E-disbursement and e-signature systems are being put in place with the assistance of the World Bank to help the Lao Ministry of Finance to spend aid money more efficiently.
The new systems will make spending more accountable and help finance officials to manage funding more professionally. This will make World Bank grants and
loans easier to obtain, as Bank staff will have ready access to the country's portfolio and be able to assess the situation a lot faster.
Deputy Finance Minister Santhiphab Phomvihane briefed ministry officials last week on the introduction of the e-disbursement and e-signature technologies, and the opportunities and potentials they offer.
He said that from 1977 to 2010
Laos received more than US$1 billion in aid loans and grant assistance, which has been critical to the country's development.
However, he stressed that the world is now in an economic downturn, and funding assistance is harder to come by. The financial depression in both Europe and the US means that developed countries have less money to spend on aid as they concentrate on domestic affairs, and therefore aid recipients need to be more accountable for any money they receive.
The introduction of the e-disbursement and e-signature programmes will make it easier for both donors and ministry officials to know exactly where the money is going and what results are being achieved, which has often proved difficult up until now.
Santhiphab said the disbursement of funds had previously been slow and cumbersome, and the new system would help to remedy the situation.
The new programmes will allow withdrawal applications to be processed electronically and make expenditure details more transparent.
E-disbursement facilitates the faster processing of applications and greater control of funding that is granted. It eliminates a lot of red tape and makes things much more transparent. E-signature ensures that any signatures applied are those that have actually been authorised.
The two programmes are already in use in eastern Europe and the Central Asia Region, including Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia.
