Officials of the Lao government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) met in the capital city of Vientiane on February 22 to discuss a new partnership strategy for the 2012-2016 period.
At the meeting, the ADB pledged to provide more assistance to Laos in many fields, as it has done in previous years, but it will also directly support the implementation of the country’s seventh five-year socio-economic development plan.
The officials touched upon a number of major challenges Laos is facing in national development, as well as measures the nation should adopt in the years to come.
The new strategy will be approved by the ADB leadership by the end of 2011 after the Lao government’s five-year socio-economic development plan is ratified by the Lao National Assembly.
The ADB is Laos ’s leading development partner. Over the past five years, the bank has provided around 475 million USD in official development assistance capital for the country.
Currently, the ADB is funding 45 projects in Laos to the tune of 345 million USD and has approved four loans totalling 59.8 million USD./.