Lao PDR has achieved far-reaching results in a series of areas that are supported by the World Bank. Some examples: Structural Reforms: To help Lao PDR achieve needed growth, reforms to strengthen the market economy and improve the environment for investment and private sector development are needed. Through reforms undertaken thus far, private investment has gone from negligible amounts to more than 11 percent of GDP, overtaking public investment. New budget classification systems, independent external audits for large state enterprises (for example, Lao Airlines), and a sharp reduction in arrears on salary payments to health care workers and teachers are among the impacts of policy reforms. These reforms are underpinned and informed by regular Public Expenditure Reviews, Investment Climate Assessments, and other analytic work. Specific projects working in this area include the series of Poverty Reduction Support Operations (PRSOs), the Financial Management Capacity Building Credit (FMCBC) and the Public Expenditure Management Strengthening Program (PEMSP).
Education: The Education Development Project was designed to improve the quality of education services in seven provinces by developing a multi-lingual curriculum and new textbooks and teacher guides for primary and secondary schools. To complement this, 277 primary schools and 31 secondary schools were built and more than 3 million textbooks and 200,000 teacher guides were printed and distributed. To continue this work, a Second Education Development Project is now helping to increase primary school enrollment and completion in the 19 poorest provinces. To further understand the education context in Lao PDR, a Teacher Study is being undertaken and an assessment on education services will also be carried out. Agriculture and Rural Development: To help reduce rural poverty, the Agricultural Development Project is involving communities in increasing agricultural production. The project supports the rehabilitation of small-scale irrigation systems and improvement of rural water supply and sanitation. Meanwhile, the recently completed District Upland Development and Conservation Project has helped enhance the livelihoods of communities, while protecting biodiversity in an adjacent protected area. This work is further linked with work in the natural-resource sectors, as well as with advancements in infrastructure and rural electrification which can help rural people have better access to commercial opportunities. In addition, a typology on livelihoods of upland villages will be carried out to contribute to knowledge and progress in this area. Natural Resources and Environment: The Sustainable Forestry for Rural Development Project brings the country's priority natural production forests under participatory and sustainable management practices. This creates a partnership between the government and communities to foster stewardship of forests and their valuable resources. The policy gives local communities an equitable share in the revenue earned from the sale of forest products. Community participation in land-use planning and in forest management also helps clarify land tenure and resource use rights. Through the Lao Environment and Social Project, the World Bank is providing assistance to improve the integrated management of selected river basins, and to introduce a viable financing mechanism that will direct resources for community management of biodiversity. A future study on natural resource management will be undertaken to contribute to the understanding of the issues and challenges facing the country, as well as a strategy note on how to continue to make progress on the forestry sector. Infrastructure: When the Third Highway Improvement Project started in 1997, Road 13—the backbone of the country’s road transport network—was in serious need of improvement, with a gravel surface that limited speeds to 35 km/h. The project upgraded a 200 km stretch of the road, resulting in savings in vehicle operating costs of about US$39 million. Travel speeds rose to 80 km/h and the time to market fell from an average 5 hours to an average 3 hours. The project developed a sustainable road maintenance framework, exceeding its own targets by 60 percent and leading to the periodic maintenance of 23,000 km of roads. Meanwhile, the Provincial Infrastructure Project helped to reduce poverty and improve living standards in Oudomxay and Phongsaly Provinces by rehabilitating and upgrading basic infrastructure—including roads and water supplies—for about 52,000 people in 125 villages. New roads help provide year-round access to a number of isolated rural communities. The project is also bringing low-cost water and sanitation services to about 42,000 people in 165 rural communities, many of which are largely populated by ethnic groups. A strategy note on the water sector will further help to bring together information on this critical aspect. The Rural Electrification Project has tripled access to electricity in 10 years from 15 to 46 percent of the rural population, servicing 51,805 households in 721 villages through extensions of the grid, and another 6,097 households (in remote areas) through off-grid systems. Distribution losses dropped from 19 percent in 1998 to 16 percent in 2003, even as total electricity consumption rose. Altogether, a series of World Bank credits since 1993 has supported electricity to 98,800 households, or almost 21 percent of the households that receive electricity. In addition, the recently-approved Greater Mekong Sub-Region Power Trade Program will support the construction of lines to export power to Cambodia and build a transmission system that links Lao PDR, Cambodia and Thailand. This will help improve the supply of electricity to Saravan Province in the south of Lao PDR. Social Protection: The Poverty Reduction Fund is helping local governments and local communities collaborate to determine their most pressing development needs and plan and manage the public investments that will address them. The Fund is empowering local communities and strengthening local institutions to support participatory decision-making and conflict resolution processes at the village and district levels, and ensuring the inclusion of women and the poor in decision-making. Over three years of activities, more than 1,200 subprojects have been selected, completed and implemented by poor communities in nearly 2,000 villages. So far, the Poverty Reduction Fund has helped more than 900 villages gain access to clean water. More than 240 schools have been built in remote villages, almost 2,000 km of roads have been upgraded, and more than 40 bridges linking different villages are now in place. An assessment of community-based approaches for poverty reduction will be carried out in the future to ensure that knowledge of lessons learned is shared, that the best practices are being followed and that the approach can be refined as needed. Health: The objective of the Health Services Improvement Project is to assist Lao PDR in improving the health status of its population, particularly the poor and rural population by improving the performance and financing of health services. Work is supported by studies analyzing the health sector aimed at further understanding challenges and approaches in this area. The ongoing Avian and Human Influenza Control and Preparedness Project helps the government of Lao PDR implement its national plan. This plan aims to minimize the threats posed to humans and the poultry sector by AHI infection and other zoonooses in Lao PDR, to prepare for control and to respond to influenza pandemics and other emerging infectious diseases. Under the Health System Reform and Malaria Control Project, health facilities at provincial, district and community levels were renovated or built, 10 malaria control stations were built, awareness activities were undertaken and at least 4,300 staff trained. The project contributed to increasing access to basic health care for vulnerable groups and reduced the incidence of malaria cases. Land Titling: An important element of the government's policy to move toward a market economy is the development of efficient land markets. The Land Titling Project is working to provide landowners with official titles of ownership to their land. Titles serve as collateral for bank loans, which help expand businesses or establish new ones, even facilitating larger project investments, such as apartment buildings. The involvement of the Lao Women's Union has played a key role in informing women of the benefits and risks of land titling. As a result, compared to provinces not included in the project, the number of titled land parcels registered jointly and in the names of women exceeded the number registered in the names of men only. Nam Theun 2: World Bank engagement took an increasing qualitative turn in 2005 with the approval of the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) Hydropower Project. The project has been designed to target revenues towards poverty reduction and environmental protection, with separate World Bank projects supporting the Government’s ability to manage these funds. NT2 is also characterized with the adoption of stringent environmental and social mitigation measures which are helping to set a new standard for hydropower development projects in the country. For more information about World Bank studies and reports on Lao PDR, click here. For more information on the World Bank’s work in Lao PDR, visit: www.worldbank.org/lao back to top
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