained. “We only hire workers who know Chinese or workers with Chinese language knowledge will be our priority to consider.”
If successful, he said, the pilot would be expanded to other nearby villages.
With the rapid expansion of Chinese-backed projects, tourism and investment, learning Mandarin has gained increasing importance in Laos. A recent article by China's Xinhua news agency reported that the National University of Laos last year received more enrollments for its Department of Chinese Language than any other subject.
In Tha Khek — where the mine has expanded substantially from 35 square kilometers (13.5 square miles) when it began operations in 2021 to 214 square kilometers (83 square miles) — some families believe learning Chinese has become necessary to move ahead.
“More students and youths living in Tha Khek district are interested in learning Chinese these days,” said another local resident. “The main reason that stimulates them to learn Chinese is because there are many Chinese nationals who come to work and live in this district.”
An employee of a Chinese language school in Khammouane province told RFA he was not surprised to learn that Sino-Agri had begun offering its own classes, given the high demand within the province.
“Many students and youths are interested in learning Chinese language,” he said. “There is high demand to learn Chinese language among secondary school students and the number of students is increasing.”
Whether improved communication will smooth out relations between local workers and foreign bosses remains to be seen.
On social media, some Lao workers at the Sino Agri site complained of being treated differently from their Chinese counterparts, but also from their Chinese-speaking Lao coworkers.
The company, meanwhile, appears to be continuing to expand. Last month, Sino-Agri announced it had completed the construction of 40 houses for its employees at management level and sixteen, 60-unit buildings with fully furnished apartments for both Lao and Chinese workers.
Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Abby Seiff and Malcolm Foster.