Overview 

Nam Soi International Border Checkpoint is located in Laos’ Northern district of Viengxay in Houaphan province. The checkpoint is 55 km away from Viengxay district, the nearest large town and 85 km from Xam Neua district, a capital city of Houaphan with a population of 309,393 persons. It is opposite to Na Meo International Border Gate locating on the land of Quan Son district, Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The checkpoints have permanent offices at both sides of the borders where immigration offices are located.  

As of November 2023, a feasibility study on the construction of an expressway from Vientiane Capital to Houaphan province is underway. The 80-kilometer section would run from Huamuang District in Houaphan province to the Nam Soi – Na Meo International Border Checkpoint at the border between Laos and Vietnam. It is expected that the construction of the section linking Houaphan to Vietnam would take up to four years to complete. The schedule is, however, not yet given. 

Daily Capacity 

In the first nine months of 2023, the border gates saw 107,333 tons of goods flowing between the Nam Soi and Na Meo border checkpoints. Export goods to Vietnam from Laos are 39,333 tons and import of goods from Vietnam is 68,000 tons. On average, there are 8,000 to 10,000 travellers crossing the borders annually.  

Customs Clearance 

The Ministry of Finance’s Customs Department, a regulatory authority for imports, requires tax exemption certificate (in case of humanitarian goods) including supporting documents to manage the import of goods and equipment at checkpoint. 

Charges per time for importing truck include:   

Remark: charges (round up) in USD are based on BCEL exchange rate USD 1 = 20.752 kip as of 16 October 2023. 

Payment channels and methods: Importers and exporters can pay the service fee electronically at service units of the Bank Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao (BCEL) and the Lao Development Bank (LDB) which includes BCEL i-Banking, BCEL One, LDB Corporate Banking by cash, money transfer, and cheque. 

For more information on customs in Laos, please see the following link: 1.3 Customs Information.   

Other Relevant Information 

Under Ministry of Finance, Laos’ Customs Clearance for Imports (ASYCUDA) is implementing smart customs project that the digitalization of imports and exports at international border crossing is being modernized. The ministry adopts the Lao National Single Window (LNSW) and integrates it into the ASYCUDA that became known as the NSWA+.  

However, Nam Soi International Checkpoint has not yet been integrated into the project. In other words, the customs clearance is still a paper-based system.  

Documents that are typically required for the customs clearance for non-foods and food items are: 

Tax exemption document from relevant partner government ministry, Commercial Invoice, Bill of Lading or Air Waybill, Packing List, Certificate of Origin, Analysis Certificate, Phytosanitary Certificate, Fumigation Certificate, Import Permit for Food (issued by Laos’ Food and Drug Department, Ministry of Public Health) 

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List.