The Ministry of Home Affairs has launched two projects worth US$13.7 million that aim to strengthen governance and facilitate better service delivery to the Lao people. The projects are supported by the UNDP, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Republic of Korea.
The agreement to undertake the projects was signed in Vientiane on Friday, with Deputy Prime Minister Asang Laoly, development partners and officials from various ministries in attendance.
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The Lao government has received a US$23 million grant from the Asian Development Bank to carry out the Northern Rural Infrastructure Sector Project from 2011-2017.
The proposed poverty reduction and infrastructure project will be undertaken in 11 districts of the four northern provinces of Bokeo, Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, and Phongsaly, which have a combined population of 760,000 people, a third of whom are considered to be living in poverty.
The project will centre around developing repairing existing irrigation infrastructure and developing new systems where there are none, in order to expand agricultural production and boost rural incomes. It will also focus on upgrading rural access roads from district centres and village clusters to the more remote villages.
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Construction of Xekong province's new Kaleum district got under way last Tuesday, with an official groundbreaking ceremony held at the site 31km from the existing district.
Kaleum district is being relocated because of the planned Xekong 4 hydropower plant, which will encroach into part of the district, and also because of frequent flooding in the area, according to a press release from Region Oil on Friday. Region Oil is the Russian company that will build the hydropower plant.
The current district offices are also inconveniently located for development and business activities, as well as in terms of attracting tourists.
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