ລາວໂຮມລາວ ເພື່ອປະຊາທິປະໄຕ

World Bank grants US$31.8 million support

The Lao government and the World Bank signed a grant agreement on Thursday for the provision of more than US$31.8 million for the Scaling-Up Participatory Sustainable Forest Management (SUPSFM) Project.

The agreement, signed at the Ministry of Finance in Vientiane, provides for a US$19 million International Development Association (IDA) grant and a US$12.8 million grant from the Forest Investment Programme under the Strategic Climate Fund.

According to a news release from the World Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland will, in the future, also provide co-financing of US$14.5 million in a grant to the project in the form of technical assistance.

The Lao government is now developing a strategy and programme for Reducing Emission from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) to avoid the unnecessary loss of forests and increase carbon storage.

With the support being provided from these sources, the Lao government is going to implement the SUPSFM project to execute REDD+ activities through participatory sustainable forest management activities in priority areas and to pilot a forest landscape management programme in four northern provinces of Xayaboury, Luang Namtha, Oudomxay and Bokeo.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will implement this project in close partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. SUPSFM is a continuation and ex pansion of the sustainable Forestry and Rural Development Project which was implemented from 2003 to 2012.

The SUPSFM project aims to achieve the expansion of areas under approved participatory sustainable forest management plans, and the development and piloting of a landscape approach to forest management, a decreased rate of forest cover loss, enhanced carbon storage from improved protection and forest restoration, and reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in project areas.

The seventh Five Year National Socio-Economic Development Plan for 2011-2015 and Forest Strategy 2020 highlight the government's intentions to attract foreign direct investment, and aim to improve and increase the quality of existing forested areas to cover about 70 percent of the total land area by 2020, the Ministry of Finance reported.

The project will also contribute to the implementation of the seventh five-year plan, to the achievement of forestry and international obligations, as well as the country partnership strategy between the Lao government and the World Bank for 2012 – 2016.

The Lao government highly values the support of the World Bank on this project and this signing ceremony marks one of the significant milestones which further enhance the close cooperation between the two parties.

It will be another key step for the World Bank in its continued support of the Lao government's efforts by contributing to the attainment of its National Social – Economic Development Plan, to achieve Millennium Development Goals and to release it from the list of Least Developed Countries by 2020.