Amata’s Next Frontier: Why Laos Is Set to Become Southeast Asia’s Industrial Powerhouse

When Vikrom Kromadit first stepped onto the factory floor in Bangkok in the late‑80s, he never imagined his tiny import‑export venture would evolve into a network of industrial cities stretching across three countries. Today, Amida Corporation – the conglomerate he built from the ground up – is about to add another chapter, and this time the focus is on Laos.

“Laos will become our largest focus because of the land bank they have,” Kromadit told Fortune in a recent interview, a statement that sounds almost like a promise to the government in Vientiane. “They also have lots of green energy – that’s why they call the country the battery of Southeast Asia.”

Amata’s first foray into the land‑locked nation came in 2022 with Amata City Namor, a 31.5‑square‑kilometre site tucked beside a stop on the new China‑Laos Railway. The plan, Kromadit says, is to eventually shape up to 200 km² of industrial space – enough to host factories, housing, schools, even a university down the line.

Why Laos, though? The answer is as practical as it is poetic. The country is blessed with a cascade of rivers that feed more than 80 hydro‑electric plants, generating over 12 GW of power. Roughly 80 % of that electricity already flows out to neighbours like Thailand, China and Singapore. For a developer whose business model hinges on reliable, cheap power, the prospect is irresistible.

“They have plenty of land and a lot of water,” Kromadit added, noting that most of the cross‑border transmission lines skirt local communities – a fact that, paradoxically, leaves many Laotians with frequent blackouts while the grid powers factories abroad.

China’s deep pockets also play a role. In 2025, Beijing poured roughly $18 billion into Laos, targeting industry, mining and agriculture, according to the Vientiane Times. That investment dovetails with the so‑called “China‑plus‑one” strategy, where manufacturers shift some production out of China to hedge against rising costs and geopolitical pressure from the United States.

“China is the largest manufacturer of all products, so they can’t just keep building only within their country,” Kromadit explained. “They’re also being hit by political pressure from the U.S.” By planting a foothold in Laos, Amata hopes to capture those Chinese firms looking for a new, low‑cost base of operations.

The story of Amata’s rise is itself a tale of restless ambition. After graduating with a mechanical‑engineering degree from National Taiwan University, Kromadit returned to Thailand in 1975 and launched V&K Enterprise, an import‑export outfit dealing in everything from minerals to seafood. Frustrated with being “just a middleman,” he moved into real estate, co‑founding the Bang Pakong Industrial Estate in 1988 before establishing Amata Corporation a year later.

The company’s first industrial park, Amata City Chon Buri, opened that same year and soon grew into a full‑blown “industrial city” with factories, a 38,000‑square‑metre Lotus Plus Mall, schools, hospitals and even a cinema. A successful stint in Vietnam followed – Amata built its first overseas park in Bien Hoa in 1994, betting on a country that would later post a 9.95 % Q3‑2026 GDP growth and aim for high‑income status by 2045.

Today Amata runs more than 1,500 factories across 12 sites in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. A brief, ill‑fated push into Myanmar in 2019 was halted by the coup and ensuing civil war, leaving the company to focus on its existing portfolio and the massive land bank it already controls – roughly 700 km², enough “to keep him busy until he goes to heaven,” Kromadit jokes.

Beyond steel and silicone, Amata is betting on people. Its campuses host kindergartens, technical training centres and plans are afoot for a university that will feed a skilled workforce directly into the factories next door. “We’re now looking to build a university,” the CEO says, a hint that the next wave of growth will be as much about talent as about turbines.

Will Amata ever look beyond Laos, perhaps to Indonesia or Cambodia? Kromadit smiles and shrugs. “We already have enough land to occupy us for the rest of our lives.” For now, the spotlight stays on the quiet, river‑lined nation that, thanks to its surplus power and strategic location, may just become the new heart of Southeast Asia’s manufacturing pulse.